A New Face on the NSGIC Board of Directors

Ian Von Essen, of the state of Washington, is now a member of the NSGIC Board of Directors. He was Appointed by NSGIC President Will Craig and approved by the Board at their February 23, 2010, meeting to complete the term of California's Michael Byrne, who has stepped down to take a job in Washington DC.

Mr. Von Essen, who is on the Washington Geographic Information Council (WAGIC), works for Spokane County and brings a fine balance of local and state government viewpoints that will add to the mix in NSGIC Board discussions. He currently serves as Chair-Elect for WAGIC and will become that group's Chair in June of this year. This will be his fifth term as WAGIC Chair since 2000.

The NSGIC Board term that Mr. Von Essen has been appointed to ends this fall when the seat is up for re-election at the 2010 NSGIC Annual Conference, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

NSGIC Strategic Plan: A Midstream Review

NSGIC is making progress on the goals set out in its 2009 - 2011 Strategic Plan. An updated version of the plan (PDF) has been posted on the NSGIC web site. It includes the findings of a team tasked by the NSGIC Board to review the plan and measure progress, so far, on all 23 goals in the plan.

The group used a 4-point scoring criteria, ranging from 0, for goals which are no longer relevant and that the group felt should be dropped, to 3, for goals that have been met.

Three of the goals were judged to be no longer relevant. Four others were found to have limited progress, so far. Of the remaining 16 goals, good progress was found on nine and seven others have already been met.

"Over two-thirds of the goals are met or are progressing well," writes NSGIC President Will Craig, of Minnesota, in a cover letter. "Adjusting for the three goals the team recommended dropping, the level of good progress amounts to 80 percent."

But, he added, "That still leaves significant work to be done."

The review was officially adopted by the Board at its November 24, 2009 meeting.

NSGIC Elects New Board

The National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) proudly introduces its newly-elected President and Board of Directors for 2009-2010.

Front Row (l to r): Barney Krucoff (DC), Jon Gottsegen (CO), Mike Van Hook (AL), Learon Dalby (AR), Will Craig (MN). Back Row (l to r): Ivan Weichert (KS), Tim De Troye (SC), Mike Byrne (CA), Bert Granberg (UT), Chris Diller (WI). Not pictured: Danielle Ayan (GA)

Will Craig, of the University of Minnesota, will lead NSGIC as President. Craig’s term as President comes on the heels of a successful Annual Conference in Cleveland, Ohio with nearly 300 participants. Despite challenging economic conditions, state representative attendance increased from last year.

Supporting Craig is a strong cabinet of officers including Immediate Past President Learon Dalby (AR), President-Elect Jon Gottsegen (CO), Treasurer Ivan Weichert (KS), and Secretary, Barney Krucoff (DC).

Tim De Troye (SC), Chris Diller (WI), Bert Granberg (UT), and Mike Vanhook (AL) were elected to the Board as Directors, joining Michael Byrne (CA), and Danielle Ayan (GA), who will continue their terms on the Board.

During his acceptance speech, Will Craig noted that he plans to continue and build on the progress made over the last year under the leadership of Learon Dalby.

"Now we need to walk through the doors that Learon has opened," he said.

A Few Words From the NSGIC President: What is Your Bandwidth?

The following is the eighth in a series of monthly guest-posts from 2008-2009 NSGIC President Learon Dalby, of Arkansas.

This is not about the bits and bytes your CPU can process, nor about the rate at which they are processed. This column is about your time, about our time as an organization.

NSGIC has been involved in a number of activities this year. Many of those have been brought to completion and highlighted on the blog, others are just continuing nags that never seem to end. No doubt we are all busy; often too busy doing our jobs to actually do our jobs.

I was recently surprised to learn the estimated amount of time our office is on the phone, email or using social media. I guess it really shouldn't have been such a big surprise since those are all tools for communication which is a requirement for coordination. Nonetheless, we are all juggling numerous things.

Now that I have you thinking…

Have you considered running for a NSGIC office; for President-Elect or for the NSGIC Board? No, I am serious! NSGIC needs you! A Call for Nominations went out on the membership listserv this week and I urge you to consider answering the call.

