Tidbits from the #Geodesign Summit II

A few Ferren quotes of note:

“Tech is the stuff that doesn’t work yet - but shows promise.”

“New ideas are not rare - it’s hard to get them done - let alone get them into people hands.”

“PowerPoint is evil. Once you get over going the change of going without it…it’s like getting a Mac.”

I heard that after ESRI Health Marketing Manager Bill Davenhall presented at the TED MED event and was written up in the Huffington Post (APB post), that publication has asked him to conribute a monthly column.

As the camera zoomed in to get Ferran up on the “big screen” someone in the front row’s laptop screen came into sharp focus to everyone. The owner quickly shut it and the audience giggled. Ferren had no idea why we spontaneously broke out in laughter - since he’d not recently said anything funny.

ESRI helped cover some travel and lodging costs related to Directions Media’s attendance at the Summit.

ESRI #Geodesign Summit Day 2 PM

The afternoon of day 2 had attendees returning to their IdeaLab groups to finish out work begun the day before. By the end of the session each group was to highlight one key idea or ideas and/or actions for moving geodesign forward. Further details are to be presented on Friday morning. Here’s a summary of the quick Thursday reports - which to my surprise touched on many of the same topics.

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ESRI #Geodesign Summit Day 2 AM

Michael Goodchild began day 2 of the Geodesign Summit noting that “the measure of a meeting is how quickly my own ideas change.” And that, he said was already happening after day one. This, he noted, could be a meeting where a community forms and there is follow up. At this event he said, we have the right mix to make that happen and move geodesign forward.

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ITT Restructures: Geospatial Systems Division to be Based in Rochester, NY

The company is combining its seven divisions into three: electronic systems in New Jersey, information systems in Virginia and geospatial systems in Rochester.
Why?

“The defense market is changing,” said geospatial systems President Christopher Young. “It’s coming away from some of the work that’s driven ITT defense as a whole. One of the big requests we’re getting from our customers is they’re looking for integrated network solutions, not as interested in widgets per se.”

The realignment will mean a two to three percent force reduction; the new geospatial systems division will employ 4,600 nationally, per the president. The whole company currently numbers more than 30,000.

ITT has made an aggressive push to keep image analysis aligned with GIS; it’s been focusing on its relationship with ESRI quite a lot in the past year focusing on it’s ENVI-EX add on for ArcGIS.

- Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Zillow, Trulia Doing Well in Down Economy

Spencer Rascoff, Zillow’s chief operating officer, reports that the real estate site was up despite the down economy. Why? Uncertainty benefits information providers. The details:

An average of 8.2 million unique users per month in 2009, up 57% year-over-year
37% growth in page views year-over-year
3.9 million for-sale, rental and Make Me Move listings, up 43%, the result of more listings feed partnerships with brokerages and Multiple Listings Services.
550,000 loan requests were submitted on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace in 2009. 46%, or 253,300 were for refinance loans as mortgage rates. Lenders responded with more than 10 million custom loan quotes. To date, over 7,000 lender ratings and reviews have been submitted by borrowers.
171 U.S. newspapers partnered with Zillow to use their search and listings technology

And, the company’s iPhone app, released in April has had 870,000 downloads.

Over at Trulia, it was a big year, too as the site saw a total of 62.3 million unique visitors, the highest figure ever.

Visits grew by more than 45%
Total page views grew by 105%
Property views grew by more than 130%
Consumer questions doubled over 2008 on Trulia Voices
Nearly 1 million home buyer inquiries were sent to real estate agents
Trulia became one of the Top 5 Real Estate sites on the web, according to Hitwise

And, the company’s iPhone app was downloaded more than 300,000 downloads. It’s got a sibling: a mobile site accessible on any mobile handset.

Both of these sites have grown with almost no recent hype, a sign that they are not “one visit wonders.” Turning a profit? That’s not mentioned in the coverage of either one.

via Search Engine Watch