Committee Directory
Get involved!
We are always looking for volunteers to serve on our committees! The only qualification is you must be a WLIA member in order to serve. Our committees are listed with a brief description here, and more information about each committee's current chairs, membership, and activities can be found by clicking on each heading. Contact the committee chairperson for more information, or to volunteer.
Annual Conference
The Annual Conference Committee develops, coordinates, and implements the program for the Annual Conference. Membership consists of all members of the Board, and other members of the association, with the president-elect chairing the committee. This is our largest committee and consists of several teams to focus work on Exhibitors and Sponsors, Workshops, Programming, Silent Auction, Social Night, and more. Work begins on next year's conference in earnest around mid-summer the year before.
Awards
The Awards Committee develops and recommends a list of award recipients for the annual conference. It consists of a minimum of two current directors and two at-large members with the past president serving as chairperson, plus anyone in our membership who wants to help create the year's slate of award winners based on nominations collected. Activity on this committee starts a few months before the Annual Conference and ends about a month before the conference.
Nominations
The Nominations Committee develops and recommends a slate of candidates for annual elections representative of the association membership for the board of directors approval. It consists of a minimum of two current directors and two at-large members with the past president serving as chairperson, plus anyone in our membership who wants to have input on the leadership of WLIA for the coming year based on nominations received. Activity on this committee starts a few months before the Annual Conference and ends about a month before the conference.
Communications
The Communications Committee promotes the education, interaction, and cooperation among the association, other professional associations and organizations, and the public. The chair and vice-chair leads the team in creating news articles, social media posts, and website pages to promote the Annual Conference, Regional Meetings, membership news, legislative activities, and any other information that might be pertinent to our membership. Members who have a flair for writing or graphic design are welcome to help spread our message in creative ways. Work on this committee is year-round but is especially busy leading up to each Annual Conference and Regional Meeting.
Education
The Education Committee's biggest task is to plan the Regional Meetings' programming and social events, although they may help with other educational initiatives as well. This committee is organized with two sets of chairs and vice-chairs to each lead the Fall or Spring Meeting planning and execution. Each meeting is unique based on location, potential timely issues of interest to members, or partnerships with other organizations, so planning these events can get very creative and fun. Work on the Spring Meeting begins directly after the Annual Conference and work on the Fall Meeting begins some time after the Spring Meeting.
Legislative Issues
The Legislative Committee monitors proposed legislation and assesses the impact of how it may affect the Land Information Program and the Association. The chair and vice-chair works with our Lobbyist, several partner organizations in the state, and our membership at large to keep an ear to the ground on proposed legislation that may affect the land information community. Feedback as to whether our membership might support it or not is also given. In addition, they may be called to help craft new legislation to improve funding and processes for the citizens of our state and our professional circles. This committee is for anyone who would like input on legislative issues and has an interest in the process. Work on this committee ebbs and flows with the Wisconsin State Legislative cycle and can depend greatly on current hot topics.
Membership and Outreach
The Membership and Outreach committee actively recruits those who foster the understanding, development, operation, and maintenance of land information. They work to establish strong working relationships with external organizations and educational institutions to keep the membership diverse and growing, especially concentrating on reaching out to new members and students who are entering our workforce soon. They also coordinate the WLIA booth at several partner organizations' conferences to ensure WLIA is represented. Work is done year-round to look both outward and to the future.
Scholarship
The Scholarship Committee promotes the Damon Anderson Memorial Scholarship to educational institutions to encourage applicants. It also maintains the workflow of the application and award process, including reviewing applications, awarding scholarships, recording activities, and organizing fundraising via the Annual Conference Silent Auction and other avenues. Its membership consists of a minimum of two current members of the Board of Directors and two at-large members with the Past President serving as chairperson. The bulk of the work by the committee as a whole is done in June as applications are reviewed and scored for awarding of the scholarships.
Technical Issues and Information Policies
The Technical Committee establishes task forces to study land information issues and provides a forum for examining new land information ideas. Sometimes this work informs the Legislative Committee's activities as well. Additionally, they are tasked with completing a yearly scorecard to communicate the status of the Foundational Layers that are the backbone of the Wisconsin Land Information Plan. Work on this committee depends on what current Task Forces are activated, while the Scorecard and accompianing report are completed in late summer/early fall. Join this committee if you have an interest in the nuts and bolts of land information.