Have you thought about what should be on our next NSGIC Advocacy Agenda? Get ready, the call for submissions for the 2009-2010 Advocacy Agenda will be out soon. If there's an issue that is important to you, please submit it for consideration. And be be prepared to serve as a lead if your issue becomes part of the final NSGIC Advocacy Agenda. This is a very important part of what we do. This agenda keeps us focused; without it we would lose sight of the end game and waste our bandwidth chasing whatever is the issue of the day.

I leave you with a quote from one of my favorite books, Good to Great.

Good is the enemy of great. And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great.

NSGIC needs you, your time, your energy, your interest. Your bandwidth.

(NSGIC's Own) Michael Byrne Named GIO of California

NSGIC Board member Michael Byrne has been named the state of California's first ever Geographic Information Officer (GIO).

Mr. Byrne will be charged with "ensuring that the state receives the benefits associated with geospatial data, specifically, increased data access and sharing; reduced duplication and costs; development of technology standards; centers of expertise; public outreach and increased collaboration in state and local governments."

The announcement included a statement from California CIO Teri Takai, who made the appointment:

"Establishing this position is a critical step in implementing a statewide strategy to more efficiently use geospatial data throughout state and local governments," said Takai. "There is a tremendous value in coordinating our resources so that we can share data and work toward more common systems to improve health, public safety, emergency preparedness, environmental protection and other services for the people of California. I am pleased to have Michael serve on our team in the Office of the Chief Information Officer."

Along with his seat on the NSGIC Board, Mr. Byrne is a member of the National Geospatial Advisory Committee, sits on the Board of GreenInfo Networks, and is Chair of the California GIS Council.

Hat Tip: Thanks to Adena Schutzberg for noting this story on All Points Blog.

Note to Self: Now we have to update Mike's bio on the Board pages.

New NSGIC Board and Officers Elected

Learon Dalby (left), of Arkansas, took over the Presidency of NSGIC during the 2008 Annual NSGIC Conference in Colorado last week.

Under the NSGIC Bylaws (PDF), candidates are elected to President-Elect for one year, then serve a year as President, followed by a year as Past-President. This allows for a continuity of leadership and creates a solid core of experienced executives who work closely together to guide the organization. The change of office takes place at the conclusion of the annual conference each year.

Mr. Dalby was elected President-Elect in 2007 at Madison, Wisconsin. He takes over from Oregon's Cy Smith, who now takes on the role of Past-President. Minnesota's Will Craig (right), was elected President-Elect at the 2008 Annual Conference.

Meanwhile, the NSGIC membership selected four new members of the NSGIC Board of Directors. Three will replace Board members who have stepped down and one will complete the term of Will Craig, who leaves his seat on the Board to serve as President-Elect.

The newest board members are Danielle Ayan, of Georgia: Michael Byrne, of California; Jon Gottsegen, of Colorado; and Dan Widner, of Virginia. They join returning Board members Mike Ouimet, of California; and Mike Mahaffie, of Delaware.

Ivan Wichert, of Kansas, was appointed to another term as NSGIC Treasurer. Mike Van Hook, of Alabama was appointed Secretary. Bill Burgess, of Maryland (ret.), will continue as NSGIC's Washington Liaison.

The NSGIC Board and officers meet monthly by Conference Call, making use of on-line meeting and collaboration technology as appropriate. They hold face-to-face meetings during the NSGIC Mid-Year and Annual Conferences. Approved meeting minutes are published on the NSGIC web site.

Candidates Wanted: NSGIC Board of Directors

A call has been put out to the NSGIC membership looking for nominations of candidates for the NSGIC Board of Directors.

Three seats on the six-member Board are up for election at the 2007 NSGIC Annual Conference, September 23 - 27 in Madison, Wisconsin. Board members serve two-year terms. The current Board members whose seats come open this year are Jill Saligoe-Simmel (IN), Will Craig (MN), and Mike Mahaffie (DE).

According to the NSGIC By-Laws (PDF), there are two requirements for board candidates:

To be considered eligible for election, a candidate must be a Member in good standing and agree to serve if elected.

Nominations are also sought for candidates for the post of President-Elect. Current President-Elect Cy Smith (OR) will become president at the end of the Annual Conference when NSGIC President Stu Davis (OH) finishes his term in office.

Nominations must be forwarded to Election Committee Chair Joe Holmes (LA) by Friday, July 27, at 5:00 pm, CDT. The ballot box at the NSGIC Annual Conference will be open through the afternoon break on Tuesday, September 25.