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BY IAN SQUIRES, P.ENG.
Calgary Branch Chair
In the seven years that I have been actively volunteering
with the Calgary Branch, I have not seen as much action
within our membership as I have in the past few years.
While many aspects of the branch have remained consistent
and stable, there have been quite a few interesting new
developments.
When I joined the branch we had about the same number
of active volunteers. However, there were far fewer branch-organized
events, such as our increasingly popular luncheons.
Now, we have increased the number of member-oriented activities.
We have continued to hold luncheons outside the downtown
core, trying for two in the north part of the city and
two in the south annually. This was a direct response to
membership demand, and we hope to continue this expansion
in the upcoming years.
We hold a number of professional
development evenings, typically five over a season. We
continue to support occasional
special evening events or forums, as needed, and recently
hosted a very successful golf tournament.
Balancing Act
We’ve had to address volunteer workload issues as
many of our volunteers also serve on other committees,
participate in the Outreach, and are busy with the full-time
functions of their lives. We have attempted to balance
volunteer workloads by reorganizing and successfully recruiting
new volunteers.
We currently have a healthy roster of members, who look
forward to starting work on next season’s luncheons
and professional development sessions.
This year’s branch events have included luncheons
with EUB Chairman Neil McCrank, P.Eng., the election of
a new executive, a president’s visit where the new
concepts of inclusivity were rolled out and explained,
and our first meeting with the ASET Calgary Chapter Executive.
The current branch has made a number of strides in forging
and strengthening relationships with fellow associations
such as CSPG and ASET, especially in the last year. This
constant effort to grow our relationships, experiment with
different styles of luncheon topics, hold different functions,
and evaluate how we do our business has made for an interesting
year.
Upcoming Events
As the branch starts winding down for a well-earned summer
break, we will have just a few more planned sessions
and events to complete. April
will see a luncheon focusing
on one vision of the outlook for Canadian oil and gas
producers, and May will see two presentations on coal,
coal bed methane and coal-fired generators.
Finally, in June we will get together with the staff and
our volunteer ticket agents for a much-deserved thank you
lunch. We will also be deciding on how to set the tone
for next season, which is proposed to kick off in September
with a discussion on oil and gas reserves reporting.
There is still a lot of opportunity for the Calgary branch
to grow. I envision developing improved, more comprehensive
media relations, and along with that, an increased public
profile that will allow us to highlight important developments
and activities in our professions. This could possibly
make the branch a more political entity, which solicits
ideas and feedback, strengthening the level of understanding
and communication between our Calgary members, APEGGA’s
leadership and Council.
Ultimately, it could be the branch representatives who
bring local issues and ideas into APEGGA for debate and
consideration. I invite my fellow branch members for feedback
on how we could work together to this end.
And, as a final note, I’d like to extend a big thank
you to all of our branch volunteers, staff and executive
for another well done effort. It’s been a great year,
and I look forward to working with all of you again next
season.
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