Operations Vice President Report
Archivist Report
Audio-Visual Committee (Slides) Report
Audio-Visual Committee (Video) Report
Cave Files Committee Report
Headquarters Facilities
Committee Report
Internal Organizations Committee
Report
Internet Committee Report
Market Analysis Committee Report
NSS Library Committee Report
NSS Operations Manager Report
Office Automation Committee Report
Photo Archives Committee Report
Speleo-Museum Committee Report
Mike Hood
23 Wells Avenue
Dayton, OH 45431-1420
(937) 252-2978
mhood@caves.org
The Department of the Operations Vice President consists of 12 committees, plus the NSS Operations Manager and the NSS headquarters in Huntsville, Alabama.
In this report, I provide the name, address, 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. If necessary, my comments are provided in Italics following the committee’s report.
PLANS:
The office is gearing up for the implementation of the credit card donation program. I’ve instructed Camille to work with Phil Winkler and Scott Fee to get the program ready. Phil goes into the process in more detail in his report. Scott has recommended the same software the Southeastern Cave Conservancy uses to monitor their credit card donation program. According to Scott, it is very reliable. I’ve authorized Camille to purchase the software, if necessary.
My time as Operations Vice President will be coming to a close at Convention 2000. I’m ensuring all my records and continuity book is up to date so that I can make the transition for the new OVP easier.
PROGRESS:
A high priority for the office was to hire the bookstore assistant. We’ve done this with the hiring of Mark Ruocco. He is a part-time employee and already has taken much of the burden off Camille.
PROBLEMS:
Radon at the office is very high and this concerns me very much. The radon levels were well above the acceptable limit and it appeared we might have had to spend several thousand dollars to get the problem corrected. Fortunately, we will have the work done for free (see Camille’s report for more details).
J. Reynolds Duncan, Jr.
153 Atria Drive
Toney, AL 35773-9515
(205) 852-4522
jrdandlld@aol.com
PLANS:
Acquire needed filing cabinets and use them to reorganize the archive material to facilitate the location and retrieval of material.
PROGRESS:
Responded to several requests for information.
PROBLEMS:
None.
Colin Gatland
1151 Crestwood Hills Drive
Vandalia, OH 45377-2714
(937) 890-0339
pitdropper@aol.com
PLANS:
Just staying on the same course right now as I last reported. The salon "Best of" slide show and Photo CDs will be started soon for the 2000 convention.
I also have an update to a Pennsylvania Caves slide show that was sent to me. I will update the show and plan on transferring it to video at the author's request. The videos will then be sent to Dave Socky for inclusion in the video library.
I will be starting on the USFS slide show for convention 2000 this spring.
PROGRESS:
The AV slide library seems to be holding up well. The maintenance costs still are high, however they seem to be slowing down somewhat. Avis has a good handle on the slide library and keeps me advised on any problems and maintenance requests, i.e. replacing slides, scripts, slide trays, etc.
I did manage to get hold of about a dozen used slide trays, mostly 140ct size. Avis had told me earlier to keep an eye out for 140ct trays.
Avis sends me monthly slide usage statements and I also get occasional e-mails from folks that reply to my request for comments about the slide shows they check out.
I was concerned about potential negative comments regarding the $100.00 deposit for slide shows, however I have yet to hear any comments, negative or positive. I therefore assume that the deposit policy is not a big deal with most folks that check out the slide shows.
PROBLEMS:
This is not directly my committee, however I was asked to help with photography, etc. for the NSS display. This was months ago and I know that Mike Hood, OVP, has made several attempts to get this thing rolling. I will have nearly zero time to devote to it now, so if all of a sudden folks wake up and realize that convention is upon us and the $1,200.00 display is bare, I will most likely not be able to commit time to it. I offered to work on it but nothing seems to have been done and my free time is just about taken up.
The display was used at the National Cave and Karst Management Symposium and Colin did a great job on the graphics for it. The display is at the office and is waiting for someone to take the lead in putting together a nice display—perhaps the Public Relations Committee?
