This year a number of the
steering group team were able to attend the annual AGI Geocommunity Event. It’s
the main event of the year where all the AGI sigs and community come together
to debate, discuss, catch up, gossip and talk all things geo for two days (two
and an evening if you come to the ice-breaker).
Below are some thoughts
from the team on their experiences and thoughts as we move towards the annum
Welsh event this year
We have split this down
into three sections – those who were first timers, some views from the regulars
and also a different perspective from Charlie as a speaker. Thanks to all the
team who volunteered their comments!! We hope you enjoy them.
The Newbies View
Matthew
Yandell-Thomas, GIS Analyst, Environment Systems
“This was my first AGI conference. I thought the experience was a good one as I was able to put faces to names that I had heard mentioned around the office.
The talks I attended were pretty good and I found the keynote talks by Andrew Watson from the Metropolitan Police about planning the Olympics and by Tim Stoner about the flow of cities particularly interesting.”
Geraint
Davies, AGI Cymru Chair, 2011 - 2012.
"This is the first time I have attended the annual AGI conference, and I thought it was excellent. The range of speakers and content meant that I was often flipping a coin in order to decide which presentation to attend. Sadly I did not have time to attend the pre conference ice breaker or the meal after the first day's activities, but will definitely make time next year, as it sounded like excellent fun and an additional opportunity to build on existing networks. All in all an excellent event, professionally organized and good value."
The Regular’s View
David Downing,
Government Team, ESRI;
“Having attended a number of AGI Annual Conferences over the years, I always come to the next expecting it to be the same as the year before – however there’s always something new to pick-up on and ‘old’ friends, colleagues and customers to meet. The conference in 2012 was no exception to this; again proving the value of this annual get-together for those involved in all things GI whether an application user, developer or supplier. The move by AGI in 2013 towards more regional events is a great idea but should not replace the annual conference where so many people come together for a couple of days to exchange ideas and views.
Hopefully the AGI Cymru annual conference on the 4th December will be just as rewarding to attend – with Esri UK having the pleasure of being a major sponsor again this year.”
Sue
Beetlestone, Senior Corporate GIS Officer & PSMA Principal Contact, Powys
County Council;
“Having attended Geocommunities (and their predecessors) over a good number of years I was looking forward keenly to this years offering. It did not disappoint!
It was fortunate that I was able to take a colleague from Powys along this year and we were able to cover more of the presentations which caught our interest – we were still spoilt for choice though. Altogether it lived up to the usual standards with presentations to inform and inspire us. The plenearies this year were exceptionally good – as befitted the Olympic spirit pervading the rest of the country. Geocommunities never fails to send me back to work full of ideas and enthusiasm for this great “Geoworld” we work in.”
Dave Roberts, Cartographics, WAG
I have been to the AGI Geocommunities events for a number of years, but this was my 1st ice breaker, what a great way to start the conference. Instead of setting off at 5:30 and beating my way around the Midlands during the morning rush and feeling exhausted before the days presentations had even started, I arrived the evening before only having to fight the traffic for the last few miles into Nottingham city centre.
The evenings entertainment started with a cheeky geobeer before dinner, then into a quiz that made Mastermind and University Challenge seem like an Under 8s quiz night. Before the dining was finished the challenge was on to build the tallest possible free standing tower from spaghetti and marshmallows, the table I was on soon conceded as it became clear that the team consisting of the telecom engineers from China were at a clear advantage (though I'm sure the mobile masts they construct use materials a bit more robust than pasta and marshmallow!) as the tower they were constructing soon approached 5 feet in height.
As dinner finished talk inevitably moved into the geoworld (there were over a hundred geographers in the room) and some useful networking was carried out, before a final social flourish. The socialising for some went on well into the night and early hours, but I took the opportunity of a night away from the kids to get a whole nights sleep knowing that the following night when the rest of the Geocommunity turned up was going to require even more "networking".
The next 2 days passed in a whirl of presentations, meetings, workshops and networking. I came away feeling inspired to do things better in my own job, justified that we doing things the right way and that the AGI is helping make the connections to make my job easier.
I look forward to December 4th at the SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff, to see how we put a bit of a Welsh spin on the Geocommunity and geobeers the night before at Zero Degrees....”
The Presenter’s View
Charlie Gilbert, Business Solutions Director, Dotted Eyes
“I have attended AGI for a number of years and this year I was really pleased to be selected to deliver a presentation in the social geography track on the second day. The title of my presentation was something that really interests me – how we all interact and connect as a “geo” community – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Blogs and even events such as the AGI – the melting pot of communication!
I had the full intention of carving out a significant amount of time to write my presentation but the time drifted towards the event I became more and more nervous about the fact that I had to submit a paper and deliver a presentation with only a few weeks to go.
So one weekend, a few notes suddenly turned into a 3000 word paper. Heading back to Nottingham took me back to my University days where I studied Geography and did a Masters in GIS, and I even went back to my old halls as the event was hosted at the University’s impressive Conference facilities.
It was a really well run event with some great speakers, and a good opportunity to network and catch up with the AGI team, and my presentation appeared to go down well, especially as Dave and Geraint were in the room cheering me on.
I too particularly enjoyed the plenary presentations which were a mix of theory, technical progression and development, and also some thought provoking sessions which challenged you. It was also good to see that in the difficult economic climate, suppliers like ESRI are still making the investment and pushing the technical boundaries forward in terms of what you can do with GIS, rather than the same old stuff presented again year after year. This innovation was also matched in the projects people had implemented, showing that the industry isn’t standing still and resting on its laurels.
I really enjoyed Charles Kennelly’s presentation and I am looking forward to his presentation in Cardiff next week too. As I was delivering my presentation on the second of the two days, it meant I didn’t take part in any festivities in the evening, so I’m looking to doing that part again next year.
Looking forward to a great 2013 year with AGI Cymru as I take the helm from Geraint as Chair.”
No comments:
Post a Comment