ASPRS 2000 Yearbook
1999-2000 Executive Director Report
by James R. PlaskerEditor’s Note: This report was given by Mr. Plasker at the ASPRS Awards Luncheon and Installation of Officers on May 25, 2000 in Washington, DC.
As I begin my third year as executive director there are many highlights from the past year I would like to share with you. First, let me express my continued appreciation for the support that the officers, Executive Committee, Board, and the staff have provided during this significant time in our Society’s existence. Without the many extremely good ideas, and the extra effort afforded by each of these groups, the past year would not have been anywhere near as productive. This report will highlight accomplishments and address issues related to finances, headquarters computer and web modernization, staff development, programmatic changes, publications, and meetings and conferences. If I have not addressed an item of your particular interest, please let me know and I will gladly provide you with additional information.
Financial Issues
During 1999-2000, we continued to repair the financial health of the organization. Not only did we not use the available line of credit during the traditionally low cash flow period in late summer, we also did not need to utilize any of our reserve funds. In fact, we reaped the financial benefits of two very successful conferences during the year: the annual conference in Portland, Oregon; and the Pecora 14/Land Satellite Information III conference in Denver, Colorado. The Board moved to utilize the resulting funds to increase ongoing investments in the Society’s future. For instance, we systematically increased our overall reserves by 38% to support future capital investment, meet our obligations to send a delegation to the quadrennial Congress of the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing in 2000, and to reinvigorate the building fund drive.
The second trust on the headquarters building, taken out during 1996, was fully paid in November 1999, some 23 months early. The Board then moved to set aside $30,000 in reserve to be used to match donations from members and regions toward future payment of the first mortgage. The Board also set a goal of completing the payment of the first mortgage by 2008 in order to eliminate the need for yet another refinance of the trust. We have recently initiated a Society-wide building fund drive, and I am pleased to acknowledge and thank Roger Crystal for leading that effort.
Account receivables remained essentially current throughout the year, as did account payables. Our budget and cash flow for 2000 look solid at this time, with the results of the Washington, DC conference being critical to our overall health. Publication sales have been steady, as we have seen the benefit from the two new volumes of the Manual of Remote Sensing and several new GIS acquisitions. We continue to meet projections for advertising and dues revenue, and have seen renewals in excess of 90% in 2000; a continued indication that the Society’s health is returning.
Computer System Upgrades
As many of you know, the Society benefited greatly from the generous assistance by Sustaining Members Intergraph Corporation (now Z-I Imaging) and Microsoft Corporation to modernize our office systems during the past two years. Combined, the two Sustaining Members provided nearly $50K worth of in-kind donations to support the modernization effort, and Microsoft has continued to provide software updates. That technology and support has been critically important as we have modernized our membership system and are now preparing to implement an e-commerce solution to enhance member services.
The new membership system (iMIS) is based on the Microsoft-donated SQL database and installation was completed in time for the 1999-2000 dues renewals in late summer 1999. We next successfully survived the Y2K time period without a glitch—thanks to the modernized systems. Now we are in the process of cleaning up our membership database (many instances of redundant data, erroneous information, etc. came to light once we made the conversion from the old, DOS-based system). This effort will continue as we move to serving members on the Internet, and each member is able to view and update their own membership record.
We have added a fourth server to provide e-commerce capability, and during this conference we are demonstrating the initial web-enabled capabilities to officers and Board members. We plan to go live with the web-based services later this summer, and anticipate being able to take renewals over the web by fall.
The modernized system, including the membership software, facilitates Web services to both members and the general public alike, including a members-only area, online directory, online and real-time publication of the “Resource Guide” and the list of certified mapping scientists and photogrammetrists. In addition, e-commerce capabilities, including meeting registration, dues collection, new member applications, directory updates, etc. are supported by the new systems.
We also embarked on a systematic renewal of the existing web site, and have established a position of webmaster assistant to support Jim Hipple in the endeavor, and named Martin Wills to the position. We conducted a strategic review and planning session focused on the web site during last December, and the results of that analysis are being implemented on a continuing basis. If you have not visited the site lately, go to www.asprs.org and see what has changed.
Staff Development
First, let me again tell you what a dedicated and hard working group the headquarters staff is—a situation with which both your officers and the Executive Committee are very familiar. They continue to work very hard to serve and support the Society’s membership and the profession as a whole. The past several years have not been an easy time for the staff, and they have needed to make many and continuous changes to support the strategic vision of the volunteer leadership.
