URISA
URISA Digest
April 25, 2013
Last Chance -2013 Dues Renewal 
If you have not yet renewed your 2013 membership, you can easily renew online or print an invoice. 
Join URISA as a 2013 Corporate or Business Partner  
The opportunities for engagement are limitless and the levels of partnership were designed to accommodate a wide range of budgets and resources (from global software companies to one-person consulting firms). Partnership details are posted online, along with a directory of current URISA partners.  

A special welcome to Somers St.Claire GIS Management Consultants as a new Business Partner!  

Diana Maties (CDMSmith, Boston) was recently named URISA's Young Professional of the Year in recognition of her outstanding efforts as part of URISA's Vanguard Cabinet.

Congratulations Diana!
Current Issue of THE GIS PROFESSIONAL

Big Data, GIS Ethics and more! 

More Events of Note: 

 

April 30-May 1: GIS in Action (Portland, Oregon)    

 

  

May 4-8: GIS-T Symposium 2013 (Boise, Idaho)  
URISA Certified Workshop: Business Intelligence & Data Integration

  

 

May 6-7: URISA OC: Be Spatial '13 (Stoney Creek/Hamilton, Ontario Canada)
Featuring a preconference GISP Workshop        

 

May 6-8: 2013 Washington GIS Conference (Lynwood, Washington)     

 

May 20-23: UCGIS 2013 Symposium
Collaboration Across Communities: GIScience 2.0 and Beyond
George Mason University, Washington, D.C.  


Take some time to visit our online calendar for dates and links to many more events.

Check out Florida URISA's lineup of upcoming webinars:
www.flurisa.org
(click on the eflurisa tab) 
giscorps
Click here for the latest GISCorps newsletter and information about the amazing projects in process! 
URISA Connect Webinars
Have an idea or best practice you'd like to share? Consider developing and presenting a webinar. Earn GISP points and get peer feedback. View proposal details here and connect with Keri Brennan.
   

Are you a certified GIS Professional yet? Learn more. 
 
 Contributions to URISA - a 501(c) (3) organization - are tax deductible in the U.S. All contributions will be used to further the mission of URISA through the delivery of existing programs and the development of new programs.   

URISA Invites Comments on its GIS Capability Maturity Model

URISA invites experienced GIS professionals of all kinds - particularly those with management experience - to review and comment on a draft GIS Capability Maturity Model (GCMM).

The GIS Capability Maturity Model is intended primarily to define the components of an effective GIS operation, as well as to identify the characteristics of a well-managed and mature GIS. The model was originally developed in 2009 and adopted as a URISA initiative in 2010. In 2011 and 2012 it was used to inform development of the Geospatial Management Competency Model by URISA. URISA's GIS Management Institute conducted an internal review/revision process from October 2012 through March 2013. This process resulted in the version of the model now offered for public review.

Links to the draft GCMM and an online questionnaire for reviewers are available at http://www.urisa.org/GMI_GCMM_PublicReview. The questionnaire will remain open through May 31, 2013. After the public review period, URISA's GIS Management Institute will review all comments received, make appropriate changes, and publish a fully authorized peer-reviewed version of the model.
Awards, Competitions & Deadlines

A number of annual URISA awards and competitions are underway. Take note of deadline dates and requirements:

Exemplary Systems in Government (ESIG) Awards - Submissions due May 10 

 

URISA's GIS Hall of Fame - Nominations due May 1

 

Student Competition (Papers & Posters)  - Submissions due June 3  

 

2013 Locating the Future Conference
GIS & 9-1-1... Location is more than an address.  (November in St Louis) - Presentation proposals due July 1  

 
URISA Election

Next month, you'll start to learn more about the candidates for this year's Board of Directors' Election. The following individuals were approved for nomination by the URISA Board during their March meeting and they are busy preparing their statements for your consideration:

FOR PRESIDENT-
  • Carl Anderson, GISP - Spatial Focus, Inc., Sarasota, Florida
  • Geney Terry, GISP - Geospatial Information Solutions, LLC, Placerville, California
FOR BOARD OF DIRECTORS-(to fill 3 positions)
  • Jochen Albrecht - Hunter College of The City University of New York
  • Luke Boggess, GISP - R&M Consultants, Inc., Anchorage, Alaska
  • Phil Davis - GeoTech Center at Del Mar College, Corpus Christi, Texas
  • Amy Esnard, GISP - City of Portland, Oregon
  • Ashley Hitt, GISP - Connected Nation, Louisville, Kentucky
  • Kevin Sato, GISP - City of Cottonwood Heights, Utah
URISA Leadership Academy Discounts for Members & GISPs

Don't delay any longer... register for the URISA Leadership Academy taking place in San Antonio, May 13-17. GISPs and URISA members receive discounts on registration.

