Attachment A-1
President's
Report
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
Secretary to the Board
Show
Caves Liaison Committee
2009 International Congress Bid Ad Hoc
Committee
Scott Fee, 205-856-9177, president@caves.org
There are 21 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 chairman of each committee or organization, followed by their report. The committee and sub-committee chairmen 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 go to: http://www.caves.org/nss-business/bog/table-4d.html#President
Alternatively, you may contact me directly and I will furnish you with the appropriate contact information.
Plans:
Progress:
Ad Hoc Committees:
The 2009 Bid is developing exceptionally well.
Problems:
Motion Actions:
At the October 18, 2003 meeting of the NSS Board, the following resolution was passed:
"The President shall attempt to obtain easements for permanent access from private landowners owning land above Great X Cave to permit visitors to the Great X Cave Preserve to visit cave passages under their property. No new funding is authorized."
At the time of this motion, the NSS was still finalizing the Wyoming Boundary Adjustment. I felt strongly that I would not pursue any type of easement request of this nature until it was clear, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the NSS held title to the property that contains the entrance to Great X.
I reported in February the following: "…The NSS has executed our part of the Wyoming Boundary Adjustment and we expect the adjacent landowner to do the same by the end of February. The real estate attorney, upon receipt of the executed boundary adjustment, will then complete the legalities by filing the document with the county and obtaining a revised deed."
Subsequently after the March meeting, I reported that we had received the adjusted Warranty Deed. I then managed to completely forget about the October 18th motion until a Director mentioned it at convention. Earlier this month, when I realized I had yet to act on the motion, I contacted Bob Montgomery to discuss the situation. He plans to meet with John Scheltens on October 9th, discuss the situation, and formulate a plan to determine the extent of Wyoming Law regarding this proposal. In addition, he expects to give a report no later than November 5th that I may present to the Board and membership,
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, Dr Cato O. Holler, Jr., Mike K. Hood, Roy Jameson, Pat Kambesis, William Mixon, Tom Rea, Geary M. Schindel, Gordon L. Smith, Jr, Linda Starr, Lee Stevens, Dr George Veni
Progress:
The NSS 2004 awards were presented at the Marquette, MI
Convention. The list of recipients is included below. A power
point presentation was used to project photos of the recipients.
The digital presentation allows recipients to use prints, slides
and digital pictures. The power point program with photos is
stored on a CD for future reference. The call for 2005
nominations has been printed in the NSS News September issue.
Plans:
The committee encourages everyone to submit nominations.
Nominations are due by November 15, 2004. The awards selection
process will begin with the nomination deadline. All committee
members participate in the selection of each award. The OS and HM
awards are selected by the Board.
Problems:
The awards presenters were hard to hear in the back of
the banquet hall. The convention used the NSS speakers and
microphone. They borrowed an amplifier from the Terminal Siphons.
Banquet arrangements are always difficult for our sound system.
The NSS needs to look for a solution. Whether it is to have the
convention staff rent a better system or have the NSS improve our
sound set up. (Maybe four smaller speakers with a good
amplifier?)
As always, good nominations are needed for all awards. Otherwise no problems.
Awards presented at the 2004 NSS Convention.
Honorary Member: Dr. Barry F. Beck (11737 FE)
Outstanding Service: David Edward Bunnell (14760 FE)
Bicking Award: Jim Coke (26442 )
Conservation Award: Charlie Maus, Virginia (8267 FE)
Science Award: Dr E. Calvin Alexander (8088 FE)
Spelean Arts and Letters : Roger McClure (2057 FE)
Certificate of Merit:
(1) Robert "Rune" Burnett (NSS 10033) and Orion Knox (NSS 4603) for their "Leadership of the Texas Speleological Association (TSA ) Restoration Project at Gruta del Palmito in Bustamante, Nuevo Leon Mexico."
(2) Kevin Allred (NSS 16730), Carlene Allred (NSS 16389) and Bob Richards (NSS13720) for "Work in the Development of the Kazumura Cave Atlas."
