PLSO The Oregon Surveyor May June 2020

6 The Oregon Surveyor  | Vol. 43, No. 3 From the Publications Committee We hope, with this opportunity, that we can create a magazine format which members can relate to, plan for, and regularly contribute their stories to... Set aside your stage fright, pick up those keyboards, and give your writing skills a try. Vanessa stands ready to help you sound like the Shakespeare of Surveying by the time it hits the page. Pat Gaylord, PLS Interim Chair Publications Committee PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE FROM THE FIELD NOTES Publications I never thought I would findmyself writing an editorial for The Oregon Surveyor , but sometimes change comes from many directions at once. In the last issue, Greg Crites sung his “swansong” and stepped down as the long-time editor of our mag- azine. At the same time, he introduced Brian Portwood as our new editor begin- ning with the May/June issue you are now reading. Then just as theMarch/April pub- lication hit the streets, so did COVID-19, and change was once again upon us. Unexpectedly, Brian was forced to step down as our editor in order to fulfill his employment duties related to federal response to the disease. Suddenly we found ourselves scrambling to publish the next magazine. To that end, the PLSO board, working with our publisher LLM Publications, hired a professional editor for the remainder of this year. PLSO and LLM will be splitting the cost of this ef- fort and the board will then reevaluate how to proceed at the end of 2020. This solution will be a small cost per issue to PLSO and give us time to make the ad- justments outlined below. First, allow me to introduce our new ed- itor, Vanessa Salvia. She is already hard at work on the magazine and with very little notice, she helped bring this issue to the finish line within our publication schedule. Vanessa’s Instagram says she is an “Expatriate of the Deep South now en- joying and writing about the Northwest’s finest everything.” Vanessa’s website, www.vanessasalvia.com, tells us Vanes- sa brings nearly 20 years of journalism experience and has written thousands of articles covering topics of “concrete construction, phlebology (vein therapy), music, food, books, people, hard science, business, the environment and sustain- ability, home and garden, architecture and design, lifestyles, fitness, animals, financial planning, art, and travel.” She has also worked as a magazine editor for lifestyle and trade magazines which covered decorative concrete and con- crete construction. For PLSO, Vanessa brings opportunity. PLSOwill benefit fromVanessa’s skills with new insights for content, new creative ideas, and accountability in publication deadlines. She will also be writing a mem- ber focus column in each issue highlighting the skills and personalities of our mem- bers. If you know amember who deserves recognition, either through their innate surveying skills, volunteerism, or just because they are an all-around good per- son and community member, reach out to me to get them the recognition they