June 21, 2012 (Des Plaines, IL) - The International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) and the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) are pleased to announce the 17th Annual GIS/CAMA (Geographic Information Systems / Computer-Assisted Mass Appraisal) Technologies Conference, to be held March 4-7, 2013 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The conference committee, composed of IAAO and URISA members, will develop the educational program after a thorough review of abstract submissions received through the Call for Presentations. Three overall themes will be used to organize the educational sessions:

• Get It Done – At a time when budgets and staff sizes are dwindling, getting your work done better and more efficiently is critical. Presentations in this track are designed to give you ideas for improving processes from field data collection to data integrity.

• Run the Numbers – Accurate and equitable valuations are the cornerstone of an assessment office. Learn new ways of analyzing data and take away the lessons learned from statistical models that are being used all over the world.

• Serve It Up – Public confidence can rise and fall based on the effective sharing and communication of property data and values with taxpayers, businesses, and other entities. Let peers show you how they have stepped up to the challenge and changed the ways or methods they utilize, display, and communicate data.

The committee welcomes the submission of individual papers, complete sessions, and lightning talks and has proposed a list of suggested topics for consideration (all abstracts received will be reviewed and considered for the conference program regardless of the list below):

• Modeling unstable markets using advanced techniques
• Funding assessment operations and projects
• Mobile technology in action
• Raising public understanding - New ways of showing the public what we do and how we do it
• Best practices and lessons learned
• Technology implementations
• GIS in Crisis - Sharing data instantly using GIS when nature wreaks havoc
• For Better or For Worse - Keeping staff engaged in the face of cutbacks and other workforce development challenges
• ROI - Resource or technology investments that paid off
• On the Up and Up - Tales of recovery after economic or natural disaster
• The best idea we had this year was...
• Mineral rights - big business or bust?
• Public data versus privacy rights
• Utilizing GIS tools for appeals
• Going viral - using YouTube and other social media
• Parcel Numbering
• Web interfaces - from electronic submission of appeals to comparable sales maps for public use
• Statistical models for commercial property
• Personal property from PCs to wind farms
• Utilizing GIS for change detection
• Geospatial valuation tips and tricks
• GIS in the 'Cloud'
• The value of 'Green' construction
• Technology and Customer Service
• Special Assessments, Surrogate Taxes, and Alternative Funding Mechanisms
• Using GIS to Support Personal Property Assessments
• Housing Development Trends (alternative housing, rental market, combined households, tiny houses, new development)
• Nondisclosure and Property Value Discovery Techniques
• Geospatial Standards Panel Discussion
• Organizational models for IT and GIS services to Assessment (where do staff sit and who do they report to?)
• Land Record integration with CAMA/GIS
• Getting all the Building permits in a timely manner (working with all your jurisdictions)
• Implementing the subparcels - what it means to CAMA and GIS
• CAMA Models using SPSS, blame it on the statistics!
• Zoning as a new type of neighborhood?
• Multiple source data verification (imagery, GIS, CAMA) to support assessments.
• Modern workflows: where we’ve come from and where we are going?

Abstract submissions will be accepted until October 5, 2012. The link to the Call for Presentations and general conference information is: http://www.urisa.org/conferences/2013gis_cama