The problem is the program at the Conference isn't all that great, because the good speakers are so expensive. Lately it's been a lot of government employees presenting their new website because they're free.
In Kentucky, we try to have one 'known' speaker in the conference budget and then fill in additional tracks with volunteers.?ÿ We have had really good presentations from some government employees.?ÿ A lady from our Sec. of State's office does some great presentations on annexations and another program on patents.?ÿ We've had some folks from a mid to large city planning unit present planning regs from their perspective.?ÿ We've had folks from FEMA, C.O.E., N.G.S. etc... present and have had some really good material come out of those presentations.
To original question
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Yes, Kentucky requires 8 hrs per year (or 16 hrs per two year reporting period) for surveyors.
I usually get my hours by taking a fall seminar hosted by the local chapter of the state society.?ÿ I then gain additional hours at the annual state conference.
@jon-payne don't be offended if I unlike this. That's the only way to like it again..
Colorado has no CE mostly because the DORA aggressively opposes it, and always has.(no complaints have been filed by landowners, so therefore all surveyors are completely abreast of all legal and technical aspects of the profession and doing excellent work in the field) In my opinion, it is a requirement as a vast profession, and that the learning of our profession BEGINS the day we get licensed. (and never ends). This is a humbling profession. If the public understood that many of us never continue what we learned to pass a test, they would be outraged.
My Oklahoma license keeps me studying for CE.
PLSC is well staffed with volunteers spending many hours to offer education. It is my observation that the same 100 to 200 attendees show up every year, out of 1500 licensees.
As a county surveyor, I can testify that no landowner calls the State Board with their complaints about surveyors - they call their county surveyor, and they call too many times for a profession that prides itself as we do.
I presented one such case to my legislature in our last losing effort to legislate CE: I showed two surveys of the same complex, legally intertwined series of surveys that began with a major blunder in 1964. I did a retracement and resolved several dormant legal issues and "fixed" the whole thing. Not because I am the smartest surveyor and need to know nothing since the day I passed my test (or, even smart), but I applied valuable lessons in my own continuing education that I could barely fathom the day I took my test. A misguided landowner hired surveyor B, one who has scoffed at the idea of CE (why would someone smart as I bother with CE?) and ladies and gentlemen, this surveyor did everything wrong, got paid a lot of money, and proceeded to record a plat that shorted the mad landowner by 20 feet. I have many examples like this - Surveyor A using CE principles and Surveyor B using their superior intelligence to completely botch the whole thing much to the detriment of the public. (ps - several legislators changed their mind when they heard my testimony, and voted FOR CE - but we still lost.
My hat goes off to my colleagues who knew everything they needed to know since day 1, and have the remarkable ability to "know what they don't know", and teach themselves only what they need to know when they need to know it. You are a credit to our profession. I'm not one of them. Like I say at my presentations, very early on in my career I decided I wanted to be SEEN with the guys who are still learning!
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30 hours per 2 year period, the on-line classes count, some other options also count.?ÿ
The in-person conferences hit a snag with COVID and the insane amount of work associated with COVID the last couple of years. Last year the conference was open but everyone I chatted with about going decided not to since they were too busy.?ÿ?ÿ
all of a sudden there was over 400 attendees
Wow.?ÿ I didn't pay attention to that the first go around.?ÿ We (Kentucky) would absolutely love a 400 person turn out for the annual conference.?ÿ I think we are getting around 250 to 300 in a good year.
Since I serve as a member of our conference committee, I can tell you from experience that having or not having a paid national speaker is always a discussion point (something I doubt we would even second guess with a 400 person turnout, but our attendance fee is also higher than $300).?ÿ Will that person be a big enough draw to help the bottom line compared to their fees.?ÿ In pretty much all instances the committee thinks they have been.
Instead of just seeking government employees, your conference committee might seek out members of the organization who have some specializations that might be of interest to others.?ÿ For instance, we have a gentleman (Al Matherly) who has advanced knowledge on cemetery surveys who presents periodically for us.?ÿ Or, this year, we have a society member (Dennis Smith) who was deeply involved in the Corvette Museum repairs after the sinkhole occurred in 2014.?ÿ He'll be presenting about the surveying and engineering around that project - he has also presented on business topics for us.?ÿ There are others (some may be government employees) who are just all out entertaining speakers (Stephen Chino) while providing good insight on a topic.?ÿ These folks did not put themselves forward as presenters, they were asked to present by their colleagues and turned out to be very good at it.?ÿ It's just a matter of asking someone to do a topic they are versed in and excited to discuss.
I can't quite chuckle about it.?ÿ
Perhaps I need to turn up my Sarcas-o-meter a bit.
I thought you might have reached that level of calm where you could just let it slide - something I can't seem to achieve.
At about the second land surveying CE program I ever attended, one of the attendees jumped up in the middle of a lecturer's presentation and began to cuss engineers and wouldn't stop.?ÿ That was the last time I ever attended a program put on by that organization.
24 hours per biennium in Minnesota, 20 in Wisconsin. The technical courses overlap somewhat but not completely. Wisconsin requires two hours of law, which is just as well because the legislature there is quite active and something new turns up every year. Both states require two hours of ethics; the same course serves for both MN and WI.
https://geodesy.noaa.gov/corbin/calendar.shtml
https://geodesy.noaa.gov/web/science_edu/webinar_series/Webinars.shtml
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NGS provides the lion's share of PDH's I need.?ÿ "Free", as in paid for by taxpayers....
24 for each of the four states plus one "Federal District" that I'm currently licensed in.?ÿ?ÿ
Mass, no. There's been some discussion about it over the past few years, but I'm not sure how much push there is for it.
When I was registered in Maine, there were continuing ed requirements. A feature that I liked, was that on-the-job practice would count towards a portion of it. Working full time allowed the maximum credit (I think one quarter of the continuing ed. time required) and pro-rated down for part-time work.
Some places allow credit for actions other than straight educational programming.?ÿ For example, being a presenter at such an event.?ÿ Serving on a National or International committee of an organization tied to that profession.?ÿ Perhaps being a State level officer in a related organization.
