Eric D. Colburn, PLS

Professional Land Surveyor Forum Update – Land Surveying Problems

Recently, I added a new discussion board on the Free Professional Land Surveyor Forum called Land Surveying Problems.

From time to time I’ll be posting land surveying problems that I think are interesting, and hopefully, challenging. Feel free to post your challenging land surveying problems, too.

These might be problems you would typically find in a land surveying text book, problems you might find on a professional land surveying exam, or real-life problems you’ve seen in your professional land surveying practice.

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The Professional Land Surveyor Podcast (PLSP)

Shownotes – Episode 2
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EricColburn.com The Professional Land Surveyor Source Turns Two!

Yesterday, it just occurred to me that this site, EricColburn.com the Professional Land Surveyor Source, has turned two. Well, it actually happened on last Saturday, and I really didn’t start writing regularly here until the first week of July, 2008, but you get my point. So I wanted to take a moment to recognize this anniversary, share with you what creating this website and writing this blog has meant to me, give you some shameless plugs and self-serving factoids, and talk about where I’d like to go from here.

The Terrible Two’s

I’ve said it before, but here’s a little back-story. Several years ago I’d read a story written by Walt Mossberg, the principal technology columnist for The Wall Street Journal, about blogging and it intrigued me. Because of the blinding lights of the boom-years and stupidly getting caught up in the rat race, I put off doing what I really wanted to do. Finally, in May of 2008, as the economy wound down, I made adjustments to the way I did business, happily got caught up on work, life became more manageable and I took the time to setup this blog!

It was slow to start, taking the time to find the right look and feel for my blog, but eventually everything clicked and over the last two years I’ve published 546 posts, not counting this one. On average, that’s about one post for every workday, which was a goal of mine. I’ve really enjoyed the writing and creating multi-media content, too, like my AutoCAD Civil 3D videos and the Professional Land Surveyor Podcast (more coming soon).

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This morning I’ve added a few events to the Professional Land Surveyor Forum Calendar and Events, which I want to share with you here. I thought it would also give me a chance to spread the word on how you can use my forum’s Calendar and Events. I’ll discuss the Calendar feature of the Professional Land Surveyor Forum, which I think is awesome, and then I’ll give you a few updates for some calendar events I posted today. Finally, I’ll give you a few ideas on how you can use the Professional Land Surveyor Forum Calendar and Events for your business, surveying society, or just to share interesting events that you’ve discovered.

Professional Land Surveyor Forum Calendar

Professional Land Surveyor Calendar April 2010

You can access the Professional Land Surveyor Forum Calendar from the tabbed menu near the top of the site. Once you’re on the calendar you can then navigate through the months, or you can select the calendar month and year you want to jump right to. For each calendar item there is a hyperlink to a discussion board post about that event. So this gives you a great way to organize and share your events and post specific event details, too!

Posting a Professional Land Surveyor Forum Calendar Event

To post an event, click on that option on the bottom of the calendar called “Post Event”, now isn’t that clever. A screen will open where you can fill in the following:

• Event Title – This becomes the hyperlinked title in the calendar.
• Event Date – Includes Year, Month and Day.
• Number of Days – Use for multi-day events.
• Post In – This gives you a drop-down list of all of the discussions boards in the forum so that you can select which discussion board your event details will be published in. It’s your world, so chose as you will, however, I’ve set up a “Learning Center – Events” discussion board which I think is the best location for these posts. I reserve the right to move your post if I think it appropriate to do so.
• Subject – This becomes the title of the discussion board post.
• Message – A place to fill in descriptive details about your event.

So, fill in the information, spell check (a key thing for me), preview your post, and when you’re satisfied with it, hit “Post” to publish your event. Two things will then happen. First, your event will now show up on the Professional Land Surveyor Forum Calendar for all to see. Second, your event will also be listed in the selected forum discussion board for all of your fellow professional land surveyors and related professionals to read and comment on. Accomplishing two things at once, now that’s productivity!

