Celebrating Geography Awareness Week and GIS Day Worldwide

Not so long ago, renewing an old friendship required a postage stamp. Or calling an operator to make an appointment to place an overseas call. Today, keeping in touch is as simple as typing a note and hitting the send button.

National Geographic Society logoNeighbors are no longer just those who live next door. They are those who have E-mail, or a fax machine, or a telephone anywhere in the world. Recognizing this remarkable change, the National Geographic Society celebrates Geography Awareness Week, November 14-20, 1999, with the theme "Geography and Technology: Think the World of Your Community."

AAG logoGeography matters and, together with you, we want communities worldwide to understand why. Since 1987, the National Geographic Society, in partnership with thousands of teachers, has organized these celebrations to make the public more aware of the importance of geography education. This year, communities across the country will take part in activities demonstrating how communications and geographic technology are opening up new ways of understanding the world for those in education, Business, and science.

Hooray for GIS Day 1999!

GIS Day logoDuring Geography Awareness Week, more than 2,500 organizations and users of GIS technology worldwide open their doors on November 19, 1999, to share their work and applications of GIS with their communities for the first ever International GIS Day. This global event will take place in countries everywhere such as Colombia, Qatar, Japan, Singapore, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Australia, Kenya, Barbados, Canada, and more. Along with dozens of geography and GIS organizations, the National Geographic Society, Association of American Geographers, and Esri are principally sponsoring GIS Day, a very special day when they will all support users of GIS technology in showcasing real-world applications of this exciting technology. User organizations will showcase their applications of geography to schools, Businesses, and the general public.

These organizations have pledged to educate more than one million children and adults about GIS. With your additional support we can reach our goal. There may be a GIS Day event in your area that you can attend or that needs a person well-versed on GIS technology to lend a helping hand. Visit www.gisday.com and click on "find an event near you" to attend one in your area, or click on "volunteers" to identify an event near you that may need your help.

Watch for GIS Day 2000! It will again take place in November during the National Geographic Society's Geography Awareness Week.

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