Attachment A-1
President's Report
AGI Outreach Liaison
Awards Committee
Board Arrangements
Committee
Bylaws Committee
Fund Raising Committee
Government Liaison
Committee
Grants Committee
International Secretary
Legal Committee
Logistics Committee
Membership Committee
National Cave and Karst
Management Symposium Coordinator
Nominating Committee
NSS/KWI Liaison
NSS/NCKRI
Liaison
NSS/TNC Liaison
Planning Committee
Public Relations Committee
Recording Secretary
Secretary to the Board
Show Caves Liaison
Committee
2009 International Congress
Bid Ad Hoc Committee
Scott Fee, 205-437-9076, president@caves.org
There are 22 committees, commissions, publications, etc. in the Department of the President (PRES). In this report, I provide the name, phone number, and e-mail address of the chair of each committee or organization, followed by their report. The committee and sub-committee chairs have provided the information in this report, although I’ve made some spelling, formatting, and minor editorial adjustments.
For detailed address information of any committee chairman, please refer to the NSS Members Manual or the World Wide Web page.
Alternatively, you may contact me directly and I will furnish you with the appropriate contact information.
Plans:
Progress:
Ad Hoc Committees:
Problems:
Hazel Medville attended the AGI Leadership Conference and relates the following:
On May 6th and 7th I attended a meeting of the AGI (American Geological Institute) which was basically a meeting of the presidents and CEOs of the member societies. The major issues discussed were outreach to the public and K-12 education (the NSS is actually doing better than many in this area); GeoScienceWorld.org; undergraduate geoscience programs; and the federal government science program.
GeoScienceWorld.org is an AGI sponsored web site for society juried technical publications. It will be indexed and members of the societies using this method of publication will have password protected access to their society publications and for an additional fee to the newsletters of other societies. Libraries and others will subscribe to the service; individuals may order individual re-prints of interesting articles. The profit will be divided among the AGI societies contributing to the service. It will cost something for each year of publications added to this service; a full set of historic publications in PDF format can be indexed for a set fee of $100 if added by this summer and at a higher cost later. There is a web site with the same name as the organization.
AGI will be outlining a series of course/skill descriptions for undergraduates planning careers in geoscience. We'll need a contact for karst oriented careers. The time line is to have a straw man by the November general meeting.
The federal science program was described by staffers on the White House and House science and technology committees. They both said that Scientists need to get political! In other words if we want to get our programs recognized we need to lobby and make the lobbying professional. I did meet the AGI government liaison person and plan to spend some time with her in lobbying and perhaps attending some meetings.
Some other points:
- societies consider their annual meetings as profit centers
which help support their programs
- many of the societies are losing membership partially because
of the decline of geology majors
- publication of the journals is getting too expensive for many
of the societies and they are planning to go to electronic
publishing
- Minerological Society of America has experienced growth that
they attribute to their web site, a lecture series at rock shows
and changes in their requirements for new members (it may be
worth checking if they would carry Cave Minerals in their
bookstore - business@minsocam.org
)
-AAPG and other some of the other member societies (through AAPG)
offer health insurance (it ain't cheap) but it may be a service
that we can offer our members; besides traditional US health
insurance they offer an overseas policy.
- there is an annual meeting of state legislators this year in
Salt Lake City in July after the convention; I may help man a AGI
members booth. I'll see if I'm contacted; if I am, I'll need
annual reports and pamphlets to hand out. (And maybe a copy or
two of Cave Minerals for a door prize.)
Carol Zokiates (Liaison), 540-382-5437, zokaites@usit.net
Plans:
to stay in touch with the AGI group.
Progress:
Things just don't happen 3 times a year!
Problems:
none
Bill Tozer (Chairman), 765-778-3259, wtozer@aol.com
Committee Members:
Barbara am Ende,Gale Beach, Evelyn Bradshaw, Bill Bussey, Donald
G. Davis, Michael Dyas, Scott Fee, Dr. Daniel Fong, Jeanne Hill,
Dr. Cato O. Holler, Jr., Mike K. Hood, Roy Jameson, Pat Kambesis,
Charles V. Larson, Dr. Charles A. Lundquist, William Mixon, G.
