Minutes July 2009

DGS EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING

MINUTES

July 28, 2009

The board of directors for the Dallas Geological Society for the term 2009-2010 met at Desperados. This was the first meeting for the newly elected board.

ATTENDANCE

DGS BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

J. Sirman Hollabaugh, President

Patty Abney, First Vice President

Matthew Wilson, Treasurer

Ta Li, Second Vice President

Patrick Lowry, President-Elect

Mark Larsen, International Committee Chairman

Vince Smith, Secretary

GUESTS:

Barbara Kearney

CALL TO ORDER

Sirman called the meeting to order at 5:34 P.M.

SWS CONVENTION BUDGET

Barbara Kearney present the DGS board with a budget for the AAPG Southwest Section Convention. The Embassy Suites in Frisco will host the convention May 16^th – 18^th, 2010. Ms. Kearney created a budget with the expectation of 300 people. This amount was determined from the previous few SWS conventions in Midland and Abilene. Early registration will charge $175 and late registration $225. This amount is subject to change. Based on the budget presented, each convention participant will cost $116. Booths at the convention should number around 40 based on past DGS EXPO participants. The charge for a booth will be $500. In total, Ms. Kearney proposed a budget with a positive net inflow of approximately $20,000. Sirman motioned that the budget be approved by the board and seconded by Patty.

CONSIDERATION OF LAST MEETING’S MINUTES.

The minutes from the last meeting were not considered. Erin Hauser was the secretary from the previous board term. She was not in attendance nor did any current board member have a copy. 

CONSIDERATION OF MEMBERSHIP APPLICATIONS

There were no new membership applications. 

TREASURER’S REPORT

The treasurer’s report was not discussed.

UPDATE ON LUNCHEON SPEAKERS

Patty updated the board on her quest for luncheon speakers. She did not have a speaker yet for the September 8^th luncheon, but was close. Patty sent an email to the DGS board the following day, which stated that Art Berman with present his study on the economics of shale gas. The October luncheon will be a joint meeting with the Dallas Geophysical Society with the subject being seismic stratigraphy. Steve Lucia will be the November speaker with his subject on extracting more oil from carbonate reservoirs.

UPDATE ON INTERNATIONAL SPEAKERS

Mark Larsen did not have any speakers for the international committee dinners. He expressed the difficulty of finding speakers. The international committee will be holding a summer social with an awards event August 20^th. The venue had not been determined, but will most likely be in North Dallas

NEW BUSINESS

-The annual summer mixer/membership drive will be held at Ozona’s August 18^th. 

-The band for the Christmas party was discussed at length because of the cost. Ta said a proposal from The PitPops! for $4500 was steep. Previously, the band for the Christmas party was $3500. A second band called The Walton Stout Band was an alternative. They will be playing August 6^th in Grapevine for the board to hear before making a decision for the Christmas party. The DGS Christmas party will be held Friday, December 11^th.

WEBSITE

Sirman created a list of duties for all of the DGS board members. 

      Treasurer Elect – Enter membership application information once approved and paid; Update membership list.

      Treasurer – Notify Treasurer Elect upon funds cleared and membership status; note new member contact information for database.

      Secretary – Assist in managing database with the Treasurer and Treasurer Elect; send email asking for correct contact information from lunch or meeting attendees.

      Second Vice President – Add meetings and notes to website including social events and other DGS activities.

      First Vice President – Add luncheon speaker information, dates, places, and times; assist in gate keeping as necessary.

      President Elect – Gate keeper for website; review and approve or reject website content.

      President – Gate keeper for website; review and approve or reject website content.

      International Committee Chairman – Add international committee events to website that includes speaker, content, place, time.

LUNCHEONS

The price of luncheons was discussed at length. The cost of doing business with the upgraded website would strain the budget. To offset the costs, the luncheon price was increased to $25 for early member registration and $30 for walk-ups and non-members. Ta made a motion for acceptance of the luncheon price increase and Patty seconded the motion. 

With the improved website, credit card processing is a new feature. The cost for the processing is a new charge including the activation and monthly service. Sirman had researched the different available option with Authorize.net being the best option. Sirman made a motion to accept the usage of Authorize.net while Ta seconded the motion. 

WEBSITE

The new and improved DGS website is an additional expense. Schipul has redesigned the website with a different template and will also charge for monthly maintenance. To offset the expense, the idea to charge for job postings was initiated. This idea came from looking at the Houston Geological Society website. They have the model website that includes sponsorship. Sirman motioned to charge for job postings from recruiters. Vince seconded the motion. The price will be determined later after Sirman researches this subject further.

To alleviate the spam mail directed to board members for listing their personal or work email contact information, Patrick was going to set-up all DGS board members with Google gmail accounts. All board members will then have the gmail emails forwarded to a different account. 

ADDITIONAL BUSINESS

Sirman commented on the current logo as it looks “scraptacular” and “hugely” disappointing for the current era. He thought the font appeared as “OGS.” Over the next year, board members will submit ideas for a new logo that are more representative of the times.

ADJOURN

Sirman made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:14 PM and Matt seconded the motion.