Keeping Up With Cloudpoint
“It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen.” - Scott Belsky
We are yet again able to add on another employee to our team and we are excited to announce that it is Hunter Ray! He does not come to Cloudpoint as a stranger but actually a familiar face from past conferences. His title is GIS Analyst and he will start off by aiding Micah and the Enterprise team along with some application development work.
We are fortunate to find someone with Hunter’s education and experience.
He has a Bachelors Degree in Zoology from SIU Carbondale and a Master's in GIS from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. He says one of his greatest and proudest moments was obtaining his Master’s with a 4.0 GPA while working full-time.
His work experience includes work for the USDA Wildlife Services agency in Illinois as a Wildlife Biologist/GIS Specialist. Hunter spent 8.5 years as a biologist specializing in airport wildlife management, along with being in charge of developing and maintaining GIS products while providing training and support for his fellow field staff.
Hunter had the opportunity to serve as the GIS Team Lead during a FEMA Emergency Response event for flooding disaster in the spring of 2019. He also has earned a USDA’s Secretary’s Award, USDA Administrator’s Award, Gears of Government award, and two Merit awards for his professional assistance.
In his leisure, Hunter enjoys hunting, golfing, keeping up with the PGA Tour, and listening to music. Snow-skiing in the winter is a must for him. He and his wife, Ariel, also love to hike, exercise at the gym, and cook together.
Jodi, Tyler, and Matt have been a part of the team for 5 years! Though they all have differing roles, they each surpass their work titles to serve both staff and clients. It’s evident that these three will drop what their doing to help you. Jodi, Tyler, and Matt, you have been crucial in providing quality services to clients and keeping Cloudpoint well and thriving.
Tyler (Left), Matt, and Jodi pictured outside our office.
In separate interviews with all 3 employees, they all said there favorite thing about working at Cloudpoint was the rest of the staff and the fun that we have together. These answers spoke louder than I thought to who we are and what we stand for are here.
We have had many staff lunches, Friday afternoon mini-golf games, and laughs together in our normal days’ work. It is clear that we are not just co-workers but a team here at Cloudpoint.
Jodi at her desk ready to greet clients or staff returning from lunch with a smile.
She is a jack of many trades here at Cloudpoint. Her duties range anywhere from administrative to bookkeeping to marketing. Jodi enjoys doing the books the most out her daily duties. In a typical day, she makes trips to the bank, works on marketing lists, answers the phone, approves time-sheets, and much more. She has many responsibilities behind the scene that allow us to work with ease knowing she’s got our back.
Jodi, her husband, and 3 boys plan to visit each state. This year they planned to go to California, Oregon, and Washington and now they are waiting to see if COVID-19 guidelines change. Her family loves to spend time outside in sunny or snowy weather by going hiking or skiing.
Thank you, Jodi, for your dedication to making sure that everyone, staff or client, is taken care of! Your work does not go unnoticed!
Tyler pictured here using Collector on the IPad which is connected to the Trimble R2 GNSS to gather GNSS data.
Tyler bounces between working in the office and doing field work. His titles are GIS Technician and Drone (UAV) Pilot. He has helped with culvert and sign inventories, overhauling utility networks, and much more. Out of Tyler’s array of duties his favorite in GNSS Data Collection.
Outside of work, Tyler is a student at Illinois Central College studying Geography which keeps him busy during the school year. He will be finishing his associates in science this fall. In his leisure, he also enjoys playing Frisbee golf.
Thank you Tyler for your hard work and willingness to always give a helping hand!
Matt provides a lot of our managed services for clients. Even on days he is not at a client site, you can often find him on a call or fulfilling a request someone has sent to him. However Matt says he loves the variety of work for which we are grateful. Aside from managed services, Matt does a majority of the work for our Parcel fabric clients. He is also the leader of our Parcel Fabric team.
Matt makes sure to keep up with sports such as baseball, and basketball. He is also a coach for his son’s baseball team this year. Though not a sport, he also enjoys hiking, getting outside, and live music.
Thank you, Matt for all you do in keeping up with our managed services clients as well as the diligence you put forth in your work!
Matt is pictured here diligently assisting one of our county clients with parcel fabric data maintenance.
Next Monday marks two weeks since Bill has joined the Cloudpoint team as our Business Development Specialist. The main focus of this position is building relationships with existing and potential customers to help them make data-driven decisions based on spatial location. To do this job effectively, you must be confident, independent, and adventurous. We have been able to see all of these qualities in Bill in the past two weeks and are glad to welcome him to our winning team.
Bill comes from a background of cemetery management and legacy planning. His background also includes healthcare and insurance. The spark for a love of business development in these areas may have been from working with his dad in a small business out of their home. His knowledge of cemeteries has helped him catch on so quickly regarding the services we provide for cemeteries. On just his fourth day, he was able to go out and talk to potential clients about Cloudpoint’s professional services. He is begun reaching out to potential cemetery customers helping them learn more about managing burials and lot sales using a highly-accurate interactive mapping interface.
We are thankful to have Bill as a part of our team and appreciate the effort he has put in thus far.
Now enough about work.
In his leisure, Bill enjoys spending time with his family (Wife and two daughters) and also reading and listening to music. Home renovation and landscaping projects are a popular activity for Bill along with cooking. He has a goal to visit every MLB stadium and is also a St. Louis Cardinals fan so that is a plus for the Cloudpoint team.
Want to contact Bill? Here’s his card.
Have you heard? Our very own, Micah Williamson, earned the Hilton Distinguished Collaboration Award at the ILGISA Conference. Micah has been a member of the Cloudpoint team for 7 years, but has been working in the GIS industry for 18 years. At Cloudpoint, he works as our Geospatial Services Director and a certified GISP (Geographic Information Systems Professional). If he doesn’t already sound busy enough, you’ll be surprised to hear that Micah is currently continuing his education (Master’s Degree) at Eastern Illinois University. Micah has a great passion for the work he does.
On October 22nd during the ILGISA Conference, Micah received the Hilton Distinguished Collaboration Award. One award is given out annually at each conference. According to ILGISA, “the Hilton Distinguished Collaboration Award is presented to an individual who has provided extraordinary service to the GIS community in the advancement of coordination between GIS professionals. This award is presented to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the promotion of cooperation within our community and with the people we serve.”
In an interview with Micah, he mentioned that he always strives to do things that would focus on people sharing with each other: ideas, concepts, and even data. Micah emphasized that collaboration is a vital aspect of communication. Later in the interview, Micah spoke out about about his long-lived inclination for collaboration. “I’ve always kind of bent towards talking about what someone is doing or encouraging people to go out and present what they’re doing. Tell your story rather than, you know, keep it quiet.”
We are proud of Micah and his achievement and we will continue to focus on collaboration to better our services to you.
Congratulations to Cloudpoint's, Matt Junker, for becoming the team's latest certified GIS Professional (GISP). Matt recently sat for the GISP examination through the GIS Certification Institute (GISCI) back in June. Obtaining a GISP certificate involves an extensive application process which now includes the exam requirement. A certified GISP is someone who has proven to be dedicated to the GIS profession and has a clear grasp on geospatial concepts and how to apply them.
“Matt is clearly one of the most dedicated GIS professionals in the industry", says Hodel. “He has a tremendous impact on our team’s ability to solve critical problems with geospatial solutions”. One of Matt’s main responsibilities at Cloudpoint is to provide on-going solutions to their managed GIS services clients. Matt also serves as the team leader for the company’s parcel fabric team.
Certified Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Professional endorsed by a 3rd party (GISCI) though a peer-reviewed evaluation.The GIS Certification Institute (GISCI) is a non-profit organization that provides the GIS community with a complete certification program, leading to GISP® (Certified GIS Professional) recognition. GISCI offers participants around the world, from the first early years on the job until retirement, a method of showing competence as professionals to employers in the GIS profession. We offer the only industry-wide, internationally-recognized, software-agnostic certification available to geospatial professionals. The following are some notes highlighting what makes a certified GISP:
Has met the minimum standards for educational achievement, professional experience, and manner in which he or she contributes back to the profession, and practices in an ethical manner.
Must abide by higher guidelines for ethical behavior.
Continues to educate and reeducate him or herself while preparing for recertification.
Has had their professional background scrutinized and reviewed by an independent third party organization. An Institute comprised of leading non-profit associations (AAG, NSGIC, UCGIS, GITA, URISA, and GLIS) focused on the application of GIS and geospatial technology.
Can come from anywhere in the world, and current, active GISPs reside in all 50 States and 25 foreign countries.
Is more than a practitioner of GIS technology.
Is a Professional.
Well done Matt!
Matt and his talents further expand the services aspect of the Cloudpoint team. His previous professional exposure has given him a rare set of tools that allow diversity in our workforce. However, each previous employment opportunity has seemingly prepared Mr. Junker (pronounced: Yunker) to be a cohesive part of our team. Professionally, Matt has worked for public and private entities. His work includes cadastral data maintenance, creation and maintenance of GIS data for various county departments, development and maintenance of mapping applications, technical support for highway department sign inventory, and review of orthophotography proposals from vendors.
Matt plays a key role in providing managed GIS services for our clients and he plans to obtain his GISP certification in 2019 as he continues to take advantage of training and educational opportunities. Some of his favorite things to do in his spare time:
Travel the Midwest on family adventures
Play / watch sports (Chicago Cubs, Chicago Bears, Chicago Blackhawks, Fighting Ilini)
Outdoor activities
Listening to live music
When asked about his most interesting fun fact Matt says, “I was born during a blizzard, and my parents made it to the hospital with the assistance of County and State snow plows.” Thank goodness for our public servants who work so hard to keep the roads cleared. To describe where his interest in GIS started, Matt recalls, “My interest in maps started when I received a pocket atlas at about age 7. I collected my own traffic data on Route 89 in Varna from the living room window later on. After early plans for Architecture or Engineering fizzled, I chose Geography and worked as a Cartographer for my first professional gig. The interest in GIS built from there.”
Matt resides in Metamora, IL with his wife, Amy, and three young children. Cloudpoint Geographics is blessed to have Matt as part of our team of professionals.
Cloudpoint's Erin Strickler was able to attend the Esri User Conference, the world's largest GIS conference, in San Diego for the first time this year. This is the fifth time that the Cloudpoint team has been represented at the conference where over 17,000 people gather to hear the latest GIS news and enjoy thousands of hours of one-on-one networking, collaboration, and fun with fellow attendees. Erin shares some of her highlights of attending this year's conference in this blog.
