Brian Kazmerik is the 2015 MGUG Award Winner

Congratulations to Brian Kazmerik who was presented with the 2015 MGUG Award at the Fall Conference on October 7^th.  It is quite a year for Brian who was also recognized at the Esri User Group meeting for his contribution to the GIS community.

Beginning in 2012, MGUG has presented this award annually to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the Manitoba Geomatics community.   Tom Naughten won in 2012; Conrad Wyrzykowski won the award in 2013; and Al Dakin won the award in 2014.  I have known all four award winners for many years and agree that they are outstanding individuals and deserve recognition for their contributions to the Geomatics community.

Congratulations Brian on your award – it is well deserved.

GIS Day at the University of Manitoba

The University of Manitoba recently held its second annual GIS Day event.  The “conference” was interesting, successful and I was happy to be invited.  The setting was unique.  The event was held in the intimate setting of the Archives and Special Collections area of the Elizabeth Dafoe Library.   The head of the organizing committee is Cynthia Dietz, GIS Environmental Studies Librarian, at the University of Manitoba.

Several progressive organizations participated to showcase their achievements.  Participants included: Ducks Unlimited, Province of Manitoba, City of Winnipeg, University of Winnipeg, University of Manitoba, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and North/South Consultants.

GIS Day occurs every year on the Wednesday of Geography week.  This year GIS Day was on November 19, 2014.  GIS Day provides a forum for users of GIS technology to demonstrate real-world applications that are making a difference in our society.

For more information on the University of Manitoba GIS Day event visit: University of Manitoba GISday Event

I am looking forward to the 2015 Event.

Al Dakin is the 2014 MGUG Award Winner

Congratulations to Al Dakin who was presented with the 2014 MGUG Award at the Fall Conference on October 1^st.   Beginning in 2012, MGUS has presented this award annually to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the Manitoba Geomatics community.   Tom Naughten won in 2012 and Conrad Wyrzykowski won the award in 2013.  I have known all three award winners for many years and agree that they are outstanding individuals and deserve recognition for their contributions to the Geomatics community.

For the last dozen years, Al Dakin was known as the force behind the Manitoba Land Initiative (MLI).  After 35 years of working for the Government of Manitoba, Al has retired.  We already miss you Al.

Congratulations Al on your well-deserved award and on your retirement.

MGUG 2014 Fall Conference Set for October 1st, 2014

The Manitoba GIS User Group (MGUG) 2014 Fall Conference is set for October 1st at the Victoria Inn and Convention Centre in Winnipeg.  The MGUG Fall Conference is Manitoba's premier geospatial information conference event. With an outstanding slate of geospatial presentations, excellent networking opportunities, and a vibrant trade show, we are expecting another great turnout for this year’s Conference.

MGUG is honoured to have the Mayor of Brandon, Shari Decter Hirst, welcome delegates to the 2014 Conference with opening remarks.  Diamond and Conference keynote sponsor TECTERRA is bringing Dr. Joseph Berry, a leading consultant and educator in the application of GIS technology and a writer of over 200 papers on the theory and application of map analysis techniques, to be one of our keynote speakers.  Dr. Berry will be presenting on the ‘Future Directions of Map Analysis and GIS Modelling’ and on ‘GIS in Natural Resources and Agriculture’.  A second keynote by Michael Luchia will explore the role of GIS in the 2013 Calgary flood and Dr. James Boxall will provide an update on the Pan-Canadian Geomatics Strategy.  The Conference will also feature student contest winners, the 2014 MGUG Award recipient and a variety of additional presentations that we think will all inform and inspire you.  A vibrant vendor display area is also expected.


MGUG is also excited to be displaying the Canadian Geographic’s giant ‘Canada from Space’ floor map during the Conference.  With a dimension of 10.7m (35’) x 7.9m (26’), this huge Canada map of RADARSAT-2 imagery is guaranteed to be popular.

Finally, if you’re interested in attending an informal pre-conference mixer the evening of September 30th, please join us between 5 – 8 pm at the Victoria Inn Hotel lounge.

For additional Conference information as well as registration details, please visit the MGUG website at www.mgug.ca.



Today's post is brought to you by:

Tony Viveiros, GISP
MGUG President

Imagery for Manitoba

Do you sometimes (or always) switch from the map view to the satellite / photography backdrop when using Bing Maps, Google Maps or Esri online products? I do because I like the extra information conveyed with pictures.

