County Commissioner: GI-yeS

What does success look like? For me, in this instance, success won't be measured by increased revenue, but by an increase in understanding, success won't be measured by sales numbers, but by a numbers increase in the GIS community. My success, was measured by the success of someone else, and it was AWESOME.

In 2018, I met with Cobb County Government District 2 Commissioner and full-time pilot, Bob Ott. We discussed GIS and its importance, it's transformational qualities and characteristics, we discussed its simplicity. During our conversation I told Bob I'd leave a book, Getting to Know ArcGIS Pro with the county GIS Manager. We talked about the many projects that could help him better understand the technology. 

Throughout the year, Bob would frequently check-in with his journey through the book. I could tell he was learning, he would say words like: feature class, map service, publishing, MODEL BUILDER. Yes, even model builder. I also heard he was communicating on a completely different level with the GIS team.

Bob finished the book and took on his own project. He wanted to give something back to his constituents in District 2. He consulted with the GIS team, and it was decided that a Chattahoochee River Inundation map was THE project. In 2019, Bob finished his map, submitted it to the Map Gallery at the Esri International User Conference. He glowed when cartography aficionados peppered him with cartographic questions, while data scientists would peer at his model, trying to gain deeper insights into his methodology. He left the conference with another goal, expand on the work that was done by adding digital context, he created a web map application.

Success is also hearing that Bob's work now squarely resides on a wall in one of the busiest pedestrian corridors on Esri's campus. His map was chosen to act as a reflection to employees and guests alike, reminding them what their work at Esri truly means. His success was learning something new, finding a better way to communicate, and providing additional tools for his constituents to use. Congratulations and well done, a gift for us all.