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MENTALLY INVIGORATING, PHYSICALLY EXHAUSTING!
Western Division officers Bill Bradshaw, President, Eric Knudsen, President-Elect, and Past President Ken Hashagen represented the Division at the recently concluded 130th annual meeting of the American Fisheries Society in St. Louis. Many other Western Division members attended, gave papers, or participated as moderators.
To give you a flavor of what your officers do when they attend an annual meeting, consider the following:
On the Thursday preceding the meeting, Bill attended an all-day meeting of the Management Committee (he will continue to be a member of this committee in 2000-2001). The Management Committee (MC) makes recommendations to the full Governing Board. This year the MC made recommendations for a reduced membership for recently graduated students who are not making a lot of money in their first job but would like to continue their membership in AFS. The MC also recommended that the 6-year limitation be removed for students; currently, students can only receive student membership rates for 6 years. The Governing Board will implement these recommendations at the Phoenix meeting.
On Friday, Bill and Ken attended the all-day Governing Board retreat to discuss the Society's strategic plan and President Moffitt's plan of work. President-Elect Carl Burger (a member of the Western Division) asked Ken to chair the Society's Visibility Committee in 2000-2001.
Saturday was the all-day Governing Board meeting, followed by the Governing Board Social. The Social was held at Busch Stadium (I never said it was all work!), where we had a buffet and watched the Cards play the Phillies. All of the socials are great opportunities for networking, finding out what other divisions are doing, soliciting support for WDAFS programs, looking for committee chairs, etc. Eric continues to represent the Division in planning next year's meeting in Phoenix. The Division is co-hosting the meeting and will organize at least two symposia.
Leadership Training was offered to all new (and current) chapter officers, section officers, and anyone else interested in leadership opportunities. Ken and Bill attended, as did Bill Mavros, NPIC President, Cindy Hartmann, Alaska Chapter Past President, and Mike Meinz, Cal-Neva President. The Bethesda staff was introduced, AFS procedures and policy manuals were made available, Joe Margraf, an Alaska Chapter member and the Society's Constitutional Consultant, gave a great talk on using Robert's Rules of Order, and Jim Martin (Oregon Chapter), who recently worked in Governor Kitzhaber's office, gave a great talk about his mentors and the role of leaders to be mentors. Very stimulating! That evening there was a "Welcome to St. Louis" Social at a nearby park. Lots of good food, an unlimited supply of free beer (Budweiser reportedly donated over $15K of beer), live music, and lots of people to network with and renew acquaintances.
Monday started with a great Plenary Session. President Moffitt (also a Western Division member) had developed and presented a multi-media presentation reflecting on the past 130 years of the AFS: Where We've Been, Where We Are, and Where We're Going. In the technical sessions that afternoon, Eric chaired a session and Ken presented a paper for a Cal-Neva member who couldn't attend the meeting. Another social on Monday, this one at the local zoo. More great food, more free beer, and more networking.
Ken attended the EEO Section's Mentoring breakfast on Tuesday, where Section President Gwen White acknowledged the Western Division' $500 donation to help support students who were selected to attend the meeting. Throughout the meeting, Ken mentored Ms. Karen Dunmall, a Masters candidate at the University of Waterloo (Canada) and had lunch with Karen, Cindy Hartmann, and Mike Meinz on Wednesday to discuss Karen's future career plans and to provide her with some potential contacts. During the Business Meeting Wednesday afternoon, Jennifer Nielsen (Alaska Chapter) received the Society's Distinguished Service Award for her many contributions to the Society.
On Wednesday, the Incoming Governing Board met at a breakfast to get to know one another, listen to President Burger's plan of work for the upcoming year, determine the location of the 2004 annual meeting (Madison Wisconsin), nominate members-at-large for the Management Committee (in addition to Bill, Jennifer Nielsen (Alaska Chapter) was appointed to the MC), and establish a Nominating Committee to identify candidates for the 2nd VP position (Cindy Hartmann was appointed). Eric and Ken attended (Ken a proxy for Bill, who was unable to attend). More technical sessions all day. Eric presented a paper. Trade show all day. If you don't attend a technical session, you are usually in the trade show talking to folks or in the lobby, meeting with friends or others to discuss Division programs, network, or whatever. On Wednesday evening, Ken represented the Division at a dinner for the Chinese delegation (12 members of the China Society of Fisheries). The Division was invited to attend in recognition of our support of the International Fisheries Section (a $400 donation) and a $1000 donation to help cover the costs of hosting the Chinese delegation. The Society will send representatives to the 3rd World Fisheries Congress in Beijing in October and will submit a proposal to host the 4th World Fisheries Congress in 2004. If the proposal is accepted, several cities in the Western Division may be considered as potential sites for the meeting.
On Thursday, Eric, as Chair of the Western Division program activities for 2001, attended a series of meetings in support of preparations for the joint Western Division/Parent Society meeting in Phoenix. The meetings included a debriefing session with the St Louis Program Co-Chairs, a debriefing with the entire organizing Committee for the St Louis meeting, and then a Phoenix 2001 planning meeting. The Phoenix meeting will be co-hosted by the Arizona-New Mexico Chapter and the Western Division. Many Western Division AFS members are already involved and more help is needed from Division members. Please contact Eric if you would like to be involved.