First Word - December 2025
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[00:00:00] Joel: There is something magical about the first snowstorm of the year and I just wanted to share it with you. Let's go inside and get warm, 'cause I have some exciting things to share with you.

[00:00:18] That's a little bit better. It's got a feel of a fireside chat. Welcome to the GBA first word. It's December. 2025 and the holidays are upon us. As we start to think about taking time off and spending time with family and friends, I realize that this is also a CLO time where our clients can be very demanding as they push to conclude projects before the end of the year.

[00:00:44] So we'll make this short. Thanks for everybody who provided feedback to the last first word, uh, episode. We will try to incorporate some of your suggestions into this episode. I'm reflecting on a very [00:01:00] successful fall leadership summit that took place in Denver. In November, our board of directors and our committees got together and they worked on projects.

[00:01:09] They also mapped out the future to identify areas where we can make the most significant difference to our members and to our profession. We also heard about some really cool new projects that are happening at GBA. First and foremost, we're forming a safety subcommittee. Safety's always at top of mind.

[00:01:30] We're also using all of the GBA resources, the vast library of resources to create a chat bot for our members. We're calling it chat, GBA. That'll be rolled out really soon. We're forming a geo professional women's group, and that'll, the first meeting of that group will be December 3rd. And we also shared some of the updates to the, uh, educational series that we're putting together, some training [00:02:00] for those, uh, just entering the profession and all along the career continuum through leadership.

[00:02:07] It also reminds me that we heard of the f. Woodward L Vote Project Excellence Award winner. Last year at this conference, A-N-S-G-O presented a really technically strong project, but they also shared the lessons that they've learned and the resources that you've used from GBA to manage their risk and optimize business performance.

[00:02:35] This reminds me to remind you that the Woodward L Vote Project Excellence Award applications are due now. So please fill out that application soon. Uh, this is a great opportunity to highlight your company and to give credit to your project teams and, and also a mention to your clients as well. Forms pretty easy to fill out.

[00:02:59] [00:03:00] And, uh, and it's available on the GBA website. So thank you for everybody who attended the Fall Leadership Summit. Everybody who prepared and spoke at the conference at the summit. Uh, and also I wanna especially thank the emerging leaders cohort. Number six, the fall summit was their opportunity to meet for the first time in person, and they truly are the future leaders of GBA and of our profession.

[00:03:29] There's a new article on the GBA website about creative employee retention strategies. It's a compilation of ideas from our most recent business round table session. It might provide you with some strategies to boost your engagement in employee retention. Both are critical in today's competitive marketplace.

[00:03:52] And this leads me to another update. The state of the Workforce annual survey was launched in [00:04:00] November. The survey includes questions about employee mental health, artificial intelligence, economic uncertainties. In addition, the survey explores top organizational concerns from recruiting to retention policies on flexibility.

[00:04:19] Telecommuting PTO Compensation Benefits and Inclusion Initiatives. As you can tell, these are all really important topics as you look to the future. The survey closes December 5th, so right as you finish this, you can go to the GBA website and fill out that survey. And on December 12th, we're gonna hold a webinar to review the survey results with everybody that completed the survey.

[00:04:47] Before I conclude, I want to instill a little urgency in everyone regarding the 2026 annual conference. I wanna make sure that everybody who's registering, [00:05:00] uh, takes advantage of the early registration discount that happens. Uh, I also wanna make sure you get a hotel room at the Sheridan Grand. At WildHorse Pass this April in Phoenix, we're likely to sell out this conference, so please register early and get your room reservation.

[00:05:21] We're gonna celebrate vibrancy, impact and professionalism in the geo professions. And the way that we're gonna do that is through our keynote presentations, our business round table sessions. We're gonna celebrate at our annual awards banquet. And we're gonna have a lot of opportunity to network with fellow geo professionals from across North America at this really great venue in Phoenix.

[00:05:48] So don't wait. Register now while you can, while it's on your top of your mind, before the end of the year, and make sure you take advantage of the discounts that are available for early [00:06:00] registrants. And this concludes the December 1st word. I wanna wish you all a very happy holidays and thank you for your support of GBA.