David Socky
6572 Woodbrook Drive, SW
Roanoke, VA 24018-5402
(703) 989-7693
sockydr@roava.net
PLANS:
Video about Floyd Collins:
Last year, Bill Halliday approached me about producing a video about Floyd Collins based on 16 mm newsreel clips from the 1920s. These film clips were all taken during and after the Collins rescue attempt. This past Fall I drove to Knoxville where I met Bill, and with a rented 16mm projector, I copied the film clips onto digital video tape using a Sony PD100 digital camera.
Hopefully, sometime this fall, I will be able to produce a 10- to 15-minute video on Floyd Collins based on Bill’s newsreel clips. This will be an NSS production, to be used in the AV Library and sold through the NSS bookstore.
Vertical history remake:
After making additional copies of AV Library videos, Alex Sproul noted the poor duplication quality of Peter Grants’ "History of Vertical Caving." Alex contacted me about a possible remake of this video. He said it would be a shame to lose some of the historic footage this video included. To make a long story short, I contacted Peter Grant, and obtained permission to produce a remake of this show. I now have Peter’s first generation edit copy on SVHS tape, and expect to have something complete in time for the NSS Convention this year. In today’s digital world, re-mastering this video ought to improve the picture and sound quality by an order of magnitude. The distribution copies should be almost as good as the SVHS edit copies I received from Pete.
Plans for an updated video on vertical caving:
In making plans for the remake of "A History of Vertical Caving" Bill Cuddington said that if there were any plans to make a video on current US vertical techniques, he would be willing to help out. Peter Grant liked this idea and offered to shoot some raw footage at the NSS Convention this year. I also believe that a program of this type would be very popular. I am sure there will be some talk about it at the Convention this year.
PROGRESS:
Purchase of a new Video/Computer Projector:
I am still in the process of finding the best make and model. Alex Sproul sent a web site location where you can get some fairly good deals. I plan on having a new projector in time for the NSS Convention
Rental feedback cards:
Nothing has been done yet
New AV Catalog:
No progress.
PROBLEMS:
Time
I never seem to have enough time to do all the things I would like to do. Things have gotten minimally better after the Convention, but not good enough to make this a thrilling report.
Richard Blenz
8070 W. Eller Road
Bloomington, IN 47403
(812) 825-2345
rblenz@indiana.edu
PLANS:
To continue as in the last 25 years or so.
PROGRESS:
About 250 new cave entries were added to the Files in 1999. I have also written a missile listing some 16,000 place names of points of interest inside of caves. No descriptions of features but showing the place name and the cave and state in which it occurs. There are about 240 "Big Room" notations for instance. This all may be of some use to someone if they want to contact me about place names. One person from the UK contacted the Cavers Net asking about place names he found on old cave pictures with no cave mentioned. I traced most of it to Luray Caverns in VA.
PROBLEMS:
No problems at all.
Position vacant.
Jim Hall has been nominated for chairman of this committee and his confirmation is on the agenda for this board meeting.
Evelyn Bradshaw
10826 Leavells Road
Fredericksburg, VA 22407-1261
(703) 898-9288
ebradshw@staffnet.com
PLANS:
Do I ever have plans! I am thinking how best to expand the I/O Committee so as to divide the work among more people. This will also work toward eventual replacement of me if and when. First, on receiving the annual Nittany Grotto report from Keith Wheeland, staff at State College, it occurred to me that here was the kind of person who could deal with I/Os. I asked him and he expressed interest. We have corresponded about minor details, such as does he have lots of storage space (no, and the division will probably be to send this year's reports to him and I'll keep the rest and try to find time to start weeding out what needs to be kept active and sending the rest to the NSS Archives). Whether it's Keith, or someone else, part of the plan would be to have co-chairs of the Committee with one handling annual reports, follow-up, and transmission to the Members Manual, and the other handling new applications, review of constitutions and bylaws, and maintenance of the new grotto reference packet. Both persons would deal with troubleshooting.
