Harvester Solutions Blog

How to Motivate Employees

2010-08-06T21:20:00.001-04:00

Discover what each employee/group likes and then reward them with what you are able to discover. Here are a few discovery tips and pros of the appropriate reward:

different employees like different rewards
reward instills in an employee that the company actually cares about them, their happiness, their well-being
this will help motivate employees to better serve the needs of the company
will help instill owner mentalities in employees

These are some prime examples of rewards: money, praise, social recognition, use education as a reward (if they like to get out of the office and travel, then send to trade show, but have them gather data and then report back to main group when they return)

This YouTube video has been viewed by more than 2,000,000 times and I feel that it hits the nail on the head when it comes to motivating employees. Speaking from experience, many employers are clueless at how to motivate employees that do jobs other that pulling a lever or placing the same item into a box repeatedly. This video does an excellent job of explaining why rewards for thinking jobs do not necessarily work. You have to find other ways to motivate people that "think" and "create" for their job.

Job titles don't mean squat...or do they?

2010-07-12T17:10:00.002-04:00

Job titles don't always mean a whole lot to people, but sometimes they are all that is needed to give an employee the necessary motivation to work hard for the company. This goes back to different people are motivated by different means.

Job titles are most often placed on business cards and email signatures, so changing them can be relatively easy and inexpensive. Why not reward an employee with a title that they can feel proud of and want to tell others about. The auto repair industry figured this concept out a long time ago. Before you just had mechanics, as cars got more complicated, you now have automotive technicians. In all actuality, those people are still mechanics, but now that the job has gotten much harder, the employees are rewarded with a title that bears some weight as to what they are actually doing. The "new" mechanics are performing a much higher level of skill in order to diagnose and repair modern car problems, so it is nice to reward them with a more powerful title.

This is true with any employee that works hard at a job everyday. Reward that person with a title that can be respected by others and will be worn with pride by the employee. Titles don't cost a thing and are easily altered, so go ahead a reward employees with something that has a small monetary value, yet can be a huge moral booster and motivator.

SE Linuxfest - Drupal Camp 2010

2010-06-12T16:32:00.001-04:00

I had the pleasure of attending another meeting of the minds. While it was a Linux based weekend, I was there for some Drupal interaction. Like Wordpress, Drupal is another free, open source software package for developing a Website. I, like most of the IT world, am interested in inexpensive solutions that produce powerful results. By developing a fun Website with Wordpress (drwhovians.com) I was able to see the power of an open source Website design tool or CMS. So, when I heard about Drupal, another open source Website software development tool, my interest was super peaked and I wanted to learn more.

Thank goodness for like minded people wanting to get together (great example of networking) and share knowledge about Drupal. Centered around the SE Linuxfest in Spartanburg, SC, Drupal Camp 2010 was taught and I learned a great deal of information about how powerful Drupal can be to produce an awesome Website.

A few of the speakers that I got to hear were Adam Gregory, Isaac Sukin and Doug Vann. Adam gave a great overview of Drupal and what the CMS can do to help meet Website needs and demands. Isaac spoke about how Drupal can intergrate with social media outlets and also the growing trends that can not be ignored that social media is driving, i.e. engagement, tw0-way communication, sharing, etc. Finally, I was able to catch Doug Vann and his introduction to CCK/Views. This was a little out of my technical expertise, but was a talk to listen to and get ideas about what to explore next concerning Drupal. Over all a great group of speakers that wanting to share their knowledge and help the community.

If you get the chance I would highly recommend attending SE Linuxfest next year. Learning about different options to achieve a Web presence is always a good time!

Upstate FAUN in Greenville is back!

2010-05-22T16:11:00.002-04:00

I wrote a few months ago about a great GIS organization here in Upstate South Carolina. The group is known as FAUN (Foothills Arc Users Network) and they do great things to help GIS folks in the Upstate area. Well I became a little concerned a few weeks ago when I could not access the FAUN Website. After going through many fiery, technical hoops, the Website is back up and informing us again of what is going on with the FAUN group. Thank you Amy Wright Webber for all of your efforts to get the Website issue resolved.

A FAUN meeting was held on May 19, 2010 and it was another great gathering of like minded GIS professional sharing ideas and networking in order to improve the GIS profession. At the meeting, Tim DeTroye, the SC State GIS Coordinator, spoke about how he and his office are pushing for GIS resources that will be accessible to most, if not all, state agencies. This will be powerful in letting different agencies actually try to view the same information and work together to solve issues. He also informed the meeting about a Yahoo Group, GISandFlexApps. This is an excellent resource for all people involved with GIS in SC. This Group gives SC GIS professionals a place to interact with one another and ask questions and get answers to GIS issues and concerns in the State of South Carolina. Thank you Tim for going the extra step to help all SC GIS users! For information regarding GIS in South Carolina look at the Website: http://gis.sc.gov/. Tim DeTroye is always a pleasure to have come and speak.

Next, Amy Wright Webber, the FAUN Treasurer, gave everyone a run down of the latest initiatives by ESRI to promote and support a cloud computing GIS project. She attended a seminar held by ESRI where they spoke about ESRI using Amazon Cloud Services in order to provide Web-based access to many GIS resources. This included access to base maps and other GIS information to provide a place to upload and share GIS data amongst private organizations and groups. ESRI is attempting to build a stronger, better supported, GIS community where everyone can learn and benefit from each other. This shows that ESRI is fully embracing the Web 2.0 mentality and moving forward to promote unity and comradery in the GIS realm. Thanks to Amy for letting us all know about this wonderful new initiative from ESRI.

The final speaker was Kevin Armstrong from ESRI and he explained to the group about Model Builder. Kevin demonstrated and explained some of the key attributes and advantages to using Model Builder. Work processes and automated procedures can be easily planned and constructed using Model Builder. A great quick tip that Kevin shared with the group was using the "in_memory/filename" to specify local input or output paths for parameters of Model Builder. This trick can greatly reduce latency times and speed up response to processes built within Model Builder. Another great advantage that Model Builder holds is the ability to do iterations of a process automatically. This can be a huge time and frustration minimizer when a large amount of data needs to be run. Kevin finished the presentation by briefly touching on aspects of the Network Analyst tool that can be purchased to compliment ESRI products. It is an ESRI extension that can help to determine and improve problem areas in GIS data and processes. Thanks to Kevin Armstrong for a highly informative and educational presentation.

To conclude the FAUN meeting, Amy Wright Webber went through administrative tasks for the group. The main accomplishment was the nomination and election of Matt Hebert, GIS and Technology Director at Site Design Inc., to the position of Communications Officer. He replaced Justin Glenn at the position of Communications Officer for the FAUN group. I am looking forward to seeing how Matt utilizes his role as Communication Officer for FAUN. Also, Amy mentioned that an application is being developed/released for the Droid mobile operating system. iPhone and Blackberry users are not the only devices that will have GIS capabilities. For a copy of the meeting agenda, feel free to click the Meeting Agenda Handout link. Also, peruse the FAUN Website to get more information about joining this helpful group or to get more information about ESRI training and upcoming events.