Thomas Rea, Geary M. Schindel, Gordon L. Smith, Jr, Linda Starr,
Lee Stevens, Dr. George Veni
Progress:
The Awards committee recommendations were presented to
the Board at the March meeting. These and the HM and OS awards
were designated at that meeting. Recipients have been notified so
that they may attend the convention. The HM and OS certificates
have been prepared. Everything is on schedule for the convention
awards program.
Plans:
The power point program of award winners will be prepared for the
awards presentation. The annual Awards committee meeting will be
held at the convention. This year the first hour of the meeting
will be open to the membership. The intent is to describe the
different awards, provide suggestions on how to write a
nomination, and answer questions.
A call for nominations will be sent to the NSS NEWS for the September issue.
The committee is also working to develop an Awards page for the NSS website.
Problems:
As always, the awards committee needs support of the
Society by providing good nominations for all awards.
Mike Hood (Chairman), mhood@caves.org
Plans:
Continue to contact internal organizations via e-mail,
articles and the Internet about hosting meetings. Announcements
will also be published in the NSS News and various discussion
boards and e-mail groups.
Progress:
The Birmingham Grotto is hosting the Fall 2004 meeting
in Birmingham, Alabama, and the Heldersberg-Hudson Grotto is
hosting the Fall 2005 meeting in Albany, New York, the weekend
after the National Cave and Karst Management Symposium. There is
a bid from the Texas Cave Management Association and Bexar Grotto
to co-host the Spring 2005 Board of Governors meeting in San
Antonio, Texas. The bid should be on the agenda for this meeting.
Contact for this bid is Geary Schindel. The next open meeting is
Spring 2006.
Problems:
None at this time.
Tom Rea (Chairman), 765-653-4423, tomrea@caves.org
Progress:
Item 12c at the spring meeting in Las Vegas was referred
to the Bylaws Committee for a report at the fall meeting. I
completed the report soon after the meeting and forwarded it to
the president who forwarded it to the Board.
Plans:
Respond when my cage is rattled.
Problems:
None.
Eve Proper (Chairman) eproper@iupui.edu
Progress:
Since I’m brand-new to this position, there
isn’t much progress to report. I’ve been talking with
Ted Kayes, the former chairman, as well as Scott and some of the
Board as to what has been done and what ought to be done.
I could come up with endless ideas of what to do, but I prioritized two items: Getting the online donation site working again and planning an event for convention. The first item, which, while pretty simple, is important and was finally resolved on June 9th. My plan is to man a booth promoting the Stash the Cash program during lunch time. Details are still in the works.
For the first quarter of 2004, the MBNA credit card royalties brought in $1,258.60. Since we budgeted for $4,000 in revenue over the whole year, that would be $1,000 for the quarter, so we’re ahead of projections.
Plans:
I want to talk with Stephanie to find out the mechanics
of how we acknowledge gifts, as well as what information is
provided to me from the office. I’d like to know what sort
of information is available without asking staff to do a ton more
work.
I think the most important thing is that we’ve been afraid to ask for money, except in the case of specific programs, such as Great X. Donations are not pushed at renewal time or at any other time. While we don’t have a 10-person development staff, there are some simple best practices we can implement without great cost or overwhelming effort. Asking for money doesn’t have to be painful.
First, I would like to move the annual honor roll of donations from the manual to the NSS News. I know that when the manual comes in the mail, I don’t open it until I need to look someone up. Most members probably never even see the list of who gave. Donors deserved to be thanked in a more public forum, and an annual or quarterly list in the News would fit that criteria. This is something that would need to be discussed with not only the Board but also Dave Bunnell.
