I am writing to inform the admin committee how I intend to close out the books for the 1999 Research conference in New Zealand. I have already discussed this action in detail with Roberta Spencer and with Bob Eberlein, the two other officers of the Society with key responsibilities for the conference. The three of us agree on this proposal.
I WOULD LIKE TO CLOSE OUT THE CONFERENCE ON THE BOOKS BY THE END OF THE FISCAL YEAR, SO IF YOU GET THIS MESSAGE AND HAVE ANY CONCERNS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW ASAP. (But actually, we can amend this action in February, so less rushed comments are also welcome).
BACKGROUND. As you may recall, we voted to hold the conference in New Zealand at the Istanbul meeting. I believe that the thinking of the Policy Council was that this meeting would move away from the usual North American to Europe rotation in order to encourage growth in the field. We understood that such a move might lead to lower than usual conference attendance and the high possibility of a deficit. At the Quebec meeting of the Policy Council, Bob Cavana and I first agreed on and then presented to the policy council a joint budget for the conference envisioning a joint partnership between the Society and Victoria University. That budget conservatively estimated that about 100 paid registrants would attend the conference and that the conference would incur a projected loss of $19,459. The Policy Council accepted this budget and I prepared a budget for the Society based on this overall projected loss for the conference. We all hoped that a loss could be avoided and agreed to work hard on making the conference a success.
WHAT HAPPENED. Bob Cavana worked hard with Margaret Stevenson Wright and Roberta Spencer to make the conference as successful as possible. This conference saw unprecedented levels of recruitment and mailings and hard efforts all around. The end result was over 300 persons in attendance. During 1999 Society membership grew at its fastest rate ever, due at least in part to this successful conference.
OVERALL FINANCES. Overall, the conference took in a total of $87,270-way over the budget amount. However, total conferences expenses were up a lot also at $101,361. That is, the conference overall posted a net loss of $14,091. Bob Cavana and I have been in discussion about how to handle this amount. Victoria University has agreed to sponsor and underwrite the conference to the amount of $14,131. With this generous support from Bob, his University, and the system dynamics community in New Zealand, the conference will close out with a net profit of $40. Bob Cavana has agreed that the full amount of this "profit" should accrue to the Society. I should note that this settlement by Victoria University and Bob Cavana is, in my opinion, a fair and generous one because in an unsigned memo of understanding the Society had agreed to share any loss in proportionate shares and in this case Victoria University has agreed to cover all the losses. Also, I should note that both the Society and the New Zealand organizers created cost overruns with respect to our initial budget projections in Quebec. Given that we are arriving at what I feel to be a fair and agreed upon settlement, I am not interested in investigating any further whose cost overruns contributed more or less to conference success or to a financial shortfall.
FINAL RESOLUTION. In order to reach a final reconciliation, the Society will draft a check for $12,666 made out to the New Zealand sponsors. We are making this payment to Victoria University because the lion's share of registration income came through the Society's home office while the lion's share of conference expenses were incurred by the New Zealand organizers. There is lots of paperwork backing up these final figures, as you may imagine. I am willing to share as much of this detail with any of you as you wish.
I now project that this action will close out the 1999 Conference cost center with a small net "profit". However, the Society as a whole will post a small loss because we will not see that additional margin of support coming from the annual conference. I find this to be acceptable all around.
REQUESTED ACTION. Please reply to this message by saying that you understand this action and it seems OK to you. Or indicate that something seems not OK. If so, please say what are your concerns so that I can address them. Or indicate that you would like some additional information
Thank you for your prompt reply to this message making a close out of the books in this year possible. Remember, that if you get this message after the new year, details can still be discussed up until the February Council meeting.