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GeoMullah was there and shares what he took away including a new MetaCarta Labs where users are invited to play with new technology that may or may not turn into real products. He notes he’s “drunk the Kool-Aid.” Yeah, me too, a few years back.
Brian Goldin (Spatailly Enabled) notes that some ESRI folks put together an interview podcast to promote its speakers (and topic, ArcWeb Services) at the upcoming FlashForward conference to be held at the end of the month in Seattle.
FlashForward? That’s the conference on MacroMedia Flash and related topics. (No, I didn’t know what it was either!) While Brian notes the podcast is pretty clear cut (and includes my former colleague Mansour “I can connect any ESRI software to a toaster” Raad), the interesting thing here for me is ESRI having a bigger presence at technology shows.
In the past ESRI was at OracleWorld and the big IBM events and lots of industry specific shows, but its becoming a bit more technology mainstream by appearing at this sort of event.
GITA’s online convention has been online since October 1. It runs until December 31, so you still have time to visit. I spoke with someone today who said they’d registered, but not yet attended. I seriously wondered if they actually would attend. That’s one of the challenges with online 24x7 access, you never get around to going. (GITA reported in a press release that 650 people had registered in the first month. No word on how many converted to attendees.) For a real conference you have to get on a plane (or in your car or on the train) to actually “go there” and then are hopefully “not so” distracted by work at home that you attend sessions, visit with vendors, etc. Sitting at your computer its very easy to be distracted by e-mail, the latest project, games, gossip, etc.
I did attend the conference since one of my colleagues “hoped” I’d “join.” I was disappointed that I could not hear the four speakers. I twiddled with my sound tools on the computer but could barely hear any of them. I was also disappointed that only two of the four speakers providing slides. Perhaps their talks didn’t need slides; I couldn’t tell. New speakers will be introduced on November 15. I hope the sound issues are tamed by then. I also found the booths disappointing. Basically, they were links to the companies’ websites. There was nothing to draw me to those websites, no lures of information or the ability to speak with representatives. Real show floor booths, I like to think, lure attendees in with promises of information (and trinkets) and ultimately allow conversations with knowledgeable staffers.
I had one other challenge. Once I registered I could not find the URL for the actual event – only the place where you register! For those with the same problem, the event is online here.
I do give GITA credit for trying new ways to educate and inform and carry out its mission. I think there’s still some maturation of the online conference vision to come.
I’ve not attended the URISA conference for a few years now. Luckily, URISA itself wrote up what happened. Attendance was down at 450, which seems very low to me. Of those some 13 were past presidents. I wonder how many “first timers” were in attendance? This overview is valuable for those who are exploring which conferences best meet their needs. URISA does serve an important niche, I fear that niche is simply getting smaller.
