Dorene West, Spring 2016
It is a privilege to be your incoming president. I wish that my tenure wasn't in a downturn, but up and down cycles are the nature of our business. I have been reminded that the business always comes back stronger, and fortunes have been made coming out of a down cycle—so let's plan for the worst and hope for the best.
The GCSSEPM Foundation Perkins-Rosen Research Conference has always been the best value (cost and information) meeting to attend. We will continue that legacy this year with "Mesozoic of the Gulf Rim and Beyond: New Progress in Science and Exploration of the Gulf of Mexico Basin." Mesozoic encompasses the Cotton Valley, Haynesville, Smackover, Norphlet and Pre-Salt plays; it is a perfect follow up to the rift conference. The 66th Annual GCAGS Convention, "Looking Back, Thinking Forward…," will be in Corpus Christi this year—a good place to bring the family for a mini vacation while you attend the meeting (Corpus Christi is a resort town). We hope to provide excellent programs to feed your mind, enable you to come up with new ideas, and not take a big bite out of your wallet.
The section will be morphing a bit this year. SEPM will be handling many of the logistics we used to handle ourselves, and this should result in savings. As our Executive Director, Norm Rosen, transitions to total retirement, we will be editing the bylaws to provide for a new type of Foundation leadership. Norm isn't leaving just yet, but we will be paving the way for a smooth transition—to what, we aren't quite sure yet. Stay tuned and we will forge this river together.
As one of my predecessors, John Holbrook, said, "We live in interesting times." He (and the Chinese) called it a curse. Let's turn this sow's ear into a silk purse—may the coming year bring pleasant surprises to all of us!
Dorene West
President