In this episode, we dive headfirst into the wonderfully random life of Adam Schorger—a man who’s lived in Saudi Arabia, studied gunsmithing, wrestled with journalism, befriended GIS, and still manages to fit in gym time and screenless hobbies. Basically, he’s a one-man Swiss Army knife of the geospatial world.

The hosts, powered by caffeine and TopoDOT hype, guide us through tales of failing forward, mentoring like a boss, and building GIS empires from scratch at Orbital Engineering—because who doesn’t want a side of cartography with their asset management?

Adam also debunks the myth that GIS folks just “make maps” (spoiler alert: they’re digital twin wizards now), and drops advice for newbies who might be torn between making maps or, say, making firearms. (Just another Tuesday in Adam’s origin story.)

Throw in some gnarly punk energy from H2O, the ever-epic Geodnet satellite miner tally, a questionable raster vs. vector pop quiz, and the usual host banter that walks the fine line between insightful and delightfully unhinged—and you’ve got another can’t-miss episode.

Fail forward, ride the wave, be disruptive—and if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.

Also, don't forget to check if you can put a satellite miner on your house!!!

Strap in and grab your Trimble, because Episode 252 of The Geoholics takes us on a globetrotting, tech-loving, swamp-sloshing survey saga with none other than Chad Maxwell, PLS—a man who’s mapped more terrain than your Roomba on espresso.

We kick things off with the usual “Jake Owen sings while KG wings it” intro, followed by breaking news from the land of satellite miners, career advice from the GeoSearch crew, and an ESRI pro tip that may or may not involve chair-based motivation.

Then it’s time for the main event: Chad “Every Mode of Transport” Maxwell. This guy has surveyed from 200 meters in the sky to 3,000 meters under the sea, possibly while simultaneously filing expense reports and dodging alligators in a swamp buggy. He’s done geomatics work inside a jet engine, which raises both safety concerns and curiosity about what his LinkedIn endorsements look like.

Highlights include:

A “remote-sensing-first” mindset that could make drones blush.

A heartfelt plea to ditch outdated habits (we’re looking at you, paper field books).

A shout-out to the ASPRS standards that got more love than most people's fantasy football teams.

And a lighting round that proves even surveyors enjoy filling in the blank—especially when the blank is “The future of surveying is _______.”

From nuclear reactors to the Grand Canyon, Chad Maxwell proves that the future of surveying is just one swamp buggy ride away.

In this data-drenched episode, Kent, Producer Sean and Russ Hall bring the heat with updates, promos, and a life-altering reminder that you can impact anyone within 3 feet…unless you’re holding a GNSS rover—in which case, give them a little more room.

Enter Ted Knaak, the President of TopoDOT and certified geospatial Jedi. Ted takes us on a journey from Jersey Shore roots to launching Riegl USA in the 90s, and then mic-dropping the geospatial world with TopoDOT in 2011—because clearly, satellites weren’t ambitious enough.

We talk TopoShare (data governance’s cooler cousin), reality capture, point clouds, paradigm shifts, ROI (Return On Innovation?), and how TopoDOT is turning surveying into a high-resolution lifestyle. It’s basically Shark Tank meets Star Trek for surveyors.

Song of the Week? Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m Goin’ Down,” which ironically pairs well with LiDAR elevation points.

BONUS: If you like brain-twisters, there’s even a boundary survey quiz, a GEODNET miner count update, and enough acronyms to crash your COGO.

So buckle up, grab your Emlid kit, and prepare to be inspired, educated, and just confused enough to start googling “blockchain RTK.” TopoDOT didn’t just draw a line—it rendered the entire surface.