Long before the Google, Microsoft and Esri online products were around Manitoba was collecting and creating a photo mosaic backdrop for Manitoba.  Although in those days, it was primarily for GIS and CADD desktop users.

The first round of what many people referred to as digital ortho imagery – or DOI - was flown in the 1990s.  The geographic coverage was southern Manitoba – primarily targeted at the agricultural area, although scope expanded into the Interlake, Whiteshell and Duck Mountains.  The photos were black and white and collected at a 2 meter resolution. 

The imagery turned out to be one of the most important and frequently used GIS datasets that Manitoba has produced.  The usefulness of the imagery also changed the thinking of many hard-core GIS purists, who were convinced that the imagery program was a waste of money and that topographic mapping was the way to continue.

In 2005 a consortium of Manitoba Government Departments, Agriculture Canada (PFRA) and Manitoba Hydro was formed to organize, fund and capture a second round of imagery.  Later Louisiana Pacific also contributed to the program.  The first year of capture was 2007 and the program ended in 2013.  The geographic area was similar to that captured in the 1990s.  The imagery was collected in both color and black & white at 50cm resolution.

The ortho images were made available to the public on the Manitoba Land Initiative (MLI) site.  (Not all imagery is on the MLI because of space limitations.) In addition, Manitoba created an agreement to provide the data to Google so that the information was available in Google Earth and Google Maps.  For a while it was common to see Manitoba credited when zooming around Manitoba in Google products.   Lately, it is less common to see Manitoba credited as Google replaces the Manitoba imagery with more recently collected sources from Landsat, DigitalGlobe, etc.

More than two years ago, in January 2012 (my New Year’s wishesblog), I asked for a new imagery program and stated that: “A Provincial Image strategy that includes the North needs to be developed.”  The last round of imagery is getting old – some of it is 7 years old.

Should Manitoba undertake the cost and effort to embark on a new round of imagery collection?  Should there be an ongoing imagery collection program?  Should the program include the North and the remote areas of Manitoba?  Or, should we rely on the imagery provided by Google, Esri and Bing?

MGUG Wins Award of Excellence

This year at the Esri Canada User conference, MGUG won the Esri Canada Award of Excellence. The award was given out by Scott Labonte, Senior Account Executive and Alex Miller, President. The award is in recognition of the significant role that MGUG plays in the GIS community.

Current MGUG president, Tony Viveiros, accepted the award on behalf of all of the MGUG volunteers, past and present. Past presidents Suzanne Houlind, John Teillet, Grant Wiseman and Richard Lebedynski accompanied Tony on stage.

It somehow seems fitting that MGUG should receive an award on that stage. It was at the Esri User Conference in October 2006 that MGUG was first officially announced to the world. Esri gave MGUG a few minutes of time to describe the organization, our vision and to give out membership forms for people to fill out. MGUG received its first 70 membership applications (other than board members) from that conference.

After accepting the award, Tony Viveiros gave a short presentation on MGUG, describing some of its many accomplishments.

Congratulations to all of the hard working MGUG volunteers that have contributed to MGUG’s success over the years. You are all deserving of this award.

MGUG 2013 Conference is Coming

It’s time to mark your calendars again. The Manitoba GIS Users Group (MGUG) 2013 Conference is October 2nd at the Victoria Inn Hotel & Convention Centre.

The conference keynote presentation will be delivered by Steve Coast, founder of OpenStreetMap (OSM) and Principal Architect at Microsoft's Bing Mobile. Once again TECTERRA has stepped up as the conference keynote sponsor.

Steve will discuss OpenStreetMaps past, present and future and provide insights into Microsoft's mapping strategy. It will be interesting to hear Steve’s comments on crowdsourcing and its influence on mapping.

The MGUG annual conference is the premier GIS event in Manitoba. Last year, the event was heavily advertised and nearly 500 people attended the conference. This year MGUG seems to be taking a different approach to conference advertising. It seems that there are fewer mass emails and the MGUG web-site doesn’t have the “GeoDrive to 500” that was used as a publicly announced goal for success in 2011 and 2012. Also by this time last year, both CBC and Shaw TV were part of the advertising campaign in addition to some key sponsors and a partial agenda (three key speakers, a Geomatics panel discussion with six GIS movers and shakers). My advice to MGUG is to release a bit more of the agenda now and more as it firms up.

