20
January 2015
PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
REGION
EWS
ASPRS HAS A NEW REGION!
D
uring the Board of Directors meeting for all of ASPRS, the
Southwest US Region was dissolved and their territory was
re-assigned to the Northern California Region. The next piece of
business was the renaming of the newly expanded Region to the Pacific
Southwest Region.
For those of you unfamiliar with the geographic coverage of both the old Northern California and Southwest US Regions, our
new Region includes the entire states of California, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii.
The next piece of business will be the adoption of new by-laws and the election of a new slate of officers to govern the new
Region. That will be followed up with an election early in 2015.
The officers of both the old Northern California and Southwest US Regions would like to extend a big THANK YOU to all
who have involved in the leadership in the last few years and those involved in overseeing the formation of the new Pacific
Southwest Region.
Introducing the Pacific Southwest Region
bership in an organization that values quality workmanship,
adherence to principles of managed precision and accuracy, ded-
ication to detail, and the deeply seated notion of giving to others
what the profession has given to us.
Take a look around. There is no other professional organiza-
tion that offers this to people with our skills and capabilities.
Doesn’t it just make sense for you to be a member of that kind
of organization?
You may be thinking, “Is there really a need for me to be part
of this group?” Indeed there is; the need for this organization
may be greater than it ever has been before. The growing com-
mercialization of geospatial information over the last decade
has created a deep societal dependence upon the work of our
members. Our contributions may be unknown and unappreci-
ated by most citizens and policy makers, but they are necessary
to the functioning of modern society.
As a member of ASPRS you will have a much greater oppor-
tunity to inform people about what we do. Society needs us,
our expertise, our standards, our publications, our support for
education, and our professional engagement. Our members un-
derstand and expertly address the big issues of our time – from
agriculture to defense, from climate change to transportation
planning, and from water resources to energy management, to
name just a few.
Even as the work of our members has become increasingly im-
portant, the challenges faced by members have also increased.
Members face cheap labor outsourcing from abroad, broken gov-
ernment contracting models, gaps in our educational system,
the ever-constant pressure to lower costs, and the urgent need
to innovate business models. Globalization and commoditiza-
tion challenge traditional services and products, while, ironical-
ly, the new technologies we create to stay competitive also dis-
rupt our existing businesses. We face these and other challenges
in common, so we are stronger if we identify them and address
them together.
Getting our ship ready to sail on its most important voyage
in many years is taking some time, of which we have precious
little. The tides and currents around us are flowing at a rapid
pace. Our ship’s design is outdated. Nonetheless, our members
know how to fit a ship for sailing, and they are busy making the
necessary changes. (See sidebar.) Even the officers have rolled
up their shirt sleeves and are doing carpentry, sheeting sails,
and hauling supplies on board. We are almost ready. Within a
few months, our plan is to set sail from Tampa, the site of our
annual meeting.
Where shall we sail? Should we simply allow the wind and
tide carry us where they will? Of course not! Should we chart
a course for a known land and prove that we can reach a shore
that others have found before us? Perhaps. Or, will we instead
boldly point the helm into uncharted waters in search of some-
thing entirely new, unknown, and possibly tremendously re-
warding?
Consider the example of HMS Endeavour, which set sail in
1768 on a mission to explore Terra Australis Incognita (“un-
known southern land”). After she nearly sank on the Great Bar-
rier Reef, Lieutenant James Cook beached her for repairs. Cook
wrote, “…it was happy for us that a place of refuge was at hand,
for we soon found that the ship would not work…” Endeavour
proceeded to sail around the Cape of Good Hope and complete
her journey home. The spirit of HMS Endeavour lives on today.
Over 200 years later her namesake also circled the earth – but
this time from space – OV-105 Space Shuttle Endeavour.
Those who sail with ASPRS on our new endeavor will be in for
an adventure in all senses of the word – anticipation, challenge,
excitement, exhilaration, education, and perhaps even fame and
fortune. We promise not only an adventure, but also the chance
to accomplish something that is bigger than any one of us can
achieve on our own.
New frontiers await us in the next 80 years, I am certain of
it. This ship is sea-worthy, but it needs a good complement of
passengers and crew. Please, board the ship with me and let us
sail together toward a bright future.
Dr. Michael Hauck, ASPRS Executive Director
Letter for the Executive Director
continued from page 4
