Coming Out of Hibernation…
Client activity seems to be on the rise as COVID-19 pandemic appears to be ebbing here in Maine. I met with a client the other day for whom I hadn’t much GIS work for since the early days of the COVID-19 virus, when the world trembled at the dangerous potential of this disease, and rural Maine ‘hunkered down’ in the fear of not knowing what was next.
In this self inflicted hibernation, this client kept working doing what it does best; supplying high quality drinking water to a rural Maine community, even under the stress of a global pandemic.
The client also grew, however. We met in a recently expanded room with a smart big screen TV on the wall over a conference table. We reviewed maps and projects I had done for them easily with the big screen. We talked about how they wanted to change layers, add more data to some layers and delete other unneeded data. They talked about upcoming projects and how they wanted to record locations of the hardware they will be installing. The 20-something technician easily navigated through their maps and layers in their ArcGIS Online account without the timidity and shyness of before. They talked about how helpful it was over the recent months to do their work because our maps and their assets were easily accessible on their smartphones.
They clearly had used the GIS resources they had and grew to better understand the value of GIS to their organization, the clients they serve and most importantly, understood how GIS will continue to help them in the future.
They were excited about this more than I had ever seen them before in the 4 or 5 years I have been working with them.
Their excitement, I believe, was from realizing that if anything happens on the face of the Earth, and indeed much does happen, then GIS can help with understanding what’s happening, and help make better decisions of how to move forward with whatever the phenomena may be. It’s not just digital geography. It’s the spatial relationships of one or two variables or thousands, even millions and how those spatial relationships effect our jobs and out lives. It can be as simple as knowing where a gate vale or water main is, or tracking the spread of a global pandemic.
This client gets it. I’m looking for to continuing our work together.