International Congresses of Dipterology

David Yeates (Chairman), Neal Evenhuis (Vice Chairman), Adrian Pont (Secretary), Irina Brake, Marcia Couri, Marion Kotrba, James O’Hara, Thomas Pape, Marc Pollet, Masaaki Suwa, Brian Wiegmann, Shaun Winterton, Manuel Zumbado.

1. Apologies for absence
   Apologies for absence were received from David Barraclough and Rudolf Meier.

2. Approval of minutes
   David Yeates thanked Adrian Pont and Marion Kotrba for preparing minutes of the Council meetings in Fukuoka (2006) and Durban (2008), respectively. The minutes were approved. Proposed by Jim O’Hara, seconded by Thomas Pape.

3. Secretary/Treasurer’s report
   The Secretary gave a brief report on his activities since the last Congress, as were outlined in the Agenda. Since no expenses have been involved, the Council account now stands at GBP 2870.85 (US $4474, €3473) to which should be added the GBP 79.63 (US $124, €96) that has been in the account since 2002.

4. Donation to Council from the Organising Committee of ICD6 in 2006
   It was decided that there was no urgency to disburse the Council funds, and that the best course for the present was to keep them as possible loans of seed money for future Congresses.

5. Election of new Council members
   The four Council members who had reached the end of their term and were not seeking re-election were thanked for their service: David Barraclough, Neal Evenhuis, Adrian Pont and David Yeates.

   Four members had reached the end of their term and were seeking re-election: Marion Kotrba, James O’Hara, Marc Pollet and Manuel Zumbado.

   In addition, four candidates had put their names forward for election to Council: Dan Bickel (Australia), Steve Gaimari (USA), Ashley Kirk-Spriggs (South Africa) and Angeles Marcos-Garcia (Spain).

   It was proposed by Neal Evenhuis, seconded by Brian Wiegmann, that the election of these eight Council members should be made as a single block vote, and they were duly elected by a unanimous show of hands.

6. Election of new Council officers
   Nominations for the offices of Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Secretary/Treasurer were:

   Chairman: Thomas Pape
   Vice-Chairman: Rudolf Meier
   Secretary/Treasurer: Marion Kotrba

   It was proposed by Neal Evenhuis, seconded by David Yeates, that these three appointments should be made as a single block vote, and these three were elected by a unanimous show of hands and acclamation.

7. Election of Honorary Congress Members
   There were three candidates proposed for Honorary Membership, to take the number of Honorary Members up to seven, although it was agreed that there was no reason why the Constitution could not be amended to allow for ten or even more Honorary Members:

   Dr Fan Zide (Shanghai, China), proposed by Thomas Pape and seconded by Brian Wiegmann.
   Dr Emilia Narchuk (St Petersburg, Russia), proposed by Irina Brake and seconded by Shaun Winterton.
   Dr F. Christian Thompson (Washington, USA), proposed by Marion Kotrba and seconded by Manuel Zumbado.

   The elections were carried by a unanimous show of hands and acclamation.

8. Bid to host ICD8 in 2014
   There was one bid to host ICD8 in 2014, from Germany, and it was presented by Netta Dorchin. A summary of her proposal is given here.

   Germany has a long tradition of dipterology and an active group of 127 dipterists (www.ak-diptera.de). The organising committee will include Netta Dorchin, Marion Kotrba, Frank Menzel, Joachim Ziegler and two-three further colleagues. A provisional logo was shown.

   The proposed venue is the Kongresshotel Potsdam, with Berlin as a back-up should Potsdam prove too expensive – negotiations are in progress. It is some 30 minutes from Tegel airport and 50 minutes from Schönefeld airport, and is situated on the banks of the Templiner Lake and only a short distance from the railway station. It is an ideal Congress venue, being a modern and spacious hotel. The main Kongresshall seats 500. There is another room with 80 seats, and smaller rooms with 45-50 seats. There are areas for exhibitions and posters, and a computer room with 15-20 computers. There are two restaurants for receptions and banquets, and a bar.

   The living area adjoins the Congress centre. Single rooms cost €85, double rooms €100. There are also relaxation areas.

   Proposed social functions include the reception and banquet; a cruise on the Templiner Lake; tours around Frederick the Great’s Potsdam and Sans Souci palaces. A second possible venue for the banquet is the Zoologisches Museum in Berlin, where it is hoped that the celebrated fly exhibition will be on loan from Neuchâtel. There may be other exhibitions, for example to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of J.W.Meigen, the founder of European dipterology.

