Having had the pleasure of working with many of you over the years on the various committees that fall under the office of Educational Services, I had thought I knew what to expect in the role, however the selfless volunteerism of the CSEG membership has, yet again, surprised me with their enthusiasm and drive to get things done. The always present CSEG Technical Luncheons, MUG and Lunchbox have continued to attract world-class speakers on a variety of technically relevant topics to the geophysical community.
One of the highlights from 2014 included our first joint CSEG-EAGE workshop when we held the 1st Land Seismic Workshop in Banff, which was a great success for both societies and attracted approximately 70 speakers and attendees from around the world. This is an effort we are looking forward to repeating with EAGE in 2016. Additionally, DoodleTrain had yet another successful set of courses this year, including the first course put together by the Value of Integrated Geophysics committee. The feedback received from the courses offered was both complementary and constructive and I am excited to see the offerings for 2015.
As I write this, the industry is facing yet another of its downturn cycles as oil prices have fallen 50% from last year. This cycle, however, also coincides with the beginning of the long discussed “great crew change” as the baby-boomers begin to take their well earned retirement from their careers in industry and pass the proverbial torch to Gen-X, Gen-Y, etc. Times like these allow the true value of membership with the CSEG to shine. With capital and training budgets being cut left and right, the CSEG has the responsibility to transfer as much of this wealth of knowledge as possible before the baby-boomers retire to the various golf courses in Phoenix or Vancouver Island. The DoodleTrain, CSEG Luncheons, MUG, Lunchbox, GeoConvention, and a host of other workshops throughout the year provide this knowledge transfer without having to travel halfway across the world, which can be difficult to justify in the midst of a downturn. The key is to make sure to avail yourselves of the opportunities offered while you can. I look forward to seeing many of you in the various courses, workshops and luncheons throughout 2015.
As a final note, I would like to personally thank Kurtis Wikel for doing an outstanding job as the current Director of Educational services along with the virtual army of volunteers too numerous to mention personally, who work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure the offerings of the CSEG continue to provide educational opportunities which are the envy of many other communities.
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