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REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!

SLSI 88th Annual Land Surveyors Conference
March 5-7, 2025 (Welcome Reception Wednesday Evening 3/5/2025)
Gateway Hotel & Conference Center  ~ Ames, IA

 REGISTRATION FEES:                                               BY 3/1/2025          AFTER 3/1/2025 - Onsite Registration Only

*SLSI MEMBER ONLINE RATE:                                         $295                             $310
**NON-MEMBER ONLINE RATE:                                       $360                             $390
*SLSI LIFE & HONARY ONLINE RATE:                             $100                             $115      

Attendees: CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!

Exhibitors/Sponsors:  CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!

*(Members must log-in to receive member rates)

Attendees: Click Here for Printable Brochure

Exhibitors: Click Here for Printable Exhibitor Packet

HOTEL RESERVATIONS – GATEWAY HOTEL

* PLEASE NOTE: With the new location this year, and based on hotel room attrition clauses, a limited block of hotel rooms have been reserved for SLSI attendees at the Gateway Hotel. Depending on the response from attendees in regards to room reservations, SLSI will look at increasing the total number of onsite rooms reserved in the future.  Please make your reservations early. While the hotel will guarantee the lower room rate until February 12, 2025 this does not mean they can guarantee that rooms will be available. Rooms are on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Reservations can be made at https://reservations.travelclick.com/2958?groupID=4270392
Or by calling 515.292.8600.  Mention your SLSI affiliation when calling.

If the block is sold out, additional Lodging in and around Ames can found at:
https://www.thinkames.com/poi/stay/

PROGRAM & AGENDA

AGENDA~WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 2025

6:30 PM – 7:30 PM ~ Welcome Reception in the Exhibit Hall. Bar and Hors D’Oeuvres.  Attendees are encouraged to attend the welcome reception to help kick of the annual conference; meet with colleagues and visit with vendors.  

AGENDA ~ THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2025

7:30AM ~ REGISTRATION/BREAKFAST/EXHIBITS OPEN FOR VIEWING

9:00AM ~ WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS OF EXHIBITORS

9:20AM ~ IELSEB UPDATE
Todde Folkerts, PE, PLS Examining Board Executive Rep. 
A review of the many changes the Board has been through in the past year as well as expected changes in the near future.  Topics to discuss include: PLS exam application changes, new application for licensure, field experience requirements, etc.

9:50AM ~ Professional Ethics  
Todd Horton, PE, PLS, Meridian Geospatial
Professional ethics are founded on core values. Come explore the core values and personal virtues promoted in the NSPS Surveyors Creed. Join us for a unique and refreshing view of professional growth in service of the American citizen.

11:00AM Iowa Land Records Update 
Phil Dunshee, ILR
Phil will share with us the work of an SLSI committee working with Iowa Land Records and the Iowa Recorders Association charged with reviewing and indexing and formatting practice for surveys and plats and related documents and to develop recommendations for a process and budget to digitize, index and electronically post older survey documents.  

12:00PM LUNCH & BOARD MEETING

• Board Reports - SLSI’s role in leading the changes facing surveyors
• Gavel Exchange
• Scholarships

1:00PM Best Practices for GNSS Surveying
Todd Horton, PE, PLS, Meridian Geospatial
Using Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) land surveying methods with competence demands continual learning to stay up-to-date with ongoing technological evolution. This seminar reviews fundamentals of our GNSS constellations and looks ahead at future changes. Join us to explore error sources, interpret positional error data, and make decisions using that data. Compare and contrast single-base RTK and network RTK operation. Understand strategies to reduce risk and increase confidence in GNSS field work.

5:00 PM SOCIAL HOUR/CASH BAR – EXHIBIT HALL

6:00 PM Live Scholarship Auction, Raffle Prizes – HEAVY HORS D’OEUVRES & CASH BAR
Various surveying related, and non-related, items will be auctioned/raffled  to help raise money for the SLSI Scholarship fund.  Be sure to buy your raffle tickets onsite! 1 for $5 or 5 for $20 

Help the Iowa Surveyor’s Foundation!  Feel free to donate items for the annual meeting auction benefiting the Iowa Professional Surveyor’s Foundation scholarships.  Items auctioned in the past have included everything from old surveying equipment and books to such things as sports memorabilia and computer software. 

