Latest Contributions by LuisOlivieri1

I have another two: (11) It is fun and people working in GIS love it!   I have never found someone working in GIS that says, I hate this.  On the contrary, we love it and enjoy it.   (12) You will never be too far from help.  The GIS community is very friendly and always willing to talk and cooperate with each other. ... View more

Hey Nicole and Joseph.  It was an honor and pleasure to be in this live chat with you.  Thanks to the people at GeoNet who supported us and thanks to all the people that joined us.  ... View more

When I started working in GIS 30 years ago, the possibilities where not that many and not too many fields of education were using GIS. Areas using GIS were natural resources, environmental science, agriculture, universities (education and research), archaeologist, engineers (most people moving from CAD) and a few others.  These days, I say, “GIS is everywhere!” and you can apply GIS to almost any area. Think about any career and there is a good possibility that GIS can be implemented. GIS as a career is a great option but knowing how to use GIS in your career makes you more marketable and appealing to a potential employer.     With the new applications to so many areas, the only way I see GIS is to keep growing during the next 5 years...   and during the next 10 years as well.  ... View more

Bill, finding interns is always a problem and I don't think it is just a problem in GIS.  In my case, I run a GIS Program in a nonprofit that work with young people and we have a very structured format.  The youth start with a general training in technology (not GIS) and then, once they finish the training, they qualify for an internship.  The problem?  They don't have any background on GIS, so we need to train them for specific tasks.  A great way to get them engaged is by paying them, but I know that this is not always an option.   ... View more

One big problem that we always have is the presenters have a technical speech for nontechnical people.  I try to explain who the audience is but...  that doesn't always work. Another problem is having people coming over.  That part of outreach and letting people know about your event doesn't always work as planned.   ... View more

When I teach GIS, we always have an end of course project where the students have to work on a GIS project. I always encourage the student to work on a map of something that they like.  I don't know why I always remember the map of the location of the "Hello Kitty" stores in the West USA.  She was a huge collector of Hello Kitty stuff and why not?  By the way, she even called all of the stores and got an idea of the size of the store and use a Hello Kitty logo-sized based to show the location.    In other words, engage them by doing something that they like. ... View more

I always use a quote I learned a long time ago (don't know where), "A photo say, A picture is worth a thousand words.  A GIS is worth a thousand pictures."  The main advantage of an online map is that it's dynamic.  Years ago, I used a map to show farmer who changing from regular farming practices to conservation practices could help them to keep their soil in place.  It was more powerful than a conservationist telling him we need to do it because it is my opinion.  A map is a very powerful tool to show people or get the point to people. ... View more

Do you remember the movie, Field of Dreams" and the phrase, "if you build it they will come!"  I think the same way happens with GIS.  Show the non-technical people some good examples and you will have them. They need to understand that AGO is easy to use...  It has its limitations, but at the same time, it's a great tool.    As per the question of my experience with young people.  They are very open to exploring new technologies.  The easiest way to me is by assigning them a problem that they can solve with a nice map.   ... View more

Great, Joseph!!!!  Thank for the hint.  Something new to try!  🙂 ... View more

I'm an old-school GIS user.  I'm still getting used to the using GIS Online.  I think it is awesome and the only way I see it reaching more people.  It's going to reach people without any GIS background that just need to make a map or visualize spatial data.  I think online mapping is going to be incorporated into other technologies...   Think about an Excell-ArcGIS Online combination!  ... View more

We want to create awareness about GIS (the reason for GIS Day) so we are bringing people that are actually working in the area.  They are going to talk about how they are using GIS in their daily life. We are including short presentations from government, ESRI, and also a GIS Coordinator from a local college to talk about where they can study GIS.    ... View more

There are different places around our area that celebrate GIS, not necessarily on GIS Day.  Most of the places, follow the same rule.  They invite people who use GIS as part of their work to create awareness.  ... View more

Letting people know about your event is one of the most time consuming part of the event.  I have reached local schools (science teachers love technology) to have them engaged and through them we get students.   ... View more

Hey Joseph!  It's a pleasure to be here with Nicole and you.   I don’t think it was a decision.  It was more than a path that took me there.  I don’t remember thinking, I will choose GIS as my career.  I discovered the huge advantage of using GIS as part of the work I was doing and without really noticing, I was hooked on the technology.   GIS was the perfect tool to deal with the data I was using but today, I don’t see myself doing anything different than working with GIS. I work for a nonprofit working with youth developing in Camden NJ....  Helping young people to reach their dreams. ... View more

Very happy to be here!!!!   ... View more