WLIA Gratitude

I’m writing this letter as an expression of thanks to the members past and present of WLIA. From a career standpoint, this association has given me more than I deserve. A number of you have become close friends and technological confidants. The rest of you have made my job easier as we’ve cheered each other along the way. I want to thank you for that.

There are too many good memories of my 26-ish years as a member. Here are a few:

• Walking into my first WLIA Annual Conference in 1997 wearing a shirt and tie, and having my boss, Don, turn to me and say, “You can probably lose the tie. You’ll be fine.”
• Packers/Bears game social at a regional meeting in the far reaches of Trego, WI. (Packers won. LOL)
• Nancy Von Meyer keynoting a conference and rallying the troops when Wisconsin was starting to lag in effective policy and innovation. “Where’s my Badgers?” she asked. It certainly got the attention she’d hoped. We are better for it.
• Getting elected to the Board of Directors., and serving on the Membership Committee with Jim Lacy. A couple of people on the board said it’d be easier to refer to Tall Jim or Short Jim. The names stuck.
• Being trained in CADD by Damon Anderson at Intelligraphics in 1986, only to serve as a volunteer to run the Damon Anderson Memorial Silent Auction nearly thirty years later. Both were privileges and remind me that friendships can persist for a lifetime.
• Sitting in a restaurant at the Esri UC with three other WLIA past-presidents and one of them looked at me winked and said, “Hey, you’re the only one of us here who's never been president!" Needless to say, I didn’t bite on the guilt, but I certainly appreciate those braver than I that did serve. Kudos, presidents.
• Meeting and hobnobbing with Jack Dangermond as he signed Esri books for the silent auction. He was engaging and genuinely interested in what we all were working on.

I have too many good WLIA memories to list. Perhaps I’ll write about them in a historical fiction geospatial novel in my future. It will be riveting!

In any case, see ya on the lakes. I’m out!

With sincerest gratitude,

Jim Landwehr

WLIA Member Emeritus