January February 2018

Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon | www.plso.org 27 WFPS activities, state legislature lobbying, proposed changes and deficiencies in survey recording, monument destruction, continuing education, higher education in Geomatics, arbitration, strategic planning and western states conferences. PLSO Executive Director Aimee McAuliffe has proposed an idea that she feels (and we agree) would be a great bene- fit to PLSO and the other member societies. The idea is for WFPS to become more of a marketing coalition by pooling marketing resources so that each state doesn’t have to rein- vent the wheel. WFPS Director John Thatcher reports that the idea has been floated at past WFPS meetings in discussions about recruiting new surveyors and that he can press the is- sue with WFPS. After all, that’s his job! For instance, PLSO has embarked on a journey along the road to “Rebranding”, and the process and lessons learned can be an inspiration and a starting point for a coordinated regional effort. Read more below about taking ideas and issues to WFPS. Regarding communication and lack thereof, let’s begin with what the PLSO bylaws say about communication in Article 13, Section 3C. COMMUNICATION. The WFPS representative is di- rected to attend the PLSO board meeting prior to any WFPS meeting to present issues and get a collective board opinion to take back to WFPS. The representative is then directed to prepare an oral or written report to the PLSO board covering The Spirit of The West Visit our website for more info www.WFPS.com issues discussed at the WFPS meeting. That is pretty much the extent of the communication required in the bylaws. At the January 2018 PLSO board meeting, we learned that, while Director John Thatcher has diligently prepared written reports to both boards for the duration of his appointment, the PLSO board has rarely, if ever, asked for issues to be taken to WFPS. So, the communication issue is a door that swings both ways, is not a fatal flaw, can be fixed and will be fixed. We conclude this article by reiterating our strong support for WFPS, and we renew our commitment to better communicate the benefits of participation to the PLSO Board of Directors and to PLSO members, take issues and ideas back and forth between the board and WFPS and ensure a culture of robust communication between the two associations. In addition, we commit to going beyond the communication protocol called for in the PLSO bylaws by faithfully publishing WFPS reports in The Oregon Surveyor. x John V. Thatcher , WFPS Director for PLSO Ben V. Petersen , WFPS Secretary/Treasurer and Director for LSAW Greg A. Crites , Editor, The Oregon Surveyor and former WFPS Director for PLSO