Second, when renewal time comes up, something stronger than "check here for an optional donation" is needed. A short paragraph encouraging additional support to the NSS is a relatively easy, painless way to make the ask. Members should be told not only what is in it for them but also what is in it for the NSS. Along similar lines, when the funds to donate to are listed, they should be in priority order. While all our funds are important, I think Save the Caves and general unrestricted assets ought to be at the top of the list. There should also be a push for the Sustaining membership. It’s a great deal because – assuming you live for longer than it takes to finish paying for it, or 10 years – you save yourself money on dues later, and you don’t take anything away from the NSS, because the funds are invested and not immediately spent. And unlike $600 at once, it’s affordable for a lot of our members.
Third, Doug Medville pointed out that part of the job description for the position is inaccurate; it mentions the General Fund, which doesn’t exist. In most organizations, money donated to operating expenses is called the annual fund, and it’s the place most donors start giving. It doesn’t have the sexiness of giving to a named, finite project, but it’s not as hard to get people to give to it as you might expect – a few board members have suggested it is so difficult as to not be worth doing. Yet other organizations do it successfully. Donors understand there are ongoing regular costs for any organization. Whether or not this is the fundraising focus, however, I think it would be good for the manual to be accurate as to what funds exist.
Problems:
None yet. I’m sure issues will crop up later.
Hazel Medville (Chairman), 703-860-0134, hazelmedville@verizon.net
Progress:
Plans:
Problems:
None.
Donna Cobb (Chairman) 205-987-0872, dndcobb@bellsouth.net,
Committee Members: Jennifer Pinkley, Carol Childress, Eric Johnson, Andy Messer, Kyle G. Crider, & Tom Hagood.
We have requested multiple foundation, government organization, and granting bodies applications and await the 2003/2004 NSS audited financial documentation and information required in grant applications.
We are discussing the development of a marketing package folder and/or brochure to supplement the existing NSS literature in an effort to introduce and market the Society to foundations and granting organizations with Judi Lynch, a professional graphic designer.
The Grant Committee continues to grow with the addition of several experienced grant writers and interested cavers willing to give of their time.
As stated in our previous 2004 report the viable funding opportunities are:
Goals:
To work with the various committees to develop short-term (three to five years) and long-term (five years and beyond) funding goals and objectives for:
To appear professional, innovative and to stand out from the hundreds of applicants, the NSS Grant Committee needs clear and concise long and short- term goals for every grant application submission. In addition, we have not yet received the 2004 NSS audited financial statement required for submission of applications for funding.
Thanks to the teamwork and participation of various committees Chairpersons, we have a continually growing list of objectives, needs and goals for the future of the NSS. We are keeping records of the requests received and will address the needs of the various committees as soon as it possible to request funding on their behalf.
Until we obtain an audited financial statement from the NSS we are unable to submit any grant requests on behalf of the NSS so no progress towards the submission of grant requests have been made since our previous 2004 report.
Additional thoughts based on Grant Committee discussions:
The Grant Committee is ready with our applications and willing to work with the various offices to make our quest to help the NSS a more efficient and viable process. We have excellent funding resources and are ready to go once we have the financial documentation necessary to submit for funding. These financial data are long overdue and without them, we are helpless to meet any of the NSS goals for funding. The reality is that we are unable to do anything to meet the funding needs of the NSS without this data.
John L. Moses (Secretary), 915-921-0535, johnmoses@excite.com
Eleanor Larson (Committee Member) Santa Barbara, CA
Tom Lera (Committee Member) Falls Church, VA
Plans:
Progress:
Problems:
Joel B. Stevenson (Chairman), 828-669-0126, cavelaw@jbs-law.com
Progress:
I have addressed the following matters since the date of
the last quarterly report. The most recent, and the most
involved, was a review of the proposed Cooperative Agreement
between the Society and the National Park Service. I sent you a
fairly detailed report, which I incorporate by reference,
[although I won't attach it again] and it should be considered as
part of this quarterly report. The numerous problems with the
proposed contract are treated in that report and I won't repeat
them here except to say that a lot of changes need to be made
before I will be comfortable with the idea of the Society signing
it. The other matters have been more or less routine, and I think
that all of them are concluded.
The activities this quarter were:
Problems:
There are no problems of which I am aware other than the
matters discussed in my report on the proposed Journal
cooperative agreement. Right now, other than the problem for
someone of addressing them, they are only potential problems
because the agreement has not been entered into.
