ACSM and Esri Come Together to Host the Survey Summit Conference Heats Up with Move from Spring to Summer Adding greater value and wider interest to its annual conference, normally held in spring, the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM) has joined forces with Esri to form the premier event in the surveying industry. The Survey Summit is the new conference cohosted by ACSM and Esri, and it promises to retain all the benefits of the long-running ACSM Annual Conference with the added curriculum that will come from the geospatial industry. The inaugural Survey Summit will take place July 7–12, 2011, in San Diego, California, sharing its final two days with the Esri International User Conference (Esri UC). It will serve as the ideal forum for not only ACSM members but also anyone interested in GIS technology, as well as emerging technologies such as lidar and 3D scanning. “ACSM has served as a voice of land surveyors and mappers for more than 70 years,” says Brent Jones, Esri’s surveying, cadastral, and land records industry manager. “As the surveying and geospatial industries continue to make technological advances together, it makes sense that the professionals of these related fields join together at one premier conference. We’re excited to have ACSM as part of the Survey Summit. It’s a must-attend event for the surveying community, as it provides access to the pinnacle of technology available to surveyors and mappers.” The society is composed of more than 5,000 surveyors, cartographers, geodesists, and other spatial data information-related professionals from private industry, government, and academia throughout the world. As technology has provided new methods of obtaining and using spatial data, such as GIS, land information systems and GPS, ACSM and its members have continually responded to the challenges presented by these new technologies. “ACSM is dedicated to creating and maintaining a positive synergy between the GIS and surveying professions by exposing GIS professionals to surveying, and surveying and geomatics professionals to emerging geospatial technologies,” says Curt Sumner, ACSM executive director. “The Survey Summit will allow us to demonstrate to the world that the surveying, engineering, and GIS professions do intersect with each other and can work together effectively. An event like this is great for the geospatial community at large.” Members of the storied organization share Sumner’s sentiments. “This is undeniably one of the biggest steps forward in linking the surveying and mapping profession with the GIS profession,” says ACSM member Richard Pryce, PSM, director of the Florida Surveying and Mapping Society, District 6. “This is truly a monumental step into the future for surveyors and mappers across the nation to join in the revolution and evolution of GIS.” For more information, to register, or to take advantage of sponsorship and exhibit opportunities, visit surveysummit.com. Organizations Use Webcasts, Mobile Devices, and More For GIS Day 2010, organizations started to move away from traditional classroom lectures to more technology-based activities to show GIS in action during their events. Several organizations hosted a live GIS Day webcast to reach a wider audience. This allowed them to accommodate more participants and cut event costs. Also during 2010, GIS professionals hosted outdoor activities with local schools, scout groups, and 4-H clubs using mobile devices. Based on the success of these interactive events, GIS Day organizers have expressed interest in adopting new methods to include in their celebrations. GIS Day 2011 will be held on November 16 during Geography Awareness Week, a geographic literacy initiative sponsored by the National Geographic Society (www.mywonderfulworld.org/gaw). To find more information on GIS Day and to start planning an event, visit gisday.com. Maui Economic Development Board’s Women In Technology—Hawaii, USA The Maui Economic Development Board’s (MEDB) Women In Technology (WIT) held its second annual statewide GIS Day webcast. On November 17, 2010, for seven straight hours, various GIS professionals from around the state and country provided presentations via webcast to demonstrate how GIS is used in their work and share potential career pathways in GIS. Several hundred students throughout the state, from five different islands, logged on to view the webcast and interact with the GIS professionals. Webcast facilitator Diana Papini Warren comments, “We especially enjoyed students’ participation in answering questions after each presentation in order to win a T-shirt or poster. It was an exciting event this year!” Twenty-five different schools at elementary, middle, and high school levels participated in various sessions, and each teacher also received supplemental GIS Day materials and lessons. This annual event is offered as part of MEDB WIT’s GeoTech for Hawaii schools statewide initiative. Nanjing Forestry University GIS Association—Nanjing, China On GIS Day, Nanjing Forestry University’s GIS Association invited nine other universities and alumni who majored in GIS to celebrate GIS Day. About 500 attendees sat together to enjoy lectures and demonstrations from university professors on 3D data acquisition and global climate change. Esri instructors were also in attendance to demonstrate ArcGIS 10. In the evening, participants continued to celebrate with a GIS Day cake, an awards ceremony to recognize university students who visited local elementary schools as GIS mentors, and video presentations created for the event by Nanjing Forestry University students that addressed their interest and ideas for the future of GIS. Master of Science in GIS at the University of Redlands GIS Day attendees at Nanjing Forestry University, China. O ur MS GIS Program is designed for an audience of professionals seeking to improve their knowledge of the analysis and management of geographic information. We offer both a full-time and a part-time residential program. Within the University’s interdisciplinary learning environment, students have an unparalleled opportunity to interact personally not only with University faculty, staff, and students from other programs, but also with the many talented professionals at the world’s leading GIS company, ESRI, located in close proximity to the University. The University of Redlands, founded in 1907, is a fully-accredited, liberal arts and sciences university. This intensive, international learning environment ensures a global context of relevance to students from around the world. Graduates of this program can become GIS practitioners prepared for positions such as project managers, applications specialists, and applications software development team members. Loudoun County—Virginia, USA GIS Day in Loudoun County, Virginia, lasted all week. On the Saturday before, volunteers mapped fire hydrants using iPhones and Trimble handheld devices in the town of Hamilton, Virginia. That morning, they collected information on 90 fire hydrants. On Monday, the board of supervisors received a presentation on the latest uses of GIS. Wednesday morning, teams from the county, the water utility, and the Town of Middleburg mapped the hydrants in their city. And on GIS Day, locally made GIS videos were Volunteers in Loudoun County collecting added to a display in the government center. spatial information using the county’s Trimble GPS units, as well as Apple iPhones. Resources Available There are many more event examples and success stories available at gisday.com/success. The success stories are great ways to get ideas for your next GIS Day event, including hands-on GIS workshops, training seminars, special presentations and talks, map galleries, treasure hunts, and field trips. Once an idea is in the works, users are encouraged to access the resources and support provided online, including sample agendas, proposal letters, white papers, and ideas on how to do a GIS Day proclamation in your area and create a GIS Day cake. Online-Only Articles More ArcNews The Spring 2011 issue of ArcNews Online (esri. com/arcnews) presents the following special online-only articles: South Bend, Indiana, Uses GIS for Brownfields Inventory Counting on Risk: Explore Information Services Turns to GIS for More Accurate Risk Analysis Also, look for the expanded Esri T-shirt section online, as well as new supplemental podcasts. In New Zealand, Earth Science Students Map Geologic Features: New GIS and GPS Tools Capture Precision Data For information call (909) 748-8128 or visit www.msgis.redlands.edu