The 2009 ESRI User Conference took on a new social media approach as the company along with many of its employees used Twitter to provide news, updates, and discussions during the conference.  A social media lounge and designated plenary session seating were created specifically for those who embraced this method of information distribution. 
One specific case where social media buzzed about the conference was during the plenary session.  The ESRI’s Education User Conference Twitter account (@esrieduc) encouraged all of their followers to be sure they knew about the education section with this tweet: “See what a Maryland school is doing with GIS during the UC Plenary (2-3:30 window)…GIS shaping students futures.”
 That was just the beginning of social media embracing what the education team had in store.  Frank Lafone, co-host of the VerySpatial podcast, gave a real-time play by play account through his blog.   He told his readers about Charlie Fitzpatrick opening the session by saying, “…young people who get involved in GIS work tend to move on to great things with their community and within the greater GIS work.”
With that, Fitzpatrick opened the floor to a high school GIS program from Joppatowne, MD while tying in an earnest plea for involvement in the new GeoMentor program.   The school group gave an excellent demonstration on how GIS was being taught through application.  Their teacher, Jacqueline Smith described the program while Eric Cromwell, the geomentor, discussed obstacles that he had helped them to overcome.  The high school students then wowed the audience by demonstration how they used geostatistics and demographic data to analyze where to put a new school.
By the end of the presentation, those in attendance were amazed at the potential of these kids and were also eager to participate in the GeoMentor program.  Many tweets showing a strong support for this program filled the Twitterverse.
Glenn Letham (@gletham), GIS Evangelist, sent this tweet:  “GIS teacher Jacqueline Smith had no GIS exp. She taught 5 other classes and coached 3 sports and took on GIS mentor role #esriuc #geohero”
While another by @fiskz praised their delivery with “@gisguy These kids are doing great, good trade offs between them! I hope they met their Gov today as well. #ESRIUC”.
After their presentation, Jack Dangermond, president of ESRI recognized the kids for their excellent work.  He even took the time to introduce them to Martin O’Malley, Governor of Maryland right there on stage.  Dangermond asked the kids if there was anything they wanted.  Rose Medina (@roselmed) kept her follows up on that dialog by tweeting: “jack: you kids want anything? kid1: to go to college; scholarship. kid2: a paid internship in a cool place. me: sweet.” 
Those following along through social media could tell that something special was happening on stage.  The potential of these kids with the help of a geomentor showed endless possibilities.
Even after the conference, the education session still stuck out to those who attended.
“It always impresses me the degree of professional work these kids bring to the table” stated Frank Lafone.   “They’re doing cutting edge work in ways that make a positive difference to their communities.  At some level, isn’t that why all of us got into GIS work in the first place, to make a difference in the world in which we live?  I don’t recall anything remotely like this when I was in school, where I could be invited – even encouraged – to work on projects that could positively impact my world.”
Lafone went on further to say, “I see programs like the GeoMentor program as being important to the future of our profession.   If we can get kids to understand the basic concepts as early as possible, then it just benefits our work into the future.”
Although the GeoMentor program is not an entirely new concept to the GIS community, it is an outstanding opportunity for GIS professionals to make a positive impact on school kids.  Getting the technology of GIS into the hands of youth will not only challenge them to learn something new, but it also creates the foundation for a potential career where they can make a difference in their community. 
The path for GIS to be taught in Career and Technical Education programs is reliant upon the help of geomentors.  GIS professionals pouring practical experience into kids goes an enormous way.  Eddie Hanebuth, president of Digital Quest who wrote the program that Joppantowne used to teach GIS, even took time to support the kids from Joppatowne, MD by attending the session.  He took pride in these kids as he too tweeted his followers not to miss the event with: “#ESRIUC. Must see the high school students from Joppa Town high school MD main stage 2ish”.
With the highlight of the Joppatowne kids on the main stage of the ESRI plenary session, many eyes were opened to the potential of the next generation of GIS professionals.  As excitement from the room poured out to others through social media, a wave of support for the GeoMentor program took off across the globe.  Those becoming involved by being a geomentor will not only impact their community, but they will also pass on a legacy of touching kid’s lives through the power of GIS.

David Moore, President & Founder
Navagis, LLC
Member of the EIGS geospatial technology cluster of the University of Mississippi
david@navagis.com
http://www.navagis.com/ 

We’ve had a lot of really exciting events happen in the past few months.  Here are the highlights:

• Our new webpage is now live at www.navagis.com. We’d love to hear your feedback.

• We are currently one of only three Google Enterprise Partners in North America that provide Federal and State government with Google Earth Enterprise Installation and Training. We are very excited to be working with Google in this regard and look forward to continue working with Google on new cutting edge technology related to Google Earth Enterprise.

