AUGUST 2004

Volunteerism

by Steven M. Goolsby

I’m always surprised to hear of individuals who will not volunteer to help out with running scientific societies because they are afraid of the work involved. Personally, I find the amount of work required for these volunteer jobs to be minimal. This is especially true when you consider the benefits you receive in return for the work. A good example of this is the secretary-editor position I have had for the last year with the House of Delegates.

The job did involve some work, of course. However, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how little effort actually has been required to fulfill the duties of the office. I’ve had to coordinate and edit the articles going into The Delegates’ Voice four times during the year, but I’ve had lots of help. Each member of the Newsletter Committee has been responsive and extremely helpful in assisting with the editing process. I owe Martin Cassidy, Michelle Debus, George Eynon, Debra Osborne, Mike Party, and Valary Schulz my thanks and appreciation for their efforts on the committee.

In addition to the Newsletter Committee, I’ve had help from other quarters within the AAPG. The newsletter would not be possible without the contributions of each of the committee chairmen in the HoD. All of this year’s chairmen have been good about submitting their reports and articles for inclusion in the newsletter in a prompt manner. In addition, each has reviewed their edited drafts and returned comments to me quickly during the editorial process.

And finally, Linda Ramsey with the AAPG staff has been wonderful to work with. She does a great job of organizing the material into a printable form and supervising the publication and mailing of The Delegates’ Voice. I extend my thanks to all of these individuals who have made my job a pleasure this year.

So if you’ve hesitated to volunteer to help with the AAPG, consider jumping in. Just let any of the present officers or committee chairman of the organization know you’re available to help out and I’m sure they’ll find a job for you. And I think you’ll end up having as good a time doing that job as I have had as Secretary-Editor this year.