Minutes of the General Business Meeting
Of the
System Dynamics Society
27 July 2001
Emory Conference Center, Atlanta, GA

In Attendance

Officers:  Ali Mashayekhi (President), James Hines (President Elect), Jay W. Forrester  (Founding President), David Andersen (V.P. Finance), Nan Lux (V.P. Members), David Packer (Secretary)

Members:   Approximately 65 members attended

Call to Order

President Ali Mashayekhi called the meeting to order at 10:05 am.

Agenda Items:

Approval of Minutes: David Packer moved and Jack Pugh seconded a motion “to approve the minutes of the last Business Meeting at the Bergen, Norway conference August 10, 2000”.   Approved unanimously.

Executive Director’s Report: Roberta Spencer reported that the home office spends 35-40% of it time on conference planning and processing of papers, that web activity is now 2500 hits/month and that membership has doubled since 1991.

Report of the Vice President-Finance: David Andersen reviewed the Society’s business activities (Journal, Conferences, and Member Services).  He noted that the 2002 Society budget, approved by the Policy Council, has a deficit of about $36,000 (which may be reduced, as in past years), and that the cash position remains strong.  He noted Beer Game sales continue healthy, and applauded the entrepreneurial spirit of the home office team.

Report of the Executive Editor of the System Dynamics Review: Brian Dangerfield, the newly appointed editor of the review, replacing Graham Winch, reported a healthy backlog (which can change rapidly).  He encouraged all to consider writing and submitting articles.  He discussed upcoming special theme issues and read Graham Winch’s valedictory, giving thanks for support from many quarters and noting the Review is in the top 30 journal list.

Ali Mashayekhi gave a formal “thank you” to Graham Winch for his five years as Executive Editor.

Report of the Curriculum Committee: Paal Davidson reported that this committee had a major meeting during the conference.  Their focus is on the concepts of what should be taught, defining the core body of knowledge in system dynamics and articulating the skills required by people in the field.   Interviews with “masters in the field will provide input to the work.   He will provide a progress report twice a year.

Ali Mashayekhi emphasized the great importance of this work.

Report of the Webmaster: Jack Pugh reported success in acquiring a new domain name and getting the feedback mechanism working in the Society’s site.

Report on Policy Council Actions: Secretary David Packer reported on major actions of the Policy Council in its deliberations during the conference.

• Approved conferences for 2002 (Palermo), 2003 (New York City), and 2004 (United Kingdom, Oxford University).
• Authorized a Higher Education Special Interest Group (Carol Frances) and steps to encourage formation of other special interest groups.
• Endorsed encouraging models on our website for System Dynamics Review articles and, where possible, giving priority to articles accompanied by models.  The intent is to provide the basis for an atmosphere that encourages healthy criticism and discussion.
• Set up a group to take a first pass at articulating the body of knowledge in system dynamics, developing ways for self-assessment of practitioners and methods for closing gaps revealed by such assessment.
• Endorsed more age diversity on the Policy Council.

Report on Chapter Activities:

• Korea.  Myoing Lee noted that the chapter now has over 100 members, is quite active, and has a home page on the web.
• U.K.:  Michael Kennedy reported an annual gathering of over 70 members, a good balance of young and older members and of academic and business members.  A website is being developed for sharing models. They are enthusiastically hosting the 2004 conference.
• Italy:  Habib Sedehi reported a membership of 70, two meetings each year, and a successful International Workshop.  He invited all to come to Palermo conference July 28-August 1, 2002!
• Australasia:  Bob Cavana noted that many of the 35-40 chapter members have attended this conference.
• China:   Qung Rui Xu reported a successful one-hundred person conference, attended by university, industry, and government people.  The research focus is on growth and innovation.  Core issues are developing capability, financial and industrial growth, and helping state-owned industries become healthy.   They view system dynamics as prime method for solving big problems, and are promoting education to the high school level.  He expressed hope that the conference will come back to China soon.
• Japan: Toru Sustake reported that meetings are held monthly, that there was a tenth anniversary meeting last October, complete with a small party.  A home page is also in place.

Report on Conferences: 

• 2001 Atlanta: Nathan Forrester thanked volunteers and the home office for a very successful conference.
• 2002 Palermo: Advice is to register early and book in advance!  Paal Davidson answered a question about the return to abstracts for this conference.   He said this was experimenting and that the required four-page abstract will provide adequate content.  Jay Forrester suggested a fifth page, which would be a sample graphic, to assure that it can actually be read. 
• In a more general discussion, comments were that the poster idea is good but that the presentation process needs work, that we need ways of encouraging submissions by newer people and ways of coaching, and a suggestion for blind reviews of papers.
• 2003 New York City: Roberta Spencer noted that the Roosevelt Hotel is a convenient central location, basic room rate is $US160 and that the registration fee will cover breaks and banquet, but not meals.
• 2004 UK: Michael Kennedy described the Keble College, Oxford venue, which can accommodate 400 participants.

Appreciation:    Ali Mashayekhi expressed great appreciation for the work of the Policy Council members whose term ends this year.  They are Rogelio Oliva, Ginny Wiley, Jack Homer, and Paul Langley.

Nomination Process: Jack Pugh described changes to the nominating process to shorten the time between nomination and assuming office for officers and Policy Council members.  The Policy Council approved this change.

Awards Committee Report: John Morecroft, the new chair, invited nominations for both Jay W. Forrester and the Dana Meadows (student )awards.  He expressed thanks to departing chair John Sterman for a job very well done.  In response to a question regarding consideration of Master’s theses for student awards, John said such work can be considered with the constraint that the there can be no co-authors.

General Discussion: Attracting more business people to conferences was noted, and the suggestion made that members should make a point of bringing friends to introduce them to the field and the conferences.  A suggestion was made by Bob Cavana to find a way to publish short articles in less time.

There being no further business, a motion to adjoin the meeting was made by Jack Pugh and seconded by Nathan Forrester.   It was approved unanimously at 11:35am.

Respectfully Submitted,

David W. Packer
Secretary
August 15, 2001

Last edited by JP on 8/17/01