We have continued staff development, including both formal and informal training on each of the new systems. We have continued our effort to improve and expand services, with the staff contributing very clever implementation and extensions of office system capabilities. We have continued to clean up and organize headquarters with enthusiasm, or at least without complaint.
Staff-based conference management responsibilities have increased significantly since the pre-Tampa era, and every staff member has borne a greater workload. As evidenced by the success of the Portland and Denver meetings last year, and the Washington, DC meeting this year, I believe the staff deserves to be commended for their dedication to ASPRS.
With the very tight employment market, and the fact that ASPRS is a small association with limited growth potential, staff changes are inevitable. During 1999, Robin Scala, whom many of you know as a very talented marketing and meetings planner, left to take her dream job with a public relations firm that will eventually provide a means of returning to her home in Miami. Temperance Battee replaced Robin and took over planning for the Denver meeting on a full run. Temperance has done an outstanding job with both Denver and now Washington, as you all have noted.
Another transition occurred when Karen Davenport, our accounting manager, left after nearly 10 years to take a position with more responsibility at a trade association. Again, we are fortunate to have Terry Hawkins with us this week. I am sure you will find her as friendly and service-oriented as Karen was in the role of the “face of ASPRS” at our conferences.
Sokhan Hing, ASPRS membership manager, has had a challenging year. In addition to working on the transition of membership systems (sometimes until very late at night), she suffered a severe traffic accident on the Capital Beltway in December. Even though she has been under continuous medical care and therapy since then, she is nearly back to her normal (and feisty) self. I would especially like to acknowledge Sokhan’s more than 20 years of service to ASPRS. She is the longest serving employee currently on the staff, and the corporate memory for many of us.
Finally, I would like to recognize a significant milestone for the Society in the naming of Kim Tilley to the position of Assistant Executive Director in addition to her title and duties as director of Communications. Kim is an outstanding, highly experienced association executive and plays a very important role in assisting me in keeping it all together. Kim’s title reflects the Board’s confidence as well as mine, and provides me with a little more freedom to work external issues of importance to the membership and the community.
Please join me in recognizing the dedicated efforts of the staff, for without them very little would get done.
Program Initiatives
During this past year we have continued to grow in relevance with a number of new or expanded programmatic activities. We supported the development of a new North American Classification System, in consultation with our colleagues in Canada and Mexico and at the request of the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Labor and State. This effort, undertaken in cooperation with the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM) and the Management Association of Private Photogrammetric Surveyors (MAPPS), provides the foundation for the final classifications for the geospatial information industry and will be first used in the 2002 economic census of the US. We anticipate that data derived from the next economic census to be very useful in quantifying the size and scope of the industry, and support future decisions concerning investment in our technology and profession.
Working with a number of scholars in the area, we developed and released an Open Skies policy emphasizing the need for continued access to both all unclassified imaging. The Open skies policy was released in the fall of 1999, at the time of the Ikonos launch, as a means of underscoring the importance of the policy to the Society.
At the request of USGS, we delivered an excellent report on the review of existing camera calibration capabilities in the U.S. and made a series of recommendations for future investment in the USGS Optical Science Laboratory and its operations. We continue to contribute to this effort, and have volunteered to advise USGS as it moves forward with budget and technological developments.
We monitored the budget situations in several federal agencies, including NASA, USGS, NOAA, and NSF. We expressed concern in situations where Congressional actions would negatively affect our profession, particularly in the research and commercial areas. We also agreed to support NOAA in their request for assistance in developing outsourcing strategies that serve the programmatic objectives of the agency.
We signed a Space Act Agreement with the NASA Commercial Remote Sensing Program at Stennis Space Center, and have embarked on an effort to produce a 10-year industry forecast. The effort is multi-phased and multi-year, but we have begun to see preliminary results that will assist the Society in a variety of ways. For instance, it appears that the growing concern over the industry’s access to a sufficiently developed workforce could limit the industry’s growth in both the near- and long-term. As a result, we have begun discussions with other organizations, including MAPPS, and academia represented by the University Consortium on Geographic Information Science, to address the workforce issues. We expect the 10-year industry forecast to provide many valuable opportunities for the Society as the effort moves forward.
