Spring is finally almost here, and with it comes the start of another busy conference season. Determining which events to spend your time and money on can be a challenge. The following are a list of some of the key GIS & Geospatial technology conferences that you might consider attending… these are my top picks for the year (please note that smaller more highly focused events are not being considered, however, there are many other events that you might wish to consider). You'll also find some tips on regional events, training, podcasts, and some travel tips.
Tailored to ESRI solution developers, the event is a great chance to get a glimpse of the future of various development platforms. Topics of discussion will include ArcGIS software architecture; product vision; deployment frameworks; and developer options for building desktop, server, and mobile GIS applications.
MIX 2006 March 20-22, 2006 Las Vegas, Nevada Billed as a 72 hour conversation hosted by Microsoft! http://www.mix06.com
How about a 3 hour keynote hosted by Bill Gates and Tim O'reilly! The MIX conference is a 72-hour conversation between Web developers, designers and business leaders. When you attend MIX you'll learn the latest about IE7, Windows Media, Windows Live!, as well as "Atlas", Microsoft's new AJAX framework. Obviously, this event will appeal to those that drink Microsoft water, however, some cool insights into IE7, Local.Live, and other MS solutions will be un veiled here.
If you’re company is interested in mobile technologies, wireless application development, and location-based services (LBS) then the annual CTIA Spring show (there’s also a fall event) is a must attend. Highlights of this event include the special educational events that coincide with the conference and the mammoth exhibition hall floor. To get the most bang for your buck arrive a day early to the show so you can take in one of the educational sessions… I highly recommend the smartphone show! Other add-on events not to be missed include the annual Navteq LBS Challenge. This is a great chance to see who’s doing what in LBS. Awards will be presented to a number of developers selected from a pool of some 300 LBS applications. For more about this event see www.lbschallenge.com
Never been to a CTIA show? The show is huge, entertaining and informative... gadgets galore and a HUGE exhibition floor. Photo from CTIA Wireless 2005, New Orleans, LA
Location Intelligence Conference Theme: "Profiting from Location Intelligence" April 3-5, 2006 San Francisco, The Renaissance Parc 55
The 2006 conference will look to accelerate the understanding about how to “profit” from location technology to turn the plethora of business data into “location intelligence.” You likely won’t get lost in a huge crowd of thousands at this one, however, you will be wowed by an impressive lineup of speakers, making this a definite event to consider. Attendees will find workshops, panel presentations, a super panel, and even a “Show us your mashup” session. Workshops offered include: Developing Applications with the Virtual Earth Platform by Microsoft; Integrated Location Data, Processes and Business Intelligence Applications by Oracle; MapGuide Application Development Made Easy by Autodesk, and more. This event is geared towards Business process managers from retail, real estate, insurance and finance organizations as well as Government GIS Managers and users of business intelligence software solutions.
GITA 29 April 23-26, 2006 Tampa Convention Center Tampa, Florida USA
Heavy on the utilities sector, the annual GITA conference is a great event that enables attendees to get information from a number of leading GIS software vendors and solution providers. The conference typically offers a large number of sessions and paper presentations, as well as industry panel discussions and special speakers. To get the most from the event expect to stay 4-7 days, depending on whether you plan on attending pre or post conference seminars and events. Note, coinciding with the event are the Ten Sails Smallworld Symposium and the Oracle Users Conference. The conference program will address topics of interest to executives and managers in government agencies; electric, gas, and water/wastewater utilities; telecommunications companies; pipeline companies; the public sector; and other organizations interested in using geospatial information to enhance their bottom line.
In 2005, GITA 28 was held in Denver, CO.
Making GITA even more temting to attend this year, consider this... ACSM is taking place the same week just up the road in Orlando! The annual American Congress on Surveying & Mapping brings together attendees from the Association made up of more than 7,000 surveyors, cartographers, geodesists, and other spatial data information professionals working in both public and private sectors throughout the world.
Each year the ASPRS hosts their flagship user conference, devoted to educating users and attendees about remote sensing and related technologies. This year, the conference theme “Prospecting for Geospatial Information Integration," will focus on new capabilities and technologies.
