2025 09 16 CAPG MEETING
Meeting Title: CAPG Ongoing Activities Progress, CAPG at ICSMGE, CAPG Marketing Campaign Update
Date: 16 September 2025
Time: 4:00 PM (Beirut Time)
Platform: Online Microsoft Teams
Presentation Slides: 2025-09-16_CAPG_Presentation.pdf
1. Attendees
- Chair: Dr. Roger Estephan (RE)
- President: Dr. Marc Ballouz (MB)
- Participants:
- Hugo Acosta Martinez (HAM)
- Miguel Navarrete
- Aline Kahwaji
- Carolina Hidalgo
- Ricardo Justiniano
- Joachim Mueller
- Marie-Therese Hortmann
- Shehab Wissa Agaiby
- Andreas Elsing
- Fireflies.ai Notetaker Reginal
- Chris Martin
- Pedro Fernández
- Ed Smit
- Abir Awad
2. Agenda Overview
At the beginning of the session, RE introduced the agenda for the meeting. He emphasized that the agenda mirrored the one used in the earlier session held with the Eastern region, ensuring consistency across discussions.
The agenda included several important items, namely: planning for the CAPG HTC Joint session at GeoAsia 2025, preparations for the CAPG Vienna session at ICSMGE in June 2026, review and feedback on the CAPG logo design proposals, updates regarding the CAPG marketing campaign, CA dedicated website, and CA benefits in ISSMGE bulletin for articles and ads and finally, discussion about contributions to the Heritage Time Capsule
3. CAPG - HTC Joint Session at GeoAsia (October 10, 2025 Goa, India)
HA presented detailed plans for the upcoming joint session with the Heritage Time Capsule (HTC) project during the GeoAsia Conference in Goa, India, scheduled for Friday, 10 October 2025, from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM, a total of 90 mn allocated session for CAPG. The theme of the session will be Reimagining the Boundaries of the Profession.
The session will begin with introductory presentations by Mr. Acosta Martinez and Ms. Nilima, after which a panel discussion will take place. The panel will focus on five major thematic elements and will include contributions from Corporate Associates. CA Members were encouraged to nominate representatives from their organizations who will be attending the conference in person, as the session will not offer an online option.
RE reiterated that invitations had already been circulated by email, and feedback from interested members was being received. Members were urged to act promptly so that a strong CAPG presence could be secured at this high-profile international event.
4. CAPG at ICSMGE Vienna Session (17 June 2026)
RE then moved the discussion to the Vienna Session at ICSMGE, which is planned as part of the ISSMGE Centenary Conference on 17 June 2026. This will be a 30-minute CAPG session dedicated to showcasing outstanding projects undertaken by Corporate Associates.
RE explained that, to date, five project contributions had already been submitted, and further submissions were expected in the weeks ahead. October 2025 will be the timeframe for shortlisting projects, ensuring that only the most innovative and impactful initiatives are selected. Projects will be assessed based on criteria such as innovation, sustainability, and technical relevance.
A review committee, composed of volunteer CA members, will be established to evaluate the submissions. Participants were invited to express interest in joining this committee.
The Chair and the President both emphasized that Vienna, being the largest ISSMGE gathering in history with an anticipated attendance of around 3,000 delegates, will offer a unique opportunity for CAPG members to highlight their most remarkable achievements on an international stage.
5. CAPG New Design Logo Proposals and Discussion
RE has presented four design options.
A strong consensus emerged in favor of the version that incorporated the ISSMGE logo
within the design, as it better emphasized CAPGs affiliation with the parent society.
- Several suggestions were made to improve the design further:
- Avoid too much text; prefer simplicity and add the abbreviated ISSMGE to the CAPG logo.
- Ensure readability in small formats (e.g., websites, social media).
- Consider color variations (CAPG in green/blue and red from ISSMGE identity).
It was agreed that the design team would refine the options based on the feedback received and then circulate them to members for final voting.
6. CAPG Marketing Campaign Upcoming Launch & Membership Growth
A comprehensive update was provided on the CAPG marketing campaign. RE announced that the CAPG website is now fully operational and includes an online payment system that allows companies to register and pay their membership fees in a single step.
At present, CAPG has 38 active members, with 14 companies yet to activate their webpages. CA Members were reminded to complete their profile pages promptly.
The campaign will adopt a multi-channel outreach strategy:
- National Societies: distribution of campaign materials with mandatory sharing across local networks.
- GeoWorld database: contacting approximately 1,000 potential companies registered there.
- Direct corporate outreach: targeting at least 150 companies directly.
- Social media: dissemination through LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, and other platforms as well as CAPG website.
Campaign materials will include a unified advertisement page on CAPG website, short- animated videos, and QR codes linking directly to the payment page. The launch is scheduled within two weeks and will be synchronized across all platforms to coincide with the September ISSMGE Bulletin.
MB has emphasized that a unified and simultaneous launch would maximize impact, ensuring that virtually every geotechnical engineer and company becomes aware of CAPG.
7. CAPG Benefits at ISSMGE Bulletin, CAPG Website & Time Capsule Updates
RE has provided further updates on CAPG initiatives:
- CAPG Website: Out of 52 Corporate Associate members, 38 have completed and published their company webpages. The remaining 14 are being reminded to finalize theirs.
- CAPG Benefits at ISSMGE Bulletin
- CA articles: Two CAs articles have been submitted for publication, with further contributions strongly encouraged.
- CA Advertisement: Eleven (11) companies have already confirmed the inclusion of commercial advertisements in the upcoming September edition. Members were reminded that each Corporate Associate is entitled to one free advertisement per year.
- Heritage Time Capsule: Only six contributions have been received so far, and members were urged to provide additional material. Contributions can take the form of papers, videos, or presentations, highlighting the companys services, innovations, or contributions to geotechnical engineering. It was clarified that earlier submissions from past years remain accessible, though they have migrated to a new dedicated website.
8. Key Decisions & Action Items
The Chair has summarized the below Key decisions and actions to be taken:
- Finalize and circulate invitations and encourage Corporate Associates participation in GeoAsia session.
- Collect and shortlist further outstanding project submissions for Vienna session; form review committee.
- Refine the logo options (simplify, improve readability, consider colors) and circulate for voting.
- Prepare and launch marketing campaign within two weeks, aligned with September Bulletin release.
- Continued reminders for CA benefits in ISSMGE bulletin ads and articles, CA dedicated website profiles, and Time Capsule contributions.
9. Closing Meeting
- Meeting concluded with appreciation to all participants.
- Next steps: email follow-ups for logo polling, campaign materials, and project submissions.
RE thanked all participants for their active contributions and constructive feedback.
