2012 Washington GIS Conference

Updated: 2/16/2012

2012 Washington GIS Conference

May 7th-9th, 2012
Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center
1500 Broadway
Tacoma, Washington

2012 Conference Sponsors

Exhibitor and Sponsorship Registration is now open, more information.

Conference Volunteers Needed (see below)

CALL FOR WORKSHOP PRESENTERS

The Washington State Chapter of URISA (WAURISA) invites you to submit a proposal to conduct a workshop for WAURISA members and the Washington GIS community at large in 2012.

We are seeking instructors to give educational presentations and workshops on a wide range of GIS topics. All submissions are welcome and will be evaluated as a potential workshop focus. Suggested workshop topics include Transportation, Asset Management, ArcGIS Server application development, Programming, Emergency Services, GIS & Land Surveying, Mobile GIS, Metadata, Desktop GIS Apps, and Mobile GIS Apps.

Workshops for the conference
Half-day, or full-day workshops for the 2012 Washington GIS Conference pre-conference series to be held on May 7, 2012, in Tacoma, WA. Attendance at these pre-conference workshops average 10-50 per workshop.

Presenter benefits: Annual Conference workshop presenters will receive $150 off a two or three day conference registration. You must register during the early bird registration to take advantage of the discount.

Deadline: Feb. 22, 2012
Workshop Speaker Registration Deadline: March 26, 2012

Other workshop opportunities:
Outside of the conference, WAURISA is interested in full day workshops featuring content relevant to WAURISA members and the Washington GIS community. The time and location of these workshops are negotiable. Attendance at workshops held outside the annual conference average 20 - 75 people.

Presenter benefits: Honorarium and travel reimbursement is available to non-conference presenters whose content is 6 hours or more for more information contact the WAURISA education committee at past_president@waurisa.org.

For details for read Call_for_workshops_2012.pdf

CALL FOR PRESENTERS AND PANEL DISCUSSIONS

WAURISA - the Washington State Chapter of Urban and Regional Information Systems Association - has begun accepting presentation proposals for the 2012 Washington GIS Conference to be held May 7-9 at the Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center at Tacoma, Washington. The conference theme for 2012 is Communicating Spatial Knowledge.

Deadline: March 26

WAURISA is seeking potential speakers to provide fresh, dynamic solutions to today's challenges. Presentations are invited that address the broad subjects of interest to GIS practitioners such as:

Communicating Spatial Knowledge
Mapping in the Cloud
GPS-enabled Mobile Devices and Apps
Public Safety GIS for Fire and Police
GIS Return on Investment
GIS Management Competency Model
Innovation on a Small Budget
Managing Annexations with GIS
Planning and Communication with the Public
3D Visualization
Managing Utility Infrastructure with GIS
Transportation Planning and Construction
Environment and Wildlife Applications
Surveying
Cartography
Go "Green" with GIS
Open Source
Getting More Bang for the Buck
Government and Native American GIS
Applications
Propose Your Own Track!

For details for read Call_for_papers_2012.pdf

Submit your abstract for your Presentation at Abstract Submissions for Presenters.

Submit your abstract for your Panel Discussion at Abstract Submissions for Panel Discussions .

MAP CONTEST

Plan to take your best poster, map, or online mapping interactive map with you to the 2012 WAURISA Conference to share with your peers. This is an opportunity to showcase your work and inspire your peers and colleagues with your interesting projects. If you are unable to attend the conference you can still share your map or online application with conference attendees.

Additionally, you can enter the poster session contest and win fame and fabulous prizes! Your fellow conference attendees will cast votes for their favorite posters and online applications. All contestants must be registered for the conference. The winner in each category will receive a $50 Amazon gift card. Please pick only one contest category below for your entry.

All poster session submissions (contest entries as well as display-only entries) must fill out the online poster registration page, Map Contest Submissions no later than Friday, May 4, 2012 at 4:00 p.m. Submissions received after this cut-off date will not be included with the poster session/contest.

