Optimizing Exploration and Development Opportunities in Brazil's New Regulatory Scenario

Roberto, Thank you for your comment and for your interest in our events. We would like to respond to your concern with a bit of context. From January 2013 to February 2020 Technical workshops and conference registration fees in the Latin America and Caribbean ranged from $US 695 to $US 895 per person for members. The Virtual Research Symposium (VRS) series was a one-time initiative implemented by the Latin America and Caribbean Region during the second semester of 2020 to provide a service to members and friends of the association during the pandemic. Charging $50 per person for professionals is not sustainable in the long term, even for virtual events, which do have a cost to run and whose income helps to support all of the other education programs that we provide throughout the region. The cost of our 2-day Virtual Technical Symposiums (VTS, not VRS) in 2021 is $195 for AAPG members. This rate is 72% lower than the member registration price of $695 charged at the in-person GTW Brazil event held in Rio in June 2019. AAPG's Latin America and Caribbean Region and partners are working hard to organize events that provide the same technical quality as in-person person events, at a fraction of the registration cost and with no travel expenses or health and safety risks required. Registration fees and sponsorships collected for our events help us to sustain a wealth of other free programming– the Visiting Geoscience Program Tuesday Talks series, Energy Opportunities Executive Forums and the AAPG LACR Distinguished Lecturer Tour, for example – as well as student and young professional programs including the Imperial Barrel Award Competition, the Student-YP Leadership Summit, the Regional YP Conference and the Ready to Work program for recent graduates. These programs would not be possible without the support of our event participants and sponsors, and we thank all of them for helping us to reach geoscientists throughout the region.

 

VRS pricing has raised by almost four times for members since last november.