(3) Guadalupe Area - Cave Research Foundation for " Leadership in Conservation and Restoration Projects at Carlsbad Caverns National Park."
NSS Fellows 2004:
Steve Deveny 45073
Yvonne Droms 26584
Ian Drummond 24813
Steve Gentry 26136
Joe Giddens 15038
Meredith Hall Johnson 21477
Scott Linn 23427
Kurt Menking 22200
Martha Mills 39864
Joe Oliphant 24917
Tina Oliphant 25659
Mike Poucher 29018
Larry Simpson 12520
Wes Skiles 20850
Peg Sorensen 26779
Greg Springer 29328
Steve Stokowski 14425
Richard Vernier 16960
Forrest Wilson 16631
Hauer Spelean History Award : Roger Brucker (1999)
The Mitchell Award was not awarded this year. No candidates.
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:
We’re presently in good shape in regards to hosting
Board of Governors meetings. The next available meeting
isn’t until Spring 2006. The Spring 2005 meeting will be
co-hosted by the Bexar Grotto and Texas Cave Management
Association in San Antonio, Texas. The Fall 2005 meeting will be
hosted by the Heldersberg-Hudson Grotto in Albany, New York.
Problems:
There was miscommunication between this committee and
the Texas Cave Conservancy concerning hosting the Spring 2005
meeting. Ultimately, this miscommunication resulted in their bid
not being submitted at the Summer Board of Governors meeting.
Unfortunately, this led to some hard feelings by some members of
the Conservancy. I have enacted changes to my database so this
problem won’t recur.
Tom Rea (Chairman), 765-653-4423, tomrea@caves.org
Progress:
There has been no activity in the Bylaws Committee this
term except to answer some procedure questions which is not in
the job description of the committee but which I am able to do.
Plans:
Respond when my cage is rattled.
Problems:
None.
FUND RAISING COMMITTEE:
Eve Proper, Chairman, eproper@iupui.edu
Progress:
Plans:
I am working on editing the annual fundraising
letter—this is my top priority. I also need to contact MBNA
about our second quarter earnings, and I need to find a copy of
our contract with them.
Problems:
The Great-X Fund Raising web page needs a volunteer willing to
update and maintain the donations listing. Too little time, too
much to do—the same problem everyone else has.
Hazel Medville (Chairman), 703 860-0134, hazelmedville@verizon.net
Progress:
No actions were taken since the last Board Meeting.
Plans:
Contact the AGI Government Liaison staff about a joint
trip or two to the Hill. With the Presidential election this year
there will be changes in the Executive Branch no matter what the
results of the election so if we have an new biennial report I'll
send it to as many new department staff and congressional
committee members as the budget will allow and perhaps I'll be
able to hand carry some to their offices if security doesn't
prevent it. I also plan to deal with issues as they arise and
contact various NSS committees about their contacts with
government personnel.
Problems:
No new problems.
Donna Cobb, 205-987-0872, dndcobb@bellsouth.net, Chairman
Committee Members: Jennifer Pinkley, Carol Childress, Eric Johnson, Andy Messer, Kyle G. Crider, and Tom Hagood.
Progress:
Needs:
The Grants Committee deeply appreciates your patience while the "kinks" are being worked out in this process and hopes you will remain supportive as we continue to attempt to meet your funding goals and needs. As always, feel free to contact me with your concerns or needs at the below e-mail address or by telephone.
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:
The 14th International Congress of Speleology will be
held in Athens, Greece, August 21 – 28, 2005. Preliminary
information is available on the Congress web site at: www.14ics-athens2005.gr.
The NSS International Secretary attends as the US’ voting
delegate.
Progress:
Correspondence to the NSS International Secretary was
handled. I attended the 2004 Marquette, Michigan, NSS Convention
and co-hosted luncheon meeting for the 2009 International
Congress of Speleology Bid Committee. Co-chairman George Veni
reported on the progress of the various sub-committees.
