The DPA just had its "mid-year" meeting in Houston,
TX and included in that meeting was the DPA Treasurer's
report. For those curious, the DPA does not have a separate
checking account from AAPG (so rest assured, I won't and
can't cut a check for an Aruba vacation); the DPA's monies
are commingled within the "parent's" financials. On a
regular basis, the DPA treasurer looks, specifically, at those
funds, income and expenses that are specific to DPA. My
concern coming into my term as DPA Treasurer was that
this process would be a little like "making sausage". I have
always liked a good sausage, but have always felt that if
I ever saw the process, I might be a little turned off from
grilling my next kielbasa. AAPG's and DPA's accounting is
a process and keeping track of each expense and assigning
it to the correct division, section,
region, committee, etc. is no small
task. I have found that the AAPG
accounting process is a little less
messy than I envision the sausage
making process to be.
One thing discussed at the midyear
meeting was that the DPA needs to consider finding
more sponsorship of its events, lunches, short courses, etc.
at ACE, ICE, section and region meetings. Often these
events are right around breakeven (or losing money) and
with sponsorships, we could go a long way to running
these events closer or better than breakeven. Please
consider sponsoring a DPA event at an upcoming meeting.