The GEO 2004 judging of presentations was a collaborative effort made possible by the participation of 229 Session Judges, who judged a total of 289 oral and poster presentations. The success of this task was in large measure due to the dedication of these Session Judges who exercised a very high level of professional responsibility and sense of duty. On behalf of the Chief Judging Committee (CJC), I take this opportunity to express our gratitude to all the Session Judges for their tremendous help.

It may be worthwhile to write a little bit about how the Judging for GEO 2004 was planned and organized. The CJC was appointed by the Program Committee more than a year prior to the scheduled starting date of the GEO 2004 Conference. The CJC was formed for the purpose of planning and overseeing all the activities related to the selection of the best oral and poster presentations - the objective was to select five winners in each category. The CJC comprised the following members: Aldo Vesnaver (SEG), Christian Heine (AAPG), Dominique Marion (EAGE), Habib Al-Alawi (Bahrain Geoscience Society), Hamad Al-Rougha (Emirates Society for Geoscience), Mohammed Mugheiry (Geological Society of Oman), and myself (Chairman, representing Dhahran Geoscience Society). Without delay, the CJC proceeded to develop the judging guidelines and selection criteria, which were subsequently discussed and approved by the Program Committee in its meeting held in Bahrain in June 2003. The Judging Guidelines were posted on the GEO 2004 website.

Once the CJC started recruiting volunteer judges, it became evident that this was not such a trivial task. We called upon all potential conference delegates to step forward and volunteer as judges via the online volunteering form, which was available at the GEO website. Our target was to recruit as many designated judges as possible before the start of the Conference. However, since delegates had not finalized their travel itinerary and session attendance plans, it was difficult to recruit the desired number of volunteer judges for each session, at an early stage. Consequently, the CJC decided to designate all Session Chairs to also serve as Session Judges. This decision enabled us to assign a minimum of three Judges for each oral and poster session. As a contingency, we also planned to recruit at most three Judges as walk-in volunteer judges during the Conference.

The most challenging part of the Judging operation was the design of the “smart” judging forms, and the implementation of the related computer technology for automatically counting the votes and analyzing the results. Considering that there were 4,256 individual ratings as part of a total of 304 Judging Forms (14 rating questions per presentation), there was an early realization that such an automated system was essential. We used a technology known as Optical Mark Reading (OMR), which required the forms to be designed to use bubble marks. Each form was also bar coded with data such as presentation type, session code, judge code, and abstract number. In order to minimize the amount of data entry by the Session Judges, we prepared preprinted Judging Forms customized for each Session Judge. Several observers commented that this automated judging system is unique among the conferences that they have attended.

The final challenge was to devise a simple and efficient plan for the judging operation during the Conference. Thanks to the cooperation of Arabian Exhibition Management and GEO Secretariat, we established a Judge’s Desk where the Judges received their Judging Kit - a labeled envelope containing Judging Forms, judging instructions, Judge’s Ribbon and mechanical pencil. In addition, there was a Judge’s Room where the Judges returned their completed forms at the end of their session. As a token of our appreciation for Session Judges, we implemented a system whereby Judges received some gifts after returning the completed forms. The gifts were generously donated by Dhahran Geoscience Society (DGS) and the Emirates Society for Geoscience (ESG). We also recognized the most active Session Judges who contributed by judging the most number of sessions - the highest number was 9 sessions by one judge. The three most active Judges received a commemorative gift donated by Petroleum Development Oman (PDO).

In acknowledgment, the following individuals deserve a special recognition for their remarkable contributions in staffing the Judge’s Room, which was the “headquarters” of the judging operation during the three days of the Conference: Sheila Hardie (Saudi Aramco), Arnoldo Edgani (Gulf PetroLink), and Mahmoud Hussain (Saudi Aramco). Under my supervision, this group (also known as the “Judging Team”), was able to scan and process the Judging Forms as soon as they were received in the Judge’s room. On the final day of the Conference, the last forms were received at approximately 6:30 pm, and we were able to complete the processing and declare the winners approximately 30 minutes later.

Finally, I express my sincere thanks to Ms. Reema for staffing the Judge’s Desk, and Mrs. Gloria Rea of Arabian Exhibition Management for her unwavering cooperation. We also acknowledge the continued support of the GEO Secretariat, namely Moujahed Hussaini and Joerg Mattner.

In closing, I wish to add that the judging effort was a long process that required extensive preparation and planning. This was a team effort that I believe contributed significantly to its success.

Dr. Zaki Al-Harari
Chairman, Chief Judging Committee (CJC)