The Certification Program continues to do well, with increased applications and greater visibility, both within ASPRS and throughout the broader community. To that end we are working to improve the accuracy of published information about certified professionals, including provision of a web search function for certified professionals, and to improve the timeliness and processing of applications. The recent move to an examination-based certification puts the ASPRS certificate on general parity with state licensure. This has led several states to consult with ASPRS and to obtain examination materials in support for the implementation of the recently modified Model Law on Surveying published by the National Council of
Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors (NCEES).Working with four other organizations, ASPRS continues to address issues related to the NCEES Model Law on Surveying and was instrumental in expanding the Task Force on the NCEES Model Law to address issues of concern to the geographic information system (GIS) user community. In addition, as a member of the Professional Organizations Liaison Council of NCEES, we have fully participated in the NCEES information exchange with nearly 25 other professional organizations representing the various engineering and geospatial disciplines.
The Education Initiative articulated by the Education Committee, under the direction of Dr. Tim Foresman, as been well received. Efforts have included continued operation of the Remote Sensing Core Curriculum, development of the 1999 and 2000 Conferences on Remote Sensing Education, and most recently the production of a sophisticated career brochure. In fact, I learned this week that we have been requested to provide 200 copies of the career brochure to West Point Military Academy to support their recruitment of cadets into the Geospatial Information Department. Considering the resources available to the Academy, this is a high compliment on the quality of the brochure and the efforts of those involved in its preparation.
I would like to take a moment to recognize Sustaining Member ERDAS Corporation for their continuing support to the Society, especially for their financial contributions to the Education Initiative. Late last year Bruce Rado, ERDAS vice president, came to the Society and indicated they would like to help move our education programs forward. After a short discussion, ERDAS made direct and significant financial contributions to both the Remote Sensing Core Curriculum and toward the printing of the career brochure. Without the help and confidence of Bruce Rado and ERDAS President Lawrie Jordan, the Society could not have moved the Education Initiative ahead in such a vigorous manner. Thank you to both Bruce and Lawrie for their continued support and commitment.
Membership retention has been better in the past two years than it has been for some time. While we will always lose a few members due to occupational changes and changes in the industry, we believe that by providing quality service to the members, and being highly relevant in the profession and the community, we can maximize our retention and continue to attract new members. Our goal must be to grow our membership numbers, and we need help from every member in each of the sectors. Please take a moment to make the most important contribution you can achieve for the Society—by recruiting a member or two. Better yet, strive to recruit ten members and win the Ford Bartlett Award as did Roger Hoffer, John Althausen and Rex Cammack in 1999-2000. Our congratulations and appreciation goes to all three of them.
I was especially pleased to see the addition of two student chapters during the year. Central Oregon Community College received their charter during last year’s conference, and this year Oregon State University is receiving their charter. Congratulations go to both institutions as well as the Columbia River Region for their efforts to make the chapters viable. As an Oregon State University alumnus, I am especially pleased with this year’s student chapter recognition.
Finally, the efforts to revamp the ASPRS Awards and Scholarship program have begun to payoff. You will recall that (now) Past-President Lillesand appointed Al Stevens to assist staff with this effort, and the collaboration has been very productive. We have increased the publicity concerning the availability of awards and scholarships, and this year we had more applicants than in recent memory. It is our continuing goal to ensure that successful candidates are identified for each award, and that the competition for scholarships is enhanced. This effort will continue into 2001 as we implement recent decisions and actions. Again, every member can assist by recommending to those qualified, especially the students, that they apply for these very valuable awards and scholarships.
Publications
Our world-class journal, PE&RS, continues to do very well both in technical content and advertising revenue. Stan Morain, Kim Tilley and Jim Case make an outstanding Journal management team, with excellent support from Manuscript Coordinator Jennifer Bondick. Jennifer has moved on in her career, and we are confident that her replacement, Robyn Gleasner, will continue the excellent service.
Advertising revenue from PE&RS is a critical resource for ASPRS, and the support shown by the sustaining members through the Journal continues to be very much appreciated. We are committed to maintaining PE&RS as robust as possible, and have begun to link the Journal to the web site. For instance, since January 2000, all general articles and the abstracts of peer-reviewed technical articles have been available on the web site at the beginning of the publication month (sometimes even before the issue has made it to the member). With the implementation of the full e-commerce web site later in 2000 or early 2001 we plan to make available full electronic versions of the technical articles via a members-only login capability.
