Committee Reports
Office
Camille Mueller
manager@caves.org
These past three months have been the most intense months that I have had except for my first 12 months with this job. Dave Irving came to Huntsville the first of May and we closed out the FY 97/98. This is the first time that I think we have ever closed the end of the year so quickly.
Our goal was to have everything done before my May 24th wedding. Luckily, we were able to get this accomplished. When I returned from my honeymoon, I had two days to get caught up before Irving came back. My in basket had turned into four and I had 150 e-mail messages waiting! I managed to take care of the most important ones and then turned my attention to getting LedgerMaster up and running. Dave and I worked till 10:00 and 11:00 P.M. every night but Les was unavailable to answer our questions. Due to this, we were unable to proceed as planned. When Dave left on Friday, I still needed to finish entering the starting balances in Ledgermaster plus all the outstanding checks on the AmSouth, Colonial, and SouthTrust accounts. But we did get the month of May closed in DacEasy. I spent the next week catching up from my honeymoon plus the three days of working on nothing but accounting. I managed to get all but six of the starting balances entered into Ledgermaster plus I got 80% of the outstanding checks entered into the new system. Then I had a family emergency and spent the next week at the hospital with my nephew. As of today, Monday the 13th of July, I have finally got my in basket under control, my e-mail answered, bank statements mailed, convention inventory almost completely ordered, most bills paid, plus my normal accounting caught up - almost. This week is devoted strictly to accounting - closing out June in DacEasy and entering the starting balances and outstanding checks in Ledgermaster. I hope that on Wednesday I have June closed in DacEasy Plus the 97/98 fiscal year, May, and June closed in Ledgermaster.
Other than those few things, things are going well at the office. Avis is getting the hang of things and has greatly increased her speed in processing memberships and book orders. I feel that September will be a much better month as Avis and I will have survived convention and caught up on our work that came in while we were at convention. Then it will be time to design the new NSS catalog and then Christmas orders.
NSS Bookstore Manager
Jim Hall
623 Larry Pl
Madison AL 35758
73505.1632@compuserve.com
Things have been really moving quickly in the bookstore. SpeleoDigest sales have been brisk. Scott Fee has done an excellent job in not only getting the Digest produced quickly and efficiently, but he has also created quite a surge in sales. We got the 1996 SpeleoDigest in Mid-March. In 4 month's time, we have sold 254 copies - over half our stock. We received the 1997 issue the first of June and have sold 114 copies so far. It looks as if we will be complete out of the 1995 SpeleoDigest in the next month as we only have 40 copies left.
Josh has done an excellent job with the on-line bookstore. He has been quick to respond to all of my bookstore updates. Every day we get at least 3 or 4 on-line book orders. The new shopping cart makes it easier for the customer to purchase from us. The secure network has greatly reduced the number of email orders that arrive without credit card numbers. It makes our job so much quicker when we do not have to call a customer to get his credit card number for a book order.
Our shipment of the new Lechuguilla book finally arrived. We had already taken 53 prepublication orders. It was advertised on the flier that Urs Widmer sent us that the books would be shipped in March 1998. But he did not get finished in time and finally got the books delivered to us in late June. Avis mailed postcards to all of our customers in April explaining that the publisher had not delivered the books and we expected them in late May. Bill and I rushed to get the orders shipped out the day after we received them.
Regretfully, we are completely sold out of the Manual of US Cave Rescue Techniques. This means that we have been getting lots and lots of request for this book. I have heard rumors that we will not receive the updated version till mid 1999. We seem to be OK on our other NSS Publications. We have the following inventory:
| Caving Basics | 4,795 |
| Cave Minerals | 3,831 |
| On Rope | 4,589 |
| Cumberland Caverns | 389 |
| On Station | 1,377 |
Dave McClurg sent us a nice promotional flier for Cave Minerals of the World along with mailing labels of Libraries, Bookstores, Universities, Scientific Editors, and Commercial Caves. Although Avis does the majority of book orders, I have noticed a few orders that I can link to the promotional mailing.
