Presidential Column

Welcome back. I hope your summer was eventful and full of good times with your family and friends. Things have been busy amongst the various CSEG committees I’m involved with. So many things have been going on that I’m going to use subtitles to highlight them.

ELECTION 2010: Calling for Executive nominations

We’ve formed a nomination committee and are looking for members with a desire to run in the CSEG elections later on this year. Five spots are up for grabs: the Assistant Director Positions for Education, Finance, Services, and Communications plus the Vice President’s position. The election will take place in December with the new members taking office on April 1st (a serendipitous date eh?). Please get your nominations in before the end of October. We strongly encourage interested CSEG Members to run in the annual election of the Executive. The CSEG needs new people with new ideas and we applaud those members willing to take on the task of serving on the CSEG Executive.

If you want to implement change or if you have a desire to influence the image of Canada’s Geophysicists, then throw your hat into the ring! You need to write a campaign platform, which is mostly just a short biography, and submit your name along with five member signatures before the middle of October. If needed, Francios Aubin, Jon Downtown, Jim Racette, Sheryl Megesson and I will sign for you. Communicating with their committees is the biggest task for each member of the CSEG Executive. Of course, if you want to create something new, then joining the Executive is a good way to get things done.

You can review the Executive roles using the CSEG Organizational Chart on our website at http://cseg.ca/members/cseg-executive. Our bylaws also offer an overview of the role of each director; http://cseg.ca/members/cseg-bylaws. Feel free to give me a call if you have questions or want more information.

Convention 2011 will be held downtown at the Telus Convention Centre

Many of your fellow CSEG members have been working on improvements to the convention. The 2010 GeoCanada convention is just wrapping up while the 2011 Convention is now starting up. Lots of things are going on. Most importantly, Convention 2011 will be held downtown at the Telus Convention Centre rather than on the Stampede Grounds at the Round Up Centre.

In early July the Joint Annual Convention Committee (JACC), gathered data at the request of both the CSEG and the CSPG Executives. JACC data showed that many convention registrants preferred the convenience of the downtown location as it would allow them more time to spend at the convention.

Having the delegates spend more time at the convention is pretty compelling, so once we reviewed all the convention data and realized the lecture halls, meeting rooms, and exhibit hall will meet our needs, John Varsek, Graeme Bloy, Larry Herd, and I voted to host the 2011 convention at the Telus Convention Centre on 8th Avenue downtown.

Turner Valley Gas Plant: An Industrial Museum in the making

Again in early July, Ian Clarke and David Finch invited a group of Petroleum and Geoscience society Presidents on a tour of the Turner Valley Gas Plant site. These Historians along with volunteers have been working for twenty years to preserve the Gas Plant and to one day open it as an Industrial Historic Site and Museum. Many years ago they secured site ownership and sufficient funding for cleanup and environmental protection. And, they have made progress.

Thanks to their efforts the nearly perpetual flare marking Dingham #2 no longer burns. It was extinguished by recent clean-up efforts. They have also constructed an impermeable berm around the site in order to protect the Sheep River from any future runoff. Environmentally the site is now secure and safe.

I’d never seen a gas plant before and after learning the history of the site and its economic, social, and technical impact I’m now a believer in the need to preserve the early history of Canada’s petroleum industry. Besides learning about the impact this plant had on the oil business in Canada, including the importance of the Turner Valley Oil field to Canada’s efforts in the Second World War, I learned fundament things I should have already known. For instance, compressors were needed to push the gas to market in Calgary. The compressors push it down the pipe! I’d always assumed the compressors sucked the gas out of the reservoir and afterwards the gas was pulled along the pipeline by mysterious siphon-like forces. Now I know better!

Their group is now working on plans for bringing the public to the site. They will create a museum-like tour as well as a community meeting place and a conference centre. I sure hope they succeed soon. I want to visit again. But, it’s a big project which will take some time. I think they might be looking for help. Drop Ian Clarke a line if you want more information or you might want to help out. Ian Clarke can be reached at ian.clarke@gov.ab.ca.

CSEG Long Range Planning Meeting

About 25 people attended our Long Range Planning (LRP) meeting in June. It was a Tuesday afternoon and evening session and thanks to Doug Uffen’s work as moderator, a lot of productive conversation was held. What I liked most about the meeting outcome is that some of the CSEG’s most active members now have a common understanding of what challenges are facing the CSEG. Personally, I am not a strategic thinker and the CSEG LRP needs input from people skilled at this type of planning. I can assure you that the CSEG is in good hands as many talented people were at the meeting. I was personally thrilled to have so many committed people in the room talking about the CSEG.

CSEG Office Space : To Move or Not To Move?

Kelly Jamison, Jim Racette, Larry Herd, John Bertsch and I have formed an ad-hoc committee to investigate office space availability and costs. If you have any suggestions about what sort of office space best suits the CSEG, please give us a call. The CSEG and the CPSG have shared their space on 8th Avenue and 6th Street for the past 4 years. The lease expires next June and we are trying to decide whether to stay or move. The CSPG has also struck a committee to make recommendations on whether to move or not. Our shared office space has been a positive change for both Geoscience societies and we (the CSEG) are wondering if we should move if the CSPG decides to move. We are most likely to stay where we are because of the amount of money we would have to invest in moving to a new location. Still, if the CSPG moves, should we follow? Here’s a short list of some of the questions we need to answer before we can make a decision on whether to move or not;

• Do we need A, B, or C quality space?
• How important is it to have “visible” (i.e. Plus-15) space?
• Should we continue sharing office space with the CSPG?
• What is the cost of moving (a move with capital improvements could cost $150,000)

The Presidents and Vice Presidents of the CSEG, CSPG, and CWLS are getting together at the end of September for one of our quarterly meetings and I expect to spend a lot of time talking about our office space then. We should have updated plans for you in October.

DoodleTrain Early Bird Registration Deadline, Sept. 22 2010. Registration Closes Oct. 13, 2010

Six new courses are being offered amongst this year’s 20 DoodleTrain courses. If you are looking for current knowledge to help you on the job, the DoodleTrain is for you. There is nothing like the DoodleTrain anywhere else in the world. I know this because other Geophysical Societies have asked the CSEG DoodleTrain committee for guidance and advice.

Check out the CSEG Website for the entire DoodleTrain calendar. Personally I’m thinking of Henry Posamentier’s course or maybe Paul McKay’s new one. Hope to see you there!

Other things happening with the CSEG

Laurie Ross is the new Chair of the Joint Annual Convention Committee and Rob Vestrum has joined the JAC Committee. Larry Lines is talking about reviving the peer reviewed CSEG Journal as an online magazine. Cal Jaycock and I were going to walk the CSPG-CSEG Road Race together, but I’ve decided to go fishing. Poor Cal, he needs a walking buddy on September 15th.