Page 6

PLSO Issue 2, 2016 March/April

The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 39, No. 2 4 FROM THE PLSO OFFICE What Would Your Association Look Like if You Could Start Over? „ Aimee McAulie, PLSO Exec. Secretary When I’m not living and breathing the needs of Oregon land surveyors, I am Just Aimee— private citizen. Now, Just Aimee is a daughter, mother, friend, dog owner and something else I take pride in…annoying little sister. at’s right folks. I spend my spare time thinking of ways to torture my older sister (or as I like to say… much much older sister). In my opinion, it started when she told me that the van parked at the end of the cul-desac was waiting to kidnap me. See? You don’t feel sorry for her anymore do you? In any case, she was free game aer that (or at least aer I came out from under my bed). I responded in kind by leaving her boyfriends on the phone by not telling her they called…and not telling them I wasn’t really going to go get her. In all fairness, this decision was always based on whether or not she yelled at me to get out of her room that day or not. But this little intro is really just another way to torture her in print. My real point in bringing her up is that she recently decided to pack up her current lifestyle and start over in Bend. No job. No support structure of friends. She looked around, decided her life just wasn’t working the way she wanted and scrapped it. Scary, right? is got me thinking. What if an association could do something similar? What would it look like? Aer all, most governing structures are organized when things are small—before potential growth problems reared their ugly head and younger generations started having opinions. Private and publically traded companies have had to do the same thing. ink of IBM and Kodak. As technology surpassed their legacy products, they were forced to reinvent themselves. However, one was more successful. Innovation and relevancy are balanced like weights. Research showed that IBM focused on asking themselves the right questions by prioritizing the customer over their legacy. As a result, IBM is now the world’s largest IT and consulting company. Kodak is still emerging from bankruptcy. What would be the right questions for PLSO? Land Surveying as a profession is experiencing a shi. Our corporate members are an average 5–10 years from retiring. is means, PLSO needs to nd out what our associate members need to get involved in the association and stay with us throughout their career. What is the role upcoming members want PLSO to play in their career? Back in the day, associations had a library that members would contact for a copy of an article. Can you believe that? Yes, there was life before the internet. People initially join associations for their resume and help in moving to the next stage of their career. PLSO needs to nd how that is dened for upcoming members. How do upcoming members want to receive information? When I started my career, associations spent a lot on printing and postage costs for monthly newsletters— not to mention the amount of time it took to getting everything folded and stued to get out the door, every month. Eventually, people stopped reading it and email became more popular. But let’s be honest. We all get a lot of email. Reading the newsletter has to be a priority. At least scan the headlines. (Do it for me—I need to feel like I’m not talking to empty air.) But what if they decided that a series of Instagram photos was the only way they would ever look at PLSO information? It’s always a challenge to nd the right balance between meeting the needs of older and younger generations. Do upcoming members want to attend local chapter meetings? If so, what will it take to get them there? PLSO has a hardworking board that meets statewide for quarterly meetings. At each meeting, chapters discuss the challenges they are having in getting people to attend their monthly meetings and volunteer for chapter leader positions. What do members want out of volunteer roles? Older generations didn’t ask what they will get out of volunteering their time. It was just what you did to be part of your community. But the denition of community has shied. How can PLSO be a part of that? Is the current leadership structure working for our younger members? Clearly, this article is more about asking the questions than bringing any answers to the table. But if I were to put this in Paleolithic terms: adapt or die. It’s time to pull an empty chair up to the table and listen to what our upcoming work force has to say in response to these questions and not be afraid of the answers. Gulp.


PLSO Issue 2, 2016 March/April
To see the actual publication please follow the link above