Posters can be sent ahead of time to:
Suzanne Shull
Padilla Bay NERR
10441 Bayview-Edison Road
Mount Vernon, WA 98273-9668
email:mapcontest@waurisa.org

Please postmark your poster by Friday, April 27 to allow enough time for it to arrive. We cannot be held responsible for any delayed, lost, or misdirected shipments. You may also carry on-site to the conference to arrive no later than Tuesday, May 8 by 7:30 a.m. We cannot guarantee the display of posters that arrive after 7:30 a.m. on May 8th.

Contest Categories

Best Cartographic Design:
Judging criteria: Efficiency in communication of intended message and maximization of the user's cognitive experience.

Best Analytic Presentation:
Judging criteria: Communication of the problem/project to be solved and presentation of the analytic procedures.

Best Data Integration:
Judging criteria: Relevance and select variety of chosen data sources (surveying, remote sensing, GPS, etc.) and data formats (raster, vector, text, etc.) to the problem-solving and mapmaking processes.

Best online interactive map:
Judging criteria: Clear, effective design to maximize user understanding and experience of map interaction and application usage.

Best student map:
Judging criteria: Communication of a research project implemented in class with an explanation and presentation of the methodology, steps, and conclusion or results of the project or map creation.

NEW This Year: Innovative scripting process/custom geoprocessing tool
Judging criteria: Compelling use of scripting and geoprocessing tools and workflows to automate complex data manipulation workflows.

No Contest
I do not wish to enter the contest. I am registering my poster or application so that it may be shared with conference attendees. I understand I must contact the poster session organizer (mapcontest@waurisa.org) by Friday, April 27 for further instructions.

Not attending conference:
I am not attending the conference but I wish to share my work. I understand I must contact the poster session organizer (mapcontest@waurisa.org) by Friday, April 27 for further instructions.

Note: Posters cannot be removed prior to 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 9. Posters left after the conference cannot be returned (we will try to find good homes for them!).

ONLINE REGISTRATION

Professional & Student Online registration is now open! Online Registration

Professional & Student Rate Information - General Registration

	Workshop & Conference			Workshop Only			Conference Only
Rates	Early Bird	Advance	Late	Early Bird	Advance	Late	Early Bird	Advance	Late
Dates	by 4/9	4/10-4/30	5/1-5/9	by 4/9	4/10-4/30	5/1-5/9	by 4/9	4/10-4/30	5/1-5/9
Professional Rate	$270	$290	$340	$120	$135	$165	$195	$210	$260
Student Rate	$135	$160	$185	$85	$110	$135	$95	$120	$145

Speaker Registration

	Workshop & Conference			Conference Only
Rates	Early Bird	Advance	Late	Early Bird	Advance	Late
Dates	by 4/9	4/10-4/30	5/1-5/9	by 4/9	4/10-4/30	5/1-5/9
Professional Rate	$210	$290	$340	$135	$210	$260
Student Rate	$75	$160	$185	$35	$120	$145
* Discount applied during registration

CONFERENCE ATTENDENCE RETURN ON INVESTMENT

No GIS event in the Pacific Northwest matches the dollar for dollar value of the annual Washington GIS Conference. It is the premier conference in the region, offering three days of high quality workshops and conference sessions. We have attracted high quality instructors, speakers and vendors who will deliver the knowledge and solutions you can use now. Attendees at the Washington GIS Conference include hundreds of analysts, managers, technicians, and coordinators who are working on the same sorts of issues you are. Attending gives you the opportunity for ongoing education and insight gained by participating in our professional community. You can receive GISCI points by attending the conference and or workshops to help achieve or maintain your GIS Professional certification. Additional GISCI credits and conference price discounts are available by presenting in a track session or poster session. Bring just one great idea home and the conference will repay itself many times over.

For Your Employer: If you are looking for something you can use for travel justification, here's an example.

