2012 Fall Meeting – Oct 23 – Lodge at Welch Allyn
By Members For Members
The NYS GIS Association fall meeting took place at 4 PM on October 23 at the Lodge at Welch Allyn in Skaneateles, NY. The meeting began by having all attendees introduce themselves and suggest ideas and directions for the NYS GIS Association for 2013. These ideas will be considered by the board as programs are developed in the coming year. The NYS GIS Association is truly by members, for members, and this was readily apparent through this activity.
Powerpoint slides as PDF.
Regional Groups
There was a wonderful presentation that showcased two regional groups. Julie Tolar from the GIS/SIG (in the Rochester/Finger Lakes area) and Jake Needle from the Western, NY GIS regional group both spoke about how their groups work.The GIS/SIG is more formal whereas the Western, NY group is much more informal.A focus for the coming year will be to reach out to and support the regional GIS groups.
Al Leidner
Election Results
The election results are in:
President: Al Leidner
President-elect: Julie Tolar
Board Member: Carol Zollweg
Congratulations to the winners and thank you to all those who stepped up to volunteer to run. There are lots of opportunities to volunteer and get involved. Contact any board member for more information.
Meeting Adjourned
The meeting was adjourned and everyone enjoyed some networking time before the evening’s reception with Dr. Tomlinson.
2012 Spring Meeting
Minutes: The spring meeting was held as part of of the NYS GIS Association
2012 Winter Meeting
The NYS GIS Association held its winter meeting on Thursday, March 22, 2012 at the NYS Thruway Authority Offices inAlbany,NY. The meeting featured a presentation on census data by Bob Scardamalia, a professional demographer with more than 35 years of experience using Census and related data for marketing, business attraction, and public sector program management.
Bob Scardamalia
In his presentation, Bob explained in detail the type of information available within the census data, including the difference between the “traditional” decennial census and the “new” American community survey (ACS). Some major differences mentioned were the reference (time) period, the sample size, and the residency rules. Bob explained how to interpret and use this data correctly within the context of GIS. For more detailed information on these two types of data collection devices, please take a look at Bob’s presentation slides.
The Association meeting was open to the entire NYS geospatial community. There was a $10 fee for non-members to attend, but they received a complementary Association membership. For the first time, the Association was able to provide members “live” call-in access to portions of the meeting and screen-sharing during the Census presentation. Attendance totaled approximately twenty-five people, half in person and half via call-in and screen-sharing. It is the hope of the Association to greatly increase this number at future meetings.
Bruce Oswald, Association President, started the meeting with introductions and a re-cap of recent Association activities, including work being done by the Association’s committees: Conference, Education, Communications, Legislative, Marketing, Membership, Regional Coordination, and Professional Development. Please see the Association’s website for more information these committees.
The group also discussed resources for people looking for jobs in the NYS geospatial industry. Bruce mentioned that there is a “GIS Job Postings” page on the Association’s website: link. Frank Winters, from the NYS Office of Cyber Security (OCS), mentioned that people can contact him [fwinters@dhses.ny.gov] if they want to know more about GIS jobs in NYS civil service.
Overall, the meeting was a very productive one. The Association wishes to thank Bob Scardamalia and the NYS Thruway Authority for making this meeting and presentation possible. Slides from Bob’s census presentation are available here, slides from Bruce Oswald’s presentation are here.
Bob’s audio-visual presentation is here (opens in another tab).