Attending: Klaus Baberschke, Bruce Bunker, Daryl Crozier, Alain Fontaine, Krishna Garg, Jose Goulon, Steve Heald, Britt Hedman, Diek Konigsberger, Tim Morrison, Rino Natoli, Tokiashi Ohta, James Penner-Hahn, Dale Sayers, Edward Stern

The meeting was convened at 17:45.

Dale Sayers brought the meeting to order, and announced the results of the IXS election:

Chair: Ed Stern Vice Chair: Alain Fontaine Secretary: Toshiaki Ohta. Elected Members: Settimo Mobilio, Rino Natoli, Adam Hitchcock, Steve Heald, Krishna Garg, Takatoshi Murata, Diek Konigsberger, Klaus Baberschke, and Daryl Crozier. Ex Officio members a re Jose Goulon (International Conference), Britt Hedman (IUCR liaison), Bruce Bunker (Database), Dale Sayers (Past Chair), and Tim Morrison (Education).

- The IXS as of this meeting had 540 members; Sayers expects 1000 within 1-2 years.

- The election went generally smoothly, with some hitches. The election committee has recommendations to make future elections go even smoother.

- Sayers reiterated the need to establish an office and other infrastructure. It appears that DM5000 will be available from the conference, and as soon as details of a restricted-funds account are established , money can be transferred to the IXS.

Klaus Baberschke next reported on the conference itself:

- There were approximately 400 participants, submitting over 450 abstracts. Approximately 30 contributions were rejected, mostly because of large numbers of submissions from some individuals.

- Approximately 300 papers will be published in the proceedings. This number is partly due to more careful refereeing, partly due to some not choosing to submit a paper.

- The entire conference budget was approxi mately DM200,000, which was significantly higher than originally estimated. This is largely due to underestimates of mailing costs, but many other costs turned out higher than earlier estimated as well, such as travel support for attendees from less-deve loped nations and former Warsaw Pact countries. Of this total conference cost, approximately half came from registration, with the balance from various Governmental bodies. As opposed to the Kobe conference, industry contributed only about 10% of the cos t.

- The proceedings will be a regular issue of Physica B, and Baberschke expects the issue to appear March 1995. Baberschke noted that he has been very happy with Elsevier in their cooperation in this.

Jose Goulon next reported on preliminary plans for XAFS9. They still plan for the last week of August, but reminded us that it can be very hot and humid then at Grenoble. This means that student dormitories are probably not satisfactory and other accom odations will be necessary. A conference facility near ESRF seems to be the best choice for the conference. Goulon will be in touch with the Executive Committee concerning more details as they proceed in the arrangements.

Diek Konigsberger then addressed the group on the Standards and Criteria Committee. (He earlier addressed the entire meeting on this subject, and did not repeat that at this EC meeting.) He is currently working on developing a subcommittee two-year pla n, addressing membership, needed resources, etc. After some discussion, it was agreed that all the subcomittees should prepare similar plans, and submit them to the EC by October 15.

Dale Sayers then addressed the group about budget estimates to actually administer the IXS. His estimates for a 1/4 to 1/2 time secretary, mailing costs, travel, and other expenses range from US$35K-75K / year.

With old business finished, the meeting changed Chair to the newly-elected Ed Stern. The first item to be discussed was a decision on the location for XAFS10. The only proposal was from Tim Mor rison, who proposed that the 1998 meeting be in Chicago, hosted by the Illinois Institute of Technology. The meeting would probably be in hotels on the Loop, near the lakefront. A written proposal was submitted with more details about organization of th e conference. A vote of the elected members was held, with unanimous acceptance of the Chicago proposal.

Because of limited time available for the conference room, the meeting was adjourned at 19:00, to be continued the next afternoon.

September 6, 1994

Bruce Bunker/bunker.1@nd.edu

Attending: Klaus Baberschke, Bruce Bunker, Daryl Crozier, Alain Fontaine, Krishna Garg, Jose Goulon, Steve Heald, Diek Konigsberger, Tim Morrison, Rino Natoli, Tokiashi Ohta, James Penner-Hahn, Dale Sayers, Edward Stern.

At approximately 14:00, Ed Stern brought the meeting to order, and thanked Dale for all the work he has done making the IXS a reality.

Stern next proposed two new subcomittees -- Membership - - which is charged with developing plans to increase membership -- and Funding --which is charged with looking at the implementation of a voluntary contribution from members to help subsidize the IXS. Steve Heald made a motion to establish the committees ; after seconding, the motion was unanimously carried.

Stern noted that there are some barriers to fund raising because of currency conversion. It was suggested that the easiest way to get around these problems is to have local contacts in each country, who could coordinate the efforts. This person could also handle local mailings, etc., and essentially be a national representative to the IXS.

Baberschke noted that synchrotron facilities are currently providing almost no support. We need to convince them that the IXS is a society that represents a good portion of their users, and it would be in their interest to coordinate with us on a number of issues, including conference timing, etc. Sayers agreed, and suggested that the national contacts (above) could help coordinate. Stern pointed out that we should try to keep SR sources in the loop, possibly making them Institutional Members. Morrison further suggested the idea of corporate or institutional site licences as a means for increasing IXS support.

Stern next addressed membership in the Membership and Funding subcommittees. He pointed out that the membership subcommittee should have a diverse representation, including Europe, Japan, the US, and Third World. After some discussion, Barry D obson (UK), Dale Sayers (US), Hiro Oyanagi (Japan), and Lu Kunquan (China) were agreed to as members of this subcommittee. Stern will choose a chair from this group. Stern will choose members of the Funding subcommittee in consultation with others. He also noted that the national representatives may also be involved with this group, as they might be well connected with regional funding sources.

Stern next suggested that the International Conference subcommittee work more closely with the Executive Committee. After some discussion, it was agree that periodic reporting, as with the other subcomittees, was sufficient.

James Penner-Hahn next reported on his research into possible association with the IUCR. He has met with Phil Coppens, current president of the IUCR, and found that there are various levels of association that we might choose, ranging from Scientific Association, which is a rather loose confederation, but would grant us access to their newsletter, to Commission of the IUCR, which i nvolves some money changing hands. This latter level of membership would also give us access to other resources of the IUCR, including some financial support. An ad hoc committee of Penner-Hahn, Sayers, and Hedman was chosen to further investigate our o ptions concerning the IUCR.

Penner-Hahn also addressed the issue of how other societies have incorporated themselves. A particular case he cited was that of the International EPR Society. This group is a legally-incorporated body in Illinois, centere d at the Illinois EPR Center at the University of Illinois. This organization charges $25/yr (less for students and emeriti), and uses this to produce a quarterly newsletter that Penner-Hahn says is quite useful. Penner-Hahn felt that our group could use this as a model for the IXS at some time in the future.

The meeting was adjourned at 15:20.

September 6, 1994

Bruce Bunker/bunker.1@nd.edu