Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Congratulating Paul Daisey

Today we officially celebrate Paul Daisey's retirement. I met Paul in 2009 and we worked together for several years, primarily supporting Army Geospatial Center. I want to share three things that I take away from my time working with him over the last 6-7 years.

1. I have great respect for Paul's efforts as the GeoPackage SWG chair. This role was challenging because of the large number of disparate groups who had strong opinions on how things should be done, particularly on the vector side. It is rare to find someone with the technical acumen, community respect, attention to detail, and diplomacy to get the job done. It is through his efforts that GeoPackage exists today.

2. Sometimes it is the little things. Paul was great at transcribing meetings. You always knew that if Paul was there, he'd make a clear record of who said what. Now whenever I go to a meeting and have to take notes, I always chuckle to myself that I wish Paul were there so that I didn't have to do it and because he could do it better than I could.

3. Paul showed me how I want to go out. Over time, he gradually reduced his hours so that he could spend more time with his family, his home, and his hobbies. If something important and interesting came up, he was available to step up. If there wasn't much going on, it was no big deal. That's how I want to retire. 

Congratulations, Paul.