Additional personnel were recruited to assist with the bid.
Problems:
At this time, the official web site for the 14th
International Congress of Speleology (Athens 2005) is not yet
able to accept online registrations. Concern has been expressed
to the Congress organizers at the delay. To encourage
participation, it’s important that potential attendees are
confident in the organization. Delays seriously hurt the 2001
Brasilia Congress due to poor attendance.
Joel B. Stevenson (Chairman), 828-669-0126, cavelaw@jbs-law.com
Progress:
During the time since my last report the Committee has
accomplished the following activities:
Wed, Sept15, 04 – Time Entry – 3.9 hours.
Draft and submit this report. Review the August 11, 2004, version of the draft NSS-NCKRI Cooperative Agreement and write report. The results of that review are discussed under the "problems" heading, below.
Mon, Aug 16, 04 - Time Entry - 0.17 hours: Receive and read e-mails re: proposed NSS-NCKRI contract. [attachment not reviewed] Reply from Scott and e-mail acknowledgement
Wed, Jul 28, 04 - Time Entry - 0.25 hours: receive and review responses [3] to 27 July e-mail inquiries re: J.P. King mailing [cave for sale].
Tue, Jul 27, 04 - Time Entry - 0.34 hours: received circular re: sale of cave prop in S.D. from JPKing Auction. Reviwed and e-mail inq. to Scott Fee re possible misuse of members man.
Thu, Jul 22, 04 - Time Entry - 0.17 hours: review e-mails re: 'cave for pay' and unauthorized link on website. Respond that I agree that personal phone call is best way to start.
Tue, Jul 13, 04 - Time Entry - 0.09 hours: Attempt to return phone call to Jason Hamel, Goshep, Va. - ref thru NSS ofice Huntsville with inq. re: access/liability. no ans X2
Mon, Jun 14, 04 - Time Entry - 0.25 hours: Review EVP report attached to e-mail from Scott.
Sun, Jun 13, 04 - Time Entry - 2.75 hours: Review proposed MOU involving 'Alliance for Zero Extinction' at Scott's request. Found and discussed numerous problems with the draft. e-mail review to Scott Fee
Fri, Jun 11, 04 - Time Entry - 0.17 hours: receive and acknowledge e-mail from Dave Irving re: CTFs not covered by NSS 501(c)3 letter.
Wed, Jun 9, 04 - Time Entry - 0.17 hours: Read and respond to e-mail inquiry forwarded by Scott Fee [original message - Jim Werker to Fee] re: are CTFs covered by Society's 501(c)3 status. - Thought not, asked D Irving if he had better information
Tue, Jun 1, 04 - Time Entry - 0.17 hours: Review e-mails re: Journal contract.
E-mail to Scott inquiring as to his wishes on confidentiality of report and related matters when contacted by non-board, non-officer Society members.
Problems:
Fortunatley there is only one. Unfortunately, it is
largely unchanged since the last report.
I have reviewed the August 11, 2004, version of the draft NSS-NCKRI Cooperative Agreement and compared the language with the objections and recommendations contained in my May 30, ’04 report. A few, but by no means all, of the worst examples of poor draftsmanship have been changed, but there have been no meaningful changes in the substance of the document and the cautions and objections that I set out in the May 30 report are still a matter of concern.
The open-ended liability contained in Article VII [entitled "Liability"] has not been addressed. The language is word-for-word the same. This is both dangerous and unacceptable, and I set out again my objection to this portion of the draft:
I really don’t like this. I especially don’t like the inclusion of "representatives," because under this agreement a really good argument can be made that NPS is one of our "representatives," and we would be undertaking to assume liability to third parties for NPS negligence even when we had no part in it.
The basis of my concerns, in part, is this: The proposed contract is replete with lawyer boilerplate, designed and chosen by the lawyers in the government’s full time legal department to protect the government; language which is inserted almost automatically in federal contracts. This is acceptable when the party contracting with the government is a corporation with its own staff of attorneys who can spend the necessary hours to protect the corporation. Such a corporation, because it also has legal resources in house, can negotiate with the government on near equal footing, and, when necessary, can defend itself against claims by the government that arise from the contract.
