PLSO The Oregon Surveyor January February 2021

4 The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 44, No. 1 Field of Dreams The 2021 PLSO Conference From the PLSO Office Aimee McAuliffe PLSO Exec. Secretary While it took me a little longer to get there, I can say that when I finally saw all the players on the field, I was ready to go the distance. I ’m not going to lie to you. I wasn’t a believer. I didn’t want to think about COVID-19 closures lasting through Jan - uary. Our Conference Committee Chair, Jered McGrath, was full-on Ray Kinsella in Field of Dreams whenever we dis - cussed the “possible” requirement to hold a virtual conference. In fact, I would not have been surprised if he actually uttered the words, “Aimee, if we build it, they will come.” I was not ready to see the diamond through the corn field and was doing a better job at channeling Ray’s brother-in- law, Mark. Mark could only see one path —sell the farm or go under. It wasn’t un - til he stopped thinking about what wasn’t happening that he looked up in surprise and asked, “When did these ball players get here?” So, while it took me a little longer to get there, I can say that when I finally saw all the players on the field, I was ready to go the distance. Of course, I am talking about the decision to create an online conference in lieu of not being able tomeet in person. The out - come was not certain. While planning this year’s conference has not been without its challenges for the committee and at - tendees alike, I feel good about how PLSO has been able to adapt. The conference had a total of 411 people in attendance. That number is broken down as follows: • 238 Corporate Members • 53 Associate Members • 47 Non-members • 22 Exhibitors • 18 Special Members • 18 Student Members • 11 Life Members • 4 Retired Members People were continually active on the community boards, in meet-ups, in the exhibitor center, and in entering contests. Our top threewinners for the Leaderboard Contest, whichwas a point system for par - ticipating in online conference activities, are Dan Cummings, Paul Kowalczyk, and Peter Seaders. After earning an incredi - ble number of points that nobody could possibly catch up to, Dan generously do - nated his winnings to the Oregon Tech Geomatics Club. Our Passport Contest winner is Rachel Thurston, who was en - tered into a raffle along with everyone who visited all the vendors online. While visiting with attendees in-person was not the same for them, PLSO appreciates how much they and our sponsors continued to support our organization. The Photo Contest had two winners, Tim Brown and Blake Whelchel. To me, these photos depict two important things about the surveying profession. Blake’s photo shows the resilience of a land surveyor and Tim’s photo depicts the importance of being ready for the future. See page 11 for the winning photos. On Thursday, January 27, PLSO held its Annual Awards Ceremony and Member - ship Meeting. Because we were virtual, the meeting has been recorded and post - ed on the website in the Members Only section of plso.org. The meeting began with celebrating our well-deserved award