Keeping pace with technological innovation is a challenge for everyone including GIS professionals. Since Live Training Seminars debuted in 2001, thousands of individuals have taken advantage of the hour-long technical sessions that are streamed to their desktops via the Internet. Aside from expanding the abilities of individuals, the seminars bring a variety of benefits to group dynamics in the workplace. Many organizations participate in the seminars as a group, which has helped them increase efficiency and add a sense of unity to the workplace.

"We are delighted to learn that GIS staff are participating in Live Training Seminars as groups using Internet-enabled conference rooms," says Nick Frunzi, director of Educational Services at Esri. "Group attendance is happening at more and more organizations. The ability of these seminars to provide team-building opportunities for staff involved in GIS projects is a great byproduct of this learning environment."

Individuals with a high-speed Internet connection access the seminar using their office computers. Group participation typically involves using a computer projector to display the presentation on a screen in a conference or training room.

Organizations use different methods to incorporate this form of Internet delivery to facilitate a productive learning environment, but all receive similar results.

South Florida Water Management District

"Attending as a group has many benefits for organizations," says Ahmad Poudratchi, senior geographer at the South Florida Water Management District (www.sfwmd.gov). Poudratchi and his coworkers embrace the seminars because they are incredibly informative and useful, especially when the presenter demonstrates the software after discussing the theory it involves. The group environment creates a classroom atmosphere in which the discussion among participants encourages further exploration and knowledge about GIS concepts.

As GIS staff increase their working knowledge of the software and explore the continuously expanding abilities it provides, benefits are passed on to other GIS users. According to Jim Cameron, GIS manager for South Florida Water Management District, "Esri's Virtual Campus Live Training Seminars provide an excellent way to extend technical training to our GIS user community."

City of Kissimmee

Each month, between five and eight employees from the city of Kissimmee, Florida (www.kissimmee.org/departments/it/gis/gis.htm), meet in a small conference room to watch a Live Training Seminar.

Tony Curtis, IT Department GIS manager for the city of Kissimmee, finds the seminars useful for learning and bringing key staff together. "The time spent together during the seminars includes sharing successes and problems and connecting with GIS professionals in various departments, which has fostered improved communication by offering a relaxed setting where 'shop talk' takes place," says Curtis.

Free Live Training Seminars are offered approximately once a month at the Esri Virtual Campus. Each seminar is broadcast at 9 a.m. and repeated at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Pacific time on the scheduled day. Seminar topics, which are selected from requests submitted by users, range from introductory overviews to highly technical presentations for advanced users. Sessions last an hour and feature a lecture on a focused GIS topic. Participants receive interactive instruction with a step-by-step software demonstration presented by a subject matter expert. Seminar presenters also have the ability to interact with the audience with a question and answer session that lasts as long as time permits.

Learn more about Live Training Seminars, browse the schedule of upcoming offerings, or to vote for future topics.