Things seem to be going great in the bookstore. I am trying to stock up on all the great books that are reviewed in the NSS News. Furthermore I am hunting through all of our major suppliers to find any books related to caving that will be of interest to our members.
Camille Mueller
Archivist
J. Reynolds Duncan Jr.
153 Atria Dr
Toney AL 35773
jrdandlld@aol.com
Audio-Visual Aids Committee
Colin Gatland (slide shows)
1151 Crestwood Hills Dr
Vandalia OH 45377-2714
PitDropper@aol.com
As far as my end goes I have gone through everything that was given to me and created an Excel spreadsheet on all the master slide shows. These include the currently circulated shows as well as the slide shows out of current circulation. So this shows me what slides are missing or what scripts I need to get copies of. Camille has a copy of the new spreadsheet. Camille found a dupe set of Wakulla Springs and sent them to me. I have since made that set of dupes the master and have sent her two sets of duped dupes as the NSS's sets for circulation. Obviously the quality is somewhat less but better than no show at all I guess. I have had a show, apparently melted in return transit or in the trunk of someones car, remounted and restored as well as completely remounting the Ellisons Cave slide show due to deteriorating slide mounts.
The lab I use here in Dayton, can dupe slides for us in two days (normal turnaround) at very reasonable costs. I have opened an NSS account (net 30) at the lab and have also had them create an NSS imprint that will be on all future slides. This includes the NSS address, phone number, and NSS e-mail address.
Dave Socky requested slides to be scanned from some of the popular slide shows. These are to be included in the next A-V catalog. I scanned 12 slides for him and have already e-mailed them to him. He says they should work fine and should have a mockup A-V catalog by the time of convention.
A good portion of my budget this year has gone to fixing and patching missing or damaged slides. Wakulla Springs ate up just under $200.00 itself with two sets of 138 dupes and shipping. This just from a missing master slide show. With other costs on the horizon including the cost of duping the Best of 1998 Slide Salon and associated CD ROM costs, I don't believe there will be much left for other show development. However I will address that later when I figure out what is left in the coffer. Then again if any master shows currently in circulation come up missing we can either dupe it at a cost or just let it go (if there is a second in circulation).
Just a thought, we have spent money on a sync cassette and Wollensack dissolve unit. So far they just sit there gathering dust. Conversations with Bruce Bannerman indicate that any NSS member can use them to develop a two-projector slide show. That is fine and dandy, but I honestly doubt that grottos would want to pay the shipping charges associated with shipping these pieces of equipment. They are not machines that tolerate alot of banging around. To me, realistically there only use would be for the Convention Multi Image Salon, however most people if not all who submit would, in my opinion, already have an understanding of multi-image and also have access to equipment at their local. I think the purchase was a well intentioned idea, but the money spent could have been spent somewhere else better (unless of course the equipment was donated).
I believe that at some point we should take a realistic look at these free (pay shipping only) slide shows and charge a minimal user fee to help defray costs associated with damage to the slides. If one 80-count show is ruined it costs us (because we eat it) approximately $70.00 to replace it. The 140-count slide shows cost around $90.00 or so. There are alot of things that could be done to improve the look and the quality of the slide shows now in circulation but unfortunately the money is not there and won't be if a substantial amount each year is pumped into fixing damaged shows.
I still look enthusiastically towards the future and will be talking to more people about submitting slide shows for use in the NSS av library.
Dave Socky (video)
6572 Woodbrook Dr SW
Roanoke VA 24018-5402
sockydr@roava.net
I have produced a sample AV Library Catalog that should be ready for publication this fall. The Catalog is the same size and similar in design to the NSS Bookstore Catalog. The source data for the Catalog can be used for both a printed Catalog and for a new online Catalog on the NSS web site. The Catalog includes color photos and graphics (for the web site) for selected video and slide programs. I will have the sample Catalog available at the NSS Convention. I will be looking for feedback during the Convention before I go forward with a particular design. I also hope to have an "Under Construction" web site (through my Internet Service Provider) with the online Catalog so it can be reviewed at the Convention.
