MSPS Chapter 6
Summary Report for the 2008 Year Ending September 2008
By JohnBenner, President
October 8, 2008
This report is a summary of Chapter 6 business that was conducted from the period starting on November 15, 2007 and ending at the September 18, 2008 meeting.
The Minnesota Society of Professional Surveyors—Chapter 6 affiliate meets five times during the year to provide its membership with professional and technical development, socializing and fellowship, and a network and connection with the MSPS parent organization. The Chapter meets on the third Thursday in the months of November, January, March, May and September. The election of officers occurs at the November meeting.
At the November 15, 2007 meeting the membership elected JohnBenner as President, Julie Groetsch as Treasurer, and BobBurrell as Secretary. The position of Vice President (President Elect) was unfilled (MarcusHampton was elected to this position at the March 20, 2008 meeting). One of the goals of the Chapter was focusing on professional development by inviting speakers at each meeting to encourage better attendance and opportunity to earn professional development credits for its licensed membership. The second focus was a yearly seminar to increase the revenue stream to pay for Speakers and other expenses such as the Chapter gift to the MLS Foundation. Marcus Hampton volunteered to work with Rob Roberts on the Trigstar testing in May at IrondaleHigh School.
Speakers were scheduled at all of the meetings. A list of speakers and their topics are as follows:
November 15, 2007:KevinGrutzmacher, GSOC Public Relations Department
“GopherState One Call”
January 17, 2008:MarvinMiller, Aero Metrics, Inc.
“Aerial Survey Services for the I-35W Bridge Collapse”
March 20, 2008:BillBrown, HennepinCounty Surveyor
“Mapping the New West – PublicLand Survey in Minneapolis”
May 8, 2008: Joint Meeting with CALSA, PeterOetliker
“Challenges of Surveying in Europe”
September 18, 2008:JimHartnett and TimCruz, Faegre and Benson LLP
“Introduction to Copyright Protection for Land Surveyors”
Chapter 6 regular business meetings had an average attendance of about 25 people, and a greater enthusiasm and interest in Chapter business. Our desire is to continue on this path of building membership, providing quality speakers on contemporaneous topics, and foster stronger bonds with the MSPS parent organization.
Chapter 6 sponsored a Spring 2008 Seminar on April 9, 2008 called “Reference Sources for Surveyors” at the Hennepin County Southdale Area Library. Speakers were Rick Morey, Roy Graff, David Zenk and David Streitz, all from MnDOT, Nathan Heinz from LandAmerica Commercial Services, and Chris Rotegard from Leica Geosystem, Inc. We had approximately 30 surveyors in attendance. We plan to continue with Seminars to keep our treasury adequate for Chapter 6 normal business expenses.
I want to thank the membership and the officers who have made this year successful. Our continued use of speakers and granting of PDH credits has encouraged our members to attend our regular meetings. We want to continue to reach out to the Capitol Area Land Surveyors’ Association for future joint meetings.
I look forward to 2009 with enthusiasm for Chapter 6 and its members.