PLSO The Oregon Surveyor May June 2020

4 Vol. 43, No. 3 The Oregon Surveyor  | Membership Membership in the Time of COVID-19 From the PLSO Office Aimee McAuliffe PLSO Exec. Secretary I hope that while you have been physically distant from people, you also made a point to take care of your mental health. A t the time of writing this column, our state is still semi-shutdown and you have probably read, watched, or lis- tened to a zillion news items on COVID-19. We all know how to behave by this point. Social distancing has become an essential everyday phrase in our lives. I hope that while you have been physically distant from people, you also made a point to take care of your mental health. I don’t think most of us appreciate how import- ant mindless chatter around the office cooler about last night’s game or the latest Netflix series really can be. And by latest Netflix series, I’m assuming we all know I’m talking about “Tiger King,” right? I have also heard of a top-secret place in the des- ert where a circle of friends meet up for happy hour six to 10 feet apart from each other. Whatever works for you—do it! It’s important for your health. If any of you have had a close brush with the coronavirus (whether it’s you, a fam- ily member, friend, or colleague), please know that we are all sending our best wishes for strength and recovery. This shutdown has also claimed financial vic - tims. Small businesses and employees in industries considered non-essential have been hit hard, requiring them to jump through various governmental hoops to keep everything going. Finan- cial hardship is not something to be brushed aside, even if being closed is the right thing to do. The surveying pro- fession is a bit of a mixed bag for our members, depending on what type of projects were on the table at the begin- ning and what future work was delayed due to the virus. Starting the beginning of the busiest and arguably most lucra- tive time of year in a shutdown puts us all in a bit of a quandary for the future. However, PLSO plans to be a partner to all of you every step of the way. Formore than twomonths, you have been carefully figuring out how to make social distancing work for field crews and CAD technicians, as it does for other staff. Per - haps that means staggering when each can be in the office for equipment or re - imbursing field crews for driving their personal vehicles, ensuring one team member per car on company time. Equi- ty between office equipment availability and whether someone may work from home or not can be hard to figure out in a short timeframe. Quite a few have had to become more comfortable with teleconference technology like Zoom or BlueJeans. Most or all of you have had to shift your mindset to accept that processes can change. Sometimes change can be dif- ficult. Land surveyors are known to be individualists who need to be strong, clear, and accurate. Respect for details and co- ordinating findings with a multitude of governments agencies and professions that may or may not be reachable right now, on top of finding new ways to be efficient, probably hasn’t been easy. How - ever, what if, by taking this opportunity to be forward-thinking, you may give your- self the skills and resiliency to ride this wave of change to success? If you have not been to plso.org, or been reading ourmonthly eNews, we have been hard at work keeping you connected to important information and links for the coronavirus. Please visit our new resource page at plso.org/covid-19. Our lobbyist, Darrell Fuller, has been a major contribu- tor in aggregating important information and resources for all of you. It is current- ly sorted by date, so you’ll know if you’ve already seen a piece of information. Some of our committees and chapters have been meeting online, keeping our community connected. The Conference