Robust activity in Latin America and the Caribbean and membership changes to AAPG were topics of discussion at the Latin America Region All-Member meeting and reception held at the AAPG Annual Conference and Exhibition in Houston on April 7.

The more than 50 individuals present included members and colleagues from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States and Venezuela. AAPG Leadership, including the President, President Elect and Vice President of Regions, addressed the group and congratulated the Region on recent accomplishments including the highly successful International Conference and Exhibition in Cartagena, Colombia in September 2013.

Latin America Region President Elect Victor Vega provided an overview of regional demographics and leadership and briefly described recent and upcoming activities. He highlighted significant growth in the number of student and young professional chapters across the region and noted that 58 percent of Latin America Region members are students or recent graduates.

Meeting participants discussed the importance of being AAPG Members, as opposed to Associates, in order to give the Latin America Region a stronger voice in AAPG. The process of becoming a member now is simpler than before thanks to the AAPG House of Delegate vote to reduce the number of required sponsors from three to one. (For more information, see the April EXPLORER Article "House of Delegates Approves Compromise on Sponsorship.")

Participants also learned that AAPG Members from Latin America and the Caribbean who live abroad are registered automatically as members of the AAPG Section or Region that corresponds to their mailing address. Individuals who would prefer to belong to the Latin America Region can change their status by sending an email to .