Chances are that if you’re a user of Intergraph’s GIS solutions then you’ve come to know the annual user conference as GeoSpatial World. This year the company has changed the plan and is once again bringing together all their solution users in a single event billed as Intergraph 2006. Early-bird registration ends March 15 and a special attendee rate at the hotel is being offered at a bargain $134 per night. Intergraph conferences generally see loads of European attendees and the hospitality and social events tend to be very entertaining. Intergraph solutions users should try and get to an event at some point and would-be users should definitely make a point of getting to this event if there are unanswered questions still lingering. From the conference organizer… More than 200 sessions and workshops in the three-day technical program will focus on how Intergraph's geospatial technology and engineering solutions are being applied. Of interest, former secretary of State, Colin Powell has been announced as the show’s keynote speaker. See the online agenda at http://www.intergraph2006.com/sessions/default.asp
In 2005, Intergraph Geospatial World was in Beautiful San Francisco
The bulk of the program for the 2006 conference will answer the question "where's the value"? Drill down topics and themes we're looking at for 2006: • Yellow pages data providers • Online local advertisement systems like Google, Yahoo!, MSN • Demographics information • New geo map hacking world • Money-making mash-ups and hot start-ups • Mobile, like uLocate and Plazes • Security applications (fraud detection, tracking, surveillance), geospam, privacy • Enterprise integration of Google Maps, open source tools, etc. • Adding mashups into small business internal purposes to help efficiency, increase revenue • Map visualization techniques
Co-sponsored by Galdos Inc and GITA, this interesting event will focus on the following technologies: Geography Markup Language (GML), KML, MapPoint, LandXML and OGC Web Services for GIS. From the event organizer, The GeoWeb conference will bring together two worlds which up to now have been largely separate: the world of professional GIS—the world focused on the standards of the OpenGeospatial Consortium (OGC) and ISO TC/211, and the broader world of the Web—the world focused on the standards of W3C and allied technologies. GeoWeb 2006 is an outgrowth of the successful GML Days and GML and Geo-Spatial Web Services Conference held from 2001 to 2005.
Likely one of the year’s largest gatherings of GIS technology users, the ESRI UC is a must attend at some time for any user of ESRI’s solutions. Heavy on education, this event has it all. The conference lasts an entire week and offers attendees loads of educational content, user groups and meetings, social events, and a huge map gallery. The exhibition hall hosts several hundred presenters where attendees can ask questions from consultants and solution providers. Some of the things I list as “must see” at the annual ESRI UC include first day’s keynotes and plenary session, map gallery, education fair, exhibition floor, and the Thursday night party where more than 10,000 people chill out and have loads of fun in the park. Some tips for first time attendees… pack light (it’s always 72 degrees and sunny), bring comfortable shoes or sandals (plan on walking lots!), plan your agenda weeks in advance (there’s more than 1,000 sessions to select from and you want to avoid last minute conflicts), reserve a hotel early using the ESRI housing request form (hotels fill-up and this service will save you money… procrastinate and you’ll wind up staying at “Raoul’s seaside-hacienda” way out of town and at a premium rate!).
The ESRI Conference - San Diego in summer time is a great place to be
The Fairmont Hotel will be the location for the 44th annual gathering of members of the Urban Regional Information Systems Association. To date the number of abstract submissions is up over 100% over 2005.
GeoTec Event Canada June 18 - 21, 2006 Ottawa Congress Centre Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Generally flip-flopping between Vancouver and Ottawa, this year’s GeoTec event is located in Ottawa for a special celebration. The conference theme, "Celebrating History and Innovation," marks the 100th anniversary of the Atlas of Canada and the 20th anniversary of the event. The event will feature sessions that commemorate the innovative contributions of the Atlas of Canada, and the contributions by Canadians in the advancement of geospatial technology. New this year, the 2006 GeoTec Event will be co-located with the Association of Canadian Map Libraries and Archives, the Canadian Cartographic Association, and the International Cartographic Association.
Attended by more than 16,000 professionals last year, this is no doubt the World’s largest “Geo” event of the year. Unfortunately I’ve never been to an InterGeo but it’s high on my list of things to do this year. Running the INTERGEO conference and trade fair in parallel with the FIG World Conference in Munich gives the event an even greater international importance. The conference is organized by The German Association of Surveying – Association for Geodesy, Geoinformation and Land Management and HINTE GmbH
GEOINT 2006 Symposium November 13 - 16, 2006 Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center • Kissimmee, Florida
Homeland security and GeoIntelligence is obviously a huge issue these days... it's also a huge opportunity for consultants and contractors.
