PE&RS August 2000

ASPRS 2000 Yearbook

VISION 2000 + 1:
BUILDING ON DIVERSITY AND OPPORTUNITY

I’m truly honored to have this opportunity to serve as ASPRS President for the coming year. The Headquarters membership database shows that I joined ASP in 1968. At the time, I was in the 3rd summer of my student appointment at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and was getting immersed in the high technology of the day — photogrammetry. I was in photogrammetry hog-heaven doing USGS map compilation on Balplex stereoplotters and aerotriangulation using a Wild A-7, IBM punch cards, and a CDC mainframe computer. Technology, of course, has evolved and now permeates every aspect of our daily lives, including the disciplines represented by ASPRS, the Nation’s premier professional organization within the imaging and geospatial information community. Now, to be granted the privilege of serving this organization as President just “thrills me to pieces.”

Before I get too far into my remarks, I’d like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and to thank Walt Boge and his various committees and staff for their efforts in planning and executing what is turning out to be one of ASPRS’s super conferences. Congratulations, Walt! My thanks, as well, go to our Sustaining Members, who contribute in so many different ways to ASPRS. I also cannot go further without a sincere thank you to Executive Director Jim Plasker, Assistant Executive Director Kim Tilley, and the entire Headquarters staff at ASPRS, for their tireless efforts throughout the year in keeping the Society clipping along. All of you make officers like me, principally me, look like we know what we’re doing. For that, I really appreciate what you do. During my time as a Board Member, I’ve had the opportunity to work with some of the finest individuals involved with our profession. The ASPRS members staffing our Region, Committee, and Division leadership positions are truly extraordinary and are the heart and soul of ASPRS governance. Their energy and creativity are a source of awe, inspiration, and hope for me. My continuing thanks go to you, as well, and I’m hoping to maintain the momentum we’ve been gathering over the last several years. To Mike Renslow, George Hepner, and Tom Lillesand, thanks for your leadership and friendship during this last year. It’s been a real joy working with you. To you, Terry (Keating), welcome aboard. The fun is about to begin. Also, the U.S. Geological Survey, for whom I work, has been very supportive of my participation in ASPRS, and is deserving of my appreciation. Of course, none of this would be possible without the strong and caring support from my wife, Diane. While I’m off attending to the lofty affairs of the Geological Survey, ASPRS, and the Japanese American Citizens League, Diane is doing senior executive level management and decision-making for our family enterprise back in Fremont, California. Certainly our two daughters, Cory, 16, and Kristy, 11, are both key members in our organization, and deserve the attention. I want to take this time to thank my personal Executive Director, Diane, for her continuing support.

My agenda for my year as President is simple and of few words, like I am — to continue the upward and outward initiatives begun by my predecessors. ASPRS gone through a difficult time, and thanks to their efforts, I won’t have to deal with the same level of intensity and complexity of those financial and programmatic issues that were the focus of so much of their attention. Our confidence-level as an organization continues to grow as our financial situation steadily improves, and as our reputation as the Nation’s “imaging and geospatial information society” continues to expand. Congress and many Federal agencies in the public policy arena are increasingly seeking us out as an authoritative resource.

A little over two years ago, I decided to accept the nomination for vice president at the urging of Mike Renslow, Roger Crystal, and Tom Lillesand. As you promised, this has been a rewarding experience for me and I hope I haven’t fallen short in any of their expectations. Actually, going back a wee bit further, to around 1981, I think it was this same Mike Renslow who convinced me to take my first foray into ASPRS governance and to run for the Northern California Region Board. I can’t say it hasn’t been fun.

This personal retrospective has not been without purpose. I believe my recruitment is indicative of how a volunteer organization such as ASPRS maintains its vitality and progressive programs for its membership, in a highly competitive environment fraught with conflicting tugs and pulls on our so-called, discretionary, voluntary time and energy. Earnestly demonstrating an interest in a colleague and in the well being of an organization that genuinely stands for something, are the essential keys to making this work. Officers, Board Members, and leaders throughout the organization must work to mentor new members to integrate the fresh ideas and the energy of our up-and-coming professional and technical membership into leadership positions in our Society. That is our future.