At convention 2000 there will be the usual I/O roundtable, but I plan to keep it short--just a chance for representatives who'd like to complain or make suggestions for improvement, etc., and then take the rest of the afternoon for planning reorganization of the work for the coming year(s). Included would be the current committee, which includes Gary Bush, Keith Wheeland, Maureen Handler (for the Members Manual), and Bill Karpowicz (Membership Committee). One major agenda item will be just how much change will have to be made in the computer report program that, (a) the part that is used by grottos reporting and (b) the part that has been used to transfer new data from the grottos to the master I/O files and then (c) to transfer directory data to the editor of the Members Manual.
As implied above, one future plan is to clear enough time to work on getting much more I/O files moved to the NSS archives. I suspect there will be at least two full-size filing cabinets just of what I already know should be moved. Will that put a strain on the archive facility? They can come with filing cabinets eventually but during the weeding out process I'll probably not empty both cabinets until the job is about finished.
PROGRESS:
Reports for 1999 are pouring in. About January 15 I ran a computer list of reports that had already been processed and came up with only about 50. However, I already had probably that many that had come in that week and there had not been time to process them yet. And they are still coming.
Two major mailings were done in the fall. One went by bulk mail and included, as well as the notice of the new month-earlier deadline for reports and an outline of the grotto report form (this replaces sending two copies of the 3-page form--the outline can be followed with the responder providing requested data as an email message or a regular mailed letter), an analysis of the Congress of Grottos and to what extent it is representative of the entire membership, and information based in part on an article by Cheryl Jones in the Cavers Digest about using communications within the Society and in part talking up opportunities for volunteer service to NSS.
The second mailing was primarily focused on those who might report using the computer program and was sent by e-mail to grottos that had given an e-mail address in the reports for 1998. Since this will apparently reduce the number of grottos not on that list to a number that would not qualify for bulk mail, some study should be made to see if the cost saving of e-mail will be offset by the extra cost of sending the rest by regular first-class mail. Factor into this, of course, that e-mail is received practically overnight and bulk mail takes from 10 to 30 days.
Moving up the report deadline seemed to work, although some with January/February elections complained. The usual work of answering inquiries about starting new grottos or reviving old ones continues, and charters are issued after a full review.
PROBLEMS:
Enough has already been said about the fact that there is need for more workers.
One was born at the Idaho convention where all the mobile homes etc. were parked together. Owners compared notes and decided there was a need for a caving organization such as a grotto to meet the needs of this group that traveled a great deal, taking their homes with them. A sticking point was how to define the membership. NSS bylaws are quite specific in defining a grotto as composed of cavers in a particular geographic area and I would not accept "The United States" as such an area. The affinity group classification was unacceptable to them. One definition was to include cavers who wished to partake of caving opportunities outside their general area--which could attract every Tom, Dick, and Harry who liked to go to events like Speleofest, Hodag Hunt, OTR, etc, or who was unhappy with the leadership of their local grotto. They want to be called "Gypsies." Not everyone else likes that name, although when I threw "nomadic way of life" into the mix it met with more acceptance. Another try for a definition emphasized the travel aspect, but so broadly it would include every corporate official who frequently flew to New York, Los Angeles, or wherever on business. We are about to agree on a definition, however, including the nomadic word.
Joshua Abdulla
2744 Towne Drive
Carmel, IN 46032-9749
(812) 334-1294
joshua@caves.org
The Internet Committee (IC) is responsible for all aspects of the NSS Internet presence. This includes the NSS website (http://www.caves.org/), E-commerce initiatives, and all caves.org e-mail accounts.
Committee Members include:
Joshua Abdulla - Regular Maintenance/Administration
Gary Bush - Grotto Listing maintenance
Tom Rea - NSS Business Page
Camille Mueller - Online NSS Bookstore
Dave Socky - Online A/V Library
In addition, Mike Hood is now responsible for partial moderation of the NSS Discussion Board (http://www.caves.org/cavetalk/).
PLANS:
Diversify the management of the NSS website in order to reduce workload on the IC Chairman (Joshua Abdulla).
Effective March 1, 2000, three positions will be opened up in order to help with quality of service issues:
NSS E-commerce director - responsibilities include:
a. Support of NSS Online Bookstore (mainly to help maintain the NSS bookstore and shopping cart service).
b. Online fund raising activities.
