On Friday through Sunday, July 5-7, 2002, the second annual Esri Education User Conference brought together 500 GIS-using educators. Librarians and museum staffers joined teachers from elementary school through college, from 49 of the United States and 22 additional countries. Plenary sessions, hands-on computer labs, paper sessions, panels, exhibits, and a map gallery kept folks exchanging ideas from morning to night.

In the plenary sessions, Mike Goodchild from the University of California at Santa Barbara reviewed the evolution of GIS, summarizing the group's passion with the expression, "GIS education is about using computers to understand the world." Bill Miller from Esri described the power of design. Miller and Bob Pawlowski from the University of Nebraska at Omaha led attendees through some coming attractions for the Lewis and Clark bicentennial. In the exhibit hall, three dozen exhibitors displayed the latest in tools, data, and program information. With four hands-on computer labs and eight other session rooms to choose from, the biggest challenge for everyone was deciding how to spend their time.

The third annual Esri Education User Conference will be held July 5-6, 2003, just before the Twenty-third Annual Esri International User Conference (July 7-11, 2003) in San Diego, California. Presentation proposal forms and all other details will be available at www.esri.com/educ on the Web.