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April/May 2003 |
| President's Page | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
John Carmody |
G'day
for the last time, Keep in touch and my best wishes to y'all. Introduction Financial
Position The
overall financial position of your society at the end of 2002 was cash
of $761,134. Whilst there was an operating loss of $44,568 compared with
an operating surplus the previous year of $133,700 there are very good
reasons for this difference. Your Federal Executive Committee made the
decision that the funds should be used to the benefit of PESA members
rather than just sitting in the bank. Specifically, projects that have
incurred additional expenditure over the past 12 months include: (For full financial details, please refer to the PESA Treasurer's report for 2002.) Apart from further costs to be incurred in the establishment of the website database (and these are one off costs), the increase in costs across many normal budgeted and recurring items has made it necessary, in your Committee's opinion, to increase member-ship fees to offset these additional costs. The new membership fees will be $50 p.a. ($55 including GST), which still makes PESA one of the cheapest professional bodies in the world and, when you look at the services provided (and to be provided), it is still superb value for money. The society's assets are adequate to support both the major projects of the society and the education programmes that are being organised nationally for the benefit of the members. I
would like to express the society's gratitude to Brett Fullarton of KPMG
for his support in auditing the Society's records. •
President John Carmody The Federal board (Executive) met five times during the year to discuss and organise PESA business. I would like to thank all the members of the Executive for their support and constructive inputs to board meetings and PESA operations. During the past year several initiatives were progressed. These include further develop-ment of the PESA Website and the PESA Website Database, and implementation of the PESA education and scholarships programmes. My thanks to Gaz Bisht (Federal Secretary), Max Williamson (Treasurer) and Rowley Butters (Company Secretary), who have worked extremely hard during the year. The work done by these gentlemen has made my job much easier and ensured the smooth operation of PESA's management. Also, my special thanks to our Federal Vice President, Barry Goldstein, for his support and enthusiasm and, of course, to all the committee members for the same reason. Membership
PESA
Publications •
Chairman – David Cliff The sub-committee met regularly throughout the year to oversee all PESA publications and ensure that they functioned smoothly and were financially sound. Each State Branch also provided an editor to liaise with the Publications Sub-Committee: •
Damien Ryan, ACT Our thanks to Grant Ellis, who has retired as Publications Sub-Committee President, for all his hard work over the years. Grant has generously agreed to remain on the Committee as an advisor. PESA Publications consist of: PESA
News Adrian Williams continues, for the twelfth consecutive year (surely some sort of record!), as the editor of the PESA News. With great efficiency and tireless nature, Adrian has kept PESA News in the position that it is now in. Adrian's skills and dedication are admirable and I hope he stays on board for at least another ten years. On behalf of all the society's members, I would like to pass my sincere appreciation to Adrian and wish him all the very best in his own job as well. PESA
Journal Our thanks to Peter Baillie and his editorial board for all their hard work on the PESA Journal (don't go away, Peter, I know you'll be needed again in the future!). PESA
Website PESA
Publisher Western
Australian Basins Symposium (WABS) I have received many comments that WABS and EABS (Eastern Australian Basins Symposium) are now the foremost technical conferences in the industry and we will certainly continue this standard. EABS and WABS will now alternate every two years, with the next EABS to be held in Adelaide in 2004. Federal
Secretariat PESA
Education/Training Initiative Over the past 12 months PESA members were surveyed to identify the preferred type and structure of planned future workshops and seminars. The results of this survey indicated a need for stronger ties with our fellow professional organisations (ASEG/SPE) and stronger co-ordination of visiting lecturers. As the anticipated education initiatives will require a greater workload, we have elected to trial the University of Sydney's Earth Resources Foundation (ERF) for 12 months. (For the past 20 years Kim Wright (ERF) has been working the logistics for the PESA ESSO Distinguished Lecture tours.) We believe that these initiatives will ultimately lead to a better and more efficient PESA Technical Education service to members. Distinguished
Membership Final
Comments My task was made considerably easier by all the help I have received from the Federal Executive Committee and in particular the PESA Publications Sub-Committee and the PESA Education Sub-Committee. There are many people who work behind the scenes who have also contributed to the success of PESA, and my thanks to them as well. Without all their assistance, PESA would simply not function. The society is still heavily reliant on volunteers whose dedication and the generosity of their employers, make the success of PESA possible. To maintain and further improve your society the involvement of these volunteers is essential. PESA
is one of the cheapest and most efficient technical societies in the world
and this is due to the support of its members and their companies. Keep
up the good work! Finally, to you the members, thanks for all your support and all the best for a successful 2003. John
Carmody |
