GBA 1st Word - January 2026
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joel: [00:00:00] Happy New Year. It's 2026. Welcome to the GBA first word for January, 2026. Before I start looking forward into the new year, I'd like to reflect on some of the things that were most memorable for me in 2025, and it was a really big year for GBA to start off with the GBA Board of directors rolled out the strategic plan for 2027 and beyond.

It was the culmination of gathering information from our members for many months. Looking at industry trends and applying some big thinking, it was a big deal because the strategic plan sets the course for GBA and for our members into the future. If [00:01:00] you've not downloaded Gbas 2027 strategic plan yet, you can download it off our website or you can check out this URL.

One of the most memorable events that took place in 2025 was GBA's Crystal Ball Workshop, recognizing that we all have staff shortages. The demand for our services is an all time high, and there are opportunities for us to apply technology to solve some of the problems of the future. One of the reasons it was so awesome because this 18 month effort resulted in over 70 professionals coming together to solve common problems.

Together, the participants included GBA members, subject matter experts, and, representatives from partner organizations truly making this an industry-wide event. The [00:02:00] result was a business brief on the Crystal Ball workshop that summarizes what happened at the workshop, and more importantly, gives geoprofessionals like you some things you can do now to embrace technology and be ready to apply them in the future.

If you haven't seen Gbas Business Brief on the Crystal Ball workshop, you can find that on our website or at this URL. In 2025, we graduated three classes of our early professional class. These graduates who are relatively new in our industry, learn some important topics about contract language communication.

Creep in project scopes, business ethics, among other things. I got to see these classes at the very beginning and then watch their final projects [00:03:00] presented and their graduations and the difference over that timeframe was so big. They've really have a big picture idea of what consulting is about.

They also have developed some strong bonds that will. Provide benefit for them over their careers. So the early re early professional classes were accepting applications for future classes. You can find those applications on the GBA website or here. That's kind of fun. You might already know that my favorite hour of the GBA calendar is our annual awards and recognition banquet.

This occurs every year at our annual conference and in Savannah, Georgia. In April, 2025, we had the opportunity to celebrate and recognize volunteers to our [00:04:00] association. It included committee members, committee leaders. We celebrated the photo contest, award winners. We, also recognized those leaders who had a lifetime of achievement and contribution to GBA.

So that's why it's my favorite hour of the year, and you don't wanna miss the 2026 Awards banquet that'll take place at our annual conference in April, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. Register now and get early registration discounts and just as importantly. Get your hotel reservations. We might sell out this venue, so please register for the 2026 annual conference now, and I just want to say again, happy New Year to everyone.

I hope that 2026 is a prosperous, enjoyable, healthy year for your business. We thank you for all your [00:05:00] support and we're really looking forward to the new year. Happy New Year.