POSSCON 2010 in Columbia, SC

2010-04-22T10:42:00.001-04:00

Palmetto Open Source Conference (POSSCON) 2010 is an experience like non other on the East Coast. For years the West Coast has enjoyed close proximity and accessibility to many of the great minds that work in the Open Source (OS) software community. Now for the first time, many of those great minds made the trek to the East Coast to enlighten us with their wisdom and experience. This is truly a great event for the software community and those of us involved with open source software on the East Coast. Plus this event helps illustrate a key part of effective networking.

POSSCON this year was a 3 day event with each day having a unique focus on open source software. Day one involved government and business leaders talking about OS software. The purpose was to educate and showcase how OS software is a justifiable resource to invest and foster within an organization. Hosts and speakers included Randy Senn (CIO, SCANA), Dr. William Hogue (CIO, USC), and Khushru Tata (CIO, SC Technical College System). Also of notoriety were Robert S. Cringley and John "Maddog" Hall. Day two offered a developer and a educator track. I was able to jump between the two tracks and learned interesting concepts and trends in open source in the education arena and new development areas. In terms of development, Christopher Zorn from Collecta spoke about the power and versatility of XMPP (Jabber) for instant messaging applications. I also got to hear Eric Evans from Rackspace talk about the open-source database platform Cassandra and where that project is going in the area of DB development. Github was in attendance and I thoroughly enjoyed Chris Wanstrath's presentation and opinions of what you should do and how you should approach open source software development. To round out my Friday, I attended the Moodle software presentation put on by Dee Appleby, director of E-Learning for the SC Dept. of Education, and other members of her staff. The presentation enlightened me to the fact that the state of SC is embracing open source technology as a means to solve problems within the educational system. All in all, Friday was a very informative day with many intelligent, knowledgeable speakers talking about all of the nuances of the open source community.

Saturday's portion of POSSCON was held at the Un. of SC Engineering Bldg and was a day filled with workshops instructed by the professionals that use the solutions every day. The first workshop for me was the Introduction to Wordpress class taught by Hew Sutton from Automattic (host/run Wordpress.com). I have taken a Wordpress class and wanted to see how my knowledge base fared when put up against an expert. I am happy to report that I grasped the Wordpress concept well from my original class and actually had good insight and input for the instructor. I was able to hold my own while discussing Wordpress concepts and new ideas with Hew. After the Wordpress seminar, it was off to the Introduction to Drupal seminar conducted by Chrys Rynearson from SPAWAR Charleston. I had heard of Drupal, but had not exposure so I was highly interested in this seminar. Chrys said that Drupal was like Worpdress on steroids. After going through the demonstration, I concur with that statement. Chrys convinced me that the Harvester Solutions Website will be re-vamped in Drupal. And, I am looking forward to discovering the power of Drupal for Website design. Wrapping up Saturday afternoon, I attended the GoogleDocs presented by Mark Gunnels from Catamorphic Labs. He presented all the basics of GoogleDocs and showed how GoogleDocs could be used as a possible MS Office replacement. One of the greatest functions of GoogleDocs is the collaboration mechanisms that Google has put in place to make working with a group and a document much easier. The portion that caught my attention was the ability to create Forms, embed them into almost anything, then have a spreadsheet generated as results from people filling out the form were submitted/collected. I definitely saw the pros for using a GoogleDocs solution. The entire day was workshops, but that was alright because all instructors were knowledgeable and passionate about the subject matter that they taught. This made the day quite educational and a pleasure.

Overall, the POSSCON event was a total success in my eyes. The event brought together many open source leaders with people on the East Coast that are engaged in open source software and initiatives every day. Event coordinators said over the course of the 3 days that they want to grow the POSSCON event and be able to offer even more to members of the open source community. I highly recommend attending next year if you are able. For more information about POSSCON 2010 and finding out more about next years event, take a look at the http://posscon.org/ Website.

Follow Up with New People

2010-04-10T10:19:00.000-04:00

I have been actively networking now for almost a year. When I say actively, I mean going out to meet people with the intention of branding myself and getting my name propagated through the local community. I usually engage one to three people at an event with meaningful conversation. Not just the "Hi, my name is..." spiel, but actually find out a little about that person and tell that person a little bit about you. The next key step is to ask for their business card, not hard to do at all. Example, "Can I get your card?" does the trick. And, since I knew I was going to meet at least one to three people, I always remember to take my cards. I tell people, "let's swap cards, it'll be fun." The humor people like and it makes me stick out in their minds more than the other guy.

Now you have their pertinent information and other people know more about you and what you are doing. Go another step and reinforce what "you" do to then again. Send a personalized email to your new contact and mention some of the things that the two of you discussed in the initial meeting. That will reinforce who you are and again reinforce what you do. (That is because you talked about what you do in some form or fashion when the two of you first met, right!?!) Go another step and look for that new contact on LinkedIn. Connect with them via LinkedIn because this is the social site for professionals. When sending over that "join my network" invite be sure to include some sort of personalized message. Mention something from the conversation at the initial meeting and DO NOT just send the generic statement. Just sending the generic message shows you are not truly looking to meet and interact with other people, but trying to grow a "friend" list. Be sincere and it will go a long way to win the hearts and affection of others.

Lastly, networking is an on-going project that can take several years to see benefit from. Be patient and enjoy meeting new people. Sharing ideas and having a sounding board for new ideas will benefit a career and a business to no end.

Google on Main

2010-03-20T09:32:00.000-04:00

Well Greenville, SC has determined that Google's experimental high-speed fiber connectivity experiment should be here. In less than a few weeks, organizers have been able to orchestrate a massive initiative to get Greenvillians to show their support for Google and the project by organizing themselves in a massive production of glow-sticks and congregation in downtown Greenville, SC. You MUST sign up on the official Web site (We Are Feeling Lucky) and view the rather purposely quirky video explaining how to participate. Basically, sign up on the Web site, wear all dark clothing and show up behind the Peace Center around 7:30pm 3/20/2010 to sign in with the volunteer staff. Afterward, downtown businesses are offering discounts on items and the support for Google can go on into the night. Please show your faith in Greenville, SC and the fact that we are a technologically minded area with people that support the future and care about what happens to our community. It will be wonderful to have a experimental high-speed fiber optic network in our town. Sign up, show up and support the wonderful city of Greenville, SC!

If you are using Twitter and want to promote/talk about the event please use hash tags that will show support for Google on Main initiative. They are #GoogleOnMain and #LuckyGVL . Look forward to seeing you all there. I will be the guy dressed in dark clothing with a whole lot of Google supporters around him.

Social Media Engagement

2010-03-13T11:01:00.001-05:00

Social media is all the buzz right now. Businesses are beginning to notice that social media outlets, such as Facebook and Twitter, are gaining a whole lot of attention from everywhere. But why are these services gaining popularity? It is because people are able to freely distribute their thoughts, ideas and personalities.

