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Georgia Geospatial Conference

rjhale · Oct 2, 2016 ·

I still tweet a lot. Well – mostly a lot.

A phone call yesterday left me wondering “Are we at Peak #GIS Conference yet?”

— :) Randal Hale (: (@rjhale) September 21, 2016

The other day I asked on twitter if we ‘d reached peak GIS conference. I was a week away from a county GIS user’s group meeting. That next week (this upcoming week) I head to Athens Georgia for the Georgia Geospatial Conference. Two days after that I’m in Knoxville screaming into the void at another GIS conference. I’m actually planning one for East Tennessee that isn’t related to the State TNGIC Conference. That’s not counting anything else I could drive to (within 5 hours of where I’m sitting currently).  There are a lot of conferences. 20 years ago I could argue yeah it’s all new enough to warrant a lot of conferences. These days I really think we’re over-conferenced. The push in Georgia to do things at a GIS level is pretty much following a path that Tennessee took 20 years ago. Granted the tech is different – but the path isn’t terribly different. I doubt anyone in Georgia has driven over the border to TN and asked “what are you guys doing?” (hint – drive across the border and ask).

Which brings me to the Georgia Conference. This October conference has always been a “canary in the mine shaft” for me. Most of the anniversaries that were in my head are forgotten – but this one still rings with me. It’s held every 2 years. At one point during my time on the board I argued we should do it every year. I’m really hoping everyone forgot I said that. The Georgia Conference is mainly put on by Georgia URISA (with a few other orgs throwing in for good measure). I had really planned on skipping the entire affair. I was somewhat coerced into staying involved and I really started looking at it as a bit of a “closure” year for me. This is year 10. I like even numbers.

  • In 2006, I walked into the Georgia Conference as a new business. Talked to some people. Shared some insight – then watched the gears of GIS turning. It was a good conference overall. Met a lot of people and decided to get involved on the Georgia URISA Board.
  • In 2008, I was more or less on the board and watching the conference come together. I had a chance to watch ESRI and ERDAS sort of “duke it out” at the conference. If I remember correctly there was much partying and much learning. On a person note I was about to go full time in this consulting gig. So riding in I was still Randy the Federal Employee. Riding out I was Randy the NRGS Employee.
  • 2010 may have been my best conference and my most stressful. It was a weird year of new friends and new work and trying to figure out me as a business and me as a person and if I was separating them enough. I think that was the year the conference went to “Georgia Geospatial” vs Georgia URISA. We combined conferences with SAMSOG (surveyors), and GITA and took a more “we are one big family” approach to the entire endeavor. I was stepping a very small toe into Open Source at that point but I was a raging ESRI BP.
  • 2012 was a bit more stressful. At that point I was looking at partnering with a company and had also almost decided maybe I needed to do something else professionally. It was an odd year overall. The idea that we were “all one big family” melted with an upturn in the economy. In 2010 we had a large number of surveyors at the conference. 2012 brought less than 10 back. They were all busy with work as Georgia began to wake up from the recession.
  • 2014 was sorta bland as a conference. It was good but life was calling me back to Chattanooga and I was distracted. I had, in between the 2012 and 2014 conferences, moved to Athens. First time I actually slept in my bed at this conference. Life had dealt some blows to work and personal. I was really trying to sort out how to deal with it. I went a bit into hermit mode which didn’t help work but it did help me. You were a hermit? We didn’t notice – oh those of you on the social media side wouldn’t have.
  • Which brings me to 2016. I’m giving two presentations. I’m actually going to meet people I’ve known for 10 years at this thing. I couldn’t tell you who was speaking about what. There will be “hurrahs for the GISP” and “Yay ArcGISOnline is a thing” and map competitions. Overall – this one is all people oriented. I may not attend much of anything but just talking to people. I may attempt to pirate a booth in the conference center – if so find a chair and sit with me. We will talk about QGIS and Fulcrum and which bar we should go visit.