The Society is not such a corporation. We don’t have those resources to obtain the legal representation that would allow us to deal with these governmental agencies on a fair and equal footing, and we don’t have the reserves to undertake the risks of liability and of non-payment discussed in my May 30 report.
In that report I expressed the fear that it was not likely that the government would remove the objectionable boilerplate, and that fear was, unfortunately, well founded. Those parts of the contract remain objectionable, but I am even more concerned by the government’s failure to address the non-boilerplate objections that were raised for their attention over three months ago. In addition to their failure to address the open-ended liability created in Article VIII, they have not addressed other matters that were raised and discussed in the report. For example, they have not addressed the concern relating to the unlimited obligation to mail copies to "all major cave and karst programs within the National Park Service," which could have been rectified by the simple expedient of inserting a limiting definition of such programs. They did not address the lack of any mechanism to deal with the potential problem of a rogue member of the "advisory board," and they did not change the provisions of Article X, which makes us agree to be an insurer of "all tools, equipment, and facilities" that NPS may furnish for the Journal’s use. There are numerous other examples, which you can see if you compare the proposed document with the specific comments in the May 30 report.
Their failure to address these matters makes me even more uneasy now about entering into the proposed contract.
Based on my review of this new draft, it is my firm recommendation that the Society not sign the contract in its present form.
Plans:
I will continue to be available to consule with the
President, Board Members, and Officers in regard to any matters
of a legal nature, and will respond to any inquiries from members
that I may receive.
Roswell Jones (Chairman), (H)(412) 367-3522, wrj48221@comcast.net
Progress:
I have contact Jim Olsen regarding the specifications of
the new voting machine. The voting machine was in Michigan, as
promised.
Plans:
The voting machine will be in Birmingham as per
schedule.
Pending:
Lack of continued contact from Jim Olsen has stymied the
voting machine project.
Eric Weaver, Chairman, weaverem@uc.edu
Progress:
We have established a particular area to focus on:
retention of members who are in the NSS for less than three
years. We consistently bring in approximately 1,500 members every
year; unfortunately, we lose very near this amount of members
each year. Our belief is that many of these members never
becoming connected enough to become aware of the utility of local
grottos and the value of the services that the NSS has to offer.
The Membership Committee has begun to do exit interviews and new
member introductions in certain states. The current exit
interviews are used to see if there are any ways to encourage the
member to renew and/or to determine what types of dissatisfaction
these members have with the NSS. Eventually we want to move from
informal interviewing and develop this into a survey so that we
can quantify this data. The new member introductions are designed
to help initiate contact with the local grotto or sections that a
new member may be interested in. The major issue regarding this
is the actual magnitude of work. Each month, the population I
have just described, composes approximately 400 members (the
membership committee, as of now, includes only ten people. Some
important steps that members of the committee have taken include:
Jim Borden is working on rewriting the NSS renewal e-mail. There
are several other documents related to membership renewal that we
anticipate looking at ways to modify to be more motivational.
Howard Kaltniz has begun plans to produce articles that address
the needs of new members. Jeffrey Gosnell has designed a letter
to help coordinate the interaction of this committee with local
grottos. This will be a major benefit in aiding to transition new
members to the grottos i.e. not sending them to people that
don’t exit, assessing membership requirements of the grotto,
etc. Dawn Ryan has begun the initiative to create a format for
the exit interviews that will aid in making the data we obtain
quantifiable.
Recently, we have begun giving members the option of choosing to allow the NSS to automatically renewing their membership. We hope that this convenience will help decrease the number of dropped members that reinstate their membership a month or two later.