Just like people in the real world, some people are interesting and worth keeping up with and others are not so appealing. However, again as in the real world, different people like different things and there is almost always someone you can find something in common with and interesting to talk about. This is the same for being worth following, fanning, or friending in the social media arena. From a business point of view, providing neat and informative ideas can be a way to be "interesting" to people and have them actually want to keep up with you and/or your business. The best person for this task in a small business is the person who has the passion for the business and is involved with the business on a daily basis. This person, usually the business owner, obviously loves what they do because that is why they started the business. A natural thirst for knowing more about the business is usually coupled with that passion and can be the basis for the social media engagement. Passing along knowledge is a great engagement technique. Sharing with others what you learn about your industry or business is one of the best ways to be "interesting" to people and give them a reason to follow, fan, or friend you and/or your business.

Social media is an effective means to showcase your personality and skills to attract people that can benefit from your knowledge. Apply this to your business initiative with social media to get the best results. Use the inner desire to learn more about your industry or business to create great content that will benefit and engage people. This will make utilizing social media fun and something that will be easy to accomplish. Get out there and use social media to to its fullest potential.

Offers to be Had

2010-03-06T11:28:00.000-05:00

Now I have been out networking along with going back to school full time and I have seen some true benefits. The networking has brought me into contact with people and opportunities that has helped me decide the next path in my life. Meeting the "right" people has helped to catapult ideas that I had into the forefront and give me the motivation and confidence to pursue a new career and goal. Networking has been a great experience for me.

School has offered many opportunities also. I have been introduced to new concepts and I have had other concepts reinforced. This has helped greatly to improve the knowledge base that I have to conduct myself professionally. With all the great exposure to new ideas that furthering my education has brought me, it has also brought to my attention that most businesses offer substantial student discounts. Most only require a valid student ID card as proof of studentship in order to receive a discount. Now if software is something that would greatly improve life, then a virtual gold mine has been uncovered. For example, when I started my new education, I needed Windows Office 2007 for several projects and the majority of homework assignments. Through a school associated Website I was able to obtain a student version of Office 2007 Professional for $80. This software is the same as the retail version except for the price (retail is well over $300)! I highly recommend contacting the school's IT department to find out what software is available at a student discount price. Alternatively, this information can sometimes be found on the school's Website. Another example is the student version of Adobe's Creative Suite 4. Through Adobe's Website, CS4 can be purchased for $399. The full retail version of CS4 is $1799 per Adobe's Website. The only requirement for the Adobe software is a scanned copy of a current student ID that can be uploaded to their Website and then approved by someone at Adobe. Just these cost savings alone have helped me in my educational process. Being familiar with both the Office software and the Adobe software will beneficial in the future.

Look for opportunities that may be beneficial and are totally sanctioned by the companies that are producing them. This will save money and help give exposure to the things and items that will be used every day in a professional career. Plus, do networking in the community and online to grow that knowledge base. Working with good people and having the best products will lead to a successful career.

Look outside the Networking Box

2010-02-17T09:24:00.000-05:00

I have been a huge proponent of getting out there and networking with folks in the community. We tend to gravitate towards what we know or towards what is familiar. This can get us into a rut and not where we need to be in regards to meeting NEW people and uncovering NEW opportunities where we can help. Finding a new group or taking someone up on an invitation to a new meeting can help to alleviate or at least counter act the rut.

I am prove of this concept. Since involving myself with networking and interacting with community members last summer, I have primarily only attended techie type gatherings/events. Tech After 5, GSATC Learning Lunches, GIS FAUN meetings, GIS/Software Conferences and the list goes on, but one thing is obvious, they are all techie type events. I enjoy the speakers at these events, I enjoy the subject matter discussed and I enjoy meeting all of the interesting people that attend these events; however, many faces become familiar and the pool of new opportunities can become smaller. Don't get me wrong, developing relationships and having your face become familiar to others is a good thing and will benefit you in the future. Look outside the proverbial box and other entire worlds of people and opportunities can appear.

An example of this just happened to me. Last week I received a phone call from Randi Handshoe of Penrod Services and he wanted to get together to go over a few ideas. Both of our weeks were busy, but he mentioned that he would be attending a meeting a Michelin Headquarters and asked if I could meet him there. We would exchange some paperwork and ideas and then I was welcome to join the meeting. It turns out that it was a Facilities Managers Meeting (IFMA) and I felt that it might be a waste of my time, but I stayed around anyway. The meeting speaker talked about air handler systems and how they impact a building and I was beginning to feel that I had just wasted some valuable time when I noticed a familiar face. It was a fellow that I had attended class with more than six years ago. After the speaker wrapped up, I approached the familiar face, and after a few statements we were both reacquainted and talking. It turned out that he was the facilities manager and IT director for a large Episcopal church in the Greenville Area. After talking briefly and explaining that I was involved with social media for business, he told me that the church's Website Manger might be interested in my information. Voilà, a possible business connection was made and an old friendship was rekindled.

The point is to not be afraid to get out of your usual rounds of networking and see what other groups are doing. There is always the possibility of meeting someone that you can really help.

SC GIS Conference in Columbia, SC

2010-02-09T13:08:00.000-05:00

I recently had the privilege of attending the SC GIS Conference in Columbia, SC. One of the key GIS speakers was Matt Hebert, Director of Technology and GIS Director at Site Design, Inc. and he explained how GIS has played an integral role in the on-going planning and design of a challenged area of Greenville, SC. Natasha Larson, A.S.L.A., R.L.A., also from Site Design, talked about the planning aspects of revitalizing a community. She and Maxim Williams, Director of Community Relationship Building at Bon Secours Health System and Wayne Leftwich, City Planner for the City of Greenville, were discussing the different aspects of revitalizing a community and how GIS has been such a huge tool for the project. All were in agreement that without GIS studying and planning for the community would have been a much more difficult task.

The project is the Sterling Community that encompasses the main campus of the St. Francis Hospital in Greenville, SC. It is an area rich in history, but has become a run down since the textile industry moved away from the area. Maxim has taken it upon himself to directly engage the community residents and learn what they feel needs to happen with the community and what will be best to help revitalize the area. Taking GIS maps that Matt and Natasha developed, Maxim has been able to work with Wayne Leftwich to best utilize the City of Greenville's area that lies within the Sterling Community. Issues that arose were storm water runoff areas, buildings nostalgic to the area, and where residents that owned their homes were in relation to rental properties and vacant lots. Here is an example of a GIS map that is being used in the planning process.
This map helps to show everyone in the planning process the different districts of the community that are involved in the revitalization project. The map also helps to convey the idea of the size of the community in relationship to the area. And, gives a clear representation of where the St. Francis Hospital site sits in relation to the surrounding community. Showing these relationships makes it easier to visualize the overall area and plan out how the area can be most utilized from an overall community stand point. GIS gives the ability to have an overall view of a project and at the same time, GIS is able to give crucial details about particular area. This power is crucial and necessary to conduct effective planning and revitalization of areas.

GIS has been able to bring together many different community members. Maxim Williams from Bon Secours Hospital System, Wayne Leftwich from the City of Greenville and Matt Hebert & Natasha Larson from Site Design Inc. have all been able to work together for the overall good of a struggling community, all from the aid of GIS. The Sterling Phoenix League has manifested itself from the revitalization project of the Sterling Community. The league is what Maxim has developed to help to overall well-being and rebirth of the community surrounding St. Francis Hospital.