In some ways this conference (Oct 3-5) is a mix of all the previous years. There is some dread at just being in a pile of people for 2.5 days. There’s some excitement because the 10 year journey as a business has really had it’s twists and turns. I’m not twisting or turning at this one at all. Randy 10 years ago doesn’t resemble Randy now. It’s a huge journey of personal and professional. I would love to tell you it’s all been great. It hasn’t. I still make mistakes. Had I stayed doing what I was doing in 2006 – I can’t imagine where I would be. Me in 2018….I can’t imagine that either. There’s an excitement to the air these days for business. I hadn’t felt that since 2006 really. Maybe it’s just less worry – I can worry with the best of them. I haven’t been doing that as much and just trying to live the life. Take more selfies with me and the cat. Go Canoeing more.

img_20161001_100438

So – track me down if you are there. Sit and talk. Tell me about you.

 

 

Georgia Geospatial Conference 2016

rjhale · Jun 16, 2016 ·

Georgia Geospatial Conference of 2016

Call for Presentations

The Georgia Geospatial Conference of 2016 is seeking abstracts for breakout sessions presentations.  Share your work; learn from others.  Presentations will be limited to 30 minutes (including time for questions).  All breakout session rooms will be moderated and equipped with wi-fi access, a screen, projector, and cables to plug in presenter’s laptop (it is the responsibility of the presenter to verify their laptop’s compatibility with provided cables).

Moderators: If you are interested in being a moderator, then please respond to events@gaurisa.org.  Sessions will consist of a group of three (3) associated presentations.

Presentation Tracks and Suggested Topics:

Aerial Photography and Remote Sensing

  • LiDAR
  • Photogrammetry
  • Terrestrial Photogrammetry

GIS/Surveying Architecture and Integration

  • AutoCAD Data
  • Census Data
  • Data Storage Methods
  • GIS Architecture
  • Location Based Services
  • Mobile Applications
  • Open Source GIS
  • Programming
  • Public Involvement and GIS
  • Scanning Technology for Data Extraction
  • Server Technology
  • Tax Parcel Management and CAMA Integration
  • Web Applications

GIS/Surveying Program Management & Planning

  • GIS Strategic Planning
  • Management
  • Regional and Urban Planning
  • Return on Investment (ROI)

GIS/Surveying Projects, Implementations and Strategies

  • Addressing
  • Aviation
  • BIM
  • Data Collection Technology
  • Environmental Conservation and Management
  • Emergency Management and Public Safety
  • Mobile Applications
  • Open Source GIS
  • Programming
  • Transportation
  • Transit
  • Utilities

Land Records/Legal/Surveying

  • Accuracy and Precision Requirements in Georgia Law
  • GPS Vertical Accuracy – Ellipsoid and Geoid Accuracy in Georgia
  • NSPS – CST (Certified Survey Technician) Class and Exam
  • Positional Error Expressions on Survey Plats
  • Recent Changes in Georgia Law Affecting Land Surveying
  • Tax Parcel Management and CAMA Integration

Map Publication Systems and Applications (Cartography)

  • Basemap Design and Implementation
  • Web Applications

Breakout session presentations by exhibitors are discouraged unless they are presenting with a client.  If an exhibitor would like to showcase their company and products, they must sign up for the Platinum level, which guarantees 30 minutes to highlight their company and products.

 

Submit here: http://www.geospatialconferencega.com/callforpresentation

Map Competition for Georgia Students

rjhale · Apr 20, 2016 ·

…and from Georgia URISA:

Hello Students!

Announcing our

“Online Map Competition”

This map competition it is an opportunity for Georgia University/College students to share their best maps with others who appreciate quality cartography, innovation and finally get recognition for their talents.

This is an online competition.  All maps/poster and links need to be submitted by midnight of May 10thto  urisaonlinemapcompetition@gmail.com with a minimum half a page statement that provides context of the submission, i.e. its purpose, how it may be used, how it was created etc…, and a cover page that will include:

  • Student information, including name, address, phone number, email address.
  • Degree program (e.g., M.A.), cartography/GIS instructor’s name.
  • Graduation Date
  • Institutional affiliation

Maps will be judged based on the following:

  • Standard Map Elements: Title, legend, scale etc: 15 points
  • Balance and Layout: Does map appear well-balanced to the eye? Are some areas of the map blank while other areas are crowded: 10 points
  • Drafting Technical Quality: Technical involvement; difficulties: 20 points
  • Detail Thoroughness: Is there too little detail? Is there too much detail? Does it extend into every passage? Is it consistent throughout the entire map? Is the detail easy to understand or is it confusing? Does the detail match the legend or the list of symbols? What would be the use of the map? Does the map show the purpose: 15 points
  • Visual Impact: Does the cartography make the subject interesting or boring? Overall, does the map look good: 20 points
  • Innovations, new methods which enhance the understanding of the map: 20 points

 100 points is a maximum that student can acquire based on above requirements.

