Latest Contributions by AdamCarnow

As I prepare for the 2026 Esri GIS Leadership Summit, the fourteenth overall and my tenth, I thought it appropriate to reflect on the history, evolution, and impact of this annual event and share it with the community. The Summit started as the Esri GIS Managers Open Summit on Tuesday, July 13, 2010, during the Esri International User Conference. My first Summit was not until 2014, but fortunately there is a summary of that first Summit in the Fall 2010 issue of ArcUser. There were over 270 attendees and the goal was: To build a community and share information and experiences. This community would address the unique requirements of GIS managers who must understand the technology and recognize how best to apply it while performing classic management functions and overcoming organizational challenges specific to implementing GIS. The content and agenda were created by the attendees on-the-fly and included sessions led by volunteer attendees on: Selling GIS Services in Your Department Building Trust Relationships GIS Data Organization Ownership Stakeholder Engagement Plugging in GIS to Other Departments Identifying and Delivering Value to Stakeholders Some interesting quotes: "It is hard to convey the value of GIS," Khaled Hussein, Clark Nexsen "They don't want to work together, but what do they have in common? Geography." - Russell Vrhovac, Clark Nexsen Featured speakers included Lew Nelson, Esri Law Enforcement Industry Manager, and Ross Smith, PA Consulting and co-author of The Business Benefits of GIS: An ROI Approach. Lew’s suggested strategies included: Connect with policy makers and technical people in the organization. Use a strategic approach but be willing to change tactics to accomplish goals. Plan for inclusion. Realize that it does not get easier as the GIS grows. The corollary is that you must delegate so the GIS can grow. Keep them connected. Make training a priority. Promise conservatively, then over-deliver. To keep the conversations from the Summit going year-round, a Managers in GIS group was created on LinkedIn. It is fascinating that so much has changed in the GIS technology landscape since 2010 and yet the goal of the event and the content have stayed relevant. The event has evolved over the years in response to the needs of the community. Here are some milestones. All the links below are operational, but I apologize for any broken links within them. 4th Summit in 2013 – included a presentation from the “father of GIS” Roger Tomlinson, here is a summary. 5th Summit in 2014 – this is the first one that I attended. I was asked to deliver a presentation by Esri colleagues Matt Artz and Dave Peters who led the Summit. At that time, I had not even heard of it. I was extremely impressed with the content, atmosphere, and dedication of the attendees and offered to assist with future events. 6th Summit in 2015 – you can review the summary here which also includes a link to what was discussed by the attendees at their table discussions. 9th Summit in 2018 – here is a summary of the event. This year included a separate, eight session GIS Manager Track to help get management and leadership content to more Esri User Conference attendees beyond those that attended the Summit. Fortunately, they were recorded and are still available here. 10th Summit in 2019 – here is a link to the agenda. 2020-2021 the Summit was on hiatus due to the COVID pandemic. 2022 – though the User Conference was back in person, there was no Summit, so we hosted a GIS Manager Special Interest Group instead. The Esri Community group was created. 11th Summit in 2023 – substantial changes this year, the Summit was moved to Sunday to allow for more attendees so it would not compete with other User Conference sessions during the week. We also dropped “Open” from the name and added a social after the Summit. This was also the debut of The Path to Geospatial Excellence, a framework designed to guide GIS leaders through their journey. The framework continues to drive the structure of Summit content and function as a resource to assist the community with their journey. One of the most amazing proofs of the power of this event was the interaction between a presenter and the ArcGIS Solutions team. Kara Shindle gave an inspiring presentation at the Summit. Then in conversation with the ArcGIS Solutions team, she asked them why there were not any solutions for GIS managers. That sparked more discussions that led to the development of the GIS Request Management Solution, released a year later and featured at the 2024 Summit. Over the last year it was the fifth most deployed solution with almost 750 deployments. A full Summit summary is here. 12th Summit in 2024 – the move to Sunday made a real difference as registration and attendance were the largest ever. You can find a summary here. 13th Summit in 2025 – Another successful Summit reinforced the continued momentum of the community and event and included the debut of a Geospatial Excellence self-assessment and dashboard. You can find a summary here. As this year’s summit approaches, I am proud of all we have accomplished over the years and excited about the future. Throughout my ten-year involvement I consistently get feedback from attendees that this is the highlight of their User Conference week. I have seen attendees become Summit presenters. I have seen loyal users attend year after year. This event is proof of the power of the GIS community. It is a strong community that is committed to lifting each other up. It is your event, please provide us with feedback so we can make it better. This is a special event filled with special people. With attendees from all industries and across the globe it proves that the GIS journey is the same. If you are attending, please make sure to make the most of the networking opportunities, there is more knowledge in the crowd than on the stage, use the Summit to set up your UC week for success. Please keep the conversations going year-round via the Esri Community and LinkedIn groups. If you cannot attend, for the first time this year the Summit will be recorded, so stay tuned for the links to the videos and we hope to see you at future events. Thanks to all who have made this possible, the presenters, attendees, Esri colleagues, Esri distributors and partners, and the GIS community. See you in San Diego!   ... View more