"Attending this professional development conference will provide me many opportunities to learn about upcoming technologies, interact with my peers, and earns me necessary continuing education development credits necessary to maintain my GIS Professional certification.

I expect to gain knowledge in <find a theme, a workshop idea, a sample session that you're interested in> . The understanding and insights gained from attending <fill workshop name(s) and a session if you can use it> will help me work more efficiently and make and help <your department/agency name> save time and money. I want to learn more about making my work as efficient as possible and to learn about new opportunities for incorporating new ideas into my other routine tasks.

The Washington GIS Conference is a great place to meet other GIS professionals working in the Pacific Northwest region and to discuss regional issues, new developments in data creation and acquisition, and new applications for GIS skills."

KEYNOTE

Keynote speaker to be announced shortly.

EXHIBITOR AND SPONSORSHIP INFORMATION

Conference attendees are seeking to gain knowledge and information about GIS trends, products, and services. Your exhibit will be highly visible to hundreds of local clients, and you'll have an opportunity to present your solution in the vendor track. Please find rates and registration information in the vendor packet.

Exhibitor and Sponsorship Registration is now open Online Exhibitor Registration

WAURISA GIS PERSON OF THE YEAR

Nominate your GIS Person of the Year!
The Summit Award for service and excellence in the Washington State GIS Community is made annually at the opening session of the Washington State GIS Conference. To submit nominations for consideration please provide a one page document that addresses the general selection criteria to past_president@waurisa.org. The deadline for submissioning a nomination is Tuesday, April 10th.

The Summit Award Selection Criteria and Award Information
The Summit Award for service and excellence in the Washington State GIS Community is made at the opening session of the Washington State GIS Conference, annually. The WAURISA Board of Directors has chosen one winner each year since 2003, based on nominations from the local GIS community.

The recommended format to submit nominations for consideration is to provide via email a one page document that addresses the general selection criteria to past_president@waurisa.org. The nominations will be reviewed by the nominating committee, who then submit a recommendation to the WAURISA Board of Directors for approval. The deadline for submissioning a nomination is Tuesday, April 10th.

Past winners are as follows:

2011 - Tom Nolan - City of Seattle
2010 - Ian von Essen - Spokane County
2009 - Marty Balikov - ESRI
2008 - Mike Onzay - City of Mercer Island
2007 - Donna Wendt - City of Tacoma
2006 - Nancy Hultquist - Central Washington University, Geography Dept.
2005 - Geoff Almvig - Skagit County
2004 - Linda Gerull - Pierce County
2003 - Richard 'Dick' Thomas - Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District

Winners are invited to attend the conference, where they are presented with a plaque, engraved with their name, the year, and a Mt. Rainier summit brass survey marker. They are also extended a complimentary registration to the conference, to be used either during the award year, or the following year. The award may come as a surprise to the recipient, or the event may be planned, to ensure that the recipient is able to attend the opening session of the conference to receive the award. The past year's recipient is invited to present the award to the current recipient, or it may be presented by the nominator or a WAURISA Board member.

General criteria for award are as follows:

As Dick Button said on a broadcast about great skaters: "they leave the sport changed for their being in it". This statement reflects the tone for setting forth these criteria to select a nominee that has changed the Geospatial Information profession in some significant way.

The nominee shall have been practicing the profession for a significant amount of time, and presently serve the GIS community in the State of Washington. Their contributions should be continuous over a period of several years, demonstrating a long-term commitment to the field of GIS.

There should be a significant body of people, be they Geospatial information professionals or members of the general public, who have been helped by the nominee in some measurable way.

The nominee will possess a history of adhering to the highest ethical standards of the profession, as set forth by the Code of Ethics of the GIS Certification Institute.

The nominee should not be a current WAURISA Board Member (to avoid any conflict of interest)

CONFERENCE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

We need conference volunteers! Email to find out about interesting conference volunteer opportunities.

QUESTIONS? COMMENTS?

We want to hear them - Email the conference planning committee at 2012WAGISConference@waurisa.org.