Regardless of the advertising approach taken by MGUG this year, the MGUG Conference is the best GIS event of the year and a must attend for those in the geospatial industry. I can guarantee that there will be some excellent presentations and the opportunities for networking in the geospatial field are unmatched.

MGUG 2012 is a Success!

The second Manitoba GIS Users Group’s (MGUG) all-day conference was last week on Tuesday September 25, 2012.  Now that it is over, it’s time for a review.

The conference was a fabulous success and the organizers deserve all of the congratulations we can give them.  MGUG made their goal of 500 conference attendees.  The Victoria Inn was an improved venue over last year and had more of a “conference” feel to it.  Last year in my post conference review, I suggested that there was too much separation between the exhibitor floor and the food and refreshments.  Problem solved!  This year, they were within the same room.

Following up on last year’s success, the exhibitor’s floor was once more an amazing assortment of booths and exhibits.   My recommendation for next year:  Allow for poster papers.  With MGUG’s ongoing support of education, the poster paper section could include an educational poster paper section with award for a winner, in addition to any poster papers that business wanted to display.

The conference got off to a great start with an excellent keynote from  Ed Parsons of Google.  Ed was a superb speaker with an interesting message about where Google was and where it was going.  He entertained and dazzled the crowd.   As a Sci-Fi fan, I enjoyed his many subtle or not too subtle Sci-Fi references in his presentation.  Who is next?  Ed Parsons is a tough act to follow, but MGUG has accepted the challenge of continuously improving.

The Presentations were once again well done and diverse.  Fred Meier (Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship) reported the many positive accomplishments from GeoManitoba.  It was good to hear about GeoManitoba, because one of the criticisms of GeoManitoba is its lack of communication.  More than one person commented to me that they have looked up GeoManitoba on the Government web-site and found nothing.  MGUG abandoned the lightning presentations this conference.

The quality of the Panel Discussion at the end of the day was not a surprise to me.  Knowing Greg Carlson, Rob Gerry and David Enns as I do, I expected strong thoughtful responses to each question. Perhaps the only disappointment was the lack of controversy, with everyone agreeing on everything.

Congratulations once again MGUG.  How will you top this year’s conference?

MGUG Conference 2012

The big MGUG Conference is scheduled for September 25, 2012.  This is the second full one-day conference that MGUG has organized.  Last year, the conference headliner was Microsoft and the conference was held at Celebrations Dinner Theatre.   This was a breakthrough event for MGUG, with attendance in the 350 range.

This year the conference headliner is Google, with Ed Parsons giving the keynote.  The attendance is already near 350 with three weeks to go before the event, so it looks like success is nearly guaranteed.

In addition to Google, there are some local heavy hitters speaking including the President and CEO of Manitoba Hydro and the Deputy Minister of Conservation.  Dr. Mohamed Abousalem the CEO of TECTERRA is also on the agenda, and he is always worth listening to.

The Geomatics panel discussion at the end of the day has potential to be extremely interesting.  Representatives from all walks of Geomatics will be together with representatives from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, GeoManitoba, Manitoba Hydro, the City of Winnipeg, the University of Winnipeg and private industry.  David Enns and Rob Gerry are long-time colleagues of mine and both are former MGUG board members - I can vouch for their extensive knowledge of the industry.

Once again, we are looking forward to a great GIS conference.  For more information go to the MGUG web site www.mgug.ca

Manitoba Road Network

One of the most fundamental datasets in any province or state is a road network.  This key feature is used for reference, navigation and routing.

Currently no single organization in Manitoba has overall responsibility for managing and maintaining the complete digital version of a Manitoba Road Network (MRN).  Various components are maintained in a piecemeal fashion and some components are not maintained at all.  Natural Resources Canada, the creators of the National Road Network, produced the Manitoba portion of the National Road Network (NRN).  NRCan does not have a mandate to maintain this network and unfortunately the geometry of the NRN is already becoming dated.  Other organizations, such as Manitoba Hydro and the Medical Transportation Coordination Centre are maintaining road networks for their internal operational needs.

In recognition of the need for this important dataset GeoManitoba and Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation have begun a project to establish a Manitoba Road Network.  The purpose of the MRN project is to establish a program to develop and maintain a representation of a continuous, accurate, and spatially-referenced centerline for all non-restricted roads in Manitoba.