Check out this new case study from Utah DOT on how they are modernizing their winter weather and street sweeping operations with real-time GIS. Utah DOT Improves Street Sweeping with ArcGIS Velocity   ... View more

One of the real joys throughout my 18-year career at Esri is stumbling across amazing GIS professionals, hearing their stories, and then helping share their stories with the community. There are so many unknown heroes out there performing miracles with spatial technology, and they usually do not seek the spotlight. We all need to know these stories and learn from them. I'm constantly searching for the next new story. I find them many ways, through media, in conversations with customers, other Esri staff, Esri partners, or via attendance at events.  In October 2025 I was reading the Fall issue of ArcNews. One of my favorite features in ArcNews is the Managing GIS column. This column is a partnership between Esri and the Geospatial Professional Network (GPN, fka URISA). This column focuses on management of GIS programs. In order to be chosen to author this column you must be a GPN member. I read the Managing GIS column in that issue, How to Lead with GIS, by Alex Harper. It was very well written...concise, focused, on point, and full of valuable advice. Immediately I knew that I needed to share this with the community beyond just this issue of ArcNews. I am part of the Esri team behind the Esri GIS Leadership Summit (fka Esri GIS Managers Summit). If you are unaware of this event, it is dedicated to helping GIS managers become leaders and helping executives understand the power and potential of GIS as mission-critical enterprise business technology. It focuses on the people and business side of successfully running a GIS program by following best practices. It occurs on the Sunday before the Esri User Conference. The Summit started in 2010 as an informal meeting of about 30 people at UC. Since then, it has grown to a day full of interactive networking, presentations, and discussions drawing hundreds of attendees from all industries and from across the globe.   As soon as I finished Alex's article, I shared it with others on that team and suggested to them that we invite Alex to present at the next Leadership Summit. We all agreed and I reached out to him. He was very gracious and agreed to participate in a session based on his article, with me as a moderator. As I learned about Alex, I was impressed with his accomplishments...he has won multiple awards and has been a featured speaker at Esri events. I knew this would be a great session. You're probably wondering, why you should come to the Summit and see Alex in person, when you can just read the article.  Alex and I discussed what was missing in the article: What are the results of this approach? How did he figure it out? How can others learn this? Our goal at this session at the Leadership Summit is to help you emulate Alex's success. If you've never attended the Leadership Summit, please give it a try and add it to your UC week. We often get feedback from attendees that it is the highlight of the week. The event has a loyal following that attends repeatedly. We have another spectacular agenda this year full of an elite group of leaders from many industries and locations with over 300 years of experience. If you are a current or future manager wanting to become a leader, or a better leader, or an executive interested in the secret sauce that make enterprise GIS successful, then consider attending the Leadership Summit. You won't regret it. We are just 32 days from the Leadership Summit and UC. This is one of the most impactful events for GIS professionals. I've been very fortunate to have repeatedly attended UC for 15+ years and each year it just seems to get better. I love the energy and camaraderie. If you cannot make UC or the Leadership Summit, no worries...one of many things I have learned about the GIS community is that we all want to help each other. Reach out to Alex and learn from him and share your successes and failures with the community. Also, if you are a GPN member and have an idea for a Managing GIS column, email Wendy Nelson at GPN [email protected]. If you're not a member of GPN, consider joining this valuable organization. Huge thanks to Alex, and the rest of the speakers at the Leadership Summit, for supporting the event and community. To all those dedicated members of the GIS community, keep fighting the good fight!   ... View more