NSS Website Content Manager - responsible for developing content for the NSS website.
NSS Online Support - responsible for answering general questions, re: the NSS website and filtering suggestions to the NSS Internet Committee.
PROGRESS:
Hundreds of people joining online and many bookstore orders
PROBLEMS:
NSS Shopping cart needs upgrading - approximate cost is $299.00.
The NSS website can be developed into an incredible tool for the Society and its membership. The possibilities of what can be accomplished electronically is almost endless. However, it will take money to make most of the innovations happen and we need to explore means of raising funds to support our website.
Michael Taylor
800 N. 14th Street
Arkadelphia, AR 71923-3810
(501) 246-2940
taylorm@hsu.edu
No Report Received.
Richard Downey
380 N. 600 East
Orem, UT 84097-4843
(801) 224-6678
cavediva@uswest.net
PLANS:
One very definite plan is to visit the library prior to the next Executive Committee meeting. I am also continuing to search for possible locations for the western satellite library.
PROGRESS:
Progress has been slow in this area, but there are a few nibbles. In a post I got from William Halliday he mentioned the possibility of approaching the Menlo Park, CA offices of the USGS. I am respectful of his concern for security, however it has been my experience in dealing with the federal government that once there, it nearly takes an act of congress to get things out. Academic institutions seem to have much the same problem, i.e., university libraries. I am looking more in the direction of a municipal or county size library, which could offer some semblance of security as well as a good balance of accessibility. I am doing some searching in this area.
PROBLEMS:
I was concerned by something Bill also said. He unilaterally debunked the eastern satellite as a failure when in fact it hasn't been officially established yet (at least according to Jack Speece). It has remained in his basement partly because there hasn't been the demand for something larger. I can't help but think it's because nobody has publicized its existence and also outlined how it is exactly to be used. Is it research only? Can there be lending or is it just on-site use only? Is it possible to make copies of items at x$ per page plus postage? These are parameters, which we need to sit down and discuss in light of existing policies and also looking toward the future. Also, how could FAX and e-mail enhance the system to the point of making information available to those who require it. So to call something a failure before it has begun is sheer shooting from the hip and blowing one's toe off. It is a slow birthing process here but I am still very optimistic about the whole program.
I very much favor the idea of satellite libraries and would like to see one in the west. Not only would satellite libraries benefit the membership in those regions, but it would also give us a fall-back in the event of catastrophic loss of the main library in Huntsville.
Camille Mueller
National Speleological Society, Inc.
2813 Cave Avenue
Huntsville, AL 35810
(256) 852-1300
manager@caves.org
PLANS:
Mark Ruocco, our newly hired Bookstore Assistant, will start training on ordering books, writing advertisements for the News and various guidebooks for regional events, entering and processing book orders, and entering memberships in the NSSTrak program. This will allow him to be a major help at bookstore events and when Avis is out of the office. I have not found time to do monthly advertisements in the NSS News. This was a problem as monthly ads will surely increase bookstore sales.
Bill will be learning more computer skills as we plan to slowly introduce him to the bookstore program. He has demonstrated outstanding computer skills during the past six months and we would like to see him continue to grow.
I will be on vacation March 24th through April 2nd. Avis will be closing the computer's month end during February so that she will be capable of closing March by herself (note: this is not closing the accounting, it is running monthly reports and setting the new period!).
PROGRESS:
We have added Mark Ruocco to our office staff. Mark and Bill have been working on updating and improving the NSS Bookstore web page. Mark has removed out of print books from the web page and added new arrivals. He has also been busy adding photos to the page and writing more in-depth book descriptions to help improve sales. We noticed that the day after we added a picture and a description to the book American Miners' Carbide Lamps by Gregg S. Clemmer, we sold three copies. We had not sold a copy of that book for a least a month. We hope to see a significant jump in on-line sales when they have completed the update.