Plans:
We plan to continue and expand with the exit interviews
and new member introductions. In addition to this, we believe
that the local grottos’ newsletters and the national
newsletter is one of the best channels to help bridge the gap
between local grottos and the national organization. We have been
pursuing various ideas including articles in the NSS News
specifically for the new members, attempting to get more
submissions to the NSS News that are both interesting but have a
more local appeal for the everyday caver (not having an easy time
describing this), and having various sections, committees, etc.
write articles to submit to the local newsletters describing what
they are doing and how this benefits everyone.
The issue of advertising remains an item of discussion. The major question is whether or not our retention plans will work. If they do not produce the numbers we need, we will have to look at drawing in new members from appropriate resources. This is a rather difficult task for an organization that wants to maintain a low profile. There must be a more developed statement as to what is appropriate advertising for membership (or financial support) and what isn’t.
From Scott: The current act that addresses this area was reviewed during the recent EC meeting. The EC agreed that it allows advertising for new members as has been suggested by this committee. We believe no further clarification is needed and encourage the Membership Committee to move forward regardless of retention plans. Eric then related the following: I have begun to examine the various requirements for several magazines. This is an ideal time of the year considering that winter restricts a lot of outdoor activities. Caving is not one of these.
Problems:
None. We are continuing to grow and develop as a
committee.
Cheryl Jones (Coordinator), 703-442-8499, cheryl.caver@verizon.net
Plans:
Publish the 2003 NCKMS Proceedings ASAP.
Progress:
Problems:
The cuts to Federal agency travel budgets continued to affect the
NCKMS by reducing the number of Federal agency members of the
Steering Committee attending the annual meetings (and thus other
Convention sessions and meetings).
Montana Autumn Spencer (Chairman), 513-793-7789, Cavrbab@earthlink.net
Brent M Grist, 50247SU, Verification Teller
David D Seng, 24371RE, Committee Member
Plan:
Begin solicitation of candidates for the 2005 election.
Include in this list all write-in candidates whose eligibility
has been confirmed with the NSS Office and all committee chairmen
to the best of my ability.
Progress:
Problems:
None at this time.
Kelly Norwood (Chairman), 770-723-9040; e-mail kelly_norwood@dnr.state.ga.us
Plans:
The KWI is still working on the Benchmark book, which
will compile many of the ‘pioneering papers’ in karst
science from the past 50 years or more. There is no completion
date for this book as of yet; however, it promises to be quite an
interesting compilation of karst science history.
KWI is still planning two karst science conferences for 2006. One of these entitled Paleoclimate: The Karst Record will be co-sponsored by the GSA. Decisions on dates, locations, titles, and call for papers will be decided during their next meeting, in November of this year, so hopefully we will be able to announce those soon.
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. As soon as the conferences are announced, I will have the announcements posted on EPA conference, session, and continuing education web boards/lists.
Progress:
The encyclopedia of karst topics and Special Publication
from the Epikarst Conference (October 2003) has been completed.
These publications have not yet been added to the KWI web site (http://www.karstwaters.org/),
but will likely be listed in the near future. Ms. Emily Davis of
the KWI will likely have copies available through her company,
Speleobooks, as well.
I attended the Fractured Rock Conference in Portland, Maine, in September this year, which covered topics related to contamination in bedrock groundwater. It was certainly an eye opener to once again realize how overlooked karst is in the general industry of environmental. Everyone knows about it, but it is still widely ignored due to the fact that no one understands it and knows what to do if they have it. Hopefully by getting some of these KWI conferences and documents posted in places where the EPA and other professionals in the field can find them, we can get the karst experts and some more of our environmental professionals talking!
Problems:
None.
Patricia E.Seiser (Liaison), 505-887-7356, pseiser@plateautel.net.
Progress:
NCKRI is currently working on or has submitted grants
that may be of benefit to the NSS. The potential exists to have
Project Underground translated into Spanish. This will be of use,
not only regionally here, but also in the eastern states that are
developing large Spanish speaking populations and have
significant amounts of karstlands.
Plans:
I am keeping in close contact with NCKRI—currently
working as a volunteer with NCKRI/NPS.