Continuing Education

2010-02-01T10:21:00.000-05:00

Currently I am returning to school to finish up a Bachelor of Science degree. The reason I am doing this is to compliment my years of experience in the Technology arena for the Land Surveying and Engineering industries and an Associate Degree in Computer Technology. While doing my studies, I have often felt that I should have been doing these educational things all along. I have found that just by being around other people "learning", that it sparks a huge amount of extra thought and research that often leads to great new ideas or process refinement that helps whatever situation I find myself in at the time. Imagine the benefit an employer could get from encouraging their employees to step outside the "box" and take on some more education.

Looking back through my work history, education was never pushed or encouraged. Yes, mentions of education tuition/costs reimbursement were thrown out periodically; however, no real encouragement has ever been given towards additional education in a particular field of work. This has been extremely short-sighted by ALL the employers that I have worked for in the past. Furthering education of employees is two-fold. First, showing employees that you actually want them to learn more about their particular field instills in the employee that his/her employer actually cares about them. Secondly, you as an employer, will always have employees that are on the cutting edge of new ideas and concepts that can usually help improve business processes and increase profits. In the end, everyone involved wins. Employees are appreciative of an employer providing means to better themselves and the employer has happy employees that are up-to-date with training and new concepts.

Education is an investment, either in yourself or in someone else. Keep this in mind going through your career and it will benefit you greatly!

Social Networking

2010-01-29T12:56:00.000-05:00

Social networking is all the buzz right now, especially with the economy in a sour state and the return of markets like we saw before unlikely. I have talked about this before and I will continue to talk about it; social networking works for me. Last week I received a message from Randi Handshoe from Penrod Services. He is a gentleman that I had met at the Facilities Manager Trade Show that I attended at the end of last year. I contacted him and we decided to meet for coffee. When we met we discussed in depth what each of us do and realized that we could be beneficial to one another from at least the stand point of we will recommend one another if an opportunity arises.

This is an excellent example of how networking can turn into business opportunities. When networking, keep in mind that the person you are meeting might not be a customer right now. Keep people and what they do in the back of your mind and actively networking keeping in mind the people you met "last week". I always try to get a business card from the person that I meet. When I get home, I turn the card over, write the date, the event and a couple of points that we discussed. This does two things, 1) it makes you try and actually remember conversations you have with people and 2) it serves as a record or notes about people that you have met. It is much easier to re-connect with someone that you met briefly when you have something to refer back to when you first met each other. Networking takes some effort, but that effort can turn into clients and revenues in the future.

ROI from a Technology Perspective

2010-01-11T10:22:00.000-05:00

I had the opportunity to visit Immedion the other day (SC's only dedicated data center) and attend a great seminar presented by Jennifer Cunningham about good practices to insure an acceptable ROI for technology projects. Jennifer works as a consultant in the IT arena for companies such as AHOLD and BofA. She takes the common sense approach to analysis in that people or groups need to feel that it is "their" money that "they" are about to spend. Several key action items need to be considered before the project ever begins.

Jennifer feels that an ROI report/analysis has to be created before any project begins. Look at the scope of the project and honestly evaluate whether or not the results of the project will outweigh the overall costs of the project. An outline of the perceived cost has to be made first, then a monetary value has to be placed on the perceived benefits of the project. All costs have to be considered, that includes overage allowances. Not many projects finish within allocated budget parameters. This first step, the ROI analysis, is a crucial step in the project process and can spare a lot of time and grief if performed well and thoroughly.

End user support has to be in place in order for the project to be successful. Commitment to use the system has to be acquired by the end users. The group that is supposed to benefit from the project needs to be on board and involved with the project from day one. In order to do this, the end user has to be engaged before the project begins and shown what the "big" benefits of the project will be AND during the project life cycle. This is crucial because it keeps the end users involved throughout the entire process and provides momentum for the project. By having the end user group involved in the building process, milestones can be set that both sides agree on and accountability for meeting or not meeting milestones can be set also. This lets all parties feel involved in the project, keeps moral up and momentum alive, while at the same time providing accountability.

With many parties potentially involved in a project, clear communication lines need to be open. When all sides have clear paths of communication to the entire project group, a better system of input is used and changes can be made more efficiently and with less budget pains. Project updates can be done via a morning meeting where doughnuts and coffee are served, this way everyone involved can feel more comfortable and receptive to the information being presented. Providing regular milestone updates in a convenient manner also helps to carry momentum throughout the entire project life cycle.

While communicating throughout the project process, the majority group that will be utilizing the project results, needs to be determined. The majority are the 90% of the projects intended results users and the remaining 10% tend to be referred to as "super users". The super user is a special group of users that find and develop ways to do things within their realm of computing tasks and departments. This group will always find new and innovative ways to do things and the project does not need to focus on their needs. On the contrary, the majority of users need the help of the project results to get better and faster results; while the super user will always find new and/or better ways to complete certain required tasks. So, focus on the majority and the minority, super users, will find ways to achieve what they want accomplished.

Another key element in the entire process is choosing the right person or team to do the design/implementation. This can make or break the success rating of a project. Disaster is imminent if the incorrect person/team is picked to lead and develop the project task. Take careful consideration of the project tasks and then find a person/team that has a proven track record of successfully addressing similar projects or tasks. If an outside resource is used then they have to mentor the internal staff so the outside source can fully understand the needs and concerns of a project from an internal prospective. Make sure that the outside resources will be a fit for the internal project team. Have the outside resource supply documentation on the employees that they will be sending in to do the project. Actual resumes from the hired resource employees would be a good example of documentation in this type of situation. Lastly, make sure the outside resource will provide extensive training on aspects of the project during and after the project is completed. Picking a qualified, reputed outside resource is not always choosing the biggest name. Look deeply at many outside resources, small/medium/large, to determine which one will be the best for the project.

Finally, plan for ongoing maintenance and support for the project. There will be technical issues that will inevitably arise; however, plan for there contingency in advance. Now when issues arise, some thought will have been placed in that area and a conclusion can be obtained faster to keep everything in running order. At the same time, not only technical issues will arise. Business aspects of maintenance and support need to be thought about also. Business issues will occur when pre-planning aspects have been inadvertently over looked or new outside forces change aspects of business and the way it interacts with the project. Support and maintenance have to be considered in order to guarantee the success of a project.

In conclusion, Jennifer Cunningham made it clear that NOT heeding any one of these points during project development will seriously hamper the overall success of the project. Jennifer is likely the most experienced IT professional in the local area and has lead or been apart of many technology projects during her extensive career. Most of these points she speaks about are common sense items and things that ordinary people do as households on a regular basis. Use common sense and follow these key points to guarantee a good ROI for your investment.

Good data

2010-01-07T14:34:00.000-05:00

This is a quote from an article in the November edition of POB magazine. It is written by Joseph V.R. Paiva, PhD, PS, PE and he seems to be on the money when it comes to "actuals" in the land surveying industry.

"Achieving good data doesn’t start with analysis of what has been collected. Rather, it’s a process that begins with understanding--understanding the uses for which data are being collected, understanding the quality required, understanding the limitations of the technologies to be used--and then designing a measurement scheme that has a high probability of delivering the desired results."

This is so true.
To read the entire article click here.

