GIS-Pro 2021: October 3-6, 2021
Of course the health and safety of URISA members, leaders, and staff remains of utmost importance. If pandemic health and safety concerns have been minimized (or eliminated), we all hope to meet in Baltimore in October for URISA's 59th Annual Conference, GIS-Pro 2021. The conference planning committee has begun making plans and will soon share information about submitting presentation proposals, sponsorship, and opportunities to participate.
URISA was pleased to connect with you during GIS-Pro 2020, the association's 58th Annual Conference, presented virtually September 29-October 2 (with pre- and post conference instructor-led online workshops).
Though we cannot assist with home schooling your children or checking in on your senior parents, we did stay true to our mission to provide professional education and training and a vibrant and connected community – albeit virtually. Our dedicated volunteer leaders collaborated to provide content that we hope will be valuable to you and your organizations. We took the opportunity to re-envision the program to focus on some of the most important topics of the day: Public Health, Community Resilience, Equity & Social Justice, GIS Leadership, and Ethics.

- Tuesday, September 29: Martin O'Malley, Former Governor of Maryland
- Wednesday, September 30: Chris Vaughan, Geographic Information Officer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency
- Friday, October 2: Juliana Blackwell, Director of the National Geodetic Survey
Featured panel discussions focused on Racial Equity & GIS, Contact Tracing, GIS Ethics, and Redistricting, and dozens of concurrent sessions were on the agenda with live Q&A. Sessions will be available on demand for GIS-Pro 2020 registrants after the conference, so you can catch up on the presentations you may have missed during the conference.
The workshop line-up was stellar and we sincerely thank all of the instructors who pivoted to live virtual instruction:
Wednesday, September 23
- Best Practices for GIS Project Planning and Management
- NG911 & the GIS Workflow
- GIS in Emergency Management
- Microsoft Project™ Software Tutorial
Thursday, September 24
- Experimental Learning Techniques to be More Effective
- Introduction to GIS for Equity and Social Justice
Tuesday, October 6
- Building Community Using Geospatial Tools
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Unpacking GIS Data for NG9-1-1
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Changes Afoot After 2022: State Plane and the Death of the U.S. Survey Foot
Wednesday, October 7
- Preparing for GISP Certification
- Coordinate Systems and Projections
We can't thank our sponsors and partners enough for their generosity and willingness to share insights and solutions with our participants.
Virtual networking opportunities were abundant and we even had a poker run, exploring Baltimore attractions online, in teams. (Thanks to Cyclomedia for making the event so much fun!) And thank you to the URISA Vanguard Cabinet for all of the activities to welcome students and young professionals.
Our community has always been resilient and eager to help each other through a crisis. We were pleased that so many members, experts, and friends were able to join us at GIS-Pro 2020 to engage, ask questions, explore solutions, earn GISP points, and make the most of this opportunity.
Event History
Click on the Image above for a Site History StoryMap created by Alyssa Randall and Ashley Hitt
GIS-Pro 2019 took place September 28-October 2, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Huge thank you to the conference committee (led by John Nolte, Ashley Hitt, and Judy Colby-George), our sponsors, exhibitors, speakers, instructors and all of the participants who collectively made #GISPro2019 a memorable and valuable conference.
We cannot thank Louisiana URISA enough for their enthusiasm and commitment to making #GISPro2019 an incredible event. We'll come back anytime you want us!!! Truly!
- Detailed Conference Agenda, Speaker Directory, Sponsors & Exhibitors
- Conference Overview (with lots of photos) in the September/October issue of The GIS Professional
URISA was thrilled to partner with the California Geographic Information Association (CGIA) and the four California URISA Chapters - SoCal, NorCal, CentralCal and BayGEO - to present GIS-Pro & CalGIS 2018 in Palm Springs! Those five California-based geospatial organizations typically collaborate to present CalGIS each spring, an event that has a long history (nearly 25 years!) of educational and community-building excellence.
Instead of two separate meetings, we collaborated on one geospatial super-event and it was fantastic!
- GIS-Pro & CalGIS 2018 Program Details - check out the full program to see what you missed!
- Peruse event images
- Learn about CalGIS 2019 in Fresno
Thank you to our Southeast Chapters (Florida, Georgia and Carolina URISA) for their support!
- Conference program brochure, click here.
- Online Program
Thank you to our Canadian Chapters (URISA Ontario, URISA Alberta, and URISA British Columbia) for their support!
URISA and the Northwest GIS User Group were proud to present GIS-Pro & NWGIS 2015, October 18-22, 2015 in Spokane, Washington, in cooperation with the Northern Rockies and Washington URISA Chapters. Nearly 450 GIS professionals attended the conference. There was a lot of interaction and discussion and excellent reviews of the educational program. A very positive conference experience! What a fabulous conference! See what you missed: Online Conference Program
GIS-Pro 2014: Leveraging Spatial Technology to Support Sustainable and Resilient Communities
September 8-11, 2014
New Orleans, Louisiana
Check out the Video Re-cap of the Conference from GeoSpatial Stream
Click on the logo below for all of the details about GIS-Pro 2014:
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Onsite Program Brochure (PDF)
GIS-Pro 2013: Videos... see what you missed!