Kia Ora,
As New Zealand heads into lockdown all our members will all be affected. Some will be working flat-out to save their businesses, many will be balancing work with educating kids or caring for vulnerable whānau, and some may be stuck at home with little to do. We hope that in these challenging times NZGS can provide some support to those who need it. Although we are a group of volunteers, each facing our own challenges, we hope that by providing information, forums for discussion and CPD opportunities that we can make things a little easier for us all. If there’s anything that you think we can do to help, please let us know.
Evening meetings and short courses
Naturally, all our planned face-to-face events in the next few months have been cancelled or postponed, and will where possible be replaced with online versions.
2020 Symposium
The committee planning for the 2020 Symposium in Dunedin is continuing to work hard on the event. It is our intent that this will go ahead as scheduled on 15-17 October, as will the workshop & field study that precedes it. Those invited to submit papers are encouraged to continue to do so. The Symposium Proceedings is a key offering that NZGS makes to its members and industry. The current deadline for paper submission is the 15th of April 2020, but we had requests for extension. The organising committee is considering these requests and further communication regarding the deadline will be issued shortly. Please watch this space and visit https://www.confer.nz/nzgs2020/ for further information.
As October is still some time away, we will continue to review the situation and update you on any changes to the plans based on actual developments. A postponement date, if required, will be explored and announced closer to the time.
Online CPD
If you’re short of things to do, and want to take the opportunity to catch up on your CPD, NZGS already holds a fantastic library of material that you can access from home. You can see our videos here, and we will be doing our best to add new ones frequently.
If you’ve got a presentation that you’d like to share with us, please get in touch (chair@nzgs.org or secretary@nzgs.org). We have the tools available for you to present from your home computer and either broadcast it live or record it to share later as a webinar.
There are also lots of other great resources out there, including:
- ISRM online lectures: https://www.isrm.net/gca/?id=1104
- ISSMGE recorded webinars: https://www.issmge.org/education/recorded-webinars
- IAEG webinars: https://www.iaeg.info/webinars/ and congress lectures: https://www.iaeg.info/congress-lectures-and-workshops/
Discussion forum
While we can’t meet face-to-face very easily, we can still stay in touch. Now is a great time to contact other NZGS members for advice about how to deal with this situation, check in with each other, and start planning for how we’re going to fast-track recovery.
We recommend following our LinkedIn page (here: https://linkedin.com/company/new-zealand-geotechnical-society) and adding your own comments as posts in our LinkedIn Group page (here: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/4350003/).
A message from Teresa, our secretary
This week we have been updated on the seriousness of Govid-19 and should all, by now, be at home in isolation. Many of you will be working from home and I would like to advise the NZGS is still ‘open’ for you. Feel free to email me at secretary@nzgs.org. I will be including some past papers/webinars/videos in each newsletter over the next month from our library. If you do not belong to the website yet, please sign up and I can authorise any current NZGS member. If you know of someone that would like to join the NZGS, please have them fill out a new member form and have it sent through and I can also process that too. You can find me on LinkedIn here or email secretary@nzgs.org.
We are in this together.
Finally
Stay safe, keep well, and we look forward to seeing you all in person before too long. In the meantime, stay in touch when you can. Let’s use this time well – mowing the lawn can wait when there’s geotechnical videos to watch!
Nga mihi nui,
Ross Roberts
NZGS Chair