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The Professional Land Surveyor Podcast (PLSP)

Shownotes – Episode 1
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Here are a  few quick links to the Professional Land Surveyor Forum. At the Forum you’ll find a few new topics of discussion and a new Winter Olympics 2010 Board, too.

If you’re a surveyor who has mining experience, or have worked on underground tunnel projects, then maybe you can help out a fellow surveyor with a vertical shaft problem (see link below).

Professional Land Surveyor Forum Updates:

• Vertical Shaft Problem
• Copan for Windows — free COGO tool — ver 09.11 out
• Is AutoCAD Civil 3D Good for Surveyors?
• Continuing Education Requirements – Should they be mandatory?
• What Did You Think About Winter Olympics 2010 The Opening Ceremony?
• Are You Satisfied With The Autodesk Subscription Maintenance & Support Program?
• How Do I Start Geocaching?

If you’re not a member of the Professional Land Surveyor Forum it’s quick and easy to sign up for by following the link below.

Follow This Link To Register for The Professional Land Surveyor Forum

Today I created a new discussion board on the Professional Land Surveyor Forum called, “AutoCAD Civil 3D for Land Surveyors“. My hope is that a more full depth discussion of the subject can take place there.

If you have not visited the Professional Land Surveyor Source EricColburn.com, Professional Land Surveyor Forum, I invite you to do so. Signing up is quick, easy and it’s free!

Within the AutoCAD Civil 3D for Land Surveyors discussion board I’ve created two topics:

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Autodesk University 2009

AU 2009 will be held at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 1–3, 2009!

Autodesk University 2009 is your chance to meet with the top experts in your industry and learn about the latest trends and technologies that will help you stay competitive. Read the rest of this entry →

Advertise on EricColburn.com the Professional Land Surveyor Source.

It’s been one year since I created EricColburn.com and I’m delighted to report that EricColburn.com is now one of the leading sites, if not THE LEADING SITE, for professional land surveyors on the internet.

One of the many things that I’ve learned is to tell your story and to share what you’re passionate about. This is what I’ve tried to do, and I think it has been successful.

Here’s a Short List of What I’ve Accomplished, So Far:

• Over 17,000 Monthly Visitors to EricColburn.com.
• Traffic Rank below 425,000.
• US Traffic Rank around 100,000.
• 50 minute average each day users spend on EricColburn.com.
• 40 Daily page views per user for EricColburn.com

What Does This Mean for You?

• EricColburn.com is very popular with the professionals you are trying to reach.
• EricColburn.com is ranked about 2 to 3 times better than other land surveying sites in the world and about 3 to 5 times better in the United States.
• Not only are more professionals coming to EricColburn.com, but once there, they stay for almost an hour and view 40 pages, on average. Compare that to other sites where visits are for a couple of minutes and for several pages, at best.

These statistics are from Alexa. Check out Alexa yourself and enter EricColburn.com or any other site for comparison at Alexa.com/siteinfo. Once there, just enter the site you want statistics for and press the “Go” button. Let me know if you find a land surveying site that ranks better than EricColburn.com! Read the rest of this entry →

Did you know that you can post your scheduled events, or find events that interest you, on the Professional Land Surveyor Forum?

Promote Your Events!

Well, you can. This is a great feature for any group or organization to show promote their event on the Professional Land Surveyor Forum Calendar, and it’s free! Your scheduled event can also be highlighted in the Professional Land Surveyor Forum Events discussion board, listed under the Professional Land Surveyor forum Learning Center Boards.

In the Professional Land Surveyor Forum Events discussion board you can also add information about your event, links to your website and upload informational brochures and registration forms, too!

Find Interesting Surveying Events!

The Professional Land Surveyor Forum Calendar and the Professional Land Surveyor Forum Events discussion board is also a great place to discover upcoming events that may interest you. I’ll be regularly adding events, so check back often.

Links to the Professional Land Surveyor Forum Calender and Events Discussion Board.

• Professional Land Surveyor Forum Calendar
• Professional Land Surveyor Forum Events