Concerns:
The NSS needs to make a decision on the NCKRI proposal
regarding the joint publication of the Journal of Caves and
Karst. The new governmental budget year begins in October and it
would be a shame to miss out on money that may be still available
from this year’s budget.
Rane L. Curl (Liaison), 734-995-2678, ranecurl@umich.edu
Rob Robbins (Committee Member)
Progress:
There have been no inquries from NSS members about
working with TNC since my last report.
Plans:
I am about to redo the now 3-year-old NSS-TNC Liaison
website since the information on it about joint NSS member and
TNC projects is too dated.
Problems:
None.
David Luckins, (Chairman) deluckins@aol.com
Plans:
The long term plans of the committee have been
previously detailed to the Board and may be found on the Web
within the President’s Report. In the short term, the
committee has focused on developing the baseline questionnaire. I
hope to have the questionnaire in members hands by Christmas.
Progress:
The first draft of the questionnaire has been developed.
At the time of this report, it is being reviewed/edited by
members of the Planning Committee; however, it will be
distributed to Board members for review and comment prior to the
November meeting. Concurrently, the Questionnaire is being
adapted for loading to the web. Any changes in text, suggested by
the Board, will have little effect on the web work as it is
largely formatting work.
An NSS News article has been drafted concerning the work of the committee, and specifically, alerting members to the questionnaire. Given the lead-time for the News, it is anticipated that the article will be published just before the launch of the questionnaire.
The ad for additional committee members has run on some bulletin boards and is scheduled to appear in the November NSS News. (We have had inquiries from the Bulletin Board Ad.)
Problems:
None. The Board should note I will be in Asia and will
not be able to attend the November board meeting. Scott and I had
discussed a possible phone-link, but it appears I will be
somewhere in the air between Shanghai and Melbourne.
Jay Jorden (Chairman), (214) 202-6611, jjorden@texoma.net
Committee Members: Matt Bowers, David McClurg, Jack Hissong, and
Sandra Hissong.
Progress:
The public relations Web page component of the NSS site
has been launched. That follows Board of Governors review and
work by the PR Committee and webmaster Melanie S. Peterson of the
IT Committee. The PR material is posted to: http://www.caves.org/press/.
An e-mail address for contact information has been linked to me under media@caves.org. The site will be updated and augmented as developments warrant. A link for "Guidelines" is provided in the area with hypertext links to "NSS Press Kit" and "Recent Press Releases." The committee wants to provide guidelines for dealing with reporters, how working with the press can be a win-win at times and some other "how-to" info in that area at a later date.
Members of the 2006 convention committee had inquired about setting up publicity and were referred to the site. The committee is also helping with news releases.
In the three months since the last committee report, the committee has also continued helping with publicity related to the proposed U.S. bid for the International Congress of Speleology in 2009. Members are also keeping up with requests for information from Society members and media representatives. answered inquiries from ABC’s Good Morning America program and other media contacts.
Details:
The committee has corresponded with the Membership
Committee on recruitment and other issues. The committee is
working with George Veni and John Moses on the ICS bid,
specifically on a promotional poster to be exhibited at ICS
meetings in Mexico and in advance of the 2005 International
Congress of Speleology in Greece. 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:
Cheryl Jones and others suggested additional components
for the PR web site, including posting of "stock"
photos for print media representatives’ immediate use. Such
photos could include cavers and caving—with the proper gear
and clothing—in different caves and settings: sinkholes,
water entrances, restoration, bat gates, and cleanup. The
committee has made previous use of Photo Salon winning shots on a
case-by-case basis.
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 July 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 introduced myself to the new officers and directors
and explained how I’m trying to minimize the costs of
printing and updating the Board of Governors Manual. Everyone
agreed that they could work from the Web. I also urged the
officers to have their committee persons check the personnel
section of the Web for accuracy.
I conversed with the EVP and a committee chair (via e-mail) regarding motions that would bring the manual into agreement with what has evolved within the committees.
