Eric D. Colburn, PLS

PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY

In this week’s Professional Land Surveyor Survey, I’m asking  you:

How Important Is Technology For Running Your Business?

Yesterday, I wrote about 5 Winning Strategies To Running A Professional Land Surveying Business where I, in a nutshell, outlined five more or less old-fashioned common sense strategies behind running and operating a professional land surveying business.

Which got me to thinking:

I started to think about how important technology is to me, and to you, to the success of your land surveying business.

What do you think?

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PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY

In this week’s Professional Land Surveyor Survey, I’m asking for your assessment of:

Business Conditions Survey for August 2010?

Are you seeing any improvements in the business climate, no change at a all, or is the business climate worsening.

I’ll be posting an update to this Business Conditions Survey monthly, and hopefully we’ll see continual improvements in the future.

It would be very helpful, too, if after you take the survey you also leave a comment explaining your answer and tell us the general location of where you are, which could give us some insights into where things are looking up, or not.

What do you think?

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PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY

In this week’s Professional Land Surveyor Survey, I’m asking the question:

Does AutoCAD Civil 3D Require Too Much Setup?

I’ve been working on updating my existing AutoCAD Civil 3D templates and creating a few new ones, which got me to thinking about whether or not setting up AutoCAD Civil 3D for land surveying requires just too much setup.

Then, I was talking with a few other AutoCAD Civil 3D users about this topic that happened to be working on their templates and they had definitive answers to this question, to say the least.

Maybe this is just coming from the land surveying perspective, although much of AutoCAD Civil 3D functionality requires the setup of numerous settings, it just seems to me that the surveying side of the software and technology requires more. Maybe even too much!

What do you think?

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PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY

In this week’s Professional Land Surveyor Survey, I’m asking the question:

So, is it the Heat or the Humidity that’s worse?

With it being in the Dog Days of Summer here in the northern hemisphere I’ve been seeing a lot of weather related talk about the heat and humidity – hence this weeks Professional Land Surveyor Survey.

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PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY

In this week’s Professional Land Surveyor Survey, I’m asking the question:

Should NSPS Separate from ACSM?

Recently, the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) announced that it is seeking to separate from the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM). In a joint NSPS letter by Wayne Harrison, NSPS President, John Matonich, NSPS Immediate Past President, and Curt Sumner, NSPS Executive Director, entitled “The Evolution of a National Voice, The Future of the National Society of Professional Surveyors“, the three layout the timeline set in place (2 years) and the reasons for this potential departure. You can read their letter here »» The Evolution of a National Voice, The Future of the National Society of Professional Surveyors.

On the flip side of this brewing controversy, if you visit the ACSM website you will find under Developing News, the following:

“NSPS to re-define its relationship to ACSM“

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PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY

In this week’s PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY I’m asking the question:

Post Great Recession-Are Jobs Going to Come Back?

I’ve been thinking lately about what the jobs situation in the land surveying industry will look like as as a full recovery takes hold and the Great Recession, hopefully, comes to an end. Lately I’ve heard several experts talk about jobs and the economy discussing how this will not only be a jobless recovery, but that in certain fields some jobs will never come back. In many respects, I believe this will be true for professional land surveyors and all land surveying technicians.

The times They Have A Changed!

Regardless of the current economic conditions and times, although significant, if you look at the history of land surveying there is one very important truism: As technology has increased the number of surveyors to complete the work has decreased. If you’ve been surveying for any amount of time, think back to how many people worked on your field crew and how many people it took in the office to get that work done. If you go way back, was it four or more people on your field crew and nearly an equal amount in the office? If you go back to when I started in the mid 1980′s, there where three field crew members and at least two to three surveyors or drafters working in the office (this doesn’t include clerical workers).

However, shortly after I started surveying the Total Station with built-in EDM became commonly used, and the field crews were reduced to two people. Over time, the office became the same way, in that personnel was reduced as software like AutoCAD was adopted. Where it was common to have an office survey technician do basic reductions and control plotting, a drafter plotted field notes and prepared plans, and a professional land surveyor calculated boundaries and provided professional oversight, it didn’t take long after automated drafting and surveying software took hold that the work it formerly took many people to complete could now be completed by one person. And now, with Robotic Total Stations and GPS, it’s becoming more commonplace to only have only one person working in the field.

But here’s the rub: Before the Great Recession hit, many professional land surveyors had not moved to use systems, both in the office and in the field, to increase productivity and reduce the total amount of employees required to complete their surveys. Since then, how the times they have a changed! With a lack of work and with no cash flow, many firms have been forced to cut to the bone and work with skeleton crews. Some, like myself, had invested in “Solo-Surveyor” equipment like Robotic Total Stations and GPS, so they could work with as little as one person (if there was work at all).

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PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY

In this week’s PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY I’m asking the question:

What is Your Favorite Social Networking Site?

In the last two or more years I’ve seen more and more professional land surveyors, engineers, AutoCAD users, and designers using social networking sites like Facebook, Land Surveyors United, Linkedin, MySpace, Twitter, and Tumblr. These are just a few of the more popular social networking sites on the interwebs nowadays. While I don’t know which ones will still be around in another year or two, which is equal to eons in “Internet-Years”, but I do know this:

Social networking is here to stay, so join the revolution or get left behind!

If you or your professional land surveying business haven’t implemented social media and social networking to boost your marketing, brand, and branding efforts, then I suggest you start to do so immediately. If you haven’t already done so, then you’re missing out on an opportunity to improve your business, brand, “awareness”, and build relationships with your customers (existing and new). After you take this week’s Professional Land Surveying Survey about your favorite social networking sites, you’ll find a list I’ve created with my links on these social networks so that we can connect. Contact me if you are new to social networking and are interested in working with me to use social media marketing in your business.

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PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY

In this week’s PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY I’m asking the question:

What Is Your Land Surveying Products And Services Pricing Strategy?

I’m writing a series of articles on pricing land surveying products and services and I’m looking for your input. Let me know what your pricing strategy is, if you indeed have one, do you adjust it, and how often? Also, what method do you use in calculating your fees? Do you use a system like cost plus, or do you figure your prices strictly by value, for example?

Share with us what has worked best for you, or what has just plain failed? Examples of both, success and failure, can be great teaching tools and learning opportunities.

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PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY

In this week’s PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY I’m asking the question:

Are you Satisfied With Autodesk’s Services & Support?

Autodesk Services and Support includes their knowledge base, documentation, and online help, in addition to your submitted support request if you are enrolled in the Autodesk subscription software maintenance and support program.

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PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY

In this week’s PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY I’m asking the question:

Bootstrap or Training, How Did You Implement AutoCAD Civil 3D?

I originally posted this question on Linkedin as follows:

“Bootstrap or training, how did you implement AutoCAD Civil 3D?

I was wondering how C3D users implemented C3D. Did you “bootstrap” it by trying to implement and learn C3D on your own or did you take more formal training and classes? Or, did you have a consultant setup C3D and train you at your site?”

With that said, I guess I also wonder which approach is best? Any thoughts?”

There, it turned into a fairly lively discussion, so I thought I’d pose the same question here. One idea that kept coming up in the conversation was of needing an AutoCAD Civil 3D “Power User”, which I do think is important. This must be yourself, if your a one-person shop, or some one person within a larger work group or organization.

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