If you'd like to make a monetary donation directly to the Foundation CLICK HERE   

Questions:  Please contact Justin Scott at the state office@ 515-284-7055 or email at   [email protected]

AGENDA~FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 2025

7:30AM ~  BREAKFAST
Gateway Hotel & Conference Center

8:00AM Survey Fundamentals for the Real Property Professional
John Matonich, PLS ROWE Professional Services Co.
Many professions use the basics of surveying every day, yet not all members of these professions understand them. As a real property professional, you need to know the relationship of property characteristics to the profession of surveying. This presentation will cover the basics of surveying including the public land survey system and various types of surveying.

12:00PM ~ LUNCH

1:00PM ~ DEED INTERPRETATION/CONTROL
John Matonich, PLS ROWE Professional Services Co.
In a retracement, the surveyor is frequently confronted with problems of resolving conflicts of evidence discovered when required to place a deed description on the ground. This session will address key issues with regard to Deed Interpretation and Control.  Included will be the order of importance of conflicting title elements as well as important principles of Boundary Control.

4:30pm ~ ADJOURN

ABOUT OUR KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: 

Todd Horton, PE, PLS ~ Meridian Geospatial

Todd Horton, PE, PLS, is the owner of Meridian Geospatial Consulting, LLC. Meridian Geospatial provides technician training and continuing education seminars for the land surveying industry.

Todd served in the US Air Force and with the Illinois Department of Transportation in planning, surveying, design, construction, and maintenance of civil engineering projects including commercial structures, airfields, utility systems and highways, earning his PE license in 1991. Joining the full-time faculty at Parkland College in Champaign, IL, in 1998, he taught land surveying and construction management courses. Todd founded the land surveying associate degree program at Parkland College in 2001. Working during summers for local engineering firms, he earned his PLS license in 2007.

Beginning in 2009, Todd presented seminars frequently with HalfMoon Education Inc., ultimately speaking in 42 states. He continues to provide training with HalfMoon, with several professional associations and for various private clients. His top priority is providing practical skill training for survey technicians.

Todd retired from full-time teaching in 2023 and has joined Farnsworth Group Inc. in Champaign, IL, as a senior project land surveyor. You can reach him at [email protected].

John Matonich, PLS ~ ROWE Professional Services Co.

John Matonich, PS, is the Chairman of the Board of ROWE Professional Services Company, a firm specializing in consulting engineering, surveying, planning, landscape architecture, aerial photogrammetry in the Midwest and across the country. John joined ROWE in 1981. He was named a principal in 1992, promoted to president in 1997, and to chief executive officer in 2001 as well as Chairmen in 2006. John retired from management of the firm in 2016, but remains Chairman. John is licensed as a professional surveyor in Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. He served as president of the National Society of Professional Surveyors, (NSPS) in 2009-2010, and currently serves as the treasurer of the Board of the Wisconsin Society of Land Surveyors.

  John is a past president of the Michigan Society of Professional Surveyors (MSPS). He also served as chairman of the Government Affairs Committee for the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) headquartered in Washington, D.C for over 20 years until 2015.  John was voted as a Fellow Member of the NSPS, ACSM and MSPS organizations.

REGISTRATION FEES:                                  BY 3/1/2025          AFTER 3/1/2025

*SLSI MEMBER ONLINE RATE:                                         $295                             $310
**NON-MEMBER ONLINE RATE:                                       $360                             $390
*SLSI LIFE & HONARY ONLINE RATE:                             $100                             $115           

**Members must LOG-IN to the  SLSI site with your existing Username (Lastname_Firstname, unless  you have changed ) and Password to register online and receive the discounted member rate.

***Non-members are welcome to register online but will be asked to sign in as a New User with your email address and create a password before registering. This is for registration purposes only and does not enroll you as a member of SLSI. 

Pay Online with Credit Card or Make Check Payable to:

NEW ADDRESS: SOCIETY OF LAND SURVEYORS OF IOWA
1080 Jordan Creek Parkway, Suite 106C
West Des Moines, IA 50266
515-284-7055  |  Fax-515-284-7301
Email: [email protected]  |  www.slsi.org

Cancellation Policy:  

Receive a refund minus a $25 administrative fee if cancelled on or prior to March 1, 2025.  No refunds will be made after that date. Attendee substitutions will be accepted at any time.   Refunds will not be given for no-shows.

 *SLSI will try and hold the event regardless of weather. Attendees travel safety is paramount, should a need to cancel occur SLSI will notify attendees the day prior.

For questions, please contact the SLSI office at [email protected] or 515-284-7055.