EXAMPLE 1:
Date: August 18, 2008
To: Secretary, North-Central Section, Geological Society of America
Secretary, South-Central Section, Geological Society of America
From: Thomas, Dept. of Geography, Geology, and Planning, State University
Marcia, Earth Science Department, State University
Subject: Proposal and Memorandum of Understanding for 2010 Joint North-Central/South-Central Section Meeting
We propose to host a joint meeting of the North-Central and South-Central sections of the Geological Society of America in Branson, Missouri in April, 2010. Branson is conveniently located near the common boundary between the North-Central and South-Central sections of our society in the heart of the geologically fascinating Ozarks region.
Recent growth of the tourism industry in the Branson area has resulted in construction of a new convention facility that should be ideal for a meeting of our size. The “off peak” date for our meeting should provide leverage to negotiate an attractive contract with the convention facility, and the recent boom in hotel construction in the Branson area should provide an abundant supply of lodging at a reasonable cost.
Branson is easily accessible both by highway (US-65) and by air. The Springfield-Branson National Airport, approximately 60 minutes to the northwest, is served by American, United, Northwest, Delta, and Allegiant airlines. The new Branson Regional Airport, approximately 10 minutes to the south, should also be fully operational be the time of our meeting.
Meeting Dates, General Agenda, and Fieldtrips
We propose a “standard” two-day meeting on Thursday, April 8 and Friday, April 9. We plan to have the registration and exhibits open by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday evening, and the Welcoming Party will feature local bluegrass entertainers performing in the Exhibit Hall. We plan to offer fieldtrips in a variety of formats, including full-day pre-meeting, half-day pre-meeting, half-day post-meeting, full-day post-meeting, and two-day post-meeting.
We intend to solicit ideas for fieldtrips from the general membership at large. However, possible fieldtrips that have already been suggested include:
- Environmental Remediation in the Tri-State Mining District
- Fluvial Geomorphology and Hydrology of the Buffalo River (float trip)
- Karst Geomorphology and Geohydrology of the Springfield Plateau
- Missouri’s Terroir (winery tours and wine tasting)
- Pleistocene Paleontology of Riverbluff Cave
- Precambrian Geology of the St. Francois Mountains
- Structural Geology of the Ouachitas
- The Weaubleau and Decaturville Impact Structures
Leadership, the Local Committee, and the “Local Meeting Manager”
We will serve as co-General Chairs, and we will share the major decision-making responsibilities jointly. We plan to form a single, integrated Local Committee drawing heavily from our colleagues at Missouri State University and Emporia State University, but also drawing in additional colleagues from other institutions within our two sections. We understand that GSA Headquarters will assign a member of their staff to serve as “Meeting Coordinator” for our meeting, and we understand that person will be our primary contact for matters involving the national headquarters.
We propose to establish a new position of “Local Meeting Manager” to oversee the day-to-day details involved in the planning and organization of our meeting, and we have identified the perfect person for this position: Diane Wahl. Before moving, Diane worked for several years at Headquarters, and she is intimately familiar with the structure of the society and the format of its meetings.
Diane is currently teaching at State University on a per-course basis, but that position does not carry any expectation of service responsibilities. Therefore, we feel it is necessary and appropriate that Diane be compensated monetarily for her work on our meeting. The State University Department of Geography, Geology, and Planning has committed $4000, and the State University College of Natural and Applied Sciences has committed another $5000 for this purpose. This money will not “flow through” the budget for our meeting; instead, Diane will be hired by State University to provide services as an “independent contractor.” However, both the department and the college will be listed as official sponsors of the 2010 Joint Meeting in recognition of this financial support.
Sharing of Financial Responsibility Between the Sections
We will build a single budget for the 2010 Joint Meeting. We will price registration and exhibitor fees based on a conservative estimate for total attendance of 500 (professionals plus students, exhibitors, and guests). We intend to keep the registration fees for students and guests as low as possible.
Because the meeting location is geographically closer to Springfield than Emporia, we anticipate a greater number of students and guests from the North-Central section than from the South-Central section. Therefore, we propose that the net profits (or losses) from the Joint Meeting be distributed between the two sections based solely on the relative proportion of professional registrants from the two sections.
The composite budget for the 2010 Joint Meeting will include a separate sub-budget for each fieldtrip. We will price each fieldtrip to break even at two-thirds maximum capacity, but we reserve the right to run any particular fieldtrip with below break-even attendance if the composite meeting budget can cover the loss.