My week at the esriuc - You really can't blame me for being a little tired still - I'm sure a few of you are as well! There was simply sooo much to see, hear, and do at UC 20212! My choice when at the conference is to soak up as much as I can, typically being in the convention center from 7:30 till about 6-ish or longer (a couple of nights lasted till 9).
I didn't manage to catch nearly enough presentations, however, Esri will be making much of the material available online in the near future (oh, just noticed the proceedings are up!) and there are a number of ways to catch up, such as via slideshare, the #esriuc hashtag (very valuable), and through other social channels and sharing vehicles. I did get a chance to visit with a few Esri staffers on the hall floor to get hands on demos at some of the latest solutions and offerings (like ArcGIS online within Microsoft Office) and I caught an excellent session on ArcGIS online allowing me to catch up on the hot functionality provided in this service.
I have to say kudos and congrats to all the Esri staffers for putting on another fabulous event - FYI, reports have it that there were actually over 16,000 folks registered this year! When I wasn’t in session hearing about ArcGIS 10.1, ArcGIS Online, Mobile technology and the Cloud, I was on the hall floor attempting to meet up with everyone that was exhibiting – no small task given the size of the massive hall floor! I did shoot a number of on-site videos and still have plenty of notes and updates to share. For example, I'll be sharing Q&A’s and cool technology like the Zeno 5 mobile collection unit from Leica; a wicked UAS data collection unit from gatewing (Trimble); a detailed look at GeoJot mobile data collection on iOS and Android; the MobileMapper 10 device; and some really cool hardware from HP. I think I have about 35 videos to edit in total!
Wednesday was a particularly good/long day as the evening provided us with ESRIUC DevMeetUp a couple of hours with the EDN team and some kick-ass developers sharing their tips and tricks. EDN also put together a lightning talks session as well - kudos to the hardworking team, they really stepped it up this year! Finally, for the first time in 14 years I got the FULL conference experience and stayed through Friday, allowing me time to catch the closing session with Jack and crew. It was awesome hearing from all the execs and getting details of why they decided on a career in geography with Esri. I did find the Q&A was a little too planned, most questions being pre-screened and filmed and only several being taken from the floor - not nearly enough, although time was a consideration so I guess it couldn't be helped. I had planned on asking a question and I swear, Jack was looking right at me when he commented, "sorry, but we're carefull about who we give the mic too in this session" ;0) Otherwise, a truly invigorating week!
So, what things were "drilled" into me during the week? The following are 10 take-aways that have stuck with me:
ArcGIS Online, according to Esri, is THE mapping "platform" for your organization
At release 10.1 ArcGIS brings together all the pieces and paints a much clearer picture for the user
10.1 provides pervasive access along with a whole new world of pervasive apps and services
Analytics is the fastest growing sector of cloud computing (opportunity)
ArcGIS online provides geography as a platform
The cloud allows us to integrate any kind of geospatially referenced data within apps
Maps are a story, telling a story about geography
ArcGIS is rapidly becoming delivered as a service
ArcGIS Online amplifies geography
ArcGIS 10.1 empowers developers with an environment that is easy to deploy, easily configurable, and fully supported.
Awesome stuff seen and heard:
The inflatable Mars landing, Curiosity Rover - great timing for this display and the guy on the floor describing the mission was really interesting!
UAVs on the floor - several companies had unmanned aerial data capture vehicles (planes) lot's of wow factor here!
ArcGIS inside Microsoft Office - lots of WOW here too but overall this really is a cool, new offering.
The cool paper in the HP plotters that can't be torn!
Metalachi band at the Thursday night party... think KISS meets mariachi band
The plenary session - Jack always leaves you pumped up and asking for more!
HxGN Live - The Hexagon Global Network - Learn about surveying, mapping, laser scanning and geospatial solutions from Leica Geosystems. June 3-6, 2013, Las Vegas, Nevada
Join us at GIS for Government 2013 taking place June 24-26, 2013 in the Washington, DC Metro Area to find out everything you need to know about GIS. Click here for more information
To register for the first GCS Geospatial Big Data webinar, visit the new GCS website at www.YourDataSmarter.com. The one-hour free webinar will be broadcast live at 3 pm EDT Wed, June 12, 2013