The third edition of the Manual of Remote Sensing, Volume 3, was released last year through our publishing arrangement in collaboration with John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Andy Rencz, Manual of Remote Sensing editor-in-chief, was the editor for Volume 3 and did an excellent job with both the material and the schedule.
We have begun the initial planning with John Wiley & Sons, Inc. for publication of the 5th edition of the Manual of Photogrammetry, with editors-in-chief Ed Mikhail, Jim Bethel and Chris McGlone. The 5th edition will be comprised of nearly all-new material, and chapter outline preparation is currently underway.
Meetings and Conferences
It is clear now that the 1999 Portland Annual Conference was an outstanding success, both technically and financially. The proceeds from Portland clearly helped us make it through the year in excellent financial condition, and a great deal of the credit for the success must go to Roger Crystal. This current Washington conference also looks to be outstanding, again both technically and hopefully financially—and special credit must go to Walt Boge and his team for their ongoing efforts.
Last December we held the combined Pecora 14/Land Satellite Information III conference in Denver, Colorado. These two conferences had historically been successful in their own right, and the combination turned out to be even more than the sum of the parts. With over 700 attendees, 55 exhibits, and many excellent technical papers and workshops, the conference was likely the highest attended ASPRS specialty conference ever. In addition, the first–ever ASPRS-sponsored classified session was held, with its success yielding a similar effort at this Washington meeting and plans for another next year in St. Louis. The direct result of the financial success of this meeting has been the ability for the Society to accelerate the implementation of the web-based e-commerce applications that will continue to serve the Society well into the future. Our thanks and congratulations go to conference chair Don Lauer, technical program chair Kass Green, workshop coordinator Russ Congalton, local arrangements coordinator Allen Cook, and many others behind the scenes for their outstanding support. Also special thanks go to the federal agencies that supported the conference both financially and technically — without that support the meeting would not have been so successful.
A special note on Russ Congalton. The job of Workshop Coordinator is somewhat thankless, yet very important for the Society in our educational mission. We are very fortunate to have Russ in this highly visible role, and the quality of our recent offerings certainly reflects his coordination and recruitment efforts. In addition, Russ plays a critical on-site workshop logistics and pre-conference management function. For all of the support he provides ASPRS, we are pleased to recognize Russ this year with the Outstanding Service Award. Please join me in thanking him.
ASPRS worked this past year on several other meetings—including the Conference on Remote Sensing Education (CORSE) held in July 1999. The primary leadership for CORSE includes NASA and the University of Maryland-Baltimore Campus. Aimed at K-12, proceeds from the meeting go to support the Remote Sensing Core Curriculum. ASPRS members Tim Foresman and Tracie Serpi were the driving forces for 1999 meeting, which began to recognize the increasing need for lower level educational experience with imaging and remote sensing. The CORSE conference was successful enough to spawn a 2000 CORSE at the University of Southern Mississippi in June.
In the plans this fall is a joint conference with ACSM on Practical Applications in the Geospatial Information Sciences, to be held from December 1-6, 2000, in Providence, RI. Not only should this conference provide an excellent technical program, but also with the demise of the GIS/LIS conference this will be the first time that ASPRS and ACSM have collaborated on a meeting since 1998. In addition, the fall 2000 Board of Directors meeting and related committee meetings will occur in this venue.
The 2001 Annual Conference will be held in St. Louis, April 23-27, with Dave Kreigbaum and Kari Craun serving as co-directors. Also during 1999, the decision was made to hold the 2003 Annual Conference in Anchorage, Alaska, May 3-9, with Don Davis serving as conference director.
In summary it has been an even busier year than last. It has been challenging at times but very rewarding to see us move from worrying about survival to becoming forward thinking in the service of our membership, the profession, and the community. As Past-president Tom Lillesand noted at the completion of the Spring 2000 Excom meeting (something like his 18th consecutive since becoming an officer), “Isn’t it great to spend only 1 hour on budget and 7 hours on program, rather than the 7 hours we used to spend on finances in our earlier meetings?” I couldn’t agree with him more!
As I said during my report last year, my goal in leaving USGS was to find a way to have fun—and this past year has been yet another year of fun! Thank you for all of your support—I look forward to a very productive 2000-2001.
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