A client calls MSL with an urgent message - to make an important change on a map, for example, or update a critical deadline. The project manager responsible for the job, however, is out of the office. So who takes the call? Chances are it's one of MSL's nine senior cartographers, our corps of highly-trained staff members with the experience to handle the task and keep the work flowing without delay.

Senior cartographers (or seniors, as we call them) are integral to the day-to-day operation of MSL. Among their most important tasks is to assist project managers with daily work coordination among team members. For example, each manager checks with the seniors every morning to schedule editorial and printing support during the daily manager's meeting. In fact, a senior will even attend the meeting in the manager's absence, an essential backup when the manager is away for conferences, trade shows, or vacations. For these events each manager also designates a senior cartographer for direct client contact.

But seniors are most important for the work their managers rarely see directly. Because seniors have developed extensive cartographic expertise, they often handle the lead production for specialized projects, and oversee staff cartographers assigned to the project. Senior Cartographer Mike Woodard, for example, works directly with a client's source acquisition department to keep compilation projects on schedule, and tracks staff progress on the multiple projects underway at any point for Project Manager Jeff King, who oversees that account. And Senior Cartographer Mary Swab exchanges daily e-mails and phone calls with textbook publishers updating progress on thematic maps MSL produces for them, for Project Manager Don Larson.

MSL's Senior Cartographers: (back) William Kyngesburye; (front) Paul Crowder.

At MSL, continual training is critical to maintaining a high level of service for our clients. Here, too, the seniors are invaluable. Though project managers conduct initial training for new staff members, the seniors are responsible for their continual training, often in specific areas such as research, compilation, design, digitizing, or data conversion. Because mapmaking is now electronic, the seniors must not only keep up with changing technology themselves, but also effectively communicate their knowledge of new software and changing production processes to their teammates. It's a common sight to see staff gathered in a cubicle, watching over the shoulders of a senior cartographer as he or she explains the latest version of a software product, or a revised product specification.

MSL's corporate philosophy is to promote from within. The seniors are the pool of talent from which the next project manager will most likely be selected. Two years ago, for example, MSL selected Senior Cartographer Joe Benash as the project manager to coordinate an account that involves digitizing and updating detailed county land records. Joe won the job after an extensive evaluation of not just his cartographic skills, but also his ability to coordinate work, train and manage staff, and relate to clients - skills he gained during several years of street map production and compilation work for MSL. Though not every senior cartographer aspires to join the management staff, those who do have the opportunity to develop these skills.

At MSL we believe in the adage that managers are only as good as the people around them. Our senior cartographers have a wide range of talents and work hard to achieve MSL's goals. They can step in for their project managers and keep projects on track. So the next time you call and find your project manager's senior on the line instead, ask him or her who really keeps your project on schedule. The answer you''ll hear will be, “The managers, of course” - but you won't see the tongue in cheek!