5 replies to this topic

[Dale Sanderson]

Hello, everyone. Looks like this CartoTalk thing is for real, so I've joined the bandwagon. I've been subscribing/posting to the "map-mac" listserver since the 1990s, but that board has become largely silent, and I sort of dozed off for a few years. When I woke up, I found the room was empty, and finally figured out most everyone had moved over here. (Some friends you are, sneaking out and letting me go on sleeping like that... now you're all snickering at the drool spot on my shirt.) Thanks to Nick, the admins/moderators, and everyone else who has worked and/or participated in order to make this a first-class forum.

Looking back on it now, I realize that I've been a compulsive mapper ever since I was a kid, but it wasn't until late college that I figured out I wanted to make my living at cartography. By then I was mostly through my degree program in commercial art/graphic design. This was during the transition years between mechanical and digital production work: I know tech pens and darkrooms, but I can gleefully say I never had the pleasure of experiencing Leroy sets or Scribecote (I just can't bring myself to apologize for that). But upon graduation, it was my experience with computer-based production that provided an "in" with a cartographer who was just getting started using a little Mac II and FreeHand 2 for mapping. (Remember when you sent an object to a layer not by clicking on a palette, but by hitting command-dash, and typing in the layer number?) We thought we were pretty cool when we got a 12x12 tablet for digitizing linework! Most of our maps were for telephone directory clients, and after a few years, I took a position with one of the publishers, who wanted an in-house cartographer. The position has evolved over the years: I still create maps, but now I also spend a lot of time buying maps from outside suppliers (many of whom are on this list). My first NACIS was in 1997 (Lexington KY), and over the past 10 years I've found the organization to be valuable in terms of staying current in the field, meeting new suppliers, learning new tips and techniques, and simply hanging out with like-minded people. I saw the map-mac list (and now CartoTalk) as a good way of staying immersed in the mapping community, scattered as we are across the globe.

[DaveB]

Welcome, Dale! Thanks for the laugh

[Charles Syrett]

Yup, Dale, we're all here! You'll find it very different from Map Mac though. Lots to learn here...try the search function. And enjoy the wide variety of map samples!
cheers
Charles

Charles Syrett
Map Graphics
http://www.mapgraphics.com

[natcase]

Dang, he tracked us here!

Hi Dale, glad to have you on board!

For those of you who don't know much about the directory-map world, Dale is unusual in the field in that while he wants value (everyone in the dirctory map world wants low prices), he really does care about quality. It's an interesting balancing act, and I only wih more of his compatriots were amongst us...

(fair notice: I'm one of Dale's suppliers)

[Matthew Hampton]

There goes the neighborhood...

Next thing you know, Lou will join!

[DaveB]

There goes the neighborhood...

Next thing you know, Lou will join!

Lou's already here.

(and somehow I managed to sneak in under the radar)