The objectives of the project include consulting with stakeholders and defining the MRN requirements and establishing partnerships.  Development of the MRN will include establishing a governance, ownership and oversight model to ensure the network’s ongoing upkeep.

A successful MRN project will have the following benefits:

• Overall ownership and responsibility as well as ownership and responsibility for individual pieces will be clearly established and documented
• Manitoba will have a road network that is complete and current with a maintenance plan to keep it current going forward
• Public Safety will be enhanced by improved 911 emergency vehicle dispatch
• Improved management of emergencies by Emergency Measures Organizations such as EMO, Manitoba Health, Manitoba Agriculture and Food Initiatives, etc.
• Partnerships will be established with Federal and Provincial government agencies, crown corporations and private industry which will decrease the burden on any one organization and will pave the way for improved data sharing.  
• Creation of the MRN will reduce the duplication of effort and cost that is currently expended by various organizations to independently obtain or create a road network for their own needs. 
• Improved dispatch of gas, transmission line and emergency service by utility organizations such as Manitoba Hydro.

Let's hope this project is a success.  We need this critical dataset.

2012 Esri Canada User Conference

For GIS people, the Place to be this Wednesday, May 30, 2012 is the Fort Garry Hotel for the annual Esri Canada User Conference.  This conference is an annual event in Winnipeg for the last 15 years (or so).

The conference follows the same formula, year after year, starting with corporate news and new product information and demos from Esri Canada President Alex Miller and Esri technical experts.  Hearing what is new and what is coming always creates a buzz at the coffee and lunch breaks.  This is a great opportunity to see Esri’s latest technology and their vision for the future.  Even if you are not an Esri GIS user, the conference provides wonderful insight into the future and trends of GIS from the market leader.

Following Alex are the Award of Excellence, Education shout out and user presentations.  This year the user presentations from Rob Gerry, Jim Boyd & Tony Viveiros and others look extremely interesting.  Since there are two tracks, it may be tough picking which one to go see.  Personally, I am looking forward to the ArcGIS for SharePoint Technical Session.

For me, the best part of the conference is the fabulous networking with other GISers.  Every year the Esri User Conference is one of the best gathering places for GIS people in Manitoba.

The 2012 Esri Canada User Conference should be an excellent program that is well worth the time and entrance fee.

For more information go to the Esri Canada User Conferences section on the Esri Canada web site.

MGUG Announces its 2012 Keynote Speaker

Mark your calendars, it’s now official … Ed Parsons of Google^™ is coming to Winnipeg as the Keynote Speaker for the Manitoba GIS Users Group (MGUG) 2012 Fall Conference & Annual General Meeting (AGM) on September 25^th at the Victoria Inn Hotel & Convention Centre.  Ed Parsons is Google's Geospatial Technologist.  Based in London England, Mr. Parsons is responsible for Google's mission to organize the world's information using geospatial tools including: Google Earth, Google Maps and Google Maps for Mobile.  As a geospatial evangelist, Mr. Parsons is on the leading edge reshaping how humanity views the earth and our place in it.

Mr. Parsons will present his perspective on new geomatics applications and concepts.  He will address latest advancements in utilization of geospatial concepts in Google products.  Mr. Parsons will discuss utilization of Google geo-spatial tools in your applications, and answer related questions.

Previous Conferences have attracted many geomatic professionals and students.  Attendance last year topped 350 attendees.  With an outstanding slate of geo-spatial presentations, excellent networking opportunities, new larger venue, and phenomenal exhibition trade show, attendance goals for the September 2012 Conference are set at 500 attendees.  In preparation and anticipation of the “GeoDrive to 500” an online gauge has been created to track the number of conference registrations on the MGUG website.

This is a preliminary announcement.  Additional Conference information will soon be available on the MGUG website.

We welcome any suggestions in helping to build our largest and most successful event to date and thank you for your involvement and interest as we look forward to seeing you on Tuesday, September 25^th at the Victoria Inn Hotel & Convention Centre.

Today's GeoBlog is brought to you by:

Richard Lebedynski, B.A., Adv. Dip. GIS, C.E.T.

