Working in the ACSM booth at ESRI 2007

—by Damion Scholz

This past June, I had the pleasure of attending the ESRI Survey & Engineering GIS Summit and the International User Conference in sunny San Diego, California. The conference brings together people from all over the world and has something for everyone within the GIS community. The knowledge shared was so diverse that I feel this conference would be appropriate for the youngest high school student all the way to the most experienced professional with advanced degrees.
I fit somewhere in between those two extremes, and I had a more focused agenda. I was a presenter at one of the breakout sessions during the Survey & Engineering Summit, and I worked at the ACSM booth in the exhibit hall. My presentation went quite well and I am hoping for good reviews, but working at the ACSM booth is where I gained the most knowledge, and where I spent most of my time at the conference.
   Before I could educate others, I first had to further educate myself. I had volunteered for booth duty not fully understanding the goals and activities of the organizations I was to promote.
I have always felt an affinity for surveying and GIS organizations, but my experience with any of them was limited. So, after a crash course on who the member organizations operating under the umbrella of ACSM are, and what they are involved in, I was ready to spread the word.
   People from all over the world stopped by the booth, and by the end of the conference the piles of promotional material we used were all but exhausted. The free lip balm and highlighters helped to spark curiosity and drew people in, but it was the 42-inch screen showcasing Frontier Surveying’s (of Corpus Christi, Texas) GIS activities that made the ACSM booth stand out from among its neighbors.
After hearing about the member organizations and looking through the many fine publications, most people were happy to take a membership application for at least one, if not more, of the member organizations. CAGIS and GLIS were the two organizations that received the most interest, most likely due to the heavy predominance of GIS professionals attending the conference.
   The History of Chesapeake Bay map from the 2006 CAGIS Map Design Competition was on display, and it was quite popular with the cartography crowd. Many a cartographer left with a CAGIS application in hand and a germ of an idea —I can join and be part of this organization.
   I also talked with many individuals who understood the need for collaboration between surveyors and GIS professionals. This topic seemed to excite strong emotions, which convinced me that GLIS is needed now more than ever in order to help bridge the perceived gap between these two fields.
   The variety of knowledge and experiences shared at the ESRI Conference is astounding, and I left with the firm intension of attending next year’s conference. I felt I took away almost as much knowledge as those I visited with while working at the booth. I gained a genuine understanding of ACSM and the member organizations within it. And I realize now just how important it is to join and participate in professional organizations, so as to bring together different specialties and help bolster professions. I would gladly do it again and would encourage others to experience the same.
Hope to see you at the 2008 ESRI Conference next August!