Plans:
I will remain available to address any inquiries that I
receive regarding legal questions or possible legal problems. I
anticipate getting a few inquiries in regard to the proposed
cooperative agreement.
Roswell Jones (Chairman), (H) 412-367-3522, wrj48221@attbi.com
Progress:
Since the last board meeting I have maintained the
voting machine. I’ve also tried to contact Jim Olsen, no
luck. The voting machine was in Las Vegas, as promised. I have
purchased parts for the spare laminator and repaired it. I
shipped one laminator to Kathy Welling.
Plans:
The voting machine will be in Michigan as per schedule.
Pending:
I’m still holding the parts for the new voting
machine waiting for some plans.
Eric Weaver, Chairman, weaverem@uc.edu
Progress:
The membership committee is in the early stages of
development. Essentially, we are still in the fact-finding stage.
There is currently a concern due to a decrease in membership with
the National Speleological Society (NSS). Much of this appears to
be a result of a loss in membership during a certain time period
followed by marginal growth and some losses in membership during
the years that followed.
Plans:
Realistically, the current decline seems to be related
to the current economic crisis. It is during these times that
organizations should focus primarily in retaining their current
members. Recruitment is often difficult during these times. We
need to set in place a way to make individual contact with
members when they drop out e.g. exit interview. In some
instances, we may be able to resolve the issue that lead to the
person dropping membership.
The other aspect to this is that we need to determine a long-term approach to membership. In the future it is unrealistic to not think we will have bad years. There are many external events that will decrease the number of members in any organization. If our membership growth is only marginal, the bad years will affect us more severely. Right now is a perfect example of this. Our long-term ideal would be to create a cushion for the bad years by substantially increasing enrollment. In order to regain our losses we need to become more aggressive in our approach to membership. The dilemma becomes how do you aggressively recruit new members and at the same time stay within the philosophy of the NSS and maintain the profile that we desire. We can do much of this by working to regain lost members and retaining our newer members. One effort we will need to pursue is to evaluate why we have lost previous members. Are we providing the services that they expect? Did they leave for financial reasons-do they know about General Membership rate and would this make a difference? We should also work to make contact with members who drop out after their first year in the NSS. Perhaps they are not made aware of what the NSS has to offer or are not able to connect with the local grottos.
We also need to look at the possibility of advertising. Finding media that is appropriate to advertise in brings us back to concerns regarding the image of the NSS and what the effects will be of creating a higher public profile. Several scientific and environmental magazines have been suggested as places to advertise. Demographically, most of these subscribers are older adults that would not interpret our advertisement as an opportunity for a "thrill-based" adventure. Additionally, advertising in grotto newsletters and asking the grottos to encourage members to join the NSS is an obvious method. Another area that may useful would be by encouraging the further development of college-based grottos. The other part to advertising is the question as to whether or not we provide the services that would make someone want to join our organization. We should evaluate exactly what is the incentive for someone to join our organization.
In summary, the plan is as follows:
1) Retention through exit interviews/Problem solving
2) Re-establishing contacts with former members and assisting new members with linking to local groups
3) Advertisement within appropriate boundaries. Expanding our services and including incentives.
Problems:
The committee is in the early part of its development.
Cheryl Jones (Coordinator) 703-442-8499, cheryl.caver@verizon.net
Plans:
The NCKMS Steering Committee will meet on Tuesday
morning of the NSS Convention.
Progress:
The NCKMS sponsored the first Cave Conservancy Workshop
in April, which was organized by Jeff Bray and Mike Warner.
Problems:
None
Montana Autumn Spencer (Chairman) 513 793 7789, Cavrbab@earthlink.net
Brent M. Grist, 50247SU, Verification Teller
David D Seng, 24371RE, Committee Member
Plan:
Progress:
Problems:
Problem 1: Obvious low response of members willing to
run in the election and subsequently serve on the Board. 47
members declined the opportunity to run, 5 accepted the
nomination, and several others asked for future consideration. It
has been suggested to me that this year's low turnout may be due
to last year's high turnout with some of the membership feeling
their opportunity to win greatly reduced against so many
opponents and that next year, after having had a small list of
contenders, the willingness of cavers to run and serve will again
be higher. (A cyclical theory I cannot control and just have to
accept.)
