A capacity crowd of 137 people attended a special North Houston luncheon meeting of the Houston Geological Society on March 19, 2003. Anadarko donated the use of a spacious banquet/meeting room in their beautiful new facility in The Woodlands and Dr. Robert Goldhammer of UT Austin presented a far-reaching talk on carbonates. The HGS was delighted over the attendance figures (pre-registration was halted 3 business days before the event) and the crowd was enthusiastic at the meeting. This confirmed the need for a greater HGS presence in North Houston. Sherrie Cronin from Anadarko has volunteered to serve as the contact person for the newly formed North Houston Committee.

Many of those who came to the luncheon took the time to fill out a survey concerned with the feasibility of a regular meeting of the HGS in North Houston. Every survey collected indicated an interest in a regular northside meeting. The survey results showed two-thirds were current HGS members and the rest were interested in joining, with most tying membership to regular North Houston HGS meetings. The survey also included a fairly even split on frequency of probable attendance at HGS northside meetings: every month, every other month, and several times a year. Lunch meetings were indicated as preferable to dinner meetings, although this might be a biased sampling. Using the final section of the survey, 11 people signed up to volunteer to form a North Houston Committee to organize these northside HGS meetings.

At the April 2003 HGS Executive Board meeting, the officers reviewed the survey results and the March 19 meeting attendance figures and voted to authorize the formation of a North Houston Committee. Sherrie Cronin and the other volunteers are charged with organizing and maintaining a regular northside meeting. The committee will be responsible for everything from arranging location and food, to getting speakers, to deciding on day, time, frequency, and registration for the meetings. Committee actions will be assisted by current HGS committees and officers and will be coordinated with current HGS activities.

If you are interested in an HGS presence in North Houston and wish to volunteer, please join the newly formed committee by contacting Sherrie Cronin at 832-636-3113, sherrie_cronin@anadarko.com