The Oregon Surveyor Sept/Oct 2018

Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon | www.plso.org 7 Help build the future surveying community when you support the Education & Outreach Auction. Save the Date for PLSO January 17, 2019 at the Hilton Eugene PLSO is currently procuring auction items to raise money for scholarships, ride along and mentorship programs, and marketing outreach for the surveying profession. From the PLSO Office extremely fun, it’s not sustainable. Espe- cially now, since people can join online and be automatically included in the di- rectory in real time. So, it appears that when PLSO’s Excel spreadsheet became an online database, it automatically in- put the current date of March 29, 2013 as the date of membership inception. You got all that? But I digress. In summary, there are people that have been members for a long time, and they would like it to be correct in the data- base, and I don’t blame them one bit. Over the past year, I’ve reminded peo- ple they can change the date on their own or just email me, and I’ll change it. But I finally cracked open the member- ship application vault, and I found way more than Geraldo Rivera. As I’ve been making my way through the alphabet (I’m not even half-way, by the way), I pull out current members or peo- ple I know that, although recently retired, were active in the association, and I’d like to make sure the database is correct. I then update the online database with the correct date on the application. This is a lengthy project that will be put on the back burner the closer we get to the Conference. I will eventually get through them though. It’s interesting, going through all those files. It’s much like time traveling, ob- serving how the actual paper material changed (the 70’s used yearbook qual- ity paper for their applications, the 80’s had switched to the Xerox), typewriters changed to computers along with the ac- tual questions and answers on the forms. I’ve loved reading a student member ap- plication from someone that I know will go on to be a Committee Chair for sev- eral years before serving as Chairman of the Board twice. Or an Associate appli- cation of someone who will eventually be honored as Surveyor of the Year. Or a deceased corporate member that I re- membered having a particularly animated conversation with in Salem. I wonder if any of themhad an inkling how long their membership would last, the impression they would make upon their professional community, or how successful their ca- reer would become. Like any long-term relationship, I’m sure their feelings about PLSO have had hills and valleys. How- ever, it always seems to come down to being seen. Seen for your contributions, appreciated for your time and support, and acknowledged for sticking it all out. I want you to know that I see you. Thank you for sticking with us for so long. Another way we can make sure people feel acknowledged is to nominate them for an Award, which gets announced at the Annual Conference in January. I know it’s more time out of your day, but it real- ly is important to say thank you. You will make someone’s day, acknowledge their long career, or put a bright spotlight on a young professional that could get them that promotion they’ve been after. So, please take 10 minutes to look over the various awards listed on the nomination form included in this edition of The Ore- gon Surveyor. Don’t let them languish in the 40-year-old membership application file. Give them their moment to shine!  x Go to www.plso.org/Education- &-Outreach-Auction to see how you can help create opportunity for future surveyors.