Thanks to Paul Meyer, radon mitigation will start on March 1st. Our office tests were 68 and 72 pCi/Liter. To emphasis how high this is the risk of lung cancer is as great as smoking five packs of cigarettes a day. At a level 4 pCi/Liter, you are recommended to start mitigation. Paul checked Shelta cave as a project for the state and discovered radon levels of 300 pCi/Liter and better. It was after this discovery that he asked if I wanted the office checked. After the two charcoal tests came back so high, we called three radon mitigation companies to come give us quotes. One company left a monitor for 48 hours at the office. The readings were consistent with the charcoal test in both the library and the office. One company quoted us a $4,800.00 price and the other company was not sure they could do the job. Paul contacted some people in the state and got us set up as the state's classroom project for radon mitigation. This means that we get all the work and materials for free. Jack Hughes is the contractor the state uses to teach their classes. Once he talked to Paul about us, he decided to do more research on our organization and looked at our web page. He was so impressed that he joined our society. The mitigation will take three days. The mitigation process involves drilling into the foundation and installing large pipes and fans to pull the radon gas out of the foundation and pull it outside. It will also involve filling in all cracks and crevices in the foundation. It might also involve pulling the air out of the concrete block walls of the building. Due to the large amount of dust and noise, we will not be answering the phones during those three days. We will probably use these days to clean up the White House.
The office accounting is moving along well. Dave Irving came to Huntsville in January and we worked on getting October and November closed along with getting financial reports to the officers. I am almost ready (February 14th) to close December's books and start on the January closing. As you will notice in Paul Stevens' report, we have scheduled our first audit to be performed by an independent accountant for mid May. Dave Irving and I will be working hard the first of May to close out the year. This will be our second year end closing on the LedgerMaster Accounting program and we anticipate no problems.
PROBLEMS:
None that are significant or cannot be solved!
Mark is a welcome addition to the office and already has taken much of the bookstore burden off of Camille. We’re glad to have him on board. The radon levels are a real concern of mine and I want to ensure we continue to monitor the radon levels even after the mitigation is complete.
Phil Winkler
816 N. Washington Street
Wilmington, DE 19801-1510
(302) 571-1156
pwinkler@plmconsulting.com
PLANS:
A. I am currently generating email messages from the database which are placed into the Drafts folder of Netscape Messenger where they can be reviewed and then emailed. NSSTrak automatically inserts the email address. The concept is that if members elect to have their renewal notices sent via email instead of regular mail, they can elect this option. This could produce a significant reduction in paper handling and postage since over 30 percent of our membership have email addresses.
I recommend that this be a check-the-box option on our Membership application and Renewal Notice. Perhaps BOG action is necessary for this.
B. Initiate a pilot project to create a DataEase for Windows (DFW) interface to NSSTrak. The initial goal would be to create a single screen of 800 x 600 resolution containing:
This information is currently available in NSSTrak only by viewing multiple screens or multiple reports. I feel this consolidation of data on one screen will provide the user a tremendous amount of information about a member and make decisions easier and more accurate. It is the ability to provide more data on a single screen that provides the most benefit from using a Windows based database program. The screen size in a CUI (Common User Interface or DOS) is limited to 80 columns and 24 lines. The GUI (Graphical User Interface or Windows) eliminates this by using smaller fonts.
C. Improve remote access via modem to the databases in the Office. The current system is DOS based and has worked quite well during the lengthy development process (5 years and counting!). However, with the exception of printing, newer Windows based versions of the remote access software are becoming increasingly desirable for their stability and richer feature set. This will probably require a new workstation (Win98) and software upgrades.
D. Increase BOG understanding of our systems. I think it critical that the BOG know what, why, and how the business of the NSS is carried out. Our business rules are very complex and have been developed over many years. Our membership rules alone are enough to give anyone a headache (just ask Bill Mixon!), yet they are only a small part of the rules that govern our operations. Our financial rules, funds, subscriptions, donations, etc., are all managed by complex, highly customized relational databases. It is these databases that provide the information needed by our officers to make better, more informed, timely decisions. That’s the purpose, anyway. To that end, any BOG member may email me directly with questions: pwinkler@plmconsulting.com.