Small Business Coaching

2010-01-05T09:43:00.000-05:00

I ran across the practice of using a business coach about 6 months ago when my wife joined a new firm. Her new boss went so far as to have an entire advisory board. The board consisted of 3 or 4 people that had different skill sets and experiences that complimented the business very well. Since that time I have talked with business owners and executives and have found that the idea of a coach could be quite beneficial to an owner or team that feels stagnant or unable to look outside the box. Here is an article (Coaching for Small Business Owners ) that Phil Yanov of GSATC tweeted about yesterday. The article goes on in some detail about the overall benefits of a business coach and emphasizes how it is important to find a coach that will be best for a particular business situation. If you are a business owner that is innovative and wants to "think outside the box", then this article will spark the ideas that will grow and benefit your company.

You must reward employees!

2010-01-02T11:11:00.000-05:00

I worked for a guy that always talked about giving bonuses to reward the hard work of his employees. While a great concept, the follow through was quite lacking. Essentially, the boss talked about giving bonuses based on performance, but no performance metric was ever put in place and, no surprise, the number of bonuses was very little and eventually dwindled to nothing. Nothing, as in, no bonuses for anything, not even a Christmas get together to show the employees that they are actually appreciated. Now, this is am extreme case, and I hope that no one else has been put through a similar experience, but rewarding employees is essential to the overall success of the employees and the company.

Earlier I mentioned a metric. A metric is a means to measure something to determine what the amount of change is so a difference can be determined. This performance metric needs to be established before any compensation plan can be put in place. How is the company going to be able to show a positive change in a employee? Once that is determined, then a means to compensate for the positive behavior can be devised. The performance metric and compensation plan need to be well though out and needs to actually encompasses aspects of the job that an employee can really influence and will be most beneficial for the individual employee. Rewarding an employee with something they do not really care about, for an aspect of their job that they have no real control over, does not promote positive behavior. This type of bonus system only promotes confusion and a "lack of faith" in the owner(s)/management of a company. Spend time thinking about aspects of the job that employees actually effect and then devise a functional reward system. When working on both aspects of the plan (metric and compensation) try to be empathetic (put yourself in their boots) to what really influences employees and what would really make them happy.

When looking over the employee roster, keep in mind what really motivates each employee or each general group of employees. This will help when coming up with the compensation package in the bonus plan for employees. Keep in mind that money is not always a motivator to all people. Sometimes an employer can get away with a simple "pat on the back" or "good job" said with sincerity to get desired results from employees. In fact, a cash incentive system can be viewed as a demotivater to some people where, in contrast, a simple gesture of gratitude from a superior would further drive great employee behavior. Always take time to interact and observe employees in order to find out what motivates them to do great work. Finding the best motivating tools is the work of smart management.

Once metrics are figured out and a reward system to compliment the metrics is put in place, then an effective bonus plan can be implemented and rolled out to staff. Take time to consider and go through the two main items of a bonus plan. The planning for and consideration of the employees the bonus plan will affect will go a long way to insure that the bonus plan gets and promotes the desired results, along with a company of prospering and happy employees. Practicing these items will help to obtain and maintain a healthy business.

How to Keep good staff from burning out

2009-12-31T13:07:00.000-05:00

Jon Gordon is a key note speaker and moral builder for many NFL teams and Fortune 500 companies. He stresses that in these trying times, employers need to remember that it is the members of the company that actually make the difference in the company. Metrics need to be looked at and numbers need to be crunched; however, take into account the individuals that make up the company itself.

Here is a link to his article in POB Online Beating Burnout

He makes many excellent points that should be considered if employers wish to retain the best employees.

Employee Travel Cost

2009-12-12T14:35:00.000-05:00

I had a friend of mine ask me the other day what I expected and had received along the lines of travel expenses compensation in the past. I explained that it had varied through the years, but there were some key elements to think about when planning to have employees travel and stay over night. I mentioned that it was nice to have a constant look/feel from an accommodation to help people get over the fact they are having to travel for work and be away from their own beds and families. With a hotel chain in the $100/night range, you will get a familiar and comfortable look and feel, plus almost always get free Internet and a free breakfast. That is Per Diem money that you would not have to pay for breakfast and Internet access to the traveling employee. When you have two people sharing a room, the cost really isn't that great in relation to the overall price you are getting for the job. This is especially true when thought about in advance when pricing non-local work (thinking about geographical location and time of year).

You will begin to see employees request that they have Internet access when away from home even if they do not have any work related things to do via the Internet. Quality, educated employees will require Internet access and nicer accommodations.

Also, with the chain hotel, you will have reward clubs that you or the boss or whoever can take advantage of and save money. Collect points and start using them towards free nights in the future. That can improve profit margins on jobs that require multiple night stays or situations where employees are doing multiple locations and staying away for multiple nights traveling. It requires a little pre-planning, but making reservations and planning the trip route can save company money when able to cash in hotel points for work stays. The same scenario can be said for credit cards that earn points or frequent flyer miles, etc.

Per Diem is always another factor to consider when employees are traveling. My friend and I discussed that Per Diem perception amounts had not changed in the 15-20 years that we had been in the land surveying/engineering industries. To help shed some light on the situation, I did a little research and have a link to the U.S. General Services Administration's (GSA) recommendation for Per Diem amounts based on geographical location broken down by state. Here is the link to the gsa.gov Web site where the state by state informatin can be obtained. Also, the IRS uses the GSA's recommendation when considering Per Diem allowances.

This is a little food for thought. An employee does not want to be away from their own beds and families, but they will go forth and do the work asked of them if they feel the employer actually empathizes with their situation and provides the best accomodation/compensation for them.

Geographical Information Services (GIS)

2009-12-05T08:10:00.000-05:00

Geographical Information Services or GIS means different things to different people and means absolutely nothing to even more people. First, a definition of GIS: information tied to a specific geographical point. That information can be anything. For a surveyor, that information might be a date, job number and scope of work tied to a specific geographical job site; for an engineer, that information might be terrain elevation, structure location and road location; to a real estate developer, that information might be per capita income, school district information and fire station location. GIS can be many different kinds of information, useful to different groups of professionals, that is all tied to geographical locations. And, on the other end of the spectrum, there are people that have no idea what GIS is or what it encompasses, but they have used it before.

GIS can be any data referenced by a geographical location. When people with children are looking for an area to buy a home, usually they consult information on where the best schools districts are located, or people might be interested in where the closest fire station is in relationship to their home. These are real world examples of GIS. People are using GIS everyday and do not even realize it.

From a business perspective, GIS can be a powerful research tool. By using GIS, an area can be researched and more accurate decisions and plans of action can be implemented based on more targeted information. A model of a scenario can be developed and viewed in a manner relative to the project. Having important information displayed in relationship to geographical areas can make the decision process be that much more informed and thereby have much better business/financial decisions made and implemented. This boils down to better decisions made, then more profit to be obtained from a given scenario. GIS now becomes a business tool to derive absolute profit margin from a project.