I have talked to several society members about my project of converting the manual files from WordPerfect to MS Word. We have concluded that there is no easy way to accomplish this task and retain the unique formatting features of the original page.
Manual updates from the July meeting were prepared and mailed in August.
Plans:
Continue to convert the manual to MS Word one file at a
time.
Prepare and circulate manual updates as quickly as possible.
Problems:
There are literally hundreds of places I have to change
"cave" to "nature" preserve (Act 26-752) in
the manual. Due to costs of printing all those pages I’ve
elected to "phase in" the more obscure changes over a
period of several mailings. If however, cost is secondary to a
completely updated manual and I will do my best.
Gordon Smith (Chairman), 812-945-5721, glstis@aol.com
Progress:
Visited several show caves during the past summer. Most
caves are down in attendance after a poor 2003.
Plans:
I will represent the NSS at the upcoming NCA Convention
in Put In Bay, Ohio, in October. I will also visit show caves in
Missouri next week.
Problems:
None that I am aware of.
George Veni and John Moses, Co-Chairmen
Plans:
The following deadlines and plans have been developed by
the committee:
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
(Federation of Latin American and Caribbean Speleological
Associations) 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 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 chairmen 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
July 4, 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:
1) Funding from the Board during the July 2004 meeting
was secured allowing work on tasks requiring capital expenses.
2) Rane Curl and Jeanne Gurnee are now advisors to the committee. Rane chaired the 1981 ICS in Bowling Green and Jeanne has a long and rich history of involvement in international caving. Keeping them posted on our activities will give us the benefit of their tremendous experience so we'll be nudged as needed if we stray into hazardous waters and have the confidence from their consent when we are otherwise doing well.
3) Diana Tomchick recruited Dave Bunnell, who has produced a beautiful four-page color brochure which we'll distribute at the UIS and Trans-Karst meeting in Hanoi in mid-September. The brochure will be available for download from our website (see below). As information flows in, it will be updated for the FEALC Congress in Monterrey, Mexico, in February and the ICS in Athens in August where we will make our bid. The current version is in English, but future versions will include French, German, and Spanish.
4) Peri Frantz has put together an exciting list of trips for the bid. Many came through or were solidified at the NSS Convention. Nine trips are already firmly committed, 13 are in development, and she has 20 ideas for trips that she is working on. The trips range from international to coast-to-coast, including two trips that when combined will allow people to traverse the continent. Our website and brochure list the trips.
5) Danielle Milam continues to look into various promising sources of funding.
6) Andy Grubbs is looking into a variety of possibilities for special local events. Currently we have agreements to take trips into Natural Bridge Caverns and to watch the emergence of the world's largest bat colony from Bracken Bat Cave.
7) Mike Dale created a superb logo. His work is pretty much done, except for providing special versions and information as needed for the logo's use in the various promotional material.
8) Jay Jorden is working with Dave Bunnell on the poster, which should be ready soon and in time for the February and August meetings.
9) George Veni has made arrangements to show the first draft of the presentation in Hanoi at the UIS and Trans-Karst meetings, where we hope to get people excited about our bid but also get some ideas to polish the program based on their feedback.
10) Dave Hubbard volunteered to head this subcommittee at the NSS Convention and already has arranged four symposia, listed on the website and in the brochure.
11) Joe Ranzau has arranged for discounts with hotels and airlines, which are now advertised in the website and brochure. He'll be checking into train discounts soon.
12) Linda Palit and Geary Schindel have required Dave Socky to help produce the video. Linda and Geary are gathering stock footage that Dave can stitch together into a fine presentation. John Moses got some stock material from Texas Parks and Wildlife that he has forwarded to Dave and George Veni got some material from the University of Texas at San Antonio (the bid venue) that was recently sent to Dave.
13) Pat Kambesis has been working diligently on the website and is currently making lots of refinements before posting it. It should be up by the end of the first week of September. The address is: http://www.ics2009.us
Problems:
None
10/7/04