Top 10 Features in The New Google Maps - Google has reinforced that Maps are all about exploring and discovering, especially on mobile. The experience will only get better, for the developer and end user. We can all expect to enjoy new features and enhanced navigation experiences from gMaps in the near future. I've had a chance to have an early look (See blog post) and have also provided a quick list of Top 10 new features - enjoy!
GISuser Expert Feature - Low-Tech Field? Think Again - When the public thinks about landscaping, high tech doesn’t immediately come to mind. After all, this is work involving dirt, manual labor and plants. Mechanical engineering is represented in the form of a backhoe loader, for example, but that’s about as “technological” as the industry gets. Right?
Canada Post Suing Over the use of Postal Code - An interesting issue is unfolding in Canada and quite frankly its darned amazing! Imagine this, you have a website and offer some kind of product or service. You also use a map so users can search your product by Postal Code... uhoh, now you get a letter from Canada Post stating that they are suing you!
Location, Location! 10 Map Services Your Business MUST Be Listed in - You have a business... perhaps a bar, a coffee shop, or maybe a consulting firm. Regardless of the business type, if you have a brick and mortar presence then you need to get your business listed in some of the popular online, location-based resources and search tools. Even more important is being found via mobile search.
Avenza Announces Return of Annual Map Awards for 2013 - The competition is open to all mapmakers from around the world who use Avenza products in the creation of their maps which were completed or published during 2012 or 2013. The various category awards recognize achievement in the art and science of cartography and promote the advancements and innovation made in mapping.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife Connect With Anglers via Colorado Fishing Atlas - Colorado Parks and Wildlife Connect With Anglers via Colorado Fishing Atlas and Social Media. Some fine civic engagement from the Parks and Wildlife service in Colorado as some new resources designed to connect with Anglers have been released to the public.
AEC Firms Lose an Average 100K a Year - A little financial advice from an industry insider to help in these tough times. June Jewell, a CPA and owner of Acuity Business Solutions consulting, says the architectural, engineering and environmental firms she works for easily lose $100,000 each year through inefficient and ineffective practices
President Obama Issues Executive Order and a new Open Data Policy - Another bold move from the Obama Administration, this time via an executive order and a newly released open data policy. The move aims to arms business and developers with previously hard to find, or even impossible to access data.
Editing OpenStreetMap (OSM) Just Got Easy, Really Easy! I'm sure that many (if not most) of you have often wanted to mess around with OSM and add/edit some features but were a little lazy - I'm guilty! But now we have no excuse thanks to the new OpenStreetMap in-browser map editing tools available from the iD Editor
Creative Cartography Meets Music in The Song Map - Oh yes, I love art. I also love music too, heck, who doesn't right? Well, I know you GeoGeeks and music lovers will really dig this one as we stumble onto yet another amazing cartographic product that quite simply will make you say WOW
Why is Landsat important and the Landsat Missions Timeline - Landsat has the optimal ground resolution and spectral bands to efficiently track land use and to document land change due to climate change, urbanization, drought, wildfire, biomass changes (carbon assessments), and a host of other natural and human-caused changes.
Mobile Market Trends show Apple users most loyal - Results from a recent survey indicate that Mobile Market Trendsreveal Apple users are most loyal, T-Mobile customers most likely to bail - are you still confident that your clients are loyal to your brand?
10 Must Have Gadgets and Technology for the Remote Office - Chances are good that if you happen to work in technology or you're a consultant, that you may be working remotely or from a home-based office at some time soon - or perhaps you already do
This is a section devoted to providing our valued contributors with a corner to do whatever they like with and discuss Geo/Tech topics that are near and dear to them! Be sure to check out ALL of our experts for commentary, editorial, links, and advice! Interested in becoming a contributing expert? Contact us and tell us about yourself
Ok, you have some news, BIG news... now what? Well, if you have a PR or marketing person or department then no doubt you'll be sending out a press release. The following are 5 tips for a better press release, some useful tips from experts, and some related "how to" tools.
Before you do that though, make sure that your press release doesn't suck! Well, maybe it won't suck, however, there are a number of ways to make sure your PR is even better. Here's 5 small things that should help:
Have Something to Say - Sounds like a no brainer, but seriously, unless you have something new, earth shattering, and/or down-right cool then you might as well save your time. Some announcements may be idea for certain publications and others might be of interest to all journalists... you might want to hand-pick who gets which release.
Get Visual - Many industry, particularly Geo tech industries, are visual, very visual. So, if you have a new solution, app, service or ?? then use graphics that enable the reader to visualize exactly what your talking about. Include an image (just one) and provide links to where high-resolution images can be seen on your supporting website along with supporting information. Don't bother distributing your PR releases with 10 image files attached, a ZIP file or other large media files. Ideally you should simply provide a link to where the images can be accessed.
Make A Movie - Video is all the rage and if your PR folks haven't clued into that yet then you may want to ask them why? If appropriate, consider creating a short video to complement your news. Now this won't be applicable to some announcements, however, if you have a new app, solution, project win or the like then I'm sure your team can put together a short video about it. If video isn't your thing then you can always use still photos and images, mash them up and drop some nice music in with them. Don't have movie mixing software? Sorry, that's no longer a valid excuse as Windows PCs come bundled with Movie Maker software, there's freebies galore online, and YouTube even provides basic movie mixing. Lastly, keep it under 3 minutes!
Let Them Find You - Again another no brainer, however, you'd be amazed at how many companies fail to include detailed contact information with their PR. Include a valid email address, phone number, website URL, and Social Media resources (Twitter and facebook page at a minimum).
Track It - Creating and distributing a good PR takes time and effort so don't let it all be for nothing. Create custom short url we blinks using a service like bit.ly. Include these unique links in your PR then follow up to see how effective your press has been. If you send your PR via a number of different channels then consider unique urls for each site/source that will be running your PR.
Finally, if you have GIS/Geo/Mobile press, be sure to send it to press @GISuser.com for consideration. Need more help or advice on building and distributing your PR? Feel free to contact us for help. See also @GISuser or reach yours truly directly @gletham
5 Ways to Make Sure Your Press Release Doesn't Suckbit.ly/wuJ7ln
MORE ARTICLES- Check out all the GISuser articles in the archive, stored by category
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Top 10 Features in The New Google Maps
Canada Post Suing Over the use of Postal Code
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This is a section devoted to providing our valued contributors with a corner to do whatever they like with and discuss Geo/Tech topics that are near and dear to them! Be sure to check out ALL of our experts for commentary, editorial, links, and advice! Interested in becoming a contributing expert? 
