Member Benefits

Publications and Materials:

Among the most popular GBA member benefits, GBA’s unique and exclusive educational resources and business tools help you run your business better and deal effectively with your business and professional-liability risks. GBA gives members almost all its resources free of charge so your entire staff benefits.

  • Proposal and report insert sheets for use as-is, explaining discipline-specific limitations in addition to why it’s smart to deal with a GBA Member Firm
  • “Message” brochures that explain key issues to client personnel
  • Self-contained multimedia instruction for project managers and field personnel
  • Training curricula that combine various GBA resources on related topics into pre-packaged programs for staff professional development
  • Model contracts, memos, and letters
  • Reference works, including a widely-used contract guide; others on limitation of liability, alternative dispute resolution, and third-party reliance; and more
  • Best Practices monographs, each focused on an important business issue
  • Case Histories relating to project management as well as business management so you can learn from others’ mistakes

Newsletter:

GBA’s newsletter NewsLog, issued every two weeks, provides insight into opportunities and threats so your business can adapt and be more responsive, including the latest information on effective practices, legal rulings, educational events, contract clauses, employee recruitment and retention, and GBA itself.

Conferences:

GBA holds two conferences each year, one in the spring and one in the fall. Each conference offers many educational and networking sessions, industry insights, and fun activities for friends and family, plus the opportunity to earn professional development hours (PDHs).

Peer Review:

GBA’s Peer Review program provides valuable feedback on your existing business practices so you can improve.

Networking:

GBA offers an environment of trust and mutual support, where members can connect with one another and share their experience, advice, support, and opinions about best practices. Often, relationships created via GBA reveal mutualities that lead to new and greater business opportunities

Leadership Opportunities:

GBA committees foster valuable relationships and leadership skills. GBA puts particular emphasis on encouraging and grooming young leaders and providing the resources and support they need to succeed.

Referrals:

GBA members frequently get referrals from fellow members whose clients have projects in areas where they are not active and just as often enter into partnerships for projects that require services or expertise that neither can provide on its own. Also, GBA’s Member Firm Directory gives you valuable exposure in the marketplace.

Regulatory and Associated Representation:

GBA speaks with a powerful voice to safeguard and advance the interests of geoprofessionals, responding quickly and forcefully to concepts and events that threaten geoprofessionals’ prestige or success.

A Network for Your Lawyer:

Attorneys can help their client firms through involvement with the GBA’s Legal Affairs Committee, a network of attorneys any member can access for assistance.

Professional Liability Insurance:

Only GBA Member Firms are eligible for professional liability insurance coverage from Terra Insurance Company, the highest-rate risk-retention group in the United States. Membership in GBA does not guarantee that coverage will be offered.

eBrownbag

eBrownbag is the acclaimed series that entertains while it educates. Viewers learn the consequences of their actions and decisions. John Bachner helps you navigate the minefields of your profession and gain the business, organizational, and other nontechnical skills you need to thrive.

eBrownbag is THE training tool for managerial, professional, technical, field, and clerical personnel of technical professional organizations: engineering firms of all kinds, environmental firms, architectural firms, other technical consulting firms, industrial organizations, and government entities.

Go to eBrownbag and use discount code FREE2MEMS for free access to the online streaming version of episodes 1-10. Or order the DVD version from GBA.

FOPP

FOPP_logo

Save $1,000 on GREAT Training. GBA Sponsors FOPP.

More than 2,000 geoprofessionals are alumni of John Bachner’s Fundamentals of Professional Practice (FOPP), a unique educational experience for firms’ rising stars: Six months of distance learning with John Bachner playing the role of a grumpy client representative with intimate knowledge of loss prevention and the English language.

Participants choose from 86 research assignments (or create one of their own) to benefit their firm’s business. Bachner personally reviews and marks up every e-mail, cover letter, proposal, and report, to help participants improve their writing skills and come to grips with professional-liability issues.

The course concludes with an unforgettable seminar in March, where participants learn from the best and engage in public speaking, loss-prevention problem-solving, and dispute resolution.

Millennials want professional development; no other course even comes close to FOPP.

Because of GBA sponsorship, GBA Member Firms save $1,000 per person they enroll in FOPP. See what participants and their CEOs say about FOPP.

GBA Travel Discount Program

GBA is pleased to offer an exclusive worldwide travel discount service to our members. Savings may exceed 50%, and average 10-20% below-market on all hotels and car rental suppliers around the world. Save time and money. Let us negotiate the best deals and comparison price for you.

Any hotel, any car, anywhere, anytime.

Click here to save on your next trip.