Developed and sponsored by the USGIF, the event offers up and impressive agenda of speakers who will share their unique perspective and insights on the Geospatial Intelligence community's role in "Securing Freedom" and "Defeating Threats." GeoInt brings together government, industry, and military leaders together with leading suppliers and industry experts the event is tailored towards: Aerospace / Defense / Intelligence Agencies & Contractors Federal / State / Local Government Leaders Homeland Security Officials Military Intelligence Officers Emergency Management / Public Safety Agencies
Autodesk University – aka. AU – is THE event for users and would-be/could-be of Autodesk solutions. Typically, 4000-5000 people attend this event, taking advantage of the numerous hands-on sessions served up using a classroom learning format. Heavy on education and fun, this event is a first-rate event hosted by Autodesk, designed to educate, inform, and entertain AutoCAD’s customers. Attendees will find that most meals are provided at the event which makes life a lot easier for people, offering numerous chances to network with fellow CAD users and save some serious $$ at the same time. Sessions and classes are categorized by industry and discipline, making it easy for those interested inn the company’s GIS solutions to design a schedule appropriate to their needs. Loads of CAD users and Engineers are in attendance, however, the GIS crew and GIS related content tends to dominate the week. Plan to arrive early and stay for the entire week – and bring comfortable shoes, you’ll need them!
Autodesk University, Orlando, Florida 2005
Special Mention...
Special mention goes out to an event that has already taken place but is a definite bookmark for 2007... Mashup Camp is a "techie" event for mashers, hackers, and coders. Mashup Camp was a cozy little event that took place Feb 20-21 in Mountain View, California. Designed for developers and coders, "MC" the event featured open discussions about Mashup business models, the mashup community, APIs and API providers, and much more. See http://mashupcamp.com/ for more info.
Telcontar Developer Conference 2006
Last year the "Devcon" conincided with the CTIA Fall show in San Francisco so I doubled up and took in both events. The Telcontar devcon ws a great way to get a glimpse of Telcontar's solutions and hear about some great LBS implementations. No doubt the 2006 will be even better. Little has been posted about the 2006 DevCon but stay tuned and stay informed by visiting http://www.telcontar.com/developers/devconference2006.html. You can check out my summary from the event HERE
The 2005 Telcontar DevCon was held at SBC Park, home of the San Fran Giants... an awesome venue!
More To Think About
This list of conferences is by no means complete, however, it does give you an idea about some of the industry’s leading conferences and trade shows that you might consider attending. Keep in mind, events all target different demographics. Some are idea for the end user of GIS analyst, others are focused on management and project planners. Some events offer highly technical, hands-on training, others provide paper presentations and “geo” success stories. The above-mention events typically draw attendees from all parts of north America as well as International visitors. This may offer a calendar that is too broad in scope, thus you may consider looking at attending local or regional conferences or training sessions. Some of the events with a more local flavor can be found by searching events organized by trade associations (GITA, URISA, ASPRS, AUGI, ACSM) or software vendors. Autodesk, ESRI, and Intergraph all maintain information on local user groups and LUGS, many of which host local events and traveling road shows. A couple of events that I’ve attended which have been highly educational and informative include last year’s Autodesk Realize your Ideas tour, the Vancouver Island regional ESRI user group meeting, and AUGI CAD camp. Government agencies like Natural Resources Canada often organize local meetings that focus on business applications and regional solutions, be sure to check out those resources as well.
Some suggested links to regional events:
In addition to their “Big” shows, URISA offers a number of local and regional events like the Mid-Atlantic URISA event – See http://www.macurisa.org/conference.html
Geospatial professionals from the Colorado, Montana and surrounding areas have an annual event billed as GIS in the Rockies. The event now in its 19th year boasts a distinctive “Rockies” flavor. Historically, attendees include representatives from local, state and federal government, the utilities industry, environmental services, surveying professionals, the oil and gas industry, retail and business marketing professionals. See http://www.gisintherockies.org/
A number of State-level professional organizations exist… example, the Montana Association of Geographic Information Professionals (MAGIP). In addition to maintaining a non-profit association made up of industry professionals, members also take part in a regional conference. See http://www.magip.org/
No matter where you’re from, ESRI likely has a local group of professionals who have started their own LUG (local user group). ESRI maintains a directory of these groups (http://gis.esri.com/usersupport/usergroups/usergroups.cfm) and many of them also host local and regional events of interest. The company (ESRI) also organizes and promotes a number of regional seminars and events, most of which can be found in the directory at http://gis.esri.com/events/index.cfm?fuseaction=listSeminars. Events are typically categorized by user discipline (i.e. Electrical, business GIS) or application (ie. ArcIMS User Group).
