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PLSO Issue 2, 2016 March/April

7 Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon | www.plso.org MINNESOTA IN FEBRUARY It was 10° in Minnesota, on February 9, when I landed at Minneapolis St. Paul International. It may have been way too cold and windy for this native Californian, but that didn’t curb my excitement and enthusiasm for what I was there to experience. You may ask, why would you visit Minnesota in February? I kept asking myself that same question as I boarded the plane in dreary Portland on my way to what I thought would be the north pole. e reason I found myself in Minnesota in February, was to represent Oregon at the 2nd FIG Young Surveyors, North American Meeting (2YSNAM), hosted by the Minnesota Society of Professional Surveyors. What is the FIG? I hadn’t heard of the FIG (said as it’s spelled, not like the fruit) until I listened to Amanda Askren at the 2015 PLSO Conference. According to their website, the FIG is the International Federation of Surveyors, which denes itself as a “federation of the national member associations and covers the whole range of professional elds within the global surveying community. It provides an international forum for discussion and development aiming to promote professional practice and standards.” e FIG has various networks, one of them being the Young Surveyors Network. e Young Surveyors Network is broken down into various regional networks, North America being one of them. To be included in the Young Surveyors Network, an individual needs to be associated with a national professional organization. Luckily, being a member of the PLSO means you are also a member of the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS). NSPS is excited about the Young Surveyors Network and is willing to support the group in any way possible. e NSPS Young Surveyors Network has 38 state representatives, which is amazing considering the group started in 2014 with only three. A Young Surveyor is dened as a surveyor who is 35 years of age or younger, students of surveying, or within ten years of graduating from a Bachelor or Master’s degree program. is doesn’t mean we won’t let any of the...umm, let’s say “supporting” land surveyors in the network. e NSPS Young Surveyors want anyone who is willing to help further the surveying profession. e network was created as a vehicle to bring younger surveyors into the networks and organizations, because of the age structure of the surveying profession. Now that I’ve fully detoured the article, let’s get back to what I was doing in Minnesota in February. e 2YSNAM was attended by young surveyors from 23 states and six countries. ere were speakers from three of the major vendors and a number of agencies (BLM, NGS, NCEES, etc). e meeting included two keynote speakers: Ken Mooyman, President of Leica Geosystems NAFTA, and Bryn Fosburgh, Vice President–Executive Committee member of Trimble Navigation. Ken discussed the hidden value of maps, while Bryn gave us a look into surveying technology of the future. One of the highlights of the meeting was a session which gave the oor to young surveyors from ve dierent countries who discussed challenges and experiences they have faced where they’re from. e interesting part is that they face the exact same challenges we do on a day to day basis. e meeting ended with attendees breaking up into working groups to come up with a series of questions to ask a panel of professionals, made up from the speakers who presented earlier in the day, about the future of surveying. e main topic of discussion was what can our group do to promote the profession internationally and what can be done at the national and local levels to educate the public and promote the profession. is is the age old question which seems to plague this profession, but the room was full of passionate young surveyors willing to do what it takes. I heard Curt Sumner mention that a meeting such as this wouldn’t have happened 20 years ago. e fact that we were there in freezing cold Minnesota in February, was a testament to what this group has become and what it can do. I’ve heard “I’m just a surveyor” time and time again. Why are we relegating ourselves to “just surveyors?” I think we are teachers, mentors, friends, and I feel like the soul of the profession may have been lost along the way. But I will say this, sitting in that room with over 50 passionate land surveyors from across the world, who were there because they wanted to be, means that this profession is still alive, and there is a whole generation who loves what they do and is willing to ght for it. I’d like to challenge each and every one of you to get out and help support this group and the PLSO. Very soon you will see us around drumming up support at the local level. is problem isn’t going to solve itself, and it won’t be solved at a national level either. It has to start at home and it has to start with you. Other topics such as licensing requirements, what surveyors can do to be “non-traditional,” facing technology head on, and what is the NSPS doing to help support the young surveyors were discussed. Attending this meeting gave me an opportunity to be in the same room with many surveyors, young and old, who have so much passion for what they do and what the future holds. I can honestly say, I’ve never been part of a group like this. I le the meeting inspired and excited for what the future holds. I’m looking forward to continuing the momentum gained at the national level back here in Oregon. In closing, I’d like to thank the PLSO for continued support, as well as Bob Neathamer, Tim Kent, Gary Anderson, Gary Johnston, John atcher, and Jim Greenman, who all shelled out their own hard earned money to make sure I was able to attend. ank you all! Minnesota in February? „ Chris Glantz, PLS


PLSO Issue 2, 2016 March/April
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