Held March 18–21, 2006, in Redlands, California, the annual Esri Worldwide Business Partner Conference—now in its 17th year—proved once again to be an outstanding event for Esri Business Partners and international distributors, many of whom also attended the Esri Developer Summit (see "Esri Developer Summit—A Great Success!").

There were many enhancements to this year's conference, beginning with the keynotes. For the first time, they took place over two days. On Sunday, Esri president Jack Dangermond presented an overview of key products and technologies and addressed the vision and direction for the coming year. His presentation was followed by the Esri Software Product Portfolio keynote by David Maguire and Clint Brown. They provided an overview of Esri's products with special emphasis on ArcGIS Server, ArcGIS Desktop, developer products, and the geodatabase foundation. On Monday morning, Chris Cappelli, Esri's director of sales, and S. J. Camarata, director of corporate strategies, spoke about partner opportunities and best practices for partners to market and sell their valued-added solutions and services.

Also new this year was the Community Center where attendees gathered for ad hoc discussions and meetings. Included were Tech Talk areas, provided to continue a discussion after a technical session or to meet with Esri staff to map out a new idea or solution. Birds-of-a-Feather discussions were held during lunch, giving participants the opportunity to network and share ideas on specific product- or industry-related topics.

Other conference highlights included

• Interaction with attendees of the Esri Developer Summit during the Industry Solutions and Development Social.
• The presentation of awards to more than 50 partner organizations in recognition of their contributions to the GIS industry. Visit www.esri.com/partners for a complete list of award winners.
• A GIS Solutions EXPO in which 54 partners demonstrated their latest solutions and services to other Esri Business Partners, international distributors, and staff.
• An expanded one and one-half day Showcase area where attendees visited Esri staff at product and program islands to see demonstrations and have their questions answered.

The 2007 Esri Worldwide Business Partner Conference will take place March 17–20 in Palm Springs, California. To learn more about the program, visit www.esri.com/partners.