GBA Podcast

Summary

Tiffany Vorhies and Ryan White present a year-end series highlighting their favorite GBA resources, counting down from Day 12 to Day 1. GBA's Taboo Words document gets its own spotlight because words in your report matter as much as the work itself. Tiffany shares how this resource shaped her writing since 2006. The eight risky words aren't "evil," but opposing counsel can broaden your intent in claims. Ryan and Tiffany deep-dive on "inspect" versus "observe," explaining how legal interpretation can imply authority you never accepted. The takeaway isn't to never use these words, but to choose deliberately and define scope clearly. Simple exercise: highlight these words in a report, rewrite two sentences, instantly level up your team's risk management.

Links

Taboo Words

Calls-to-action:

Subscribe

This episode was produced by the following GBA Members:

Summary

Tiffany Vorhies and Ryan White present a year-end series highlighting their favorite GBA resources, counting down from Day 12 to Day 1. GBA's best practices (or "monographs") are short, focused guides that save you from learning lessons the hard way. Tiffany highlights Change Order Management—emphasizing early communication to prevent client surprises—and Straight Talk About Profitability, which reveals that labor utilization matters more than just raising rates. Ryan counters with non-financial favorites: Avoiding Absolutes (one "always" can haunt you forever), Taboo Words, Mentoring Programs, Software Validation, and Documentation practices. Through a lightning round, they showcase resources covering Go/No-Go decisions, insurance basics, e-communication, depositions, and presentations. The takeaway: Pick one best practice your firm already pays for and actually use it this week. Small changes, big payoff.

Links

Calls-to-action:

Subscribe

This episode was produced by the following GBA Members:

Summary

Tiffany Vorhies and Ryan White present a year-end series highlighting their favorite GBA resources, counting down from Day 12 to Day 1. Risk management is GBA's "love language"—woven into nearly everything they publish. Ryan and Tiffany break down their "greatest hits playlist" across three tracks: contracts and legal risk (featuring the Contract Reference Guide and Third Party Reliance resources), reports and client education (including important information insert sheets and confirmation-dependent recommendations), and training with peer learning (like the "Avoiding Absolutes" best practice). Each track includes Monday-morning actionable takeaways—from standardizing contract language to attaching client education documents to building repeatable communication habits. These resources aren't just defensive; they improve margins, reduce rework, and strengthen client relationships. Start small: pick one resource and make it standard practice.

Links

Calls-to-action:

Subscribe

This episode was produced by the following GBA Members:

Summary

Tiffany Vorhies and Ryan White present a year-end series highlighting their favorite GBA resources, counting down from Day 12 to Day 1. Discover GBA's comprehensive leadership training opportunities that span your entire career journey. Ryan and Tiffany share their personal experiences, including how they met through the Emerging Leaders program—an 18-month cohort experience that launched the GBA podcast. Learn about the Early Professional Class featuring 10 interactive virtual sessions led by adult learning expert Brock Simmons, the Fall Leadership Summit bringing committees together with world-class keynote speakers, and specialized peer groups for CEOs, CFOs, practice leads, and more. From committee leadership roles to annual conference keynotes, GBA offers authentic, engaging programs that build lasting professional networks and practical leadership skills.

Links

Calls-to-action:

Subscribe

This episode was produced by the following GBA Members:

Summary

Tiffany Vorhies and Ryan White present a year-end series highlighting their favorite GBA resources, counting down from Day 12 to Day 1. Discover why GBA's NewsLog is your essential biweekly connection to the geoprofessional industry. Ryan and Tiffany break down what makes each edition valuable—from member news ("the tea") covering acquisitions and leadership changes, to handpicked industry headlines on AI adoption and infrastructure trends. You'll learn about featured multimedia content, including the GBA podcast's 24,000+ downloads, plus community features like photo contests and book clubs. Don't miss the special extras: new best practice documents, leadership program opportunities, and exclusive resources. If you're not reading NewsLog, you're missing the tools and insights keeping the profession moving forward.

