2007 IGIC Conference Review

Well, the 2007 IGIC Conference, held in Sioux City, Iowa, has successfully come to an end.

The most exciting piece of the conference was the fact that Ron Koch, Conference Committee Chair, invited Jack Dangermond, Founder of ESRI, to be the keynote speaker and he accepted. Mr. Dangermond spoke on Tuesday and had a great vision of what GIS is moving towards. It was my hope that the technical difficulty he experienced during his presentation relaxed all the presenters for the conference. I mean, if Jack Dangermond has trouble, then ANYONE could. 🙂 I thought his vision for GIS was exciting and I hope to see that come to pass. It also made me wonder how we can tie that in with what IGIC is doing.

The social on Monday night was a hit as well. The food was good and it was a nice atmosphere for reacquainting ourselves. I enjoyed viewing all the student artwork and comparing opinions with Gary Kaufman from DMACC. It was nice that Jack Dangermond won the drawing for the book on Sioux City since his mother was from there. Serendipitous for sure.

There were great sessions offered and I heard rave reviews about the food! The board meeting on Tuesday night ran late but included much good discussion. The accomodations were convenient – especially the skywalk in the pouring rain. All in all, the conference was a success and I enjoyed meeting and visiting with my GIS friends. There is nothing like being surrounded by a group of people who do what you do and love it as much as you do.

A big thank you to everyone on the conference committee!