Minutes of ISPRS Council and Sustaining Members Meeting

at ISPRS Congress in BICC on 10 July 2008

Present:

Ian Dowman, ISPRS President (2004-2008)

Orhan Altan, ISPRS Secretary General  (2004-2008)

Chen Jun, ISPRS Congress Director (2004-2008)

John Trinder, ISPRS 1^st Vice President (2004-2008)

Manos Baltsavias, ISPRS 2^nd Vice President (2004-2008)

Cliff Ogleby, Incoming Congress Director (2004-2008)

Jurgen Dold - Leica Geosystems

Other representatives of Sustaining Members:

Alexander Chekurin- RACURS

Mark Baker�AMark Cygan-ESRI

Mostafa Madani- Intergraph Corporation

1.  Introduction 

Ian Dowman welcomed those present and summarised the decisions of the General Assembly.

2.  Comments on the Congress by representatives of Sustaining Members

The organisation of the Congress was very good.  It is academic in nature and hence the companies try to be less commercial.  However, the Congress needs to be more attractive to companies, who want to market their products, and hence in Beijing they organised events at separate venues away from the Congress Center.  The companies would have liked to have a company showcase as occurred in Istanbul.  Orhan Altan stated that the ‘Company Showcase' at Istanbul was introduced following discussions with Sustaining Members at InterGeo in 2002.  Companies would also favour a company showcase in Melbourne, and a panel discussions may be appropriate.   There could also be a separate track for vendor presentations.  Companies no longer have time to prepare papers suitable for the technical sessions. Papers are not important, but presentations are.  There is a shortage of experts in photogrammetry and hence companies have to concentrate on their core business.  Users' Forums were very good but not well attended, perhaps because the meaning of the title ‘Users' Forum' was not well clear.  The national mapping agencies session was successful.

The reason for the increase in fees was questioned, and if the Sustaining Members fees are to be increased, the reasons for the increase should be well documented.

The Sustaining Members will be sent a draft document of the centenary celebrations and the strategic plan for comment.

Chen Jun reported that the LOC sold tickets to people for visiting the Exhibition and this resulted in an estimated total attendance of 12,000.  He commented that Sustaining Members are hard to contact, since they are a larger and diverse group.  ISPRS should have a point of contact with Sustaining Members to ensure better communication.  Council should decide on how to manage contacts with Sustaining Members in future.   Sustaining Members were informed that they are welcome to send reports for ISPRS Highlights describing their latest developments.

Cliff Ogleby welcomed the input from Sustaining Members.  He was reminded that he should attend the ASPRS Conventions and InterGeo and other meetings where exhibits are held to maintain contact with potential exhibitors in Melbourne. 

Sustaining Members were reminder of The ISPRS Foundation and the opportunity to donate to Restricted Funds, which would be linked directly to the donor.

Orhan Altan thank the Sustaining Members for their support of the Headquarters over the past 4 years.