MGUG President

An SDI for Manitoba

Last week, GeoManitoba released a request for proposal (RFP) for a Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) to replace the Government of Manitoba’s aging MLI site.  If you want to read the RFP it is available on MERX (http://www.merx.com/) until March 23, 2012.

What is an SDI?
An SDI comprises the technologies, policies and people necessary to enable the use of spatially referenced data through all levels of government, the private sector, non-profit organizations and academia. Manitoba requires the SDI to store, manage and disseminate its geospatial data across government and to the broader general public.  The SDI infrastructure should be scalable to meet future needs and to easily integrate with corporate, local and national SDIs

Is this a good thing for Manitoba?
Let me assure you that a new SDI is a good thing for Manitoba.  The existing MLI site has been around for more than 10 years.  That’s 70 dog years and 100 internet years.  The old site is difficult for the current staff to maintain. 
“Anticipated SDI benefits include improved government collaboration, improved communication, and improvements to distribution of government information. These improvements will result in government departments sharing enterprise resources, leveraging efforts, reducing redundancy, enhancing productivity, improving data quality, improving decision-making, and addressing the public need for accurate information efficiently and effectively.”

Cost?
No cost or limit was specified in the RFP.  It will be up to those who respond to the RFP to propose a price.   This doesn’t mean that the budget is unlimited, but an open competition such as this ensures that taxpayers get the best deal.

Technology?
No technology was specified as mandatory in the RFP although those responding to the RFP are asked to leverage Manitoba’s existing infrastructure in their proposed design but also to be innovative.  We are hoping that the result will be a solution that works for all of Manitoba’s spatial data users.

Timeline
The RFP is asking for a solution design by November 2012, with a phased development and implementation completed by summer of 2013.

Stay tuned!  Exciting times ahead!

A Manitoba GIS Hall of Fame

The Manitoba GIS User Group (MGUG) has suggested that it may be time for the GIS community to consider recognition awards for GISers in Manitoba who have made a significant contribution.  I fully support the idea and I can see how an organization, such as MGUG could institute one or more different awards.

Discussion of this topic is interesting as it fits with an idea I was mulling over since I wrote the Blog on The First GIS Conference.  At the time, I pondered more substantial recognition than a reference in the GIS Blog and wrote the original draft of this column several months ago.  What I came up with is detailed in idea #3 below.

The first type of recognition award could be along the lines of a “GIS Person of the Year”.  This award could recognize someone who has made a significant and valuable contribution to the GIS community in the last year.  The current president of MGUG, Richard Lebedynski, is someone I would nominate for this year’s award.

The second award type acknowledges a longer term contribution to the field of GIS.  An award of this type helps us show our appreciation to those who have made significant contributions over many years.  In addition, a national or international variation on this type of award could be offered to individuals outside of Manitoba, such as Jack Dangermond, in an effort to entice them into attending and speaking to the MGUG conference.   This is similar to the International Awards that St. Boniface Hospital offers as part of its recognition and fund raising.

The third idea involves the establishment of a Manitoba GIS Hall of Fame!  Why not create and maintain a permanent institution dedicated to those who were builders of the GIS community in Manitoba?   By institution, I do not mean that we need to have a building with bronze busts of the inductees.  The Hall of Fame can be virtual and could be a part of the MGUG web site.  Or, perhaps in addition to the virtual Hall of Fame, GeoManitoba could donate wall space for pictures.  I can recommend a few people who deserve this honour, starting with Dr. Marci Faurer.

This is no reason we cannot do any or all of the above and I would love to dedicate a blog to the deserving winner(s).

GeoManitoba is Officially Announced

In case you missed it, the Government of Manitoba officially announced the creation of GeoManitoba on its website on GIS Day - November 16, 2011.  (Click here to see announcement)

“GeoManitoba brings together all government mapping and data management services, making it easier for the public and organizations to access these services,” said Conservation Minister Dave Chomiak.  “It will also guide the use of geographic information services across government, ensuring the highest possible standards and the best use of new and emerging technologies.”

To the casual person in the public there is little different on the outside – so far. The Government web-site does not yet reflect the new organization and the establishment of GeoManitoba.  But GeoManitoba has begun to make its presence felt ...

