The Mapping Specialist

Vol VIII, No. 2 - Fall/Winter 2000

Contents | In Focus | Mapmaking | Geonews | Profile | Quiz

PROFILE
To Infinity and Beyond!

The arm is raised and the intricately designed spacecraft and its precious cargo are ready for their first and only voyage.  When launched the craft is grabbed by terra firma's gravity and is on a split second voyage.  Upon impact there is a rush of designers who have waited in anticipation to see if the craft has been designed well enough to protect the cargo contained within.  In almost one-half the cases the fragile cargo survives the impact, while the remainder are ready for scrambling or as the base to dressing for a caesar salad.

The above is a description of the final segment of the team-building exercise at the Mapping Specialists 2000 Annual Meeting held September 8, 2000 in Wisconsin Dells.  For the past nine years, on the Friday following Labor Day, Mapping Specialists has held an annual meeting for all employees.  The meeting is held within an hour's drive of Madison and consists of a four-hour-morning meeting, lunch, and an afternoon of recreation.  While the meeting has many purposes, the main objective is to bring the entire Mapping Specialists team together at the same time.

As outlined in previous newsletters, Mapping Specialists is very team- and goal-oriented.  The annual meeting is used to gather the individual teams and discuss the future of the company.  Jeff Kranz, President and CEO, reviews the performance of the company over the past year and lays the ground work for the upcoming one.  Committee chairs (personnel, computer, building, etc.) spend fifteen to thirty minutes each updating the staff on their areas.  The marketing and sales department goes over trends in the industry and potential clients.  Individual awards are given to employees who have made a significant positive impact on the company in the past year.  Last, but not least, everyone participates in a team-building exercise.

This year the exercise involved the design and production of a "spacecraft." The exercise required a number of materials including an egg, two Styrofoam cups, rubber bands, paper clips, pennies, pushpins, a pencil, a pen, and a paper napkin.  The staff was divided into teams of four to five individuals with the following assignment: build a ship that will protect the astronaut (the egg) from a fall of approximately eight feet.  The teams were given ten minutes to complete the task.  At the end of the ten minutes the teams were gathered and their ships "launched." We are happy to report that four of the ten astronauts survived.

We use our annual meeting to keep the employees of Mapping Specialists informed.  But more importantly, we use it as a time to expand the horizons of the members of the Mapping Specialists team.  These "expanded" horizons are one of the many reasons we can provide you with the quality services you have come to expect.

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