ng, 
po- 
op, 
sh- 
iro, 
sh- 
[he 
SA 
ng, 
ing, 
[he 
ve- 
fer- 
art, 
nar, 
Jra- 
February 
- |AG 2000 Strategic Planning Meetings, Pasadena, USA 
March 
- Coordination Meeting with ICRSE and NASA, Green- 
belt, USA 
April 
- * Meetings with Spanish Society Officers, Barcelona, 
Spain 
- I|SPRS Seminar, Budapest, Hungary 
- * Meetings with Turkish Society Officers, Istanbul, 
Turkey 
May 
- ASPRS 2000 Convention, Washington, DC, USA 
June 
- * Meetings with Italian Society Officer and IAG Presi- 
dent, Milan, Italy 
- 48rd Session of COPUOS, Vienna, Austria 
- "Meeting with Austrian Society Officers, Vienna, Austria 
The * indicates my formal presentation of the ISPRS 
Plaque of Membership in Good Standing to the Ordinary, 
Regional and Honorary Members of the Society. 
Other Activities of the President 
In addition to the above activities, this President had the 
honor to serve on, or Chair, the jury for many Awards, specif- 
ically the Brock, Von Gruber, Gamble, Schwidefsky, Scher- 
merhorn, Cassinis and Dolezal Awards. | am pleased that we 
have selected excellent candidates to receive these Awards. 
| am equally pleased that the Commission Presidents 
a 
ISPRS 
2000 
  
selected outstanding members from each of their Commis- 
sions to receive The President’s Honorary Citations. 
The position of President is rewarding, yet challenging. It is 
a pleasure to interact with our Members, to embark on 
enhancements to operations of the Society with my Coun- 
cil colleagues, and to see the fruits of our labor. At times, 
it has been difficult and time-consuming to prod activities 
being conducted voluntarily. | have been fortunate to have 
a co-operative, hard-working team. Especially | commend 
Secretary General John Trinder for his hard work in contin- 
ually communicating with all officers and Members and for 
his support in keeping all Society officers towing on the 
rope (and in the same direction). He and | literally have sent 
thousands of e-mail correspondence and have received 
even more! The volume is tremendous. With a heavy travel 
schedule and a full-time job, it is difficult to be always 
promptly responsive. It is clear that the Internet brings 
much efficiency and it will serve a major role in the conduct 
of Society affairs. 
This is a very brief summary of my activities in serving the 
Society during the past four years. We have achieved a lot 
and hopefully have made a clearer and easier path for our 
successors to follow. It would not have been possible if it 
had not been for the very generous support of my employer, 
Lockheed Martin Corporation. When | was elected, it 
became the first time that an employee of the private sector 
would lead ISPRS. | hope that others will follow this path. 
The Presidency has taken many quality hours from my wife 
and family, which will be impossible to replace. | truly thank 
my wife for her understanding and encouragement in my 
serving ISPRS. | thank this General Assembly for providing 
me this opportunity and your support. 
  
Report of ISPRS Secretary General 1996-2000 
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, July 2000 
by John C. Trinder 
Introduction 
It is my duty and pleasure to present the report of the Sec- 
retary General to the ISPRS General Assembly, covering 
the period 1996-2000. The primary role of the Secretary 
General is the management of the Headquarters of the 
Society, communication with Technical Commission Pres- 
idents on the management of the Commissions, especially 
planning for the inter-Congress Symposia, and approval of 
Commission-sponsored workshops, maintenance of 
membership details, maintenance of communications with 
Members and other relevant international organisations on 
all aspects related to ISPRS activities, and provision of the 
documentation for the General Assembly at the Congress. 
There is a vast amount of detail to report on events over 
the last four years, so this report necessarily has to be a 
summary of these details. 
Correspondence 
The level of communication by the Secretary General has 
International Archives of Photogrammerty and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXIII, Part A. Amsterdam 2000. — —— 
been substantial. Fortunately, modern means of electronic 
communication have enabled the transmission and receipt 
of the many hundreds of messages per year to be carried 
out efficiently and rapidly. Nevertheless, the work of the 
Secretary General has amounted to an average of 20-25 
hours per week. The activities of ISPRS have increased over 
the last 4 years, with additional communications with such 
organisations as the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs (UN- 
OOSA), ICSU (International Council of Science), the new 
membership of CEOS (Committee of Earth Observation 
Satellites) and management of the Society's quarterly bul- 
letin, ISPRS Highlights. During the period 1996-2000, about 
3,300 official messages and letters were sent on behalf of 
ISPRS from the Headquarters, many with multiple 
addresses. A similar or larger number of messages were 
received. Even though the Headquarters has been run 
mainly in electronic form, the paper collected on behalf of 
ISPRS activities is still substantial, amounting to almost two 
complete 4-drawer filing cabinets. 
  
—107