Yogi Berra, one of my favorite philosophers, says, “Baseball is 90 percent mental and the other half is physical.” He claims he’s seen that saying in print in many different forms; i.e., different percentages for different types of characteristics to suit a particular situation and that all were attributed to him. Now, he can’t remember what it was, exactly, he said originally. That being the case, and with your indulgence, I’ll take some additional liberties with this particular “Yogi-ism,” and exploit it even further. I’ll maintain that success as a professional society, as in baseball, is 90 percent hard work and opportunity and the other half is talent. Our membership is blessed with a wealth of talented people. Combined with the other factors in the Berra-Mikuni equation, hard work and opportunity, we will see a successful ASPRS. It is the responsibility of the Officers, Board, Region, and Committee leadership to marshal the immense talent pool within our organization. The leadership and HQ staff, as well, must be alert to the opportunities that present themselves so that the Society can act in a manner that best advances the strategic direction and mission responsibilities of the ASPRS. An example of one type of opportunity that we saw and of which we took advantage is the NASA Commercial Remote Sensing Program initiative to jointly conduct a remote sensing industry forecast. Some preliminary findings of that study are already proving useful in helping us frame our planning processes.

I mentioned ASPRS’s strategic direction. One of the most important lessons we learned from ASPRS’s recovery over the last three years was the need to link financial management with a robust association-wide strategic planning effort. Last year, President Renslow reinvigorated our program of strategic planning within each area of ASPRS. In a nutshell, each Division, Committee, and Region must have an individualized, up-to-date statement of its goals, that when aggregated upward, will comprise a fully integrated budget and program plan for ASPRS. Several broad areas in which the Society should begin forging strategic direction this coming year include workforce development and customer education; recognition of our professional and technical membership; increasing participation in emerging scientific and technological initiatives; such as imagery and advanced sensors; and, continuing the enhancements in the governance of the organization. Talent and hard work, with a cohesive strategic plan providing the focus and resource base, will enable ASPRS to take advantage of the incredible number of growth opportunities for our profession.

This summer in Amsterdam, ASPRS will represent the American segment of our profession at the 19th Congress of the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS). In addition to opportunities to assume leadership positions in ISPRS Commissions and Working Groups, our involvement in international settings such as the Congress will enable ASPRS to establish a stronger relationship with our global colleagues sharing our varied disciplines.

Speaking of international issues, globalization, that is, the influences of incidents, policies, and initiatives that originate outside the U.S., will play increasingly important roles in how we each professionally and personally conduct our daily life activities. ASPRS must stay attuned to these issues. During his keynote address, Lieutenant General James C. King, director, NIMA, quoted passages from the book The Lexus and the Olive Tree, by Thomas Friedman, which dealt with globalization and the integration of capital, technology, and information across national borders. Living in Silicon Valley, and on the West Coast, I am continually reminded of the ongoing and potential influences that globalization has on our region and nation. For example, there is a growing awareness among all Pacific Rim nations of the impact that seemingly isolated natural disasters can have on the economics, social conditions, and health and safety of the entire Pacific Basin. Remote sensing, GIS, and other disciplines practiced by ASPRS members, combined with other analytical tools, can help these nations understand the overall situations and potential risks, and to begin designing mitigation strategies.

An increasing number of new American citizens, whose origins are these same global communities, also provide opportunities for ASPRS. These diverse members of American society will soon, if not already, represent the majority in American society, and will comprise the broad constituency of students, employees, and consumers that ASPRS must seek to include in its programs. Their diverse backgrounds and talents represent what America will “look like” in the 21st century. It is also crucial that members of these diverse communities assume leadership positions at all levels in ASPRS in order to demonstrate that we are, indeed, the AMERICAN Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. The initiatives of our Public Relations and Education and Professional Development Committees; tools such as the ASPRS Career Brochure; all of our educational conferences, workshops, and outreach programs; and, the ASPRS leadership, should help us reach out to and nurture these members of American society that will make ASPRS a stronger organization through diversity.

Last year at this time, Mike Renslow left you with a very catchy slogan for his administration – “You Must Be Present to Win.” That message urged the leaders and membership of ASPRS to participate and to contribute something (being present) in order to ensure that ASPRS be successful. That basic message is still as valid in 2000 as it was in 1999. I failed in my struggle to find a new, different, and catchier slogan, so if you don’t mind, I’ll close with another Yogi-ism. “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” It’s hard to say exactly what he meant, but I believe Yogi was making a statement about strategic direction and knowing where you’re going. I believe that our growing confidence and optimism, the immense talent of our membership, and our ability to work hard to apply ourselves to the strategic goals we set for ourselves, all contribute to a better understanding of the environment around us. So, when we do come to that fork in the road, we’ll know exactly which fork to TAKE, because we know where we’re going.

Thank you.