Underneath the surface GeoManitoba is undergoing a transformation that is good for all of us in the Manitoba GIS community.   There is a reorganization and a revitalization of an area that was somewhat neglected for the last ten years.  GeoManitoba is currently marshalling the human and geospatial resources to actively participate, and in some cases guide or lead, geospatial evolution in Manitoba.  Some of the initiatives will take a year, two or more to develop, but the direction is positive and the impact on the GIS community will be huge.

The head honcho of GeoManitoba is Greg Carlson.

2012 New Year's Wishes

A momentous year for GIS in Manitoba has come to an end.  Now it is time to look forward to the New Year and what we can hope for in Manitoba: 

A New Spatial Data Warehouse
The MLI was state-of-the-art once and is still a fantastic resource for data but it is time for an update with all of the modern services. 

Another Big GIS Conference
Yes we all wish for an annual GIS conference in Manitoba to rival or exceed the one that MGUG put on this fall at Celebrations Dinner Theatre.  MGUG has given themselves a tough act to follow, but we have expectations now.

Orthophoto Refresh Program
The current orthophoto refresh project is a tremendous update to the old orthos from the 1990s and the organizers and partners need to be commended.  The orthos look great.  The current refresh has been running for 7 years and we all wonder what happens when the current round of refresh ends?  Will there be another round?  How long do we have to wait before it starts?  Shouldn’t there be an ongoing refresh of old orthos?  A Provincial Image strategy that includes the North needs to be developed.

Oh I am sure there is more, but then I wouldn’t have anything to wish for next year.

A GIS developed in Manitoba

Did you know that there was a GIS developed in Manitoba?  It’s true!  MAP II was developed in the mid-to-late 1980s at the University of Manitoba Geography Department.  It was also the first (or one of the first) GIS built for the Mac.

As a member of the faculty at the University of Manitoba, Micha Pazner led the building of an Apple Macintosh-based Geography Laboratory in the mid-1980s.  From there, Micha Pazner, Chris Kirby and Nancy Thies headed the team that developed MAP II, a Mac-based GIS.  The first version was named MAP II, as it was based on the map algebra developed by Dana Tomlin, implemented in his Map Analysis Package (MAP) and was considered a second generation of MAP.

Back in the days when GIS were commonly grouped into the Raster or Vector camp, this was a raster-based GIS.  MAP II was unique at the time as it was developed with an emphasis on user friendliness and map visualization.  GIS software packages at the time were difficult to use and GUIs and user-friendly interfaces were not common. For example, the powerful ArcInfo system was command line driven.

One of the cool features that I remember was that maps developed in MAP II could be exported to other software programs, such as drawing packages.   This was truly extraordinary for the time and a major advantage of being in the Mac world, as this was long before the days of Windows and integrated software suites in the PC world.

The developers distributed MAP II through John Wiley and Sons publishing company and documentation may still be available on Amazon.  MAP II was used as a teaching GIS at the University of Manitoba and University of Winnipeg throughout much of the early 1990s.

Micha Pazner is an Associate Professor at the University of Western Ontario.

Conference Season is Over

As we approach November, we can look back at a first for Manitoba – multiple GIS-related conferences within a six week period.  In mid-September, we started with IHEEP, followed by MGUG and Intergraph.  To finish the season, ESRI hosted a Public Infrastructure Leadership Forum at the Fort Garry Hotel on October 25.

All of the GIS events were good and useful to the GIS community.  For me, the crown jewel of the lot was the MGUG conference on September 30.  I found the presentations given by Microsoft to be extremely interesting and useful.  Others I have talked to were extremely impressed with Taz Stuart and John Sauder.  One of the most interesting presentations was given by Dr. Mohamed Abousalem of Tecterra who almost came across like Santa Claus.  Even today, as I attend other events and talk with others, they are still referring to the MGUG event and how good it was.

The other events of this season were more focussed – each specializing in a different area.  At IHEEP, the focus was on transportation but it did have a broader appeal to the Geomatics professional with a full day of sessions devoted to LiDAR.  As mentioned in a previous blog, the feedback was excellent and that the LiDAR sessions were worth attending.

The Intergraph Regional Users’ Conference held at the Delta was a great opportunity to see Intergraph’s latest technology and their vision for the future.  It was free and about 75 people attended.  For me, the most interesting part of the conference was the presentation on Smart Client, a powerful thin client application that Intergraph will soon be releasing in North America.

