URISA 2008 Annual Conference...Moving Forward

September 4, 2008 (Park Ridge, IL) - Hurricane Gustav, thankfully, passed over the Gulf Coast region without as much damage as had been forecasted. There were a few power outages and very little damage to downtown New Orleans and the French Quarter (where the URISA Annual Conference will be held, October 7-10, 2008). The Sheraton New Orleans confirmed that the hotel is just fine and ready to take reservations for the URISA Conference.

Take advantage of the expertise of more than 150 GIS professionals from across the globe who are presenting in sessions like these:

Cross Jurisdictional Collaboration
A Focus on Addressing and Centerlines
Planning and responding to events, those fundamental to business or catastrophic in nature, requires reliable information and cooperation from a variety of sources. This session highlights proven cases of effective cross-jurisdictional collaboration.

• Horry County, S.C. – The Grand Strand
  Jim Kiles, GISP, Charlotte, NC
  Tim Oliver, Horry County, SC
• Census 2010 – Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) Program in Delaware County
  Shoreh Elhami GISP, Delaware County Auditor's Office, Delaware, OH
  Jon Sperling, HUD, Washington, DC
• The Vision for a Nation-wide Address Database
  Will Craig, GISP, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Open Source and Open Standards
Utilizing Google Maps/Earth as Open Source API's
Open Source API's allows you to build Mashups easily. This session presents case studies of Google Maps/Earth applications.

• Making Urban Canopy Data Available to the Non-GIS User via Google Map
  Ian Hanou, NCDC Imaging, Colorado Springs, CO
• Utilizing Google Maps with Korean Online Mapping Webportal
  Wansoo Im, Vertices LLC, New Brunswick, NJ
• Streaming ArcGIS data to Google Earth Through the Dynamic Generation of KML Data
  David Greene, AMEC, Nashville, TN

Interactive Programming
Unified Voice to Advocate Development of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure
This panel discussion revolves around making the best of our individual influence to move National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) objectives in our own jurisdictions. In addition, discussion from this panel will be provided to the NSDI to refine the currently developing NSDI strategic framework and draft action plan.

• Panel Moderator:  Cy Smith, GISP, State of Oregon, Salem, OR

Cross-Jurisdictional Collaboration
Cooperative Orthoimagery Acquisition
If the diverse business needs of governmental agencies using orthoimagery can be met, significant cost savings can be realized through collaborative efforts. Learn how two such efforts have successfully implemented cooperative orthoimagery acquisition programs.

• We Can Get Along - Creation of a Multi-Agency Cooperative Base Mapping Program
  Kim McDonough, GISP, Tennessee Dept of Transportation, Nashville, TN
• Managing a Regional Orthophoto Consortium: Project Management Tips & Tricks
  Matthew Krusemark, GISP, Denver Regional Council of Governments, Denver, CO

Emergency Management & Homeland Security
Disaster Response and Readiness
Regional response and collaboration across multi-jurisdictional and multi-disciplinary boundaries to mitigate or respond to natural or man-made disasters is not only a concept, but a requirement.

• Cooperative GIS Initiative for Regional Fire Protection and Disaster Planning
  David Allen, GISP, City of Euless, Euless, TX
• Marine Corps Leverages GIS and ArcGIS Server During the 2007 Southern California Wildfires
  Michelle Boivin, GISP, Technology Associates International Corp, Chula Vista, CA
• The Minneapolis I-35 Bridge Catastrophe
  Paul Weinberger, City of Minneapolis, Minneapolis, MN

GIS professionals are encouraged to read through the entire conference program, with complete information about sessions, networking events, exposition details and more: http://www.urisa.org/conferences/annual/program

See you in New Orleans!