"In the simplest terms, a leader is
one who knows where he wants to go, gets up, and goes."
— Joe Erskine
In February, AAPG held its 22nd annual Leadership
Conference in Tulsa. One hundred AAPG leaders got up and came
from all over the globe.
This annual event originally was called AAPG Days
and was designed for training of affiliated society members. Since
its inception, the Leadership Conference has been a key meeting
for networking among members and staff.
"He that would govern others, first should be the master of
himself."
— Phillip Massinger
This year we held a training session on "Public Speaking and
Communication" by Jo Farrell; and a session about "Knowledge-Based
Association Government," led by Glen Tecker of Tecker Associates.
We always are looking for new ways to improve communications.
Jo Ferrell's course is designed to help individuals to develop
better communicating skills and improve presentations. As a result,
we are planning to develop a new book on making effective PowerPoint
presentations.
Glen Tecker has written a number of books on association management
and teaches for the American Association of Association Executives.
AAPG President Dan Smith and I attended one of Tecker's courses
last year, and found it a practical, effective and fresh approach
to association government.
Tecker's methods emphasize advance planning and discussions
to develop more effective meetings for volunteers. He also emphasizes
strategic planning for associations.
"I suppose leadership at one time meant
muscles, but today it means getting along with people."
— Indira Gandhi
The second part of the Leadership Conference focused on six
mini-summits:
- Global Geoscience Consortium.
- Ethics.
- Membership Enhancement and Development.
- Public Outreach.
- Student Outreach.
- Regions and Sections.
All of the mini-summits were designed around a particular set
of problems or ideas:
- The Global Geoscience (and Engineering)
Consortium was a discussion on potential industry supported
joint projects among sister societies. Societies represented
included the Society of Exploration Geophysicists, Society of
Petroleum Engineers, Society for Sedimentary Geology, the Geological
Society of London, American Institute of Professional Geologists,
American Geological Institute, the Geological Society of America,
the Mineralogical Society of America and the European Association
of Geoscientists and Engineers.
- Ethics and Public Outreach discussions
centered on methods to make members and the public aware of
these respective issues.
- Improved communications and problem solving
were the major themes of the Membership and Regions-Sections
mini-summits.
- The Student Outreach mini-summit focused
on ideas to concentrate and consolidate K-12 tools and volunteers.
View the results
of each mini-summit.
"A true leader always keeps an element
of surprise up his sleeve, which others cannot grasp but which keeps
his public excited and breathless."
— Charles de Gaulle
On the last day we decided we needed some teamwork training,
so our surprise was to call in a rare February snowstorm that
dumped a foot of snow on the conference. We had an interesting
time getting everyone out of the snow. I am sure this is one Leadership
Conference that everyone will remember.
"The outstanding leaders of every age
are those who set up their own quotas and constantly exceed them."
— Thomas Watson
AAPG has many leaders. I suggest just the act of joining AAPG
shows leadership in wanting to be part of the professional development
of geoscience-related industry and academia.
AAPG is undergoing some important changes, and it is AAPG's
volunteer leaders who develop the ideas and energy that will help
make our future a success.
We are doing everything possible to exceed your expectations.
PS: During this time of change we need as many members as possible
to come and express their views and new ideas at the AAPG Annual
Meeting in Salt Lake City. The technical program and field trips
are fantastic, and the entire conference is a great training and
networking opportunity.
It is not too late to sign up, and there are still good values
on airline tickets.
We need your participation. Please come and join us in Utah!