Written by Amanda Crawford | Cato Bolam Associate, Survey Manager | Cato Bolam Consultants
As a Survey Manager and recently appointed Associate of Cato Bolam, I attended the Consulting Surveyors New Zealand (CSNZ) 2023 Workshop in Invercargill. This three-day workshop is a highlight on the calendar for members of CSNZ, a division of Survey and Spatial NZ for business owners and leaders.
Official welcomes were followed by speakers providing survey and land development-related updates covering the property market and from sector organisations; Otago University Survey School, Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) and Survey and Spatial NZ (S+SNZ).
Major developments of public interest include:
- LINZ’s new version of Land-on-line which will shortly be rolled out for all users. LINZ describe the new application as having a modern look and feel and is more intuitive, making its use easier and more efficient. Having had some exposure to using it already, we agree it is a more user-friendly survey and e-dealing interface for the survey and legal profession than its now dated predecessor.
- S+SNZ’s first tranche of its new Certification model is being rolled out for Certified Land Development Engineers and Certified Engineering Surveyors.
From a business ownership perspective, I attended the Yearling Session where a former business owner imparted pearls of wisdom to those of us who are new to CSNZ and business ownership. The final topic for the day was the results of the Annual Practice Review Survey.
The first day concluded with a banquet dinner held at Bill Richardson Transport World, a car museum showcasing over 300 restored classic vehicles. This was a fantastic evening set amongst an incredible collection of vehicles. A visit to the Transport World is highly recommend to anyone visiting Invercargill.
Day two was a full day business focused workshop, titled “Helping You Go Beyond Business as Usual”, run by Advisory Works. Topic’s included Leadership Myths, Leading with Strategy, Leading with Core Values, Leading with Metrics and Leading People. I gained interesting insights to business mindset from both the presenters and my workgroup.
The final morning provided opportunity for open discussion on the sector in general and a focus on the new Certifications being implemented by Survey and Spatial NZ. The CEO of our Australian counterparts Consulting Surveyors National gave the final presentation, showcasing their efforts to support and promote the Surveying industry and services in Australia.
Consulting Survey events are more business focus than more technical focused survey conferences and offer the opportunity to network and discuss business matter with contemporaries. It was great to meet up with former University of Otago classmates and colleagues to see where their careers have taken them. It was also an opportunity to make some new acquaintances and learn from the experiences of others.