Not to be outdone, Autodesk supports users via a very active user group of industry professionals know as AUGI – Autodesk User Group International. Supported by Autodesk and other corporate sponsors, the group is run entirely by an enthusiastic elected body of volunteers who are also Autodesk’s solution users. AUGI boasts more than 60,000 members and there are loads of local user groups (LUGs) that have been formed over the years (like this one in San Fran - http://www.sfaug.org/about.html) . See http://www.augi.com and the group blog at http://www.blaugi.com. AUGI now puts on a traveling road show of training sessions knows as CAD Camp – See http://www.cadcamp.com. Attendees get a glimpse at the latest technologies, hear from Autodesk partners and power users. Autodesk also helps organize a number of regional partner events. These are typically formatted as a workshop, seminar, or demonstration of Autodesk solutions – see http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=1074366 for more.
Podcasts & Webinars
Finally, time and money are both precious resources and not everyone has them at their disposal. A great way to take in an event in the comfort of your own office is to attend a webinar or podcast. Once again, industry organizations (GITA) and vendors (Autodesk, ESRI) regularly host free webinars and training events. Podcasting has grown in popularity and offers up a cheap and innovative source of information. Very Spatial is a great resource providing regular podcasts focused on GIS and geospatial technologies. Another good source and a cool example of videocasting is thesmartphoneshow, a UK-based production providing product reviews and breaking information on the latest developments affecting mobile technologies. I-tunes and google video are also decent sources of video clips and video training (keep in mind the scope of content on these sites is fairly broad).
Some suggested links to podcasts, vodcasts, and web-based training:
Looking for an event near you? Check out http://eventful.com/, this is an innovative tool to help you locate events in your local area.
Fon Fun - Glenn's Travel Tips...
I've attended more than 50 conferences and trade shows in the past 7 years and have logged several air miles and hotel stays in the process. The following are but a few things that I keep in mind when preparing to jet off to an event.
for travel to another country a passport is a MUST have.. don't have a passport - GET ONE and don't leave home without it, even for Canada to US travel.
if an event has an online agenda planner use it.. these are indispensible and help you to avoid conflicts
use your hotel reward plan to accrue hotel stays/points NOT air miles... you'll be better off in the long-run
consolidate air mile plans... you can accrue miles on your Alaksa mileage plan even when you fly on NWA, Delta, British Air, etc...
try to get all you belongings in one bag (carry on size) and bring only one more bag or computer case... I suggest you get a backpack style laptop case if possible if you plan on lugging your notebook around an event
I keep a bag packed and full all the time... things to make sure you have... contact solution, eye drops (events often have AC cranked and plane air is dry), mints (strong ones like Altoids to avoid that nasty conference coffee breath)
research aiport / hotel travel or shuttle options before you leave and write down the phone numbers just in case. Some places have shuttles but these can wind up taking forever... if there's 2 or more in your party get a cab or even better, check out a car service or limo. You can typicaly ride in a spanky car service for the same rate as a taxi.
try to do a Saturday staover if possible and you may get much better air fare. Return on aFriday and chances are you may be able to offer up your ticket to another traveller in exchange for a free ticket... it's important that you have no checked bags if you plan on gaming this one!
bring comfortable shoes
if you plan on using your cell phone check out roaming rates. If you are going to another country (even Canada to USA) you'll get slammed on roaming at the tune of about $5 a minute. You'll also pay roaming on data (txt mesaging, SMS etc...). Also, NEVER use the hotel phone to call home. IF you can, get yourself a calling card or even better, you may be able to setup your own 1-800 number for no cost (I have one of these). This is invaluable and enables you to easily and cheaply call home from any phone. If you have to use your cell and want to save $$ use txt messaging.
if an event has online housing tr to use it if possible and you'll get some great rates!
No matter which event you go to, chances are good that you'll meet up with some cool people, make some great connections, and have some fun as well!
For more images from events round the Globe see Glenn's GISuser PhotoBlog
Esri devMeetUps - locate a developer meetup taking place in a city near you
ERDAS Webinars - Register for a free, online webinar from ERDAS
ILMF 2012 - International LiDAR Mapping Forum, Denver, Colorado, Jan 23-25, 2012
Esri Dev Summit - The Esri Developer Summit (DevSummit) brings together developers and GIS professionals from all over the globe. March 26-29, 2012, Palm Springs, CA
Where2.0 - where the people working on and using location technologies come together to explore best practices and emerging trends in software development, tools, business strategies, and marketing. April 2-4, 20112, San Francisco, CA
Spring is finally almost here, and with it comes the start of another busy conference season. Determining which events to spend your time and money on can be a challenge. The following are a list of some of the key GIS & Geospatial technology conferences that you might consider attending… these are my top picks for the year (please note that smaller more highly focused events are not being considered, however, there are many other events that you might wish to consider). You'll also find some tips on regional events, training, podcasts, and some travel tips.
See more 
