The Geoholics

Episode 074 - Future City w/Jake Williams

What a great show! We were joined this week by Jake Williams the Program Coordinator of the Future City Competition. This competition has been around for nearly 30 years and Jake was a competitor well before he became the Program Coordinator. As a result, he was able to provide the full spectrum of perspective for Future City. We discussed not only the history of the program, but also what it entails, who can participate, how it is judged, how we as professionals can get involved and what is in store for the future. Heck, we even talked about Dungeons & Dragons! PJ bought a boat...BS & TLK provided dinner and DD is a degenerate gambler! Music for this episode by Cage the Elephant!

Episode 073 - Fred Brown

The boys were joined this week by Fred Brown, a true surveyor that has been working in the profession for over 40 years. Fred is proud to be the Director of Operations for Golden Field Services, Inc. (GFSI). GFSI specializes in providing professional services for the pipeline, power and telecommunication industries nationwide and has been doing so for over 25 years. We discussed what makes GFSI unique, the direction these vulnerable industries are heading and the challenges surveyors face when working in these projects. Fred has surveyed in most states of the United States as well as for several years overseas in the Oil & Gas and Mining & Metals Industries. Needless to say, he has some great stories, a few of which he was kind enough to share with us. Music for this episode by Midnight Oil!

Episode 072 - Field Notes 101

What an awesome panel! We were joined this week by Philip Adams, LS, President/CEO of Adams Surveying Company, Ryan Swingley, LS, Geospatial Manager at ESP Associates and Phil Fedor, LS, Project Manager at Bowman Consulting. Combined, these three gentlemen bring close to 100 years of experience to the stage! Our topic of discussion for this episode focuses on field notes. Field notes are arguably the most important component of any survey/mapping related project. We had a spirited conversation touching on WHY field notes are important, WHAT needs to be included and HOW field notes differ from project to project. Music for this episode by Rose Colored Eyes!

Episode 071 - The G.O.A.T.

We raised the bar to new heights with this episode! Thats right...the G.O.A.T...Chris Anderson, the King of Coopers Hill, joined the boys to talk about his journey to becoming the greatest cheese rolling racer of all time! The Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake is an annual event held on the Spring Bank Holiday at Cooper's Hill, near Gloucester in England. Participants race down the 200-yard-long, 40-degree hill after a round of Double Gloucester cheese is sent rolling down it. The first person over the finish line at the bottom of the hill wins the cheese. Chris is a record setting 22-time winner of the Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling Race and has lived to talk about it. Be sure to check out the Netflix documentary named We are the Champions, which covers Cheese-Rolling at Cooper's Hill and you can see Chris in action for yourself! Music for this episode by The Proclaimers! DO NOT FORGET TO EMAIL THE 4 FEBRUARY PODWARDS TO INFO@THEGEOHOLICS.COM BEFORE 530PM MST THIS TUESDAY (3/2)!!!

Episode 070 - "Surveying with Robert" Martin, PLS

Join us this week as we virtually build the "model" Survey Crew Chief for the 21st century with Robert Martin, PLS. Robert is a 30+ year veteran of the land surveying profession having performed a variety of surveys across the country. His diverse skillset, particularly on the field side, makes him the ideal person to provide input on the archetypical Survey Crew Chief. We start from the first day on the job and step by step develop the perfect path for anyone wanting to make land surveying a successful career. Don't miss this enlightening and spirited conversation! Be sure to check out the "Surveying with Robert" YouTube channel and www.surveyingwithrobert.com for additional tips and tricks that will make you a better surveyor. Music for his episode by 38 Special!!

Episode 069 - Dr. Tony Nettleman, PLS

If you've ever wondered what it would be like to go to court over a property dispute this is the episode for you! Dr. Tony Nettleman, PLS is a Land Surveying Engineer and Attorney that has been practicing for over 20 years. He is the President and Owner of Nettleman Land Consultants and the Director of the Nettleman Institute of Surveying Engineering (NISET). We discuss all things property disputes including individuals litigating the ownership rights of a property (land title), the location of the ownership line that separates them from one (land boundary), one’s right to use the land of another (easements), and even riparian (water) or littoral boundaries. Other discussion points such as standards of care, professional duty, phases of a dispute, and choosing/being an expert witness are touched on as well. PJ pays his debt to Huddy and DD shares another "give to get" story. Music by Carolina Blue!

Episode 068 - Construction Staking 101

Yet another value-adding episode for all to enjoy and benefit from! Brandyn Jones, LS is the owner of Benchmark Surveying & Consulting. Jason Rogers is a Project Surveyor for Bowman Consulting. These two have close to 50 years of construction staking knowledge and wisdom between them! We discuss the inherent challenges of this challenging way to make a living including the importance of contract language, risk mitigation, safety, communication, control, field notes, communication, quality control, as-builts and communication!!! We even talked about the qualities of a true "professional" construction surveyor and why the heck companies feel the need to race each other to the bottom by providing these services for pennies on the dollar. Zach "Indiana" Gooch is the winner of January's listener prize being a $100 Amazon gift card! Become a Geoholics Patron, subscribe to the Geoholics YouTube channel and stay tuned for some exciting news!!! Music by Jefferson Starship.

Episode 067 - Davy McDowell, PE, COO NCEES

Who knew?!?!? Who knew that The National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) has been around since 1920? Who knew that NCEES develops and scores the FE, PE, FS and PS exams for engineering and surveying licensure? Who knew that you can setup a MyNCEES account to conveniently track your professional licenses and continuing education hours? Who knew that there is a NCEES Surveying Education Award that recognizes surveying/geomatics programs? Thanks to Davy McDowell, PE, the COO of NCEES, we learned all there is to know about these things and so much more! Be sure to email the 4 podwords for January BEFORE 5pm MST Tuesday 2/2 to info@thegeoholics.com! Music for this episode by Styx!

Episode 066.5 - Project Management 101

As you know by now, our sole objective is to "add value & make friends". Not only did we do that with this episode, BUT we also had the person who coined that phrase join us as well. Glen Abramowski aka Glenski, is a Supplier Program Management Specialist at Boeing. Tony Mintrup, PMP is a seasoned Project Manager for Klein Tools. They joined us to talk about what it takes to be a successful project manager. We touch on the triple constraint being scope, schedule and budget, the 7 P's (proper prior planning prevents piss poor production) and everything from project initiation to project closeout. Glen & Tony provided some great insight to this very challenging part of what we do as geomatics professionals. Whether you are a provider of a professional service or develop and sell products, there is something in this episode for you! Music by Social Distortion! 

Episode 065 - Dr. Nik Smilovsky & Phil Ponce, PE

Check out this week's episode when we got caught up with Dr. Nik Smilovsky from Bad Elf and Phil Ponce, PE. Phil is the Vice President of Engineering Mapping Solutions, Inc. AND a huge fan of the Bad Elf products. Nik sums up 2020 and talks about how Bad Elf not only survived but actually thrived and advanced as it pertains to sales and research and development. Some great things coming down the Bad Elf pipe in the weeks and months to come. Phil is an avid user of the Bad Elf Flex receiver and has even developed a "setup" that includes utilizing an Ebike and building a proprietary GIS platform for all day, real-time data collection. Afterall...friends let friends collect Bad (Elf) data! Be sure to listen for the weekly podword. Please consider becoming a patron by visiting the Geoholics Patreon page and take a sec to subscribe to The Geoholics YouTube channel. Music for this episode by Queen!