As the NSS AV co-chairman, I am in the process of helping the Year 2000 NSS convention cavers (Leecee Molina, Barry Chute, Dale Ibberson, and others) produce a short video (3 to 4 minutes) on the NSS Convention in Elkins in 2000. I will also be helping in the production of a longer (10 to 15 minutes) version for 1999 in Idaho.
There are a total of ten new videos entered in the NSS Photo Salon this year. Three are in the professional category with the remaining seven being amateur productions. Alex Sproul indicated that all entries are very good, providing some exciting competition.
Alex Sproul will have all the new videos in the NSS library and ready for rental by the end of the NSS Convention. An updated Catalog will be printed soon after the Convention. It will have to be in the old format since the new one will not be ready in time.
In my last report, I mentioned that the "canned" music tapes used for NSS productions had been ruined by mold. The canned music does not have to be replaced. Using computer sound cards and appropriate programs, canned music can be produced with very little effort and no copyright problems.
Cave Files Committee
Richard Blenz
8070 W Eller Rd
Bloomington IN 47403
rblenz@ucs.indiana.edu
Progress: Newsletters coming in as usual, a couple at least every day.
Plans: To keep running as usual.
Problems: None, including finance.
Internal Organizations Committee
Evelyn Bradshaw
10826 Leavells Rd
Fredericksburg VA 22047-1261
ebradshw@interserf.net
Due to the uncertainty about the publication of the Members Manual, it was well into May before we wiped up loose ends and sent text for the grotto directory in the Manual. We are still waiting for some membership lists from the most dilatory grottos. A mailing has gone out to grottos with the vote allocation for the Congress of Grottos; also included were some other memos of interest to grottos. We have also mailed a questionnaire about membership policy to those grottos that did not return such a questionnaire in the fall. When and if we have returns from more than half the grottos, the facts based on the returns (probably only one page) will be shared in some way (perhaps in the monthly mailing from the office).
Inquiries about starting a new grotto continue to arrive and are answered promptly.
If the four grottos chartered in April 1998 were not reported before, they are:
Enchanted Mountain Cave Group,
Allegany New York;
Crescent City Cavers, New Orleans Louisiana;
Color Country Grotto, Cedar City, Utah; and
Anthros Costa Rica Grotto, San Jose, Costa Rica.
All come with good recommendations from other cavers, and we look forward to their contributions to NSS and speleology.
Chuck Heller has expressed interest in joining me in coordinating a roundtable for grottos and other Internal Organizations at convention to focus on problem-solving for I/O leaders. This will be Thursday afternoon, 2 to 4 p.m., and we hope that many of the officers and directors will participate. Similar events were well received at Salida and Sullivan.
Internal Organizations are not without their rough spots. In Missouri the "establishment" is uncertain about a grotto application from an ebullient ex-policeman who, having been shot, is now preparing for a teaching career. Is this the old suspicion of a new group when there is already an existing group?
There has been no resolution of the tension between two Idaho leaders. It becomes increasingly evident that this is a classic example of territoriality. The protagonists need to realize that nothing is gained by playing one-up-manship and they need to get together and figure out what each will do so that together they will do the most for Idaho speleology and for the 1999 convention.
But on the reassuring side, the dissident challenge to entrenched leadership in the Southern California Grotto has ended with everyone apparently happily sitting on their Executive Committee. However, the Fourth Corner Grotto, which so unexpectedly announced itself as a bona fide NSS grotto when the Board of Governors was meeting in the Northwest, has already folded tents and disappeared.
Never a dull moment. Bill Bussey and Dave Taylor continue to take care of sections and surveys for the Committee, and I appreciate their help. Ivy (Esty) McLane still helps with providing the annual map showing where NSS grottos are located. Gary Bush not only did yeoman work developing the new and improved computer program which expedites producing the grotto directory, but has volunteered to help Joshua Abdulla with the I/O part of the NSS web page.
