The MSPS Young Surveyor’s Committee met online yesterday and discussed a few items of importance that I thought I’d share with you.

There was 40-45 people who attended the YSC breakfast at the Annual Meeting earlier this month.  30 of them were younger members of the profession, including technicians, draftsmen, etc.

For next year’s Annual Meeting, there was discussion about having a separate area for young surveyors to congregate at for socializing.  The thought was that it would be easier to build relationships with a similar peer group.  This brought up an idea that the regional chapters could host a similar social event during 2025, in the hopes that young surveyors or staff could attend regionally, that would not normally go to out-of-town to the Annual Meeting.  I think the St. Louis Chapter should consider hosting one of these social events as one of our meetings in 2025 for the St. Louis region.

There was discussion about the 2025 Spring Workshop, and having an 8-hour breakout session for technicians.  The course/courses could be provided by Joe Pavia in coordination with Midwest Geospatial Academy.  Some of the course topics discussed included Survey Math, a more-robust technician’s day, and a LSI/PLS exam review day.  They are still looking for topics and presenters for the Spring Workshop.  Dan Govero is organizing those.

There was discussion about having a “Surveyor’s Rodeo” or skills competition at the Spring Workshop, possibly on Thursday evening, for 1-2 hours.  I’ve never heard of a “Surveyor’s Rodeo”, but apparently, they are done in other states at surveyor’s conferences/meetings.  They discussed individual entries, or teams from different firms.  I thought this may be a good idea for the Scholarship Committee to fund-raise from.  Where the winning team would get a prize, and the remaining profit went to fund the scholarship.

Finally, there was discussion about sending 1-2 students from Missouri to the NSPS Student Competition in spring 2026.  In my opinion, it would be nice to have one of those representatives from the St. Louis area.  Something to think about for next year. Here is the NSPS Website for the Student Competition, do be updated with 2025 details

Kellan Gregory is the committee chair.  He is from the Kansas City area.  He is doing a really good job of organizing these meetings and soliciting input. If you have any ideas about these topics or others, you can contact Bob Boyer to pass along.  Contact Kellan directly here.