February 24-26, 2002, marked the 15th Annual Esri Worldwide Business Partner Conference, bringing together more than 800 Business Partners from more than 25 countries. This year's theme, "Creating Solutions Together," served to promote networking between Business Partners and Esri alike, while focusing on the latest developments in Esri software and trends in GIS.

The opening day plenary session led by Esri President Jack Dangermond and senior Esri staff gave attendees the inside track on Esri technology developments and insight into the rapidly changing GIS market. Also on the opening day, more than 50 Business Partners were recognized for their outstanding work at the annual awards presentation.

Communication

Communication is the foundation of the Esri Business Partner Program, and Dangermond, senior staff, software developers, technology specialists, and industry managers were on hand to interact with conference attendees from around the world.

The GIS Solutions EXPO on Sunday evening opened the way for partners to unveil new applications and services based on Esri technologies ranging from ArcGIS and ArcIMS to MapObjects and ArcPad. The EXPO also promoted joint Business opportunities and utilization of partner expertise for projects and data creation.

The second and third days of the conference offered more than 60 conference sessions on a variety of topics including technical product overviews, best Business practices, GIS application development for specific industries, and customizing and embedding Esri products. Business development sessions were also offered on topics such as tips on bringing a product to market and new opportunities for GIS in the enterprise.

A full-day workshop, "Managing a GIS," showed new and experienced GIS managers how to focus GIS on the strategic objectives of an organization to enhance the return on investment. It was taught by Dr. Roger Tomlinson, acknowledged as the "father of GIS," and Larry Sugarbaker of Nature Serve.

Business Partners Awarded for ArcGIS Challenge

Among the highlights of the 2002 Esri Worldwide Business Partner Conference this February was a new contest, the ArcGIS Challenge. It featured Esri Business Partners who have developed innovative and cutting-edge products based on ArcGIS 8.1 technology. Awards were presented in three categories-Most Innovative Solution, Best Integrated Solution, and Best Productivity Enhancement Solution. Two other awards, Best of Show and People's Choice, were also given.

In the Most Innovative Solution category, Visual Learning Systems was awarded first place for its Feature Analyst product. The Feature Analyst extension for ArcGIS 8 is the new paradigm for extracting GIS features automatically from high-resolution earth imagery. PixSell and St. George Consulting Group were presented second and third place awards, respectively.

Bradshaw Consulting Services, Inc., was presented first place in the Best Integrated Solution category for its Crime Analysis Tools, which assist law enforcement personnelin analyzing crimes and calls for service. Custom wizards guide users through data import, creation of pin maps, analysis of multiple types of crime, and map production. Second and third place awards were given to The Omega Group and GeoAnalytics, respectively.

In the Best Productivity Enhancement Solution category, first place was bestowed to Power Delivery Associates for its OriginGIS product, a MultiSpeak-compliant enterprise solution for electric utilities.OriginGIS provides a user-friendly interface within ArcGIS for the creation and maintenance of electrical facilities data. ESEA and Safe Software, respectively, were presented with second and third place awards.

Miner & Miner was presented with Best of Show for its ArcFM and Designer products, which received the highest scores in all three of the above categories. ArcFM is a collection of tools for managing, modeling, and editing facility and land-based data for the enterprise. Designer provides an integrated environment for preparing construction work sketches andjob cost estimates andfor updating the corporate GIS database.

The Omega Group was voted the People's Choice for its CrimeView 2002, the next generation of crime analysis software and the first release of the OmegaGIS family of products.

Visit www.esri.com/partners/bpc2002/bpc2002_awards.html for a list of award recipients. Visit www.esri.com/partners for information on Esri Business Partners and the Business Partner Program.