April 3, 2007 (Park Ridge, Illinois) – Program details and registration for the 45th Annual Conference of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) are now available online at http://www.urisa.org/conferences/annual/info. URISA 2007, themed "Sharing Technological Inspiration: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow", is scheduled for August 20-23, 2007 at the Hilton Washington in Washington, DC.
The conference will begin with twelve pre-conference workshops offering proven education and take-home workbook materials. More than 200 speakers from around the world will present at URISA 2007. The educational sessions are organized into the following topical tracks: Partnerships & Collaborations; Professional Development; Management; Data; Tools; Applications; Disaster & Emergency Response; Public Participation GIS (PPGIS); and K-12 Education.
Conference Highlights will include:
• Hopeworks – Young people from the Hopeworks GIS program will provide what is certain to be an inspirational keynote presentation at the URISA conference, demonstrating their accomplishments. Visit www.hopeworks.org
• New Haven Census Use Study, 1967: Forty years ago, the New Haven Census Use Study presented its initial reports on computer mapping and address matching at the 1967 URISA conference. In this plenary session, several former CUS staffers recount their experiences with the Study and URISA, along with their thoughts on the impact of this work on GIS and society.
• Summit on Cross-Organizational Collaboration – Conference attendees represent all areas of the spatial data community – government (international, federal, tribal, state/provincial, regional, county, city), academia, nonprofit, vendors – and there is no better venue than the URISA conference to sort out and establish collaborative relationships among the communities represented.
• Networking – URISA conferences are known for their "hallway discussions" and the welcoming atmosphere. Lifelong friendships and working relationships begin and are nurtured at URISA.
• Exhibit Hall – There is a good balance between intensive conference programming, networking, and opportunities to check out the latest technology being offered by vendors in the exhibit hall.
For detailed conference information, visit http://www.urisa.org/conferences/annual/info or contact any URISA staff member at 847-824-6300.
For information about exhibiting, please contact Kim Green at 847-824-6300.