• Navagis has a Board of Advisers! The Board will provide their experience and knowledge to help our company grow and flourish. The Board Members are:
 
Joel Bomgar, Founder & CEO of Bomgar Corporation (http://www.bomgar.com/cbio.htm)
Jim Finley, Growth Coach, Vice Chairman, Board of Directors Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi and former CEO of Craft-Co enterprises from 1992 until 2007 (http://tinyurl.com/b62vec)
Jim Meadows, Co-Founder and Vice President of Technology for SkyGolf (http://www.skygolf.com/)

• Virtual Texas is now up and running. We will continue working with them in the coming months to assist in providing a Common Operating Picture for the entire State of Texas.

• We’ve been featured in articles with The Mississippi Business Journal (http://msbusiness.com/blog/2009/09/navagis-on-map-with-google-earth/) and the EIGS Sensor (http://eigs.olemiss.edu/newsletter/september2009.php#Perspective).

• In the last month we’ve brought on two new hires, Ben Hubbard, and Elizabeth Salathe.   Ben will be heading up software development, and Elizabeth is in charge of business relations.

• We just opened up a new office at the NASA Stennis Space Center in South Mississippi and we are looking to hire two-full time programmers in the next month.

• We’ve been asked to share a booth with Google at the GEOINT conference in San Antonio on October 19th to the 21st.  Hope to see you there!

Eddie Hanebuth, President, Digital Quest, Inc.
Member of the EIGS geospatial technology cluster of the University of Mississippi
eddieh@digitalquest.com
www.digitalquest.com

Ohio State Agricultural Technical Institute (ATI) launched a course that introduces students to Geographic Information Systems (GIS).  The use of the AGIS in Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources book written by my company, Digital Quest, Inc. has helped provide a useful guide for practical application.

Dr. Nels Hansen of the Ohio State ATI saw a need for instruction in GIS when he arrived at the institute in the fall of 2005.  By the spring of 2008 the Engineering Technology course Introduction to Geographic Information Systems was put into place.  Students in the Crop Management and Services program and the Environmental Resource Management program go through this course as a way to learn about spatial relationships in urban and rural landscapes using global positioning and GIS.

As the course was being developed, a variety of teaching materials were used to provide lecture and lab material for the class.  The hands-on labs provided a good introduction to the GIS software, but there was a lack of agricultural application in GIS that applied directly to the students’ focus.

In his search of better classroom materials, Dr. Hansen received a chapter out of the AGIS in Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources book from Terry Brase, an educator and author on precision farming.  Brase had collaborated with our Digital Quest team in developing the Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources book. Hansen was further able to evaluate the title at a demonstration at the AgrowKnowledge conference at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, IA. By the 2009 Spring semester, the Digital Quest book was being used in the Introduction to Geographic Information Systems course.

I had attended the AgrowKnowledge Conference as well to debut the title and work with educators. We felt this title would be a valuable resource for instructors in geospatial technology and agriculture industries. The agriculture industry is actively using geospatial analysis, and we wanted to create a tool to bring this technology straight to the classroom. The guidance Terry Brase has provided me has been instrumental to this book’s success and our team has greatly appreciated his input.

When asked why the book was chosen, Dr. Hansen stated “The AGIS Agriculture Book is one of the first texts written specifically for agriculture. The importance of helping students understand GIS using agricultural examples cannot be overstated. Students simply showed little interest when we were using [other] examples.”

As students adapt to the use of geospatial technology in agriculture, several are beginning to see its full value and potential. With the value realized, students pursue further training as they realize the importance of information systems in the agribusiness industry.

This value is already becoming authentic to some. During a recent visit with one of his students on an internship, Dr. Hansen met a young employee there who was asked to spend some time working in variable rate technologies. Now three years later, managing geospatial applications is all that this employee does and he even has employees working under him. They currently have over 18,000 acres enrolled in the program. While conversing with this employee he noticed a bookshelf with notebooks filled with maps, reports, and other data. His daily tasks involving GIS were helping produce a multitude of data to help his company make better decisions in agriculture.

As students question the need for GIS in agriculture, Dr. Hansen answered it best by stating, “New technology can be daunting to understand and apply, but those who do adopt it will be like the farmers who traded horses for tractors and row cultivators for herbicides. There is simply no going back. Not because they couldn’t, but because the improved efficiency and access to information makes it unreasonable to even consider it.”

Pushing forward with GIS technology is what agricultural students need to do in order to make the advancement from traditional to progressive. The introduction of GIS to agriculture through the AGIS in Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources book is opening the door for students to step through and lead their industry.

Sept. 9, 2009

www.esri.com/gov20