Toyota Recall Information

2009-11-27T09:32:00.000-05:00

As we have all heard, Toyota recently had the largest manufacturer recall in history. The recall involved the drivers side floor mat and the possibility of it jamming the accelerator pedal in a manner that was dangerous. As a measure to shine the tarnished image of the auto manufacturer, Toyota has issued a press release stating that its dealerships will shorten the gas pedal of the affected vehicles and then later replace the pedal when it has a suitable replacement developed.

I know a lot of us drive Toyota vehicles or we have crews that man Toyota work trucks. This is important information that needs to be addressed by you if you or your company uses these vehicles. For more information view the official Totota press release.

An Excellent Educational Resource for CAD users

2009-11-22T13:51:00.000-05:00

I began my CAD experience by begging information out of the guy that did all the CAD work in the office that I worked in. He wanted to get a job done and teaching was not his forté. He admitted that teaching was not his thing and that I was better off trying to learn on my own or take a class. Of course he said that he would loan assistance if absolutely necessary, but our definitions differ and off to school I went. I took an AutoCAD 101 class at the local technical school and many questions were answered and limited, productive work was able to be accomplished. To reinforce the "Basics" of what I had learned, I turned to the Internet. The Internet chat rooms/forums and our software package vendor site were helpful; however, they were not the best for the next step above "Basic" kind of CAD things, i.e. unique template creation, scale issues, symbol creation, etc. This type of CAD development fell into support cases and additional costs would have been incurred. So, a little time passed and I began to explore what Field to Finish could do to improve field collection to drawing processes from a land surveying perspective. Instantly, I realized that Field to Finish could greatly improve drawing times and I wanted to learn more about how I could utilize it at my company.

One of the many CAD sites that I had run across was thatCADgirl.com. Jennifer Dibona runs the thatCADgirl consulting business. She has the ability to come to your site and custom build solutions; but, she also provides online resources, via her website, that can be a huge help. The site has links to a schedule of many helpful Lunch N Learn sessions that are minumal in cost and usually will get NC CEU credits. The website also has an entire page of links for useful information for Carlson products and AutoDesk products. On one occasion, I had to do a late registration for a webinar and Jennifer accomodated my registration even though it was 8:30 PM the night before! You get the feeling that she actually cares about what she does and who she is affecting.

I am no CAD expert, but I can manage my way around a dwg file. It has taken several years to get to this point, a far cry from the office with the self proclaimed non teacher as CAD master. However, I feel that anyone needing extra help or has a question that needs answered can draw on the expertise of thatCADgirl. This resource helped me develop my Field to Finish presence in office and field procedures, which did end up saving 1-3 hours per job. Please take the time to look at the site because I feel that it can be beneficial!

Education is super critical

2009-11-14T09:14:00.000-05:00

I recently attended a Chamber of Commerce Leadership series event where I had a chance to have old words reiterated with statistical backing. Those words, in a nutshell, were get an education or be a laborer the rest of your life. It was shown through statistical data that there is a direct correlation between average salary amounts and levels of education. However, ALL levels of education needed to be improved in order to actually gain in overall education level for a regional area. This started at the pre-school level all the way through higher education. Data showed that the regions of the US that had the best educational opportunities, more often than not, attracted and maintained the new, emerging talent coming of age in today's workforce. This en turn boosts a regions overall standard of living and makes that area more attractive to business and development. The development helps to promote revenues for the region so further infrastructure and planning can take place to insure the growth and well being of the region. The educational opportunities that boosted economic growth that brought development is all cyclical and beneficial to everyone in a region.

If thought about correctly, it comes down to everyone trying to better their personal education while promoting the education of others. This can mean CEU (Continuing Education Units) or obtaining another degree or certification AND it means encouraging children to better themselves by trying hard in school and then instilling in them the importance of further education. Further education is learning more about a subject. That can be improving your skill set within a trade or attending a certification program for a particular industry; anything that can help improve your knowledge set whereby helping to improve something else is further education. At the same time, stats showed that people with higher educational levels had lower unemployment. The highest unemployed group were people with high school diplomas or less and in direct contrast, the lowest unemployed group were 4-year degree college graduates. The correlations between education level and overall employment numbers and regional prosperity are uncanny. If anything can be said, it is that focus on education throughout the life cycle is important for the well being and growth of not just one's self, but an entire region.

The Greenville Chamber of Commerce's Fifth Leadership Series with the help of the Greenville News has been made available online. This is a link to the entire presentation by three speakers. (Click the On-Demand option and go ahead and fast forward to about minute 24, if not it starts by default near the end of the presentation.) The speakers included Ted Abernathy of the Southern Grown Policies Board, Dr. Bruce Yandle of Clemson University College of Business and Behavior Science and Carol Coletta from CEO for Cities. Each speaker had unique information and stats to share that help to really show the relationships between education and regional/city prosperity.

All of this can be tied in with helping your company. The first improvements can be self education from the top leadership in the company. Their is no better way to lead than by good example. Pursue ways to improve overall knowledge about a certain market segment that your company currently operates in or is looking to expand into. Be involved in community events and organizations in order to be educated on what is going on outside of your immediate company realm. Then, expand that to your employee base. Having employees that know their company cares enough to keep them trained on the latest trends and tricks will be beneficial in retaining the those employees. The more an employee feels that they are getting from a company, the more willing they will be to work hard for that company and stay with that company. The benefits are two-fold here. First, people are furthering their education and secondly, the company is keeping training cost and employee turn over cost at a minimum. And both of these effects have a direct, positive influence on our community. Not only in our cities, but that also spreads out into the regions that we reside.

Laser Scanning Webinars - from POB

2009-11-11T15:04:00.000-05:00

Here are two webinars that promote products but also give a good idea of what to expect from laser scanning. This has some sales/marketing talk, but is also full of great information if you are researching laser scanning ideas or opportunities.

Webinars - Point of Beginning

Real Estate Made Easy/Land Surveying and the land owner - Life - The Phoenix

2009-11-11T14:45:00.001-05:00

This is a great article that I found from a Pennsylvania newspaper. It does an exceptional job of explaining why a homeowner NEEDS to get a land survey.

Real Estate Made Easy /Land Surveying and the land owner - Life - The Phoenix

Selling services effectively

2009-11-10T10:11:00.000-05:00

When someone calls into your land surveying/engineering firm and asks for a price, is that what you give them and that's it? Well if this is all you can give, then it is no wonder that your company's sales may be less than spectacular!

The initial phone call for a quote is the first opportunity to start to build a relationship! When selling land surveying or engineering services, as a service provider, we have to determine what the needs of the potential client are and what circumstances might adhere to their particular situation. Tell the potential client that you will be happy to provide a quote for services, but in order to provide as accurate a quote as possible, some additional questions need to be asked. The potential client will be impressed that you care enough to spend some of your time to get pertinent information concerning their situation. Now, with your experience in your particular field, begin to ask questions that will help determine exactly what the potential client is needing. Armed with this added information about the potential clients situation, you are more easily able to formulate a plan of attack for the potential job and therefore you are able to more accurately provide a price quote for services. At the same time, you may be able to uncover potential for additional work relating to the clients current situation or future needs. Regardless, you have, A) taken the time to engage a potential client about their needs thereby laying the foundation for a relationship AND B) you are able to have a clearer understanding of the potential clients particular situation and you can provide a much more accurate price quote. Even if the client does not go with your bid, I guarantee that the potential client will not have anything negative to pass along about your company. A potential client is much more likely to appreciate the extra time that you took to understand their situation and then take that positive experience and pass it along to their friends and colleagues. As the old adage goes, good news spreads fast, but bad news spreads even faster and has negative repercussions.