Earlier this week, ESRI held a Public Infrastructure Leadership Forum.  Again, this was a focused event that would not appeal to all GIS people, but was useful for those who are interested in asset management.

After all of the excitement of September and October, it looks like it will be a long winter, unless MGUG puts on a half day workshop sometime after the New Year.  Otherwise, the next GIS events to look forward to are in March or later with WestMan GIS conference and the ESRI Regional User Group.

MGUG September 2011 Conference Review

The Manitoba GIS Users Group’s (MGUG) first all-day conference was last week on Friday September 30, 2011.  Now that it is over, it’s time for an analysis of what was good and what could be improved.

First the positive:

• There was a great turnout.  I did not get a number from MGUG, but there must have been 350 people at the conference.  This is the best turnout we have seen for a Manitoba GIS conference.   This is a credit to all of the hard work and organization of the current MGUG board.  The current board should also pay tribute to those who established MGUG – the first sponsors, workshop attendees and board members who created MGUG out of nothing, nursed it along through the early years and helped create the MGUG brand.  The current organizers have taken it to a new level and ensured that MGUG is THE GIS organization in Manitoba and the MGUG conference is the place to be for a GIS event.
• The exhibitor’s floor was amazing.  I could not believe how many organizations and vendors had booths and exhibits.  I have to admit that I skipped out of a couple of the presentations so that I could get some one-on-one time with the exhibitors.
• Another surprise was the great prizes that were given out – although I was disappointed not to win one.
• Although some may not agree with me I consider the entrance fee a positive.  The amount was reasonable and should not have restricted access.  Charging delegates gave MGUG added freedom to host at an interesting venue and run it like a “real” conference.
• I had a discussion with a few people at the end and the topic of how short the presentations were came up.  This was seen as positive by all who discussed.  In a conference like this where there are no alternative tracks, having presentations of 30 minutes or less is a good thing.

What could be Improved:

• I was pretty impressed with the conference, so my suggestions for improvements are pretty minor.
• The Lightning Talks almost all went over 10 minutes.  Since the afternoon presentations were only 20 minutes, having 15 minutes presentations did not seem like “lightning”.  There was also too long an intro for these short talks.  Reading the biography (which is already written in the program) for two minutes before a short talk was excessive.  These talks needed to be shorter with a shorter intro.
• When I was in the consulting world and working at conferences, we wanted to maximize the number of people who came by our booth.  The best events had the food and refreshment service near or at the exhibitor floor.  The MGUG event had quite a separation between breakfast, lunch and the exhibitors’ floor.
• Now that MGUG is established in the big time, is it time for a major league keynote speaker to open the conferences?

Next up is the Intergraph Regional Users’ Conference on October 19, 2011 at the Delta.  For more information check out: http://www.intergraph.com/global/ca/events/ICAN2011/winnipeg/default.aspx

Manitoba GIS Conference Update

It seems to be GIS conference season in Manitoba, with three events in about a one month period.

The first was IHEEP 2011 which ran the week of September 11 to 15, 2011.  The focus of IHEEP (International Highway Engineering and Exchange Program) is the application of technology to the transportation industry and they held their annual conference in Winnipeg at the Fairmont.  This conference had a broader appeal to the Geomatics professional with a full day of sessions devoted to LiDAR.  Feedback is that it was an excellent conference and that the LiDAR sessions were worth attending.

The second conference of the season is the MGUG event scheduled for September 30, 2011.  The conference is an all day event with an ice breaker on September 29, 2011.    With more than 250 people already signed up, this conference is sure to be a success.  Microsoft and John Sauder are headlining so it should be an excellent program that is well worth the time and small entrance fee.  It will be great to see Microsoft’s vision of the future.  We are looking forward to this event.  For more information go to the MGUG web site http://www.mgug.ca/

The third conference of the season is the Intergraph Regional Users’ Conference on October 19, 2011 at the Delta. This is a great opportunity to see Intergraph’s latest technology and their vision for the future.   You can’t beat the cost – it’s free.  Intergraph is one of the big GIS players in Manitoba and internationally, yet somehow they seem to fly under the radar, with many in the GIS community unaware of their presence. Intergraph users include MTS, the City of Winnipeg, DND, Winnipeg Police, the RCMP, Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation and Manitoba Conservation.  For more information check out: http://www.intergraph.com/global/ca/events/ICAN2011/winnipeg/default.aspx