Everybody loves upgrades, especially when they are airline upgrades to first class.  The GSH has been upgrading the service we offer our members.  We expanded our technical program with the addition of a North-side Breakfast meeting and a new Microseismic SIG.  We upgraded our Journal to a beautiful and more informative publication.  We added a very successful webinar-based continuing education program with world class instructors.  We changed the layout of our website and our weekly e-newsletter to improve the esthetics and the content.  We extended our services to our students and Emeritus status members with greatly reduced rates (in some cases: students no charge at all).  We provide a free Ice Breaker networking event to kick-off the new GSH year. We have plans for future upgrades such as recording some of our key technical talks and having them available for download from our website.  This would allow those that could not attend the meeting to view the presentation as a webinar at a later date.  This will help those on the North-side that cannot make it to our downtown meetings. We have tried to make the GSH a first class organization with first class events.  GSH members have noticed and have expressed their pleasure.

 

However, many of our events and services are also available to the geophysical community at large often for no or very little additional charge.  We have been providing first class service for free.  At times we have more non-members attending our technical programs than members.  This causes a great financial drain on the organization, and it is not fair to the members that are subsidizing the non-members in their use of our services.  There are ways to address this: 

 

 

It costs the GSH about $200,000 a year to provide the services we do.  That includes the cost of the office, staff, publications, website, meetings and events.  We only take in about $45,000 in dues from the membership.  Our main source of income is from event sponsors, advertisements on the web, advertisements in the Journal, donations, meetings, events and continuing education programs. The GSH Board will be addressing these issues as we plan for our program next year.  One thing you can do is encourage those that are not members to join. Look around your company, especially for the younger professionals, and explain to them the benefits you receive from membership.  Invite them to attend one of our meetings.  Help us to promote the benefits of belonging to a local professional society.  Tell them about the upgrades!