Minutes November 2009

DGS EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING

MINUTES

November 3, 2009

The board of directors for the Dallas Geological Society for the term 2009-2010 met at Mario and Alberto’s. 

ATTENDANCE

DGS BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

J. Sirman Hollabaugh, President

Patty Abney, First Vice President

Matthew Wilson, Treasurer

Mike McConnell, Treasurer-Elect

Ta Li, Second Vice President

Patrick Lowry, President-Elect

Vince Smith, Secretary

CALL TO ORDER

Sirman called the meeting to order at 5:37 P.M.

CONSIDERATION OF LAST MEETING’S MINUTES

The meeting minutes from the October 6th board meeting were considered. Ta quickly motioned for acceptance while Patrick accepted a second motion.   

CONSIDERATION OF MEMBERSHIP APPLICATIONS

For review were 4 new membership applications. Ta made a motion to accept the applications and Vince seconded the motion. All members voted in favor. 

TREASURER’S REPORT

The first business item reported by Matt was the large expense/income difference for the International Committee. The funds from the previous International Committee dinner had not yet been deposited. 

Matt also reported a large payment was made the previous month relating to insurance. This was the final payment instead of a monthly payment. 

CD rates are continually being investigated to move a matured CD once a reasonable rate is discovered and approved. Matt will report his findings at the next BOD meeting. 

The October luncheon was jointly held with the Dallas Geophysical Society. Since they hosted, there are no results to report. The next joint meeting is in February and hosted by the DGS.

Sirman motioned to accept the treasurer’s report and Patty seconded the motion. 

UPDATE ON LUNCHEON SPEAKERS

Patty updated the board for luncheon speakers. The November luncheon speaker will be Jerry Lucia from the Bureau of Economic Geology. Mr. Lucia will present his topic on “Locating Remaining Oil in Carbonate Reservoirs: The Reservoir Characterization Problem.” The luncheon will run in conjunction with a core workshop at EMGI. There will be no luncheon in December, but in January, the DGS will pick up with a topic on climate change. The president of Pioneer, Roger Wallace, will speak on climate change. February is a joint meeting with the Geophysical Society. The featured speaker will be David Paddock. Patrick Lowry volunteered his time to speak at a future DGS luncheon and possibly for the Southwest Section Convention.

UPPDATE ON SOUTWEST SECTION

The DGS continues to search for speakers for the Southwest Section Convention in May. The first ad for the convention appeared in the AAPG Explorer and is also mentioned on the DGS website. Registration for the convention should be setup before the holiday season. 

UPDATE ON INTERNATIONAL SPEAKERS

Mark Larsen informed the board that Alton Brown will speak at the November dinner. He will present a topic on the Tarim Basin Lower Paleozoic Sequence Stratigraphy. 

At the October dinner, Mark reported 40 members had attended that included 5 students. 

The December International Committee family meeting has not yet been announced or determined. Those details are still in progress. 

UPDATE ON CHRISTMAS PARTY

Ta updated the board with the decision to roll out the Brent Rozell band for the DGGS Christmas Party. Ta and Nancy Alexander from the Geophysical Society agreed on the decision. The Brent Rozell band and the casino games are the featured entertainment for the party.

Registration for the Christmas party should be ready soon. Individuals and couples can register and purchase tickets through both the Geological Society and Geophysical Society websites. Sponsors are also encouraged to pay through the website to utilize the credit card payment. 

UPDATE WEBSITE RELATED ISSUES

Sirman asked if there was a button or some access for members to pay for dues, or publications, or just make a general payment to the website. He stressed that we need to really make it easy for the members to make payments without searching all over for the option. 

A second item requested was to make font smaller for member’s contact information. This is a feature within each individual’s browser options and not a website really issue.

Vince is looking for ideas to enhance the website to draw in daily traffic. Installing a “real-news” option on the website may draw traffic. Sirman recommended contacting the AAPG on how they do their website and if we could copy their code.

OTHER BUSINESS

At Sirman’s request, he would like to have every current DGS BOD member create a paragraph for the DGS history. The history of the society had been maintained for several years and since 1996 it ceased. The gap would be picked up by the current BOD and resumed. 

Hugh Peace emailed Sirman asking if there is a chance the BOD could award David McDonald with the Outstanding Service Award early instead of at the annual awards banquet. The board all decided that the award will be honored at the January luncheon in hopes that David’s family could attend. 

Pat Gratton will write a quarterly “State of the Industry” blog for the website. The idea is to inform the energy industry members of the current political actions. The board stressed that this blog or column needs to be bipartisan and not viewed as strongly in favor of side or the other.

David Scull has agreed to write an article or blog for the website that discussed certain geological aspects. This may include popular new shale plays or other popular geological topics. 

Sirman adjourned the meeting at 6:31 P.M.