Internet Committee
Joshua Abdulla
2744 Town Dr
Carmel, IN 46032-9749
jabdulla@caves.org
Members Include:
Joshua Abdulla, Chairman and Executive Webmaster
Tom Rea, NSS Business Page Webmaster
Gary Bush, Grotto Listing Webmaster
Dave Socky, A/V Library Webmaster
Summary: The Internet Committee (IC) has been very busy this past quarter. Near the beginning of April, 1998, caves.org was officially moved from a server in Huntsville, Alabama to a new server in Dallas, Texas. The new server has proven to be more functional, cheaper, and adds the important ability for the NSS to host webpages for it's Internal Organizations.
Progress: The following I/O's now maintain web sites on the NSS server:
Grottos:
Tennessee Central Basin Grotto
Glacier Grotto
Central Indiana Grotto
Nashville Grotto
Bexar Grotto
Oregon Grottos
Pine Mountain Grotto
DC Grotto
Kentucky River Caving Club
Harrison Crawford Grotto
Sections:
Human Sciences Section
Cave Conservation and Management Section
Video Section
Survey and Cartography Section
Cave Diving Section
Conservancies:
Indiana Karst Conservancy
Conservation Task Forces:
Central Oregon CTF
Publications:
American Caving Accidents
NSS News
Speleodigest
Committees:
Cave Conservation Committee
Regions:
Southwestern Region
The website also welcomes the addition of a new advertiser, Speleo Technics who joins Speleobooks and Inner Mountain Outfitters as external organizations who support the NSS website.
A shopping cart has also been added to the NSS bookstore which has significantly increased second quarter sales compared to 1997 second quarter sales. Exact percentages are not known and as such will not be published until the winter business meeting.
Since April 8, 110 new members have joined via the NSS website. This compares to roughly 90 members joining betwen April and July in 1997. This increase in the number of new members joining via the website can be partially attributed to the secure server which the NSS now has access to.
Plans: Most of the plans for the following quarter revolve around continued cleaning of the site, designing a revamped opening page, and creating a special page that lists all I/O's that have a site on the NSS server. Currently, the majority of I/O's pages are NOT linked via the main home page; it is important for the NSS to support the individual organizations that help the NSS website grow and drawing attention to their pages is one way to do so.
Headquarters Facilities Committee
Greg Freese
763 Telephone Tower Rd
Laceys Spring AL 35754
gfreese@bmtc.mindspring.com
No report
NSS Library Committee
Vacant
Office Automation Committee
Phil Winkler
816 Washington St
Wilmington DE 19801-1510
72426.1153@compuserve.com
Since the Huntsville Board meeting I've worked to stabilize the office computer environment and help the staff become familiar with the many new tools at their disposal.
The EC is still experimenting with using remote access to the information systems at the office and this is expected to continue for a few months.
At this point, virtually all data used in the day to day operations of the office is available in either NSSTrak or LedgerMaster. The two database systems, written in DataEase, share information and update themselves when the office manager decides it is necessary.
Both systems are multi-user and are able to be running at the same time under the Win95/Novell network on both workstations. Remote access is via PCAnywhere/DOS 5.0 using a dedicated pc as a communications server. I plan to move to PCAnywhere 8/32 for Win95 at Convention.
There are NO plans to move to Win98 at this point. Win98, from my review, offers no advantages to the business of the NSS at this time. In fact, existing hardware and software might not work with it. However, testing will continue.
All NSS members wishing to share information, files, etc., with the office should ensure they send documents or data in formats compatible with the Office software. At this time that is Word6 in Office95 and other programs in the 95 Suite. If in doubt, send a file in a format compatible with anything, such as Text or Lotus or coordinate with Office, first.
In the near future I plan to provide/seek additional training in the existing systems as well as generate user documentation for day-to-day operations.
Speleo-Museum Committee
Craig Hindman
7600 Pindell School Rd
Fulton MD 20759
tiderman@erols.com
Photo Archives Committee
Karen Kastning
PO Box 1048
Radford VA 24141-0048
kkastnin@runet.edu