Problem 2: Return rate decreased this year by 5%. Is this relational to number of candidates on the ballot? To find the positive in this, I'll consider this good statistical data to track in coming years.
Kelly Norwood (Chairman), 770-723-9040; email kelly_norwood@dnr.state.ga.us
Plans:
The KWI has several items on their table. An
encyclopedia of karst topics and the Special Publication from the
Epikarst Conference (sponsored by KWI last fall) will both be
published soon. These publications will be available from the KWI
web site (http://www.karstwaters.org/),
and also likely through Speleobooks, from Ms. Emily Davis. KWI is
also working on the Benchmark book, which will compile many of
the ‘pioneering papers’ in karst science from the past
50 years or more.
KWI persons are also involved in a Geological Society of America (GSA) Special Publication that will honor William White and Derek Ford of the KWI for their many contributions to karst science.
Aside from their publications, KWI is planning two karst science conferences for 2006. One of these entitled Paleoclimate: The Karst Record will be co-sponsored by the GSA. Final titles, locations, and dates of these conferences will be announced at a later date.
As always, my plans are to continue to forward all KWI information out to the NSS membership, and to promote open communication between NSS scientists (of which KWI persons are included) about their science projects. I also want to promote environmental research by getting KWI sponsored conferences and workshops posted on EPA conference, session, and continuing education web boards/lists.
Progress:
One thing that was not mentioned in my last report.
During the GSA meeting last fall, Will White and Derek Ford were
honored for their vast contributions to karst science. These two
karst scientists have written both books and many articles to
further karst science and are among the most influential karst
scientists of our day. William White is a key board member with
the KWI. They were honored upon their retirement at last
year’s GSA meeting in Seattle with a special reception. I
was unable to attend this meeting, but I heard it was a wonderful
event.
This March, KWI held their annual meeting Howe Caverns in New York. I was unable to attend the meeting, but I heard it was a wonderful event put together by Emily Davis. KWI used the meeting time to make decision on what conferences they would next sponsor and to discuss their upcoming publications (mentioned above). The meeting was used to award the first William Wilson scholarship, which was created for master’s degree program students with a study in karst science.
Several KWI awards were also given at the meeting. Dr. Carol Wicks presented two President Service Awards to Joan Mylroie and Peg Palmer for their service to KWI. Also, Dr. Aurthur N. Palmer was presented with the KWI Lifetime Achievement Award for his many contributions to karst science and to the KWI. Dr. Palmer was a key player in developing the KWI as it is today, and has participated in most every aspect of the KWI from conference planning, giving presentations, writing articles, and editing publications.
There are no announcements at this time; however, I will try to keep folks posted on upcoming conferences as I hear about them.
Problems:
None.
Pat Seiser, 505-887-7356, e-mail: pseiser@earthlink.net
Progress:
I have been in contact with the Director of the National
Cave and Karst Research Institute, Louise Hose. Louise has been
very good about keeping in contact with me.
Plans:
Since I now live in Carlsbad, New Mexico, I will be able
to meet with Louise Hose and other NCKRI personnel in person,
this should facilitate interactions between myself, the NSS and
NCKRI.
Problems:
I was out of contact with people from mid-May to
mid-June, which prevented interaction in a timely manner. I am
back on line now and will be able to catch up on NCKRI/NSS
interactions. This should not be a problem in the future.
Rane L. Curl (Liaison) 734-995-2678, ranecurl@umich.edu
Rob Robbins (Committee Member)
Progress:
No new developments to report.
Plans:
I will continue to try to obtain responses from TNC
Problems:
I have not been able to devote much time recently.
David Luckins, (Chairman) deluckins@aol.com
Plans (Short Term):
1. Benchmark proposed plan development process against other environmental organizations to determine:
a. Membership Attitude Surveys
i. How do they determine member support?
ii. How often are surveys conducted?
b. Strategic Goal Setting Process
i. What process is followed?
ii. Who manages the process
c. Available Resources
i. What commercial services are used?
