PLSO Conference Summary -- Part 1

For this year's PLSO Conference, we did not have a booth. In fact, we really had nothing big planned other than the BeerLegger. We got in by volunteering to help the Executive Secretary with registration and anything else we could help with. I ended up providing IT services a few times and acted as the "official" photographer on the first day.

I was excited to attend, yet felt a little bit odd about going without officially registering for it. To further complicate my feelings, I'm no longer a practicing surveyor, so I'm not sure if getting a free ride in exchange was the most ethical way to handle it. But I do still love the profession of land surveying and always will. There will always be a special place in my heart for it.

Because of this situation, I did not feel it was the right thing for me to attend any classes. I didn't deserve to attend them as I did not pay for them. To help me feel better about "taking advantage" of PLSO, we donated a very large gift basket with tons of BeerLeg and SurveyorConnect swag plus a bunch of surveying related goodies and books for the silent auction. I also donated a $600 website package. My wife and I also bid on and won a couple of silent auction items. I suppose some might say that I earned my keep but I still feel guilty.

Despite all of this, I learned a few things:

• Because I wasn't as involved with PLSO as I once was, I had let my membership lapse. I wasn't practicing surveying, so why would I need a PLSO membership? Ah yes, I needed to be a member because my FRIENDS are members and I IMMENSELY enjoy their company. With my renewed memory about WHY I'd been a PLSO member in the past will come my renewed membership. Yes, I'm jumping back in. Further, I am hoping that our financial situation next year will be such that I'll purchase a vendor booth.
• Another thing I learned is that not having a vendor booth made it harder to get the word out about the BeerLegger last night. Despite this year's event being in the same building as the conference (last year it was about 3 miles away), we were down to 15 attendees versus last year's 24. We'll improve our efforts next year.
• I am very blessed to have made friends through PLSO. I look forward to visiting them each year. It seems that I get to meet at least one BeerLegger that I've not met previously. Tonight, at the auction dinner, I got to hang out with Evan Page, who was attending the conference as a speaker. I am humbled when someone wants to specifically sit next to me. Little ol' me.
• Surveyors are a completely different breed of people, and I mean that in a good way. This profession isn't just a job, it's a way of life. We can't just leave it at the office. We are passionate about it and this gives us a common goal. Despite the change in how I earn a living, I find myself relating each project to a set of standards, much in the way one might prepare a boundary survey. Heck, I even explain the basics of web design, hosting, domain names, etc. in a way that relates to surveying (remind me to share that with you some time).

Aaaaannnnnyyyywwwaaayyy.... thank you. Thank you for such a great time at an event that I anxiously await each year. I'm no longer required to attend in order to earn the professional development hours needed to maintain my license. I choose to attend for an entirely different reason. I am the one who is honored to be in your company.

Part 2: [msg]242660[/msg]
Part 3: [msg]242807[/msg]
Part 4: [msg]242810[/msg]