2023 Spring Conference Proceedings

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SP23-01 Leading through Breakdowns to Breakthroughs
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What does every leader fret about? Recruiting and retaining great people. The war for talent. Winning this war and attracting top talent requires top-level culture. And a great culture is created by great leaders; those who have penetrating insight, build engaging communities, and take decisive action. These are Conscious Leaders who lead with Wisdom, Love, and Power. Eric Kaufmann guides you, as he has thousands of leaders for more than two decades, to ELEVATE LEADERSHIP. He shows you how to be a leader that people choose to follow. In this insightful and energizing keynote, learn how to rapidly expand your emotional intelligence and generate engagement and increase your authority while empowering others. Eric teaches you how to be the leader and company that attracts — and keeps — the best of the best. (75 minutes)

SP23-02 Ethical Strategies for an Irrational World
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We’ve heard of tricks of the eye, but what about tricks of the mind? We would like to believe we are rational thinkers and base our decisions on evidence alone, but the reality is far more complicated. Together with Aaron Mann, Esq. (Terracon), we explore the tricks of the mind that affect us all, the mental shortcuts and illusions most commonly encountered by engineers, and how to combat their impact in the workplace. Whether we’re overly optimistic about a project’s success or focusing on the information that confirms our beliefs, our most important decisions are often shaped by unrelated factors (including how long it has been since we last ate). The effects may be minor, or they can lead to serious ethical lapses. At worst, they can potentially lead to catastrophic results like the pedestrian bridge collapse at Florida International University or the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion. (51 minutes)

SP23-03 Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail
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Natural disasters are unpredictable and can have prolonged lasting impacts. These events affect your business, employees, business partners, clients, and the families and loved ones of them all. As a leader, you will be looked to for direction and if you failed to plan, it will be easy for them to see. With John Hicks, P.E. (ECS Florida, LLC), we discuss the key components to include in a business continuity plan to help maintain operations while taking care of employees and clients before, during, and after a natural disaster. (43 minutes)

SP23-04 What the Heck Is a Career Continuum?
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Guy Marcozzi, P.E., D.GE, LEED AP (Verdantas) explains the concept of the “GBA Career Continuum” and how GBA can support geoprofessionals on their journey through it. (13 minutes)

SP23-05 Business Snapshot Summary
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Every March, GBA’s Business Practices Committee invites member firms to participate in a brief survey on the state of the economy and assessment of the geoprofessional industry. Gary Torosian (Geocomp, Inc.) shares the most recent survey results to help you assess how your firm and region are performing relative to others in the nation. (10 minutes)

SP23-06 The Power of Leadership
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Join Gary M. DeJidas, P.E., F.GBA (GAI Consultants) as he shares some of the valuable lessons he’s learned along the way toward building a thriving, multi-discipline, and resource-rich company. He shares his knowledge on topics including The Value of Risk; Growing a Strong, Cohesive Company; The Value of Conferences and Seminars; Building Self-Awareness Through Peer Review; Open Your Mind and Advancing with the Times; and Going Back to School – For Real! (60 minutes)

SP23-07 President’s Annual Report
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GBA President Leo Titus, Jr., P.E. will provide his annual report and recognize the 2022-2023 Board of Directors before overseeing the Elections for the 2023-2024 fiscal year. (14 minutes)

SP23-08 Lean into LOVE
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Let’s explore the insanity of our current approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) with humor, honesty, authenticity, and vulnerability. DEI efforts often fail in organizations because they lean on isolated solutions to address systemic problems.

It’s time for a new approach. One that creates heightened awareness and a sense of “individually owned” belonging for the sake of meaningful connection. Our willingness to commit to change makes space for us to Live Open-mindedly with Vulnerability and Empathy…LOVE in action.

This presentation by Glodean Champion helps you to: understand the most important elements of DEI: awareness, belonging, and connection; discover strategic ways to listen with a willingness to learn; and recognize derailers, triggers, and personas that don’t serve us. (60 minutes)

SP23-09 Collaborating through Case Histories
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GBA has a rich tradition of collaborating on issues that impact geoprofessions. Our case histories are a cornerstone of the benefits of membership, and they provide unprecedented real-world learning examples related to project and business management. Sometimes these case histories share success stories; more often than not, they provide examples of where things went horribly wrong, how the situations were handled, and how you can avoid the same problems. Listen as Carrie L. Foulk, P.E., G.E. (BSK Associates); Margaret A. Panatera, P.E. (GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc.); Kelby Williams, P.E. (Western Technologies, Inc.); and Daniel K. Schaefer, P.E. (Froehling & Robertson, Inc.) share what they have learned. (60 minutes)

SP23-10 The Infrastructure – Climate Crisis Nexus
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You cannot predict the future. But you can prepare for it by thinking strategically about emerging possibilities. Geoprofessionals have a critical role to play at the center of two increasing economic trends: the rising value of designing weather/climate resilient infrastructure, and the increasing costs of repairing and replacing damaged and destroyed infrastructure due to weather/climate impacts.

A two-day workshop convened prior to the conference with support from ACEC’s Geoprofessional Coalition, ADSC The International Association of Foundation Drilling, and GBA’s Emerging Issues and Trends Committee. Invited guests, subject matter experts, and GBA members collaborated on key issues and actionable items. This presentation by Helen Pappas, CHMM, ENV SP (Gannett Fleming, Inc.) provides highlights from the workshop. (15 minutes)

SP23-11 Unlocking Growth with Efficient Field Operations and High-Performing Teams
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For geoprofessional business leaders, the key to profitable operations is maximizing billable time and efficient field data collection and testing. It’s about doing more with less and enabling a dynamic working environment to recession-proof your business. Learn more in this presentation by Brad Wieck and Christy Kolle from Agile Frameworks about how empowering teams with remote access to project work, digitally connected workflows, and communication channels with centralized file management and chain of custody will make it possible for you to operate with less staff, attract and retain talent with real-time mobile access, and ultimately deliver high-value outcomes for your clients. (30 minutes)

SP23-12 Taking Care of Business – Increasing Engagement with GBA
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Companies must provide employees with professional career development opportunities to stay healthy and grow. GBA offers excellent business-focused resources applicable to employees in many roles. Do your associates know about GBA and how being involved can benefit them? An ad hoc team in Terracon took on the challenge of increasing engagement with GBA to enhance career development for our employees and increase our return on investment in GBA. We brainstormed, implemented several immediate changes, and saw measurable increases in awareness and engagement. Learn what we did in this presentation by Craig Fischer (Terracon) and leave with a plan to springboard your company’s efforts at increasing engagement and ROI in GBA. (27 minutes)