Remember that selling services is about developing relationships. Take time to engage a potential client about their particular needs. You may not get every job this way, but you will begin to build a reputation of actually caring about your clients which will help develop relationships and that will go a long way to winning business in the future. Its all about the sales and if they are not available, then your job won't be either!

Back to User Groups

2009-11-02T12:08:00.000-05:00

I had previously mentioned the benefit of User groups to help build a network and expand business and contacts. Well I like to practice what I preach, and I stepped from the virtual world back into the real world. I heard about a Facilities Management trade show in the Greenville, SC area that was partnering with the premier facilities manager user group, the Association for Facilities Engineering. This blended well with the hype being stirred up in the engineering and land surveyors world's right now about BIM or Building Information Management. Where better to go and see if building management is really a concern than a Facilities Management trade show?

Well, after viewing several presentations and hearing the general questions and feedback from other attendees, it seems that Facility Managers have a definite concern with knowing where things are within their facilities. Things of concern can be anything from chilling towers and their associated pipelines and valves to where are fire sensors and fire extinguishers located throughout the corporate campus. Knowing where things are can greatly reduce stress and cost at critical moments! Hearing this information helped to reinforce what I had just read in POB magazine concerning BIM(that's another thing, subscribe or regularly acquire your industry's trade magazines to keep abreast of industry buzz!) Another person that I met at the show was Randi Handshoe with Penrod Services. His company does outsourcing for CAD work, but he also does building documentation. He had a great seminar session where he discussed why having your building documented can be so important. After which we spoke and exchanged some great business ideas about how we could benefit each others businesses.

From just this one event, I was able to gain considerable knowledge on a subject that I did not know much about (BIM) and network with some people in my area in order to help our businesses. This is one example of how User groups benefited me, so go out and regularly attend or participate in real world and virtual User group sessions. That may be the thing that keeps your business alive the next time the economy takes a downward turn.

Passive Marketing with You Tube

2009-10-28T10:09:00.000-04:00

This all started as an assignment for one of the Informatics classes that I am taking currently.

You Tube has quickly become a major news outlet. This can be for traditional news sources or from everyday people looking to get an idea out to the general masses. A definition of news is needed because what You Tube is giving people access to is not always what we think of as traditional news. Traditional news is the coverage of stories and events that impact our lives and can change the way we conduct our daily lives. You Tube sometimes presents "news" that does not necessarily have any impact on anything. For example, an individual posting video of other people doing stupid, yet entertaining acts. But in contrast, it is not uncommon to see a major news network using a You Tube video when covering a news story. You Tube has quickly changed how news is spread and interpreted just like it's fast growth on the Internet.

When You Tube first came about it was to post simple video files for public viewing. A way for people to upload, in video format, what they were doing and seeing around them. People were posting videos of high school football games, new additions on projects, a child's recital, etc. These video posts were usually harmless and often quite entertaining to the viewer; however, rogue groups of people did not think before posting video's of violence or vandalism. This led to the exposure of the way some kids and groups interact with each other. Videos of hazing and abuse began to pop up and really bring attention to these acts that are shunned by society. These videos shocked and appalled many, but at the same time brought issues of hazing and abuse back into the forefront of society. This is a good result from acts of cruelty because it has people talking and discussing what needs to be prevented and has given people the drive to educate against and prevent senseless, violent acts. You Tube has helped educate and make people aware of some deviant behavior in our society.

While inadvertently educating people, You Tube also quickly morphed into a way to self promote and really get ideas out to a large audience in a short period of time. Just as You Tube showed society what kinds of hazing and abuse were going on around them, it also became a way to mass market ideas and promotions to people. People and businesses saw how fast bad media was spread and acted upon and realized that You Tube could be used for good and profits. Individuals began to self promote with full force their ideas and skills and companies saw You Tube as an economically viable means to reach mass audiences with little effort when they had new ideas and products to pitch to the world. You Tube went from a simple means of conveying meaningless video clips to mass audiences to a tool that is used to market and promote people and business ideas.

Now you ask how can I use You Tube to help me and my business? Well, don't go and come up with a commercial promoting yourself or your company. One has to be more subtle with their approach to You Tube promoting. Here is an idea, make a video that concerns whatever it is you do. For example, make a video of the work progress on a real nasty, grown up site. Show how your crew was able to work around nature and what She is capable of producing to hamper work flow. Or, show a short business documentary of a development meeting that you are conducting in-house for a major project/client. Be creative and come up with an eye catching video that tells about you or your business.

This Web 2.0 phenomenon of You Tube is a great trend and the way the Internet will be used in the future. User driven content, uploaded to media sharing Web sites, is the way the Web is going. People and businesses have been able to look beyond the dribble that began the trends of Web 2.0 and have been able to harness the previously unseen power of You Tube and use it to gain promotion and profits. These new ideas and ways of interacting with others and the Internet will be the business trends of the future.

Social Media

2009-10-27T12:31:00.000-04:00

Social media is quickly becoming a valuable tool for people and business to help promote their ideas. I just attended a webinar on the rise of social media and how it can be utilized to leverage business and/or new clients. The webinar spoke of the big players, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, but also mentioned some others that were not so familiar. Social networks dealing with more business specific ideas and involving people that are wanting to grow and network their business ideas. It all really made great sense.

What needs to be done is to build relationships with people that are interested in what you are doing. This needs to be done on a personal level and not approached like a business ad campaign of days gone by. Connect with people in your "Networks" and join user groups so that information can be shared and benefits can be shown. Develop relationships so that trust can be built and a sense of comfort can be achieved so ideas can flow more freely. Interact with your "community" on a regular basis so a feeling of camaraderie can be developed and nurtured. It is all about the relationship!

Join your local user group

2009-10-23T11:22:00.000-04:00

Finding and attending the local user group pertaining to your industry or interest, is one of the keys to business success. That was one of the first things I did when deciding to branch out and see how my information technology skills and education could work together with my knowledge and experience with land surveying.

The first thing that came to mind was GIS. How do I find out more about GIS and then get more involved with GIS? The first thing I did was utilize my LinkedIn account and searched for GIS Groups within LinkedIn. Many GIS groups were available and I choose to join some of those groups. Shortly after joining, I receive a weekly LinkedIn GIS Group update via email. In the email one of the group members poses the question "How do I find a GIS job in my area?", one of the responses was "...join your local GIS user group." So that is what I did. I Google'd "GIS Greenville, SC" and one of the first things to be returned was Foothills Arc User Network or FAUN. Utilizing the FAUN website, I was able to find out when the next meeting was being held and I was able to attend. While at the meeting, I got reacquainted with an old colleague who has come down basically the same path that I have, but is 4-5 years further along. What a great opportunity to talk with someone that has had similar experiences and you already know. Just by attending a user group meeting, I was able to rekindle an old friendship and gain a valuable asset when looking at more GIS ideas.

