Aurora, Colo., May 10, 2006—The Geospatial Information & Technology Association’s (GITA) Annual Conference 29, held at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Fla., April 23-26, 2006, attracted a total of 1,854 participants, with a 14% increase in attendance from the association’s user affiliate community.
With the theme—No Barriers: Connected. Responsive. Prepared.—the event featured 71 paper presentations, nine half-day seminars, three panel discussions, a 100,000-square-foot exhibit floor, and a number of networking opportunities. Two new features to the 2006 conference—a GIS job fair and a competitive poster session—were both well received.
Prior to the official kickoff of the conference, nine Knowledge Immersion seminars offered participants a chance to get in-depth education on topics ranging from the return on investment of a geospatial project to successful mobile data collection strategies.
The conference’s Opening Session featured a welcoming address by Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio, as well as opening remarks by GITA Executive Director Bob Samborski; Conference Chair Greg Buehler of the Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc.; and GITA President Susan Ancel of EPCOR.
In a departure from previous years, the keynote address was replaced by a live interoperability demonstration that featured live, standards-based data shown on multiple platforms. The demo, hosted by the Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc., generated much discussion among the attendees.
A total of 112 vendors showcased the latest in geospatial products and services on the 100,000-square-foot exhibit floor. “This is our first year exhibiting at the GITA show, and it has been absolutely phenomenal,” said Antony Browy of Océ North America. “We’ve had well over 200 people in the booth and two sales right off—we’re extremely excited, and really happy to be a part of this. I can’t say enough good things about it.”
Heather MacKenzie, Autodesk, Inc., was also pleased, saying, “Great job! I’ve had nothing but amazing feedback from my sales team.”
The conference’s educational program included 71 paper presentations. Attendees seemed to be pleased with the wide variety of subjects covered by the sessions, including critical infrastructure protection, One-call issues, Web applications, operations management, and more.
“I thought the conference was excellent—better than last year. I’m a member of GITA and they offer something new every year,” said Dan Damian, Maricopa County, Arizona. “I really enjoy the conference and the new ideas and new concepts it presents.”
Frank Rosales, Southern California Gas Company, was also pleased with the programming and the exhibit floor, “We really got a lot out of the show and probably accomplished about a month’s worth of meeting vendors and getting to know people in a three-day period of time,” Rosales said.
Three panel discussions addressed topics of growing interest to the geospatial industry as a whole: evaluating geospatial industry workforce demand, interoperability, and where GIT fits in the enterprise.
Following the conclusion of GITA’s Annual Conference, two companies—Oracle Corporation and Ten Sails Consulting—conducted their own respective user conferences at the Colorado Convention Center on Thursday, April 27. Both reported strong attendance.
The planning committee for GITA’s Annual Conference 30 is already hard at work developing the educational program and other aspects of the event, set for March 4-7, 2007, in San Antonio, Texas.
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The mission of the Geospatial Information & Technology Association (GITA) is to provide excellence in education, information exchange, and applied research on the use and benefits of geospatial information and technology in business, utility, and government applications worldwide. Visit GITA on the Web at www.gita.org.