First, second and third place will receive a prize. Prizes to be announced soon! The rest of the participants will get recognition in the URISA newsletter and “swag.” 

Maps need to be submitted by Midnight of May 10th to urisaonlinemapcompetition@gmail.com, confirmation email will be an indication of the submission.

Intro to QGIS Class March 29th 2016 – Athens Georgia

rjhale · Mar 11, 2016 ·

NRGS is planning a QGIS class in Athens Georgia for March 29th 2016. This class is confirmed with some people from the NE Georgia Health District having requested the class and registered. I will have a location very shortly.

I’m also updating this class for 2.14 with some newer material and new screenshots in the manual.

So if you are in the area and want to take a QGIS class – please contact me (rjhale@northrivergeographic.com).

Length of workshop: Approximately 8 hours

Topics Covered:

  • Interface and installation
  • Symbology
  • Map Production
  • Editing
  • Plugins

What to expect from this workshop: Learning new software can be intimidating for some especially if you are used to a certain product that you have been using for years. (Anyone remember switching from ArcView GIS 3.x to ArcGIS Desktop 8.x?) Or perhaps you are new to GIS and looking for an affordable, user-friendly alternative to other popular GIS software. This is an introduction to QGIS that will get you familiar with the interface and many tools and features that will assist you with viewing, editing, analyzing, creating, managing, and serving GIS data in a variety of formats. Though QGIS is definitely a powerful tool to add to your GIS toolkit, it has some limitations and challenges that will be discussed in this workshop.

Boreds

rjhale · Oct 9, 2014 ·

I’ve been on a lot of boards. OSM. Mid South ASPRS. GA URISA. TNGIC. Four of the five are hard to deal with. The Georgia URISA board never quite was that difficult. There is the normal insanity that comes with every board. Resignations. Anger. Drama. Conferences. Workshops.

I appeared at my first conference in 2006 by calling in sick to my normal job and coming to Athens Georgia for 3 days. Went to talks. Went to meetings. Went to the social. They had rented out a bar that I’m pretty sure had changed names 4 or 5 times since 2006. I passed by it Tuesday night on my way to the 2014 Social. We left the 2006 social in a taxi. One person jumped up and said I DON’T WANT TO GO HOME. So we ended up at the Georgia Theatre. I think I was there until 2 or 3 in the morning watching some band that has no doubt changed names 4 or 5 times since 2006.

Tuesday night I found myself sitting at the Georgia Theatre with one of the original “don’t wanna go home” group from 2006. Since Then I’ve changed positions on the board 4 or 5 times….North Georgia Subchapter Chair, Education Chair, VP, President, and Finally IPP. At some point during educations chair I had a meltdown – divorce. I didn’t really feel that the board was very cohesive at that point. So I had to make my first confessional – “This meeting I planned won’t happen unless everyone helps because well……” and they all came – every one of them…from up to two hours away. So I sat at Gainesville state college with a group of people who understood more than I thought and talked about some mapping application called OSM no one had heard of….. So I got through that meeting and kept going. It was always a nice break coming to Atlanta from Chattanooga for the meetings. I actually miss the drive back to Chattanooga last night. I typically would take the longest way home possible to sit and think. Last night I didn’t have my normal texting buddy….I had a 10 minute commute to the duplex. I piled into bed and here I sit.

I’m a firm believer on boards need fresh blood. If you don’t it gets stale. It’s a problem with one of the boards I was on – no one wanted to let go. So it’s got just painful and I resigned. I resigned from the OSM Board because I sucked at treasurer and I could barely get a handle on my account much less another one.

So now what? I’m not quite done – I’ve got two more emails to send, one more function to preside over, and I can go gentle into that good night for a bit. I’ve got a few more things I want to do…a few more problems I want to cause….but I don’t have to do it while on the board for Georgia URISA……Because they would always win for my attention.

Georgia Theatre
 

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