Hello everyone,
Now that 2011 has faded into memory, 2012 is off to a busy start.
The new and improved CGIA Website has been growing with added content, news of GIS classes at various colleges and universities, and upcoming GIS events. CGIA now has PayPal back on track for electronic payment of dues. The ability to select your membership option, make the payment, and receive a receipt has never been easier. As an additional benefit to membership, the board is working on a “members only†section for resource documents. As a member of CGIA you will have access to information used by other members for RFP’s, justifications for budget items, white papers, reports, or presentations.
CalGIS is fast approaching, April 11th - 13th in Sacramento. This is the one and only conference all about GIS in California. In addition to the many great presentations this year, the conference is also offering workshops, technical courses, and a levee tour. On Wednesday, in addition to the CGIA open meeting and the California GIS Council meeting, there are two half-day events, included in your conference registration: Hazus and California, and the GIS Certification and Future Trends.
There are two great keynote speakers for the conference this year: Scott Gregory, California GIO on Thursday and Dr. Dawn Wright on Friday. Both of these professionals have extensive backgrounds in GIS and will definitely be a highlight of the conference.
Also on Thursday the conference is hosting: CalGIS Townhall 2012. Attendees will share their perspectives about issues impacting the profession in this open forum – a definite “must seeâ€.
This is the premier GIS event in and about California. One of the key benefits to attendees is the professional networking with your peers and the opportunity to check out all the new technology offered by our Sponsors. Check out the website: www.calgis.org. Hope you will be able to attend!
Here is the welcome from CalGIS Conference Chair, Dan Henderson.
“Spatial technology has become part of the day to day activities for almost everyone. Getting directions on Google Maps, Check-ins on Facebook and foursquare, or finding the nearest restaurant are things we now take for granted whether we do it on a mobile device or at our desktop. Our global geographic connectivity is at an all time high!
Geospatial and technology professions are becoming more tightly connected as well, putting an emphasis on system integration, spatially intelligent data management, as well web and mobile enabled connectivity. In the State of California, we are at the centroid of many of these advances. As geospatial professionals, it is vital that we connect with others in our field and across disciplines to help address the many complex problems we face as a society including increasing the efficiency of data collection, linking financial, GIS, and maintenance systems to ensure a singular data inputs and outputs, and enabling the vast amount of data we collect via GPS, remote sensing, census surveys or even crowd sourcing can be analyzed and made sense of by decisions makers and stakeholders.
At CalGIS 2012, we want to make the move from a predominately GIS-centric view to looking at technology as a whole and how spatial information and analysis can reduce costs, increase access to information, and enable non-GIS professionals to benefit from the types of tools and applications we often take for granted.
Think about these themes as you attend sessions and meet and mingle with your geospatial fellow professionals in Sacramento this year. Capitalize on the Spatial intelligence gathered for the 14th year of this conference! I look forward to having inspired discussions and learning about the advances we achieved, both in technology and in policy that we as the stewards of our profession in California must strive to push forward. “
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