CASANZ has a full calendar over the next few months so, I encourage you all to get involved.
Conference
Early bird registration for CASANZ19 is now open, closing 3 July. Members attending are encouraged to register early, not only to take advantage of the significant savings, but also to secure accommodation which is at a premium in Queenstown.
A full program of SIG workshops, training workshops, additional networking opportunities and technical/social tours are being finalised and will be announced early next week. Combined with a full program, CASANZ19 will definitely provide something for everyone.
Society Update
The annual Council meeting was held at EPA Victoria’s office in Melbourne on Saturday, 13 April, 2019.
The key issue that was identified prior to the meeting is that there continues to be a structural deficit in the finances of the Society. The 2018/19 financials are currently forecasting a loss in the vicinity of $60K. Losses have been reported since 2014 and without change, the Society has about two years to turn the situation around or risk ceasing to function as a Society.
One of the key issues is that it is difficult to get members to volunteer to take on activities that support the Society, which is understandable as everyone is becoming busier and busier. The consequence of this is that we’ve become very reliant on the office administration staff to complete almost all the tasks needed to run the Society successfully. The administration office staff are stretched and are struggling to support all of the business operations within the current model and hours allocated. This means that many activities which could generate a revenue stream for the society and be reinvested to provide services, aren’t being done. This is also impacting on our ability to attract sponsorship for events and advertising in the Air Quality and Climate Change journal
The Executive team continues to work hard for you and meet weekly to address the situation. The Executive will now open up these meetings to the Branch Presidents to get their support on recommended actions and to help us make decisions which are in the best interest of the Society and members. CASANZ also needs your help to bring about the changes needed.
We have commenced a management model review of how we do things, this has involved introducing operational portfolios which need members to volunteer and to take ownership of. The Executive team will take on some of these, such as the Governance portfolio, and I will be extending an invitation to past Presidents of the society to get involved as well. Similarly there will be a Finance portfolio, and an invitation to past Treasurers will be extended to help out for the short term. There will also be portfolios for: Communications and Marketing, Membership, Conferences and Events and Sponsorship.
The key message is that we need the support of members
to keep the society on a sustainable track.
I’d like to thank everyone for their continued support of the Society, including registering and sponsoring events such as BISMITHE, our major conference in Queenstown in September, and attending the training courses and other events that we run during the year.
We need more volunteer effort to support the administration team that keep the day to day operations of the society running. I encourage everyone to consider volunteering some time to a portfolio. Please let me know how you would like to get involved.
Jason Choi, Society President