E. Increase the amount of information stored in NSSTrak. The success of the convention software has been quite disappointing and I have received zero data from its use. I believe that was one of the requirements established by the BOG a few years ago. If we could capture more information about who attends conventions and store this over a period of time we would have better data useful for planning and making projections for future conventions.
F. Explore alternative software solutions and operating systems. We currently have a state-of-the-business network, hardware and software. It should serve our needs for the next 10 years at a minimum. However, both the software and hardware industries continue to make maintaining the status quo extremely difficult. After all, if they made perfect products we wouldn’t ever have to buy anything from them again.
With that in mind, we try and select software and systems that are tried & true rather than trying to make something new (version 1.0) work. The sad fact is that most new products do not work as advertised, fail in their initial rollout and cost organizations large sums of money and time.
It is my plan to minimize failure by thoroughly evaluating our business needs and finding the one new product needed that best integrates with our existing computer systems environment.
PROGRESS:
The Office Novell network and software has been performing very well, permitting almost all NSS financial transactions to be managed in one software program, LedgerMaster, and the membership transactions in another program. The membership program, NSSTrak, ‘talks’ to the financial program by transferring financial transactions (dues, donations, etc.) to LedgerMaster, eliminating the need for redundant data-entry.
The database engine driving LedgerMaster and NSSTrak has been upgraded to the latest version, 5.15. This new version provides several advantages and benefits:
All software and hardware has been examined and upgraded where necessary to ensure Y2K compliance.
The ability to manage periodic donations via automatic charges to a credit card (CC Donation Program) was installed on February 3, 2000. This version is considered a working prototype and further enhancements or fine-tuning are likely and expected. This project took about 20 hours of work much of which was spent in more clearly explaining and defining the business rules governing its operation.
In general, these are the business rules defining the process as outlined by Cheryl and built into the CC Donation module:
1. Periodic donations may be made by NSS members.
2. Each donation may be for one (1) NSS fund.
3. Visa, MasterCard and Discover are the approved cards for use.
4. Donations to multiple funds may be done by creating separate donation records.
5. Donations may be made according the following frequencies:
a. One time
b. Monthly
c. Quarterly
d. Every six months
6. Donations continue until canceled by the donor via a written letter.
7. Donations will be charged during the month specified in the donation form by the donor. Donation dates may not be specified by a specific date, only by the month.
8. Credit card charges will be posted back to the database (NSSTrak), maintained in the database and periodically posted to LedgerMaster once charges are confirmed.
9. Charges refused (overdrawn, canceled credit card, etc.) will be referred to the donor via email or letter.
10. Periodic reports may be generated to assess the success of the credit card donation program.
11. The reason for the donation (NSS News, direct mail solicitation, friend, grotto meeting, etc.) will attempt to be recorded for tracking purposes.
NOTE: I don’t believe the reason for the donation is an entry on the present donation form. There should be a listing for the donor to check off. The list should be finite and not include the word Other. (That’s sort of a joke, folks.)
PROBLEMS:
The usual problems associated with any Windows based system have been experienced. These include memory leaks, instability, having to reboot, etc. Anyone in this day and age who uses a Windows computer is probably familiar with this.
Modem communications frequently are difficult to maintain. One reason for this may be the age of the workstation we are using, the condition of the wiring in the office and the general poor quality of telephone wiring throughout the southeast. To my knowledge none of the EC have ever connected successfully to the office. This could be because of equipment problems on their end or simply that the information they need is available through other sources.
Karen Kastning
P.O. Box 148
Radford, VA 24141-0048
(703) 639-4666
kkastning@runet.edu
No report received.
Craig Hindman
7600 Pindell School Road
Fulton, MD 20759
(301) 792-0742
ctiderma@ns.tssc.com
PLANS:
At some time in the next year the Museum should be on-line and connected to the NSS web page. I have not spent any of last year's budget of $700. To date I have not found the right digital camera with close up capability. Although this may have been a good thing as prices are coming down. I would like to request the same budget of $700, but again it will only be spent when the right camera becomes available.
PROGRESS:
Due to other things going on in my life, I have not spent as much time as I would like on the Museum. The Museum has had no new donations since the last report.
PROBLEMS:
None to add to those listed above.