2. Populate the Committee;
a. Specific members (with aligned skills) have been invited to participate
Ad has been placed in the News for interested members.
Progress:
Pump has been primed and we’re awaiting responses.
(From the Feb 2004 report: A primer broadly outlining the
strategic planning process has been prepared to provide the Board
with a common language. This 14 page report and can be found here.
Problems:
None
Jay Jorden (Chairman) 214-202-6611, jjorden@texoma.net
Committee Members: Matt Bowers, David McClurg, Jack Hissong, and Sandra Hissong.
Progress:
It’s been a busy four months for the committee. The
information needed for an NSS PR Committee "press
office" on the NSS Internet site has been supplied to the
web designer, who is imminently to launch it. As a precursor, we
updated draft background materials for distribution through the
site and also supplied a press release regarding payment by the
Cave Vandalism Deterrence Reward Commission of a reward to an
anonymous tipster through the Greater Springfield Area Crime
Stoppers Inc. in Springfield, Mo., for information leading to
arrests and convictions of two people for destruction at
Riverbluff Cave in 2002. That release, issued jointly with a
Crime Stoppers statement, was picked up by news services and
other media. The committee has also answered inquiries from
ABC’s Good Morning America program and other media contacts.
It is helping with publicity related to the proposed U.S. bid for
the International Congress of Speleology in 2009. And it’s
been keeping up with requests for information from Society
members and media representatives.
Details:
The committee has continued working with Melanie S.
Peterson in development of Public Relations Committee pages for
the NSS Web site. The pages are set up in draft presentation for
formatting purposes. The efforts were slowed for a time by
problems with the Internet host for the NSS site. One component
of the committee’s virtual "press office" is a
background sheet that has been repeatedly updated. It will
receive more NSS board review before final posting. Other
material sent to the webmaster for the site includes news
release(s) and contact information.
The committee is working with George Veni and John Moses on the ICS bid, specifically on a request for speleological displays to be exhibited in advance of the 2005 International Congress of Speleology in Greece.
The committee has worked with a writer for ABC’s Good Morning America and other media representatives during the report period. Committee work also included helping the Gem State Grotto and other NSS internal organizations with distribution of news and information. The committee worked closely with the Cave Vandalism Deterrence Reward Commission and the Greater Springfield Crime Stoppers in Missouri on publicity relating to a reward given for convictions in the 2002 Riverbluff Cave vandalism.
Other Committee contacts during the report period also included National Geographic regarding an article on Cueva Cheve in Oaxaca, Mexico; a newspaper reporter for a Missouri newspaper on a grotto’s conservation work, a freelance writer and a book author.
Plans:
The committee’s objective calls for launching the
public relations component to the NSS Web site imminently.
Problems:
As always, please let me know of any specific PR
concerns or needs either from the officers or the board.
Lee Stevens, stevenslee@adelphia.net.
Progress:
The draft minutes of the March 2004 Board of Governors
meeting have been circulated, corrected and posted on the web.
Plans:
Timely production of the Board of Governors meeting
minutes.
To further pursue development of a computer-based method for recording the motions and votes during the Board meetings. A NSS member has expressed interest in developing a new vote recording system. No time frame has been established for completion of the system.
Problems:
None at the moment.
Vince Kappler, 973-579-2116, vkappler@nac.net
Progress:
I created a new manual section specifically for NSS
grants and scholarships. Acts pertaining to grants and
scholarships were in several different sections of the manual and
presented a challenge to individuals as they searched for
information. The new section, Act Section 19 – Grants and
Scholarships, was posted to the web with the March ‘04
meeting updates. The new section was also included in the mailing
to committees and individuals that maintain a hard copy.
778 pages of manual updates from the March meeting were mailed in May. The volume was higher due to the new material described above.
I sent each officer a copy of the committees and personnel that are listed in their department for review. Changes and corrections were made to my files and forwarded to Tom Rea for posting to the web as necessary.
