Geocongress 2018 sponsorship Opportunities

February 28, 2018 Jeff Ostrowick

The Local Organizing Committee (LOC), the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and the Geological
Society of South Africa (GSSA) would like to extend their warmest welcome to you for Geocongress
2018. The theme of this conference is “Bringing the Geosciences Together”, with the aim to provide a
platform for southern Africa-based geoscientists to present their latest research. The meeting is to take
place at the University of Johannesburg’s Auckland Park Kingsway Campus, South Africa, 18 to 20 July
2018.
Geocongress is a GSSA-backed conference that was held every second year in South Africa up to
2008, when it was successfully combined with the Society of Economic Geologists Conference. In
recent years leaders from academia and industry have expressed the need for such a conference with
a focus on southern Africa to return. The number of geoscience post-graduate students and postdoctoral
research fellows have also increased drastically in recent years, making the need for a local
platform for research exposure and networking even greater. Considering the world-class quality of
geoscientific work being produced annually in southern Africa, the GSSA decided to bring back
Geocongress in 2018. Since announcing the call for sessions at the end of 2017, the reaction has been
very positive, with numerous session proposals focusing on both academia and industry already
submitted.

The backbone on which meetings like these are built is sponsorship. As this is a national conference
with a special focus on getting young researchers from universities and young professionals from
industry to present their work, the costs of attending this conference need to be kept reasonable, which
will not be possible without sponsorship. A broad spectrum of industry and academic geoscientists will
be attending Geocongress, and as such it will be a great opportunity for sponsor companies to advertise
and promote their work to their target audiences. Contact time between employers and potential
employees will also be accommodated, with sponsors able to reach many young graduates during the
conference. Where possible, financial assistance will also be provided by the LOC to full-time postgraduate
students to attend.All the sponsorship opportunities and their benefits associated with Geocongress are outlined in this
prospectus. The LOC would therefore like to invite you to invest in Geocongress 2018, and to help
stage a world-class meeting in Johannesburg.
Regards,
Bertus Smith
Chair: Geocongress 2018 Local Organizing Committee