Links

Calls-to-action:

Subscribe

This episode was produced by the following GBA Members:

Summary

Tiffany Vorhies and Ryan White present a year-end series highlighting their favorite GBA resources, counting down from Day 12 to Day 1. Discover why GBA committees are the essential lifeblood of the association in this engaging episode featuring clips from committee leaders across the organization. Ryan and Tiffany explore how committees bring members together—from newcomers to 30-year veterans—to collaborate, solve shared challenges, and create valuable resources for the profession. Hear directly from most of the committee chairs from Multimedia Delivery, Business Practices, Legal Affairs, BizTech, Environmental, CoMET, Geotech, Inclusion Advancement, Peer Review, and Emerging Issues & Trends committees. Whether you're interested in technical content, business practices, or forward-thinking initiatives, there's a committee waiting to help you grow your network and give back meaningfully to geoprofessionals.

GBA Committees

Links

Calls-to-action:

Subscribe

This episode was produced by the following GBA Members:

Summary

Tiffany Vorhies and Ryan White present a year-end series highlighting their favorite GBA resources, counting down from Day 12 to Day 1. This debut episode features case histories—one of GBA's most popular offerings. They randomly selected 13 case histories (bonus!), used AI to generate summaries, and shared highlights covering topics from environmental contamination to foundation failures and residential disputes. The case history receiving the most downloads by February 1, 2026 will become a full podcast episode. Each summary provides insights into real-world engineering challenges, risk management, and professional liability lessons valuable for lunch-and-learns or training.

Links

Calls-to-action:

Subscribe

This episode was produced by the following GBA Members:

Summary

Our Hosts:

Elizabeth is the Principal Geotechnical Engineer at JLT Consultants in Boise, Idaho. Elizabeth has performed and/or assisted with numerous geotechnical investigations throughout Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming managing projects, providing geotechnical design, project quality control, cost and value engineering, and evaluating geotechnical constructability issues.

Abi is a Project Consultant at SME experienced in managing a variety of steel, concrete, coatings, and nondestructive testing projects. She specializes in managing projects related to DOT fabrication quality assurance reviews but also supports project managers throughout SME’s various service groups.

Lessons Learned:

Calls-to-action:

Subscribe

This episode was produced by the following GBA Members:

Summary

Member Firm is responsible for observing the construction of drilled shafts for an extension of a shopping center project. The OSHA inspector cited several violations at the jobsite. The Member Firm arranged a hearing with their attorney and reduced the fines. A good attorney can really be your “12th Man”!

Our Hosts:

Elizabeth is the Principal Geotechnical Engineer at JLT Consultants in Boise, Idaho. Elizabeth has performed and/or assisted with numerous geotechnical investigations throughout Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming managing projects, providing geotechnical design, project quality control, cost and value engineering, and evaluating geotechnical constructability issues.

Abi is a Project Consultant at SME experienced in managing a variety of steel, concrete, coatings, and nondestructive testing projects. She specializes in managing projects related to DOT fabrication quality assurance reviews but also supports project managers throughout SME’s various service groups.

Lessons Learned:

Calls-to-action:

Subscribe

This episode was produced by the following GBA Members:

Summary

A GBA-member firm was hired to evaluate and design the repair of a sheet pile dock at a food processing plant. The owner was pleased with the design but did not have the capital to construct the full repairs and tasked the engineer with devising a temporary solution.

In the early morning hours on the first day of mobilization for the project, the dock collapsed and the project immediately shifted from repair to replacement. Daily, it seemed, new problems or concerns arose, and the geotechnical engineer was on-site to make observations, answer questions, and present solutions.

Through the extraordinary efforts of the contractor and trust from the owner, the project was completed before the plant’s operating season began and the geotechnical engineer was made to look like a hero.

Our Hosts:

Elizabeth is the Principal Geotechnical Engineer at JLT Consultants in Boise, Idaho. Elizabeth has performed and/or assisted with numerous geotechnical investigations throughout Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming managing projects, providing geotechnical design, project quality control, cost and value engineering, and evaluating geotechnical constructability issues.

Abi is a Project Consultant at SME experienced in managing a variety of steel, concrete, coatings, and nondestructive testing projects. She specializes in managing projects related to DOT fabrication quality assurance reviews but also supports project managers throughout SME’s various service groups.

Lessons Learned:

Calls-to-action:

Subscribe

This episode was produced by the following GBA Members: