What is
your position in your company?
President and Sales/Marketing
Manager
What is your background?
15 years Autodesk Sales,
9 years ESRI Sales, 5 years Imaging and Doc.Mgmt Sales and Services
How did you get involved
with your current job or employer?
Actually, I saw the
need for a GIS and Imaging Provider in 1995 for Nevada. After a year
of planning, I started Graphic Imaging Services, Inc. In 1998, I
took a position with Hitachi Software Global Technologies (www.hsgt.com)
for a year as the Western Region Manager. This was a great experience!
I got to see how others in the GIS and Imaging Industry did things.
I was offered a position by Earth Resource Mapping (www.ermapper.com) because
of by knowledge of imaging. This was a different type of imaging
and played into GIS in a different way. I had a great experience
and learned much more about the tools and technology.
After being a Road Warrior for software companies and decided it was time to bring the knowledge I had learned home to Nevada. Now, I actively show these technologies and how the play into GIS and Imaging.
What does your typical
day or week look like?
I start the week of
with a Staff Meetings. We plan quarterly marketing efforts, and communicate
with our client base making them aware of the technology and events that
effect them but this tends to turn into a weekly task: We try in
every way to get the attention of the customer who is unaware of our services
and how GIS applies to them. I hate to see organizations realize
what we can do for them AFTER a disaster occurs. It's like backing
up your data after you loose it.
I talk to customers who need everything from a scanned drawings to a document management system that integrates with GIS.Sometimes it's just educating the client on what a TIF file is.
What involvement
to you have with GIS professional groups or organizations?
I just accepted a two
year position as the Nevada GIS Board's Secretary for Southern Nevada.
I have been always involved in the traditional CAD and GIS Users Groups
within Nevada. I am also a member of AIIM (Association of Information
and Image Management). We participate in various event in Utah, Nevada,
and Arizona. From the APWA to annual GIS conferences.
What is the most
important "next thing" that will happen in GIS?
Seeing GIS in non-traditional
markets like Hotels, Gaming, and Facility Management, etc.
People need and use GIS, they just don't always know it.
What is the accomplishment
of which you are most proud?
Assisting Clark County
in establishing large format scanning systems for the fastest growing city
in the nation. We taught them how they could scan their drawings,
which varied from the early 1900's to present. They purchased 7 more
scanners and led the way to others government agencies in the region accepting
the technology
Before you came to
GIS, what did you think your career would be?
I thought I would be
CAD industry in some capacity. I did not see how much impact
GIS would have. My supervisor (in 1992) told me to FOCUS on two markets.
I chose GIS and Imaging because there was a lot to be done with the Yucca
Mtn.Project being studied. I didn't realize how much GIS would continue
to play on this subject of nuclear waste storage.
Would you recommend
GIS to other women?
Absolutely. It
is such an open market. All you have to do is think about how mapping
affects our world (and we have worlds within our worlds). GIS is
everywhere. Think about how you using mapping and you will see the
need for GIS. From street signs to the direction you are going to
the number of traffic accidents to the business location to the selection
of real estate. It's everywhere!
Why is GIS an exciting
industry in which to participate?
It affects our world
in so many ways. GIS is from the Tax Assessor to the Planner to the
selection of Real Estate to Crime tracking, to cellular phone service to
snow removal to the location of a slot machine and so on .
Here is a great definition
of GIS I received from a User Group about a year ago....
" A GIS is a high-resolution,
large-scale, richly detailed "intelligent map" that allows users to input,
update, query, analyze and display detailed information about a geographic
area.Geographic information systems are widely used by utilities, state
and local governments, federal agencies and commercial businesses to manage
massive infrastructures effectively, to improve operating efficiencies
and to analyze future demand for facilities."
Who wouldn't want to be involved?
For more information,
Contact Ms.Desautels at:
Lisa A.Desautels
President
Graphic Imaging Services,
Inc.
1601 S.Rainbow Blvd.
#110
Las Vegas, NV 89146
(702) 222-3590
lisad@graphicimaging.net