Eric D. Colburn, PLS

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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PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY

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

Are You Satisfied With The Autodesk Subscription Software Maintenance And Support Program?

For those of you not familiar with Autodesk Subscription, subscription members, for an annual fee, get automatic upgrades including subscription advantage packs.

You also get access to training videos, podcasts, e-Learning courses and Autodesk University courseware.

Additionally, you get direct technical support from Autodesk and can get technical solutions for subscribers in the Autodesk Knowledge Base.

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PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY

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

Are You Passionate About Your Profession?

Even in the best of times you can lose a little passion for your profession. It happens to the best of us. I’m very passionate about my profession, land surveying, and have been for nearly 26 years now. That doesn’t mean, however, that my love of surveying hasn’t ebbed and flowed over the years.

As a matter of fact, the only time I outright disliked surveying was for about the first week or two when I started land surveying. At that time I enjoyed working with the field crew I was on, my Crew Chief, Bill, made the work interesting, always passed along knowledge to me, and he treated the work as serious and professional. Unfortunately, I was disinterested and simply passing time.

Then, sometime in the second or third week, I mastered a few of the basics and started to pay attention to what Bill and our transit man (I only use “transit man” here because he was a he) were doing, and something clicked. What I started to see was the skill they employed and how much love and passion they had for land surveying. I guess it stuck and I haven’t looked back since.

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PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY

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

Are You A Certified Survey Technician (CST) Or Interested In The CST Program?

Last week I was at a meeting for the New England Section of ACSM where the topic of the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) Certified Survey Technician (CST) program was discussed.  What we discussed was how useful a program this certification can be to the individual and to the employer, amongst other things.

I am familiar with the CST program but I didn’t know anyone who was either certified nor working on becoming a CST. It turns out that one person at this meeting was certified and in fact was his state’s coordinator for the CST program, and he was able to explain how the CST program works and what is involved with becoming certified. If you are not familiar with the CST program, there is a link at the end of this article to the NSPS website with all the information you need to learn about the CST program.

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PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY

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

Does Your Company Share Its Financial Data?

Is your firm one that has an open book policy and readily shares the financial health of the business? Or, perhaps, if they do share financial data, maybe it’s only a small portion or sanitized version or reality.

Open or Closed Book

I’ve worked at several companies, none of which shared much, if any, financial data. One reason why those companies kept closed books was because they didn’t want the employees to see the finances when times were good. In some respects, that’s understandable. I have been on both sides of the employee/employer paradigm. I now know that when I was an employee I didn’t understand what my bosses went through on a weekly basis to keep the ship moving in the right direction, to pay the employees and to pay all of the bills. As an employer, you fear that in keeping open books all an employee will see is revenue and not all the bills that chip away at those revenues, leaving little if any left over for you the boss.

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PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY

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

Looking Forward to 2010 or Glad to See 2009 Go?

I ask this question both from a land surveying industry perspective and from a personal perspective. I’m sure that from a professional land surveying industry perspective 2009 has been a year full of challenges for most.

Whether you are on the employee side of the equation and where laid-off, your hours cut back, or even spent the year employed (which is good!) but shouldering the worry of whether or not you would have a job waiting for you day to day, 2009 was a challenging year. On the employer side of the equation, you scrimped, cut back, conserved cash, dodged a few bullets and had to make the tough, but necessary, decisions like laying people off and cutting back hours to keep your company alive.

Having been on both sides of this equation I can tell you that neither side is easy. It sucks getting laid-off and it sucks laying someone off!

Recessions Bring Focus

But when it comes to your personal life and lifestyle I think that some found the slowing of life’s pace that recession hurls upon us to be somewhat of a blessing. I know that I have. Recessions happen to re-focus us. When business and life become so hyper-successful (at least on the surface) it’s only a matter of time before a correction is needed.

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PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY

In this week’s PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY I’m asking the question: Is Your Company Having a Party for the Holiday Season?

I’ve read some comments by Professional Land Surveyors, AutoCAD and Engineering types on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn about company holiday / Christmas parties and the economy – and it got me to thinking about how this ubiquitous social event has fared in this recession. If you’re out of work, I’ve given you a selection in the survey for your voice to be heard, too.

I’d be very interested to hear your thoughts about your company party, or lack thereof.

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This Professional Land Surveyor Survey has been brought to you by EricColburn.com, The Professional Land Surveyor Source.

PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY

In this week’s PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY I’m asking the question: Is The Economy Improving For Professional Land Surveyors?

I’ve noticed, lately, a small uptick in the business climate and the phones have started to ring again. The other day I attended a class full of land surveyors, engineers and septic system installers and most, but certainly not all, had a cautiously optimistic outlook.

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This Professional Land Surveyor Survey has been brought to you by EricColburn.com, The Professional Land Surveyor Source.