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It goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway), that the ESRI UC gathers just about everyone in the GIS ecosystem but certain observations can be gleaned from talking to some of the major players. I offer these comments:
I was just in the press room trying to finish up some articles for tomorrow’s newsletter and got the tug from ESRI’s Clem Henrickson. “You need to see this!” He showed me two maps just posted to the ESRI UC website.
First off a 3D router to get between rooms in the convention center and/or the Marriott next door. It’s multi-modal since you take stairs, escalators, elevators. Further it provides distance and expected time to reach the destination. Oh, yes, and the interface is built using Flex.
Second, is a map of attendees. He noted everyone was busy prepping for UC so it’s not as slick as it might be with more support. Still, I learned there are seven people here from my City of Somerville. I had no idea!
We started our contest, one a bit different from most others at this year’s event. We want you to use your powers of observation and communication skills to help us cover the massive ESRI user conference. In return, the contributor of the best offering, will receive an iPod touch.
Here’s how:
Text: Send up to 300 words via text message or e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Include your name (first only is ok) and where you are from, as well as an e-mail address (not for publication).
Audio: Call our comment hotline at 206-984-4409 (Why not store it in your cell phone now?) and leave a 2 minute message. Include your name (first name is ok) and where you are from, as well as an e-mail address (not for publication).
We’ll take the best contributed audio and messages and include them (edited and credited) in our coverage in Directions Magazine, All Points Blog or the Directions Media Podcasts. We’ll be accepting submissions between Saturday August 2 and Wednesday August 13, 2008. We encourage you to submit during the event so you don’t forget that great tip, trick or thought!
Our editors review the morning plenary at the 2008 ESRI User Conference. The main focus included enhancements in ArcGIS 9.3; 3D, imagery and announcements from Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary of Interior stole the show.
Listen Now (to download, right click on the link at left and choose "save target as")
Missed any podcasts? Want to subscribe via iTunes, Yahoo, etc? Here’s the index with all the info.
In the afternoon session of the opening plenary, Jack Dangermond stated the company would do something it had never done before: preview a new release. I’m not sure that was something new, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. The preview included:
- A brief video of Scott Morehouse, director of software development highlighting streamlining and simplification of workflows and sharing on the desktop, successful enterprise implementations on server and rich clients on the Web. He noted that “chasing technology” is not the best way forward, rather he noted looking to help users do their jobs will bring out the best products.
- A team of 9.4 developers showing off (1) the new, fully colored icons in the interface in desktop, dockable widows including a preview of where they’ll “sit” when moved, hiding of widows, smooth panning from an enhanced rendering engine, desktop search for data, e-mail tools to send MXDs from ArcGIS (2) new editing tools in desktop including “pick and draw” to create new features, context sensitive “mini-toolbars,” the ability to select features in a single location (which may be on top of one another) from a list, show/edit just attributes of interest (3) new publishing tools for publishing from desktop to server that “check” all is well for publishing, and (4) enhancements in server, including quicker rendering. Those last two, if I understood right, will be in a service pack in Q1 next year.
- Demo of ArcGIS Explorer 600 including a new ribbon interface, the availability of different tools based on the current situation, and a 2D/3D visualization option. That last thing will appear in ArcMap, per Jack Dangermond. My sense: if you want to know what ArcGIS might look like: check out ArcGIS Explorer.
After a demo of from a 6th grade graduate of her research into the “dividedness” of her town racially, educationally and in other ways, Dr. Peter Raven and colleague Dr. Trish Consiglio showed off their vision and work at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Dr. Raven shared his passion for biodiversity, sustainability and issued a 45 minute call to action, is his quiet, reserved way. It was a most enjoyable and energizing discussion from someone who has clearly thought about these issues for many years. Consiglio showed the power of weighted regression in her work predicting biodiversity based on limited data. I am pleased to say, I understood the whole process. More on UC blog.