I have talked to several society members about my project of converting the manual files from WordPerfect to MS Word. We are evaluating different schemes to make the conversion easier while retaining the unique formatting and (hopefully) minimize re-keying on the hundreds of files.
Plans:
Continue to evaluate methods of converting the manual to
MS Word.
Prepare and circulate manual updates as quickly as possible.
Problems:
None at this time.
Gordon Smith (Chairman) 812-945-5721, glstis@aol.com
Progress:
Visited show caves from Kartchner (AZ) to Blue Springs
(IN). No specific problems to report. Insurance is a continuing
problem. Business is better than last year, which was a disaster
(economy?).
Plans:
Coordinate free or reduced rate admission rates at Show
Caves for Kentucky Speleofest and Indiana Cave Capers. Visit
other show caves this summer.
Problems:
None that I know of.
George Veni and John Moses, Co-Chairmen
Plans:
The following deadlines and plans have been developed by
the committee:
June 1, 2004 deadline:
All estimated subcommittee expenses need to reach the
committee Treasurer by this date to secure funding from the Board
during its July 2004 meeting. A website with at a
password-protected private section for committee use only will be
established.
July 15, 2004 deadline:
All information on trips, sponsorship, events, and
travel discounts will have been sent to the people preparing the
brochures, poster, and website. The committee will meet this week
during NSS Convention.
September 1, 2004 deadline:
The first version of the posters and brochures should be
printed and ready to travel to Hanoi for the UIS Bureau meeting
and the Trans-Karst Conference. The website should be updated by
this date to include a publicly accessible area that can be
announced internationally for people to visit.
December 15, 2004 deadline:
Updates in information on trips, sponsorship, events,
and travel discounts will have been sent to the people preparing
the brochures, poster, and website. Updates will include
consideration of comments and feedback from the distribution of
material at the Hanoi meetings.
February 1, 2005 deadline:
The second version of the posters and brochures should
be printed and ready to travel to Monterrey, Mexico, for the
FEALC Congress. The public portion of the website should be
updated by this point on a continuous basis as new information
becomes available. The first draft of the video will be available
for viewing in Monterrey. A delegation of ICS representatives to
the FEALC meeting in Monterrey will be established, the
PowerPoint presentation on the bid updated, and the promotional
materials in hand for distribution.
June 15, 2005 deadline:
Before leaving for Athens, all subcommittee chairs will
review and update all of the materials and information so it is
as current as possible for the production of the final version of
the promotional materials. This includes reviewing their assigned
tasks to make sure nothing has been overlooked. Updates will
include consideration of comments and feedback from the
distribution of material at the Monterrey meeting.
July 4, 2005 deadline:
The NSS Convention will meet in Huntsville, Alabama, the
week of 4 July 2005. A committee meeting will be scheduled to
discuss final details, organize the delegation to Athens, and
review the bid presentation.
August 1, 2005 deadline:
The final version of the posters and brochures should be
printed and ready to travel to Athens. The public portion of the
website should be up to date. The final version of the video will
be ready for viewing in Athens. All promotional materials will be
shipped to Athens, or divided among several cavers to avoid
shipping costs.
Progress:
San Antonio, Texas was selected by the NSS Board in
March 2004 as the U.S. site for bidding to host an International
Congress of Speleology in 2009. Since then, the committee has
moved to create several subcommittees to work on the many needed
tasks. Those subcommittees and their chairmen are:
Athens Booth - Sean Vincent
Brochures - Diana Tomchick
Facility coordination - George Veni
Field trips - Peri Frantz
Local events - Andy Grubbs
Poster - Jay Jorden
PowerPoint formal bid presentation - George Veni
Slogan and logo - Michael Dale
Sponsorship - Danielle Milam
Travel - Joe Ranzau
Treasurer - Hazel Medville
Video - Linda Palit
Visas - Linda Devine
Web site - Pat Kambesis
All of the subcommittees are active to meet a series of deadlines established to meet goals and key dates (see Plans).
Problems:
None
7/2/04