b"President's pieceASEG newsPresidents pieceMembers to contribute not only to theirThe ASEG also sees these webinars as an professional development, but also toopportunity to publicise the ASEG and that of their colleagues. The Educationexploration geophysics. At the time of and International Committees, as wellwriting, 13 webinars have been hosted. as the Young Professionals and NearFigure 1 shows attendance by country for Surface Special Interest Groups, all needall webinars. As might be expected, the motivated leaders to take them to themajority of participants are from Australia, next level. The Young Professionalswith a small degree of participation from group, in particular, is an excellentthe ASEGs international cohort. Two opportunity for recent graduates toMembers have attended all webinars. The improve their visibility in the industry. Ifmost popular webinar to date has been you would like to help with any of theseex-ASEG President Marina Costelloes groups, please contact Leslie Atkinsontalk Mentoring through change, a (fedsec@aseg.org.au) for more details. perspective followed closely by Indrajit So to the second Presidents Piece ofThe ASEG continues to address theRoys talk Computations methods in my term. The two themes of this Pieceabsence of face-to-face state branchgeophysics. As might also be expected, are vacancies in some the ASEGs criticaltechnical meetings through webinars.interest in webinars somewhat follows committees and, echoing Ian JamesAfter our successful online AGM, wethat of regular branch meetings. General Webwaves column in this issue, webinars.made the decision to host webinars sointerest topics are better subscribed In early July, at the time of writing,that it would be easier for people tothan more niche topics. However, overall, the COVID-19 pandemic continues tostay engaged. Registration is open toattendance rates are high and Members dominate daily life. While some partsMembers and non-members alike, andgenerally out number non-members.of Australia are looking forward tocorporate partners and sponsors of stateFor readers who are wondering about the resuming normal life, others are revisingbranches are acknowledged before eacheffort involved in presenting a webinar, expectations. session. Recorded webinars are uploadedand are undecided about whether to the ASEGs website (https://www. to present one, I offer the following. Eagle-eyed readers of Previewsaseg.org.au/aseg-videos), as well as toPersonally, the experience was not too inner front cover may notice threethe ASEGs YouTube channel (https://bit. dissimilar to a conference presentation, vacancies in some of the ASEGs manyly/2ZNgIaZ), to ensure a wider audiencebut with some advantages. I found an committees. Active involvement in thesethan would be possible either at a branchinitial discomfort talking at a screen, committees can be a rewarding way fortechnical night or at a conference. but this wasnt too far removed from Figure 1:Attendance at all ASEG webinars. Numbers indicate number of attendees from a particular country. While most attendees are from Australia, roughly 12% are not. This percentage is slightly lower than the ASEGs proportion of international Members, which is 15%.AUGUST 2020 PREVIEW 2"