   A professional company, PCMA in Berlin, will be engaged as Congress organiser and marketing agency. The Congress budget is extremely tight at present. With 300 participants, the hotel cost will be €124,055 and the PCMA fee €20,825. With 350 participants, the costs will be €111,130 and €20,150, respectively. The cost of the abstract volume and programme, around €5000, would be offset by anticipated sponsorship of €5000. PCMA is already searching for sponsors. Income would come from a registration fee of €350 and an anticipated grant from the Deutsche Forschungs-Gesellschaft of €28,000.

   In the discussion that followed it was pointed out that the registration fee could be increased in order to give more financial security. A reduced rate for students and a day rate were mentioned, as was also the use of students as helpers. Netta also mentioned that there were other hotels and guest houses in Potsdam if individuals found the hotel too expensive, and that the committee had not ruled out Berlin in case an affordable deal with the Potsdam Kongresshotel could not be reached.

   Netta was thanked for her excellent and detailed presentation. It was moved that the bid be accepted, proposed by David Yeates, seconded by Neal Evenhuis, and it was accepted by a unanimous vote. An announcement would be made at the first plenary session on Monday.

9. The proposed formation of an International Society of Dipterology
   Chris Thompson had been invited to take part in this part of the meeting, and he opened the discussion with a brief presentation in which he outlined the rationale, role and function of an International Society of Dipterology.

   The hymenopterists have an international society, and the dipterological community is now ready to move on and to adopt a more formal role. Such a society would lead to the elevation and recognition of our science by other sciences, and the better coordination and focus provided by a society would lead to a greater international recognition. The basic functions of a society are to provide a journal in which research papers can be published and to organise meetings/congresses. By expanding its constitution, the ICD Council could take a leading role in the formation of such a Society, or an entirely new entity could be created. The management of common resources is better carried out by a group than by individuals, and our resources such as Myia, Studia Dipterologica and BDWD all need a guarantee of security and continuity. Whilst Studia Dipterologica appears to be slipping and in need of support, Myia will in future be published by Pensoft and in four volumes over the next year.

   There followed an extended and detailed discussion, in which many Council members put forward their views about the role, purpose and function of the proposed society. Initially, this focused on the matter of a journal. It was felt that there were major changes taking place in publishing: the future of small journals was insecure and many would be replaced by digital publications. The partnership between the Willi Hennig Society and Academic Press was cited as a successful and high quality venture. However, it was felt that at this stage a society and a journal were separate issues. At its inception, the society should be a means of coordination, and this would be achieved by an on-line Newsletter, available free to anyone who wished to register. Such a course would obviate the need for expensive dues, although a small levy might be required to get things started (say, $USD20), and this would make the running of the society a much simpler and less time-consuming matter for the officers. Most importantly, it would provide coherence among the dipterological community which is currently too fractured. It would coordinate all the groups (e.g. mosquitoes, fruit flies, chironomid midges, etc) and present a unified view of dipterology to the general and scientific public. In the course of time it would be possible to increase the level of dues to provide assets which could support various dipterological activities such as the BDWD [now Systema Dipterorum], seed money for Congresses, possibly print Congress proceedings, support for students to attend Congresses, maintenance of the Diptera website, or even support a journal.

   It was finally decided that the project of an International Society of Dipterology should go ahead, and that a resolution to that effect, drafted by David Yeates, Thomas Pape and Chris Thompson, should be read out at the first plenary session on Monday. The ICD Council would eventually operate independently of the society, but at this stage would take the lead in drafting a Constitution and in putting the proposal on-line in order to solicit comments from the wider dipterological community.

10. Any other business
    In response to an enquiry, Manuel Zumbado gave a brief statement on the Congress finances, and also confirmed that a public vote of thanks would be given to Monty Wood, Hazel Ramirez, and the others who had assisted with the Congress organisation, programme and abstracts.

    It was also suggested that an effort should be made to broaden the scope of the Congresses by attracting more contributions from the applied agricultural and medical fields.

The meeting closed at 1700 hours.

The meeting closed after dinner, at about 22.00 hours.

Adrian C. Pont
Secretary/Treasurer
23 August 2010