"I would highly recommend the ULA event; it helped to broaden my organizational awareness and perspective regarding leadership roles within a GIS context. I walked away from this experience feeling invigorated and, thanks to a daily learning journal, empowered to implement tailor-made action items within my daily work routine. After almost a year I still find myself referencing the material and my course notes. The ULA team-based exercises allowed participants to learn from each other, to analyze their own issues and challenges, and to thoroughly explore leadership strategies throughout the five day event." - Laura Holmes B.Sc.,GISP, GIS Lead - Associate | TERA Environmental Consultants | Calgary, Alberta, ULA 2012 Graduate - Savannah


Register for GIS in Public Health 2013

2013 GIS in Public Health Conference 

June 17-20, 2013
Miami, Florida

Pre-conference training will include:   

  • An Overview of Open Source GIS Software
  • Detecting Clusters of Adverse Health Outcomes using SaTScan™
  • Geospatial Data Collection for Micro-Environments and Multiple Time Periods: The Use of Spatial Video     

 

Keynotes from Este Geraghty and Andrew Curtis. Dozens of concurrent sessions and poster presentations on important topics including:

 

Dozens of speakers from across the globe will discuss such topics as:  

  • Preparing for the Future: Are Caribbean Countries Positioned to Manage the Increase in Non-communicable Illnesses?
    Patricia Boda, PhD, Associate Professor, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN
  • GIS for Community Air Quality: A Spatial Model of Diesel Exhaust
    Jill Schulte, Research Assistant, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
    Julie Fox, PhD, Senior Fellow, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
  • Comparing Primary Care Service Areas to Estimated Drive Times
    Sean Finnegan, MS, Research and GIS Data Manager, American Academy of Family Physicians, Washington, DC
  • Using Geospatial Mapping to Address the Burden of Diabetes in Durham County, NC
    Benjamin Strauss, MS, GIS Analyst, Children's Environmental Health Initiative, Ann Arbor, MI
    Nicole Sandberg, MURP, GIS Analyst, Children's Environmental Health Initiative, Ann Arbor, MI
  • Small-Area Geographies of Mental Health in England
    Nick Bearman,  Associate Research Fellow in GIS, European Centre for Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter Medical School, United Kingdom      

 

Check out the details and register by May 15 for discounted rates.  

  

Exhibit & Sponsorship Opportunities   
Register Early for GIS-Pro 2013

GIS-Pro 2013: URISA's 51st Annual Conference for GIS Professionals

September 16-19, 2013

Providence, Rhode Island

 

"For me, every GIS-Pro is like being in an intellectual nuclear reactor, where smart people come into close contact, ideas collide, thought processes accelerate, new ideas are formed, and then those ideas spin off around the world as we return home to shake things up by trying new technology, new applications, new processes, and methodologies.  The results are often unexpected and very disruptive! Your bosses and co-workers should be thinking the day that you return to work, '...oh no, he/she's back from that URISA thing! What new ideas does she/he want us to try now?'" - Greg Babinski, GISP, King County GIS Center, Seattle, Washington  


Conference details have been posted and registration is officially open - early registration discounts through July 22...start making your plans.

 Has Spring Sprung? 

Temps are still much too chilly in Chicago but we recently had massive spring rains and flooding in the area. The Des Plaines River is pretty close to the URISA office and had record-breaking flood levels. About 800 buildings and 2,200 land parcels were impacted by the flooding in Des Plaines, according to initial estimates and some major roads are still closed a week later. (Our office was not impacted.) Here is a link to some photos from the area.

Drought last year... floods this year. Take care everyone!
Wendy Nelson

Executive Director, URISA  

    

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