Park Ridge, IL (August 21, 2006) – With more than a month to go, registrations for URISA’s 44th Annual Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia continue to arrive at a brisk pace, mirroring URISA’s most well-attended conferences in recent years (Orlando in 2000 and Chicago in 1999). One pre-conference workshop (GIS Program Management) has already reached capacity and four others are almost full (3-D Geospatial: Project Implementation Methods and Best Practices; GIS Enterprise Architecture & System Integration; Best Practices for Developing Geographic Information Models; and LiDAR Concepts, Principles and Applications).
URISA attendees, typically GIS managers within local, regional, and state/provincial government, will discuss the most serious topics faced by those trying to improve our urban and regional environments through the use of information technology. The conference begins on Tuesday, September 26 with full-day, comprehensive workshops, followed by three full days of educational sessions and networking opportunities. An exhibition accompanies the conference program.
New this year…
• An entire program track devoted to professional development, with ten sessions focusing on such topics as “How to Influence Decision Makers”, “Managing Change/Measuring Performance”, “Spatial Workforce Development”, and “Developing the GIS Strategic Plan and Ensuring It’s Continued Relevance.” A feature of this track will be an evening speed networking session for industry leaders and new and/or young professionals.
• Winners of this year’s Exemplary Systems in Government (ESIG) Awards will present their systems in a special closing plenary session on Friday afternoon.
• URISA Chapters are sponsoring this year’s all-conference social event on Thursday evening.
• URISA’s Public Participation GIS committee has developed a 1½ day educational program, held in conjunction with the Annual Conference on September 27–28. The theme of the 2006 program is: PPGIS— Engagement & Empowerment.
Visit the URISA website for complete conference details, including abstracts, presenter information, and online registration, http://urisa.org