PLSO The Oregon Surveyor January/February 2020

18 The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 43, No. 1 T hese past two years, and especially the past year, has been a busy year for me. I have what is commonly known as “the professional fever,” which means that I see what needs to be ac- complished for the profession and take it upon myself to lead the effort to “get it done.” Fortunately, or unfortunately, the medical community has not found a vaccine for this fever, even though my wife is constantly on the internet searching for such a cure. I’m very lucky to have found such a marvelous lady, best friend, and wife to allow me to give so much of my time to PLSO and the sur- veying profession. Early in my career my mentor Orville Cas- well told me that the more I put into the surveying profession themore I would get out of it. I’ve tried to keep that thought in mind every day. This past year the Board of Directors decided that we needed to launch an updated Strategic Plan to aide in giving the organization direction for the future. I was honored to lead in this endeavor and come up with a three-year plan that focuses on membership, lead- ership and promoting the profession. All three of these areas are important for PLSO as we continue to strive for ex- cellence in the surveying profession and ourselves personally. My hope is that we can increase our membership with both corporate and associate members and that, in turn, will increase our diversity of leadership, which aides in promoting our profession among the public. The hope is that working on these areas will increase our presence in the communi- ty and will persuade our next generation to jump into the Land Surveying pro- fession. The idea that some aspects of land surveying have not changed since George Washington, while other aspects change every day, gives our profession a unique slant on our day to day activity. This is how we can promote our pro- fession to the next generation and get them interested, so when it comes time to hand them the keys and ask them to drive PLSO, we can be assured they will be heading in the best direction. This past year I was also very fortunate to be appointed to serve on the Oregon State Board of Examining Engineers and Land Surveyors (OSBEELS). This is a po- sition I am honored to hold and I hope that my experience in both private and public sector practice and my experience with PLSO brings insight to the OSBEELS board, guiding how OSBEELS can work collaboratively with PLSO. I’ve been very lucky to have worked with so many great and dedicated Land Surveyors on the PLSO Board of Directors and now with Engineers and Land Surveyors with OS- BEELS, and I now hope to represent the Land Surveyors point of view effectively. It’s important to me that I am not speak- ing for myself but for the profession, and that I am conducting myself in such a way that all Land Surveyors will view as effectively communicating the respect they all deserve. I was asked “what motivates me”? As I mentioned earlier, my mentor Orville Caswell, is the person who lit a fire un- der me and schooled me on just what it takes to be a Professional Land Surveyor. I was very lucky to be employed by Or- ville straight out of college. I joined PLSO while I was attending Oregon Tech and, during my first week working for Orville, he wouldn’t let me go home after work one night because there was a PLSOMid- west Chapter meeting that night and he was going to introduce “the new kid” to the chapter. They made me feel so wel- comed, and encouraged me to speak up, that I believe that occasion is when I caught “the professional fever.” I haven’t missed many chapter meetings since, maybe because I’m still fearing Orville or Bill or Don or Clyde will come back and put a licking on me. They were all great people to have learned from, and I real- ly miss their stories, which I listened to at the meeting after the meeting, drink- ing beer—good times. I don’t want to let them or my current chapter members down while representing PLSO. Looking toward working on our PLSO Stra- tegic Plan, we have recognized the need to promote our profession, so we can at- tract new members and motivate people to become Land Surveyors, particularly those people who have a basic curiosity, about how the cities, roads, and prop- erties came to be where they are today. Those young kids who have the desire to put jigsaw puzzles together are true Land Surveyors in the making. Daily, we are trying to find a way to get that piece of property to fit with the other surround- ing properties, while not leaving gaps, or getting out the scissors to force proper- ty into the puzzle. Find those people and mentor them, they are our next gener- ation of Land Surveyors, who will carry on the work, which we have carried up to this point. My proudest moment is when I hear a student tell me at a school fair they are interested in our profession, after listen- ing tome explain what we do and howwe go about doing it. I hope that my involve- ment in PLSO has helped and motivated others to engage in that same type of education. Thank you for the prestigious Surveyor of the Year Award, it is truly humbling to have been awarded such an honor.  x Interview w/ Tim Fassbender, PLS Surveyor of the Year 2020 Annual Conference: Surveyor of the Year