GIS-Pro 2012: Fifty Years of Education and Connections

Join us in Portland for URISA's 50th Anniversary Conference!

It will be a golden opportunity to share, celebrate, and learn.

GIS-Pro 2012: URISA's 50th Annual Conference for GIS Professionals
will take place September 30 to October 4, 2012 in Portland, Oregon!

URISA is pleased to announce that this year's conference will be co-hosted by the Northwest GIS Users' Group.

The first URISA conference was held in 1963, and was known as the Annual Conference on Urban Planning Information Systems and Programs. Anniversary conferences in 1977 (15th), 1987 (25th), 1992 (30th), and 2002 (40th) included plenary and special sessions to highlight benchmarking activities, and a number of papers were commissioned to create a written record of URISA’s progress, achievements, challenges, and prospects. URISA’s founding leaders are hard at work developing exciting ways to commemorate the occasion in Portland.

At the same time, the 2012 Conference Committee, led by Claudia Paskauskas, GISP – East Central Florida Regional Planning Commission, Al Little – City of Hamilton, Ontario, and Amy Esnard, GISP - Salem, Oregon, is hard at work developing a not-to-be-missed conference covering timely topics ranging from GIS Return on Investment (ROI) and server technology/cloud computing to business process reengineering and effective map communication.

An improved attendee experience will again be at the forefront, with a mobile conference app and exciting networking events in the works. Ignite sessions, DevMeetUps, speed networking, and perhaps a microbrewery geocaching challenge will further celebrate this milestone URISA conference.

    

For regular updates and conference details, visit this website frequently and follow the conference on twitter (#gispro2012). Hope to see you in Portland!

Call for Presentations

The conference program is primarily developed through the submissions of abstracts.

For participation details, click here.

Schedule - The conference committee will review abstracts and organize the program during their planning meeting on February 25-26. The conference program details are scheduled to be announced in late March, with preconference courses, session specifics, and more.

Exhibits & Sponsorships - An exhibit hall and sponsorship opportunities will be detailed soon. Don't miss your opportunity to reach this informed and targeted market!

Student Volunteers - We will be soliciting Portland-area college/university student student volunteers to assist with onsite conference activities, in return for a free registration. Stay tuned for more information.

  GIS-Pro Rocks!

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For Budgeting Purposes

Early Conference Registration Fee - by August 1, 2012 (if staying at the Portland Hilton or reside locally):

• $400 for URISA and/or NWGIS members / $475 for nonmembers

Early Conference Registration Fee- by August 1, 2012 (if not staying at the Portland Hilton and do not reside locally):

• $525 for URISA and/or NWGIS members / $600 nonmembers

• One and two-day preconference training courses will be detailed in March.
• One day and student registration rates will be available.

Conference Site & Travel Information

GIS-Pro 2012 will take place at the Hilton Portland, ideally located in downtown Portland.

For information about our conference host hotel and city, click here.

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Conference Sponsors

About NWGIS – The Northwest GIS User Group, Inc. is a non-profit organization that provides a forum for training, exchange of knowledge, techniques, and data among the users of Esri software and related GIS products and services. For more information, visit www.nwgis.org

About URISA, the Association for GIS Professionals - Founded in 1963, the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) is a nonprofit association for professionals involved in improving urban and regional environments through the use of information technology. For more information, visit www.urisa.org

Conference Committee

Conference Chair - Claudia Paskauskas, GISP, East Central Florida Regional Planning Council
Program Chair - Al Little, City of Hamilton, ON Canada
Associate Program Chair - Amy Esnard, GISP, Portland, OR

• Doug Adams, GISP, Dewberry
• Carl Anderson, GISP, Spatial Focus, Inc.
• Danielle Ayan, GISP, Georgia Tech Research Institute - 2010 Conference Chair
• Eric Bohard, GISP, Clackamas County, OR
• Keri Brennan, GISP, The Schneider Corporation
• Clare Brown, GISP, New Orleans Regional Planning Commission
• Kathrine Cargo, GISP, Orleans Parish Communication DIstrict
• Tom Conry, Fairfax County, VA
• Erik Endrulat, State of Oregon
• Peirce Eichelberger, gDBMS
• Paul Ferro, State of Oregon, Department of Geology and Mineral Industries
• Randy Fusaro, US Census Bureau
• Alex Hepp, Pictometry International
• Bill Huxhold, GISP, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• Allen Ibaugh, GISP, Data Transfer Solutions
• Wansoo Im, VERTICES
• Bruce Kessler, GISP, Kessler GIS
• Rachel Kornak, GISP, The Redlands Institute
• Keith Massie, City of Medford, OR
• Carmen Maso, US EPA - Chicago, IL
• Twyla McDermott, GISP, City of Charlotte, NC
• Hilary Perkins, GISP, City of Maryland Heights, MO
• Martin Roche, GeoPlanning Services, Inc
• Yvon Sevigny, City of Montreal, Quebec Canada
• Mark Sievers, Sievers LLC, Orlando, FL
• Ken Sipos, GISBB
• Cy Smith, GISP, State of Oregon
• Nathalie Smith, Esri - Olympia
• Jim Sparks, State of Indiana
• Karen Stewart, GISP, ESRI Canada
• Mohammad Tariq, Peak Technology Solutions
• Geney Terry, GISP, Geospatial Information Solutions, LLC - 2011 Conference Chair
• Christopher Thomas, Esri - Redlands
• Teresa Townsend, Planning Communities LLC
• Michael Waltuch, Esri - New York
• Barry Wellar, GISP, Wellar Consulting
• Philip Worrall, Indiana Geographic Information Council

Without the volunteer members of the Conference Committee, there would be no conference.
We thank them for their amazing efforts!

Call for Presentations

Highlights from GIS-Pro 2011