Annual Report 2007: FY July 1, 2006-June 30, 2007

Member Survey Committee

The function of the committee is to prepare, conduct and report tri-annually, an All-Member Comprehensive Survey of member attitudes, to assist and guide AAPG leadership and management in planning and implementing future AAPG programs, products and services. The primary purpose and focus of this committee is the preparation, distribution, compilation, and reporting of this All-Member Comprehensive Survey, every three years, with the next two editions due mid-2006 and 2009 respectively. The committee shall consider its future survey development on the format developed in the 2003 All-Member Comprehensive Survey, but may add or consolidate topic areas as necessary. A secondary role for the committee is also to assist other AAPG entities in performing targeted member surveys, as requested by those entities, or as directed by the President and/or Executive Committee.

The member survey was submitted to the membership in September 2006. This is the first member survey that could be completed online, and the 100% increase in overall participation and the large increase in participation from outside the United States over the 2003 survey indicate the effectiveness of using the Internet for future surveys.

I have included the highlights of the 2006 survey as I view them as part of this report. The full report can be viewed on the AAPG Web site.

The next survey will be in 2009 if approved by the Executive Committee. Questions relating to AAPG’s publications were essentially repeated from the 2003 survey to track any changes in attitude toward the various publications. Since there appear to be no appreciable changes from the last survey, I suggest these questions be eliminated or shortened on the next survey. The entire survey needs to be streamlined to make it more efficient without detracting from its usefulness.

I would like to acknowledge and thank Larry Nation and his staff for their assistance on this survey. Their preparation of the article in the AAPG Explorer and subsequent e-mails to the membership contributed greatly to the increased participation in the 2006 survey.

2006 AAPG Member Survey Highlights General

100% increase in participation (2,937 vs. 1,461) from 2003 survey
2.6 fold increase in percent participation from outside the United States (27.8 % vs. 10.8%)
Overall satisfaction with AAPG is high.
Professionalism, networking opportunities and publications rank highest as factors for membership.

Dues

57.4% said an increase is not justified.
Of those who thought an increase is justified, 61.6% would consider not renewing their membership if the dues were more than $125/year.
37.6% would support a graduated dues structure, 26.2% would not, and 36.25% are unsure.

Graduated dues structure

36.7%-Age and economic condition
32.2%-Industry vs. academic discount
18.9%-Economic condition
12.2%-Age

Should AAPG remove “American” from its name?

Overall-33.8% said Yes; 66.2% said No
United States-25.6% said Yes; 74.4% said No
Outside United States-56.1% said Yes; 43.9% said No

Sponsorship Requirements

Has the change from three to two sponsors compromised membership standards?

17.1% said Yes; 82.9% said No

Should 15 years experience substitute for one member sponsor?

52.7% said Yes; 47.3% said No

Petition Candidates

Should the requirement be more than 50 signatures?

18.8% said Yes; 46.0% said No; 35.2% said Not Sure

If increased, to how much?

100-42.6%, 200-29.5%, 300-10.3%, >300-17.7%

Should a percentage of signatures be from outside the candidate’s section or region?

29.8% said Yes; 35.2% said No; 35.0% said Not Sure. If yes,-52.5% believe it should be 20% or less.

Contact with Headquarters

43.3% of respondents have had contact with Tulsa in the past year.
94.2% of those say their questions or concerns were handled to their satisfaction.

The AAPG Bulletin

52.9% read at least every other issue. (52.0% in 2003)
92.1% believe the quality is good or excellent. (89.2% in 2003)
86.2% believe the scientific content is about right. (79.2% in 2003)
90.2% believe the length of the articles is about right. (83.7% in 2003)
65.5% would not pay extra for a paper copy if the Bulletin were only provided in digital format.
83.5% said the requirement to pay for a paper copy would not affect the decision to renew their membership.

The AAPG Explorer

83.9% read every issue. (91.8% in 2003)
84.6% believe the quality of the articles is good or excellent. (86.6% in 2003)
88.7% believe the timeliness of the articles is good or excellent. (88.1% in 2003)

Should the format be changed to include technical survey articles like the Leading Edge (SEG)?

55.0% said Yes, 45% said No

Special Publications

Have you ever purchased one?

88.4% said Yes, 11.6% said No. (86.7%/13.3% in 2003)

Why not?

Cost-39.9%; Subject matter-36.2%; Did not know they were available-24.9%. (62.7%/10.8%/10.3% in 2003)

Would you like to see them in less expensive styles?

44.1% said Yes; 31.6% said No; 24.3% said Not sure

Continuing Education

72.4% have not attended a continuing education course during the last five years. (76.8% in 2003)
71.6% believe the optimum course length is two or three days. (70.4% in 2003)
52.2% receive corporate support.
The preferred locations are Houston, the annual convention, online, Denver and the international conference.
The preferred time is during the week-day.

Distinguished Lectures

67.7% have not attended a distinguished lecture during the past year. (74.5% in 2003)
92.2% of those who did thought they were good or excellent in quality. (83.9% in 2003)

What should be the mix between fundamental science and industry applications?

Mostly fundamental science: 13.0%, half and half: 55.8%, mostly industry applications: 31.2% (13.0%/55.8%/31.2% in 2003)

Web Site

45.4% access the AAPG Web site at least once a month. (27.7% in 2003)
10.1% have never accessed it. (31.5% in 2003)
As in 2003, most found it reasonably easy to navigate.
58.4% have used it for research purposes, and found to be generally useful.
59.4% believe the website should have a place to post their resumes for prospective employment; 11.4% said No; 29.2% said Not Sure
48.8% believe it would useful to be able to post their skills, experiences and competencies; 21.1% said No; 30.5% said Not Sure.
67.4% believe AAPG should allow available job postings; 14.0% said No; 18.6% said Not Sure.

Government Affairs and Public Outreach

83.3% support the office in Washington, D.C.
87.5% believe AAPG should play an active to extremely active role in geoscience and energy issues. (89.8% in 2003).
79.3% believe AAPG should generate a balanced summary on global climate change for the membership.
64.8% believe AAPG should develop a science-based stance on global climate change; 17.1% said No; 18.1% said Not Sure.
78.1% believe it is important to very important for AAPG to advise U.S. officials on technical issues and policies. (82.5% in 2003)
49.9% have the same position on non-technical issues and policies. (61.0% in 2003)
63.5% believe it is important to very important for AAPG to advise international officials on technical issues and policies. (59.9% in 2003)
39.1% have the same position on non-technical issues and policies. (36.9% in 2003)

Annual Convention

59.1% have attended the annual convention in the past three years. (54.7% in 2003)
Technical program, location and networking are the most important factors in attendance.

David G. Rensink, Chair

Kathleen C. Bennett, John E Jordan Jr., David Gene Rensink (chair), Sharon M. Sartain, and Linda Raine Sternbach.

Classifieds

Advertising

Audience Focused Navigation

Services Navigation

Reports

AAPG Leadership