PLSO The Oregon Surveyor Nov/Dec 2018

4 The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 41, No. 6 From the PLSO Chairman Pat Gaylord, PLS Chairman of the Board MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN Which side of this equation does PLSO and Surveyors choose to be on? We must be proactive for the future or like the vole, our future will be decided for us. F irst let me say thank you to the membership for allowing me to lead the PLSO this past year. It seems like just yesterday when Dave Williams and I sat down in late 2016 and discussed our plans to work together these last two years. What a whirlwind it has been. I volunteered to be Chair because I had a vision of what PLSO could benefit from and with that I had a number of goals I wished to accomplish as Chair this year. For themost part we were very successful even though at times it has been conten- tious and somewhat painful. Change is hard. Rebranding has been a hot top- ic for some time now and in addition to rolling out the new logo for PLSO at the start of the year we have made positive steps in many of the rebranding goals. Those goals and our related accomplish- ments this past year are: 1. Increase public awareness of the importance of surveying and promote its image to the public and allied professions. • Ride along numbers have increased • We have new updated marketing materials and a new display booth • We have participated in a number of political forums which have increased awareness of surveying 2. Increase the number of young people coming into the profession. • This is a long term goal which will take time to realize, however, trade show and career day participation by PLSO continues to increase due to the dedication of a number of key PLSO members • MECOP (Multiple Engineering Cooperative Program – www. mecopinc.org) has become aware of PLSO due to this years efforts and has approached us regarding how they can help us draw students to surveying programs and their intern- ship program 3. Make PLSO an easily recogniz- able organization to the public and seen as an important constit- uent within the state legislature. • We have met with numerous politi- cians at the local, state and national level to discuss surveying issues and how legislative proposals affect us. Many, many thanks to Darrell Fuller for his assistance in this regard • NSPS sees PLSO as a key player in national legislative issues • As a result of QBS efforts, ACEC and AIA Oregon see PLSO as a partner in legislative issues • State legislators now recognize PLSO as a relevant organization, this is also as a result of our QBS efforts with ACEC and AIA of Oregon 4. Make PLSO relevant to Oregon surveyors and increase member- ship by giving a clear message about who we are and our value to other professions. • PLSO was invited to speak at the ODOT Surveyors Conference about the value of PLSO and what it has to offer. • Overall growth of membership is still a work in progress. Upcoming efforts for Strategic Planning will help continue our efforts to define our value and increase member- ship. This is a critical component to continue to focus on as we move forward.