My point is to get out and network. Start slow, via the Internet perhaps and grow into actual interaction with other people and groups. This might take you out of your comfort zone, but the feelings of uneasiness will not out weigh the benefits to you and your business.

Small Businesses and Advisory Boards

2009-10-22T09:43:00.000-04:00

Small land surveying and engineering companies are having a tough go at it in this uncertain economic market that we find ourselves in today. Many of these companies are seeing no profits or declines in profits for this year. That has many owners concerned because lower profits mean finding ways to pay for people and services when there is no money coming in the door. And, at the same time, the banking industry is not seen as lending money to small businesses right now. What can a business owner do? Well, start by forming an advisory board. This is different from a board of directors, an advisory board is there to advise and their advise does not necessarily have to be followed. An advisory board is rarely paid outside of any travel expenses and the cost of a meal when discussing business ideas. Advisory board members are paid with a since of giving back to the community or with new networking avenues to pursue. The business owner gets a wealth of experience and advise to help augment the economic crisis we are currently feeling right now.

Sarah Needleman is a contributing journalist for the WSJ - Small Business and she has some excellent ideas and reason for developing an advisory board to help the small business.

Small Businesses Get Free Advice

Raster vs Vector

2009-10-21T15:18:00.000-04:00

You often hear these two terms used when referring to imagery data in GIS, land surveying and engineering fields. It is important to know the difference between the two types of imagery. Raster deals with pixels, like the pictures we take with a standard digital camera AND Vector deals with points that have line and color information associated with them, like CAD drawings. Vector images can be easily scaled without losing clarity and integrity, they will look the same big or small for the most part. In contrast, Raster images when scaled up become pixelated and splotchy, losing a lot of their clarity and meaning.

To help clarify the versus statement I ran across a great thread from the Graphics Design Forum, http://www.graphicdesignforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41. It really helped to clarify the Raster vs Vector imagery conundrum.

Carlson 2010 Software Suite

2009-10-20T15:02:00.000-04:00

Carlson's 2010 office software for land surveying, civil engineering, construction, and mining professionals has been released. Carlson 2010 runs in 64-bit, is Windows 7 compatible, and works on AutoCAD® 2000-2010, with IntelliCAD®6.6 built-in. And, if you purchase Carlson with IntelliCAD, then you are eligible for some ESRI (Arc) software and documentation. To take advantage of this offer, call 1-800-GIS-XPRT (1-800-447-9778) and request the Carlson-IntelliCAD GIS Starter Kit. Please have your Carlson License Code available.
For more Carlson 2010 information, take a look at this The American Surveyor article.

Find more information here: http://www.amerisurv.com/content/view/6655/

Foothills Arc Users Network (FAUN)

2009-10-20T14:28:00.000-04:00

I attended my first Foothills Arc User Network FAUN) meeting. This group consist of GIS users in the Upstate SC area. I met people from Anderson, Clinton, Greenville Tech, etc. that all shared a common theme, they use GIS applications and services daily. This is a great group of people that have encountered many industry problems and solutions that they want to share with other GIS people.

In today's meeting we had two speakers that covered some of the educational options when looking towards GIS as a career. The first speaker was Amy Daniels from Greenville Technical College and she touched on the GIS and Land Surveying class options that Greenville Tech offers. Greenville Tech offers a 2-year Associate Degree in GIS/Land Surveying and then also offers a GIS certification program. The school also is working on ways to diversify the GIS options as well as incorporating more online class scenarios into the various programs.
Here is a link to the Greenville Tech website:
http://www.gvltec.edu/display.aspx?id=882
The second speaker was Steve Sperry from Clemson University. Steve has a long history with GIS and like concepts that spans nearly 40 years. He has worked with all aspects of the GIS community and has found his current calling at Clemson. He presented some very interesting uses for GIS that included many areas of development, whether that development be by private entities looking for profits or government entities trying to plan for the future. He also mentioned that Clemson was working on ideas for offering GIS classes via an online medium.
Here is the link to the Clemson University website:
http://www.clemson.edu/caah/pla/

And, if you are interested in attending a FAUN meeting, member dues are minimal ($20/yr and only $5/yr for students) and you can sign up from their website.
http://www.scfaun.org/
I look forward to seeing new faces at the next meeting.

Point of Beginning (POB) Group News | LinkedIn

2009-10-19T11:42:00.000-04:00

Educating our youth and others is important to bettering our communities and the people that we interact with everyday. Here Missouri is taking that step and letting people know about Earth Sciences (that includes land surveying!)

Point of Beginning (POB) Group News | LinkedIn

Employee retention

2009-10-19T09:21:00.000-04:00

With the market on the upturn, but not quite reaching into the housing and development sectors right now, business owners need to retain the employees that they have on the corporate roster. We need to be prepared with a full staff when the demand for work returns. That can be real tough when the trends are shorter work week hours, lay-offs and the absence of actual field work. Well in order to retain the vital employees, employers need to look strongly into furthering the education of the employees that they have in house right now. This article helps shed some light on how to train and retain employees!

The Business Side: Employee training: the key to success. - Columns from our latest issue - Point of Beginning

No job and student loans due? Don’t fret - Personal finance- msnbc.com

2009-10-16T12:26:00.000-04:00

No job and student loans due? Don’t fret - Personal finance- msnbc.com

We can all use a little help right now. Don't just blow off debt, pursue the right course of action so it doesn't adversely effect your credit rating. More and more employers, banks and insurance companies are reviewing a person's credit report and giving or hiring based on what they find.

AIIM.org seminar

2009-10-15T14:23:00.000-04:00

A seminar, that sounds quite interesting, will be in the Buckhead Area of ATL, Ga on Nov. 3, 2009. It pertains to information and practices for managing that information. Here is the link:

http://www.aiim.org/ecmseminar/SessionView.aspx?SessionID=305

I believe that the event is free. In order to register for it though, you have to create an account with AIIM.org, I think. Not a big deal and it gets you on their emailer for other training and events. Hope this can be helpful to someone. I will be attending.

A Pocket Guide to Business for Engineers and Surveyors - BNP Media Store

2009-10-14T13:14:00.000-04:00

A Pocket Guide to Business for Engineers and Surveyors - BNP Media Store

Anyone who is a land surveyor or engineer probably should read this book or something equivalent. We tend to do our jobs really well, but when it comes to actually running a business, land surveyors and engineers tend to fall a bit short of the mark. Running a business is about doing the job, but it is also about making informed business decisions. By not being business minded, we run the risk of losing valued employees, valued projects and eventually the valued business itself. Just because we can survey or engineer doesn't mean that one can run a business!

http://www.pobonline.com/Articles/Features/BNP_GUID_9-5-2006_A_10000000000000672501

2009-10-14T13:10:00.001-04:00

http://www.pobonline.com/Articles/Features/BNP_GUID_9-5-2006_A_10000000000000672501

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2009-10-14T13:04:00.001-04:00

Welcome to where Stephen will be posting links to industry news (land surveying, engineering, GIS, "green" initiatives). I look forward to providing helpful articles and links to happenings in my industry.