How you can get the most out of your week For all ArcGIS users that support Public Works, here is your guide to events to add to your schedule. See you there! Public Works at the 2026 Esri International User Conference   ... View more

Other than my incredible colleagues at Esri, and our distributors and partners, here are 16 amazing reasons to attend the 2026 Esri GIS Leadership Summit. These are the remarkable speakers that will be sharing their 300+ years of knowledge and guidance with a select number of attendees. Where else can you find such a distinguished collection of SMEs like this focused on helping you succeed in one single day leadership event? Be sure to reserve your spot now! Let this focused, interactive event kick off your Esri User Conference week in a bold way. A huge thanks to all of the speakers for their willingness to support this event and community. * Alex Harper, Senior Information Services Manager, Central Arkansas Water * Stevo Robinson, Product Manager, Auckland Council * Trich Maupin, GIS Manager, Bonneville Co., ID * Corey Unger, GIS Program Manager, UT DOT * Izabela Miller, Founder, Growing Curiosity * Tim Haynes, GIO/CDO, Philadelphia, PA * Anthony Powell, IT Manager, Houston, TX Public Works * Billy Ferguson, Geospatial Architect, California Office of Emergency Services * Kirk Wythers, Research to Opportunity Team Leader, Land O'Lakes, Inc. * Cy Smith, GIO & MassGIS Director, State of Massachusetts * Bryan G Chandler, MSc, Partner, Managing Director & SVP of Technology, Innovation, & Analytics, The Shopping Center Group * Marilyn Howe, Director Global Advisory Services, Diebold Nixdorf * Kyle Swanson, General Manager, Padre Dam Municipal Water District * Lorin Liliko’i Lima, Geospatial Manager, Kaingaroa Tipu * Wade Kloos, Director of Enterprise Systems, UT DNR * Eric. Shreve, GIS Manager, Goodyear, AZ If you are a current or future GIS or other leader looking for strategies and best practices on how to unlock the power of leadership, join GIS managers, IT professionals, and peers ready to lead the way in geospatial innovation. Discover strategies to drive adoption, manage resources, and maximize business value. Position GIS as a critical asset within your organization, no matter your job title or role. Come spend the day with us, expand your network, and learn from others. Sunday, July 12, 2026 Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina 333 W. Harbor Dr., San Diego, CA 92101 Esri GIS Leadership Summit: July 12, 2026 ... View more

It's National Public Works Week, so let's celebrate the public works professionals, including those innovating with GIS. Celebrating Innovation Driven by GIS During National Public Works Week ... View more

Raleigh, NC partnered with Esri, Microsoft, and NVIDIA, to create Raleigh in Motion, a project aimed at reducing traffic congestion and increasing transportation safety by combining, AI, digital twin, and real-time GIS. Read the article in APWA Reporter: May 2026 | FOR A GLIMPSE AT THE FUTURE OF PUBLIC WORKS, RALEIGH IN MOTION ... View more

Great article on the importance of what I call "essential skills", commonly known as "soft skills". Bottom line: if you want to advance your career, work on non-technical skills. They are harder to find & master. Mesa, Ariz.’s CIO on the Importance of ‘Soft Skills’ in IT   ... View more

The Esri GIS Managers Summit returns as the Esri GIS Leadership Summit on July 12, 2026, building on the strong foundation of recent years with an even greater focus on interaction, leadership, and meaningful conversation. Held on-site the day before the Esri User Conference, the Summit brings together GIS leaders, IT professionals, and business and executive stakeholders who are guiding GIS as a critical organizational capability. A Leadership Summit—Designed for Engagement The 2026 Summit prioritizes dialogue, collaboration, and shared learning through on-stage conversations, leadership panels, facilitated discussions, and peer exchange. The goal is to provide practical insight you can apply immediately while connecting with others leading GIS programs today. Leadership Voices—From the Executive Level and Beyond This year’s Summit features an expanded lineup of leadership professionals on stage, including executive-level speakers and senior Esri leadership. These perspectives highlight how GIS leadership today is about influence, communication, and outcomes—across all parts of an organization. Registration Information The GIS Leadership Summit includes a nominal registration fee of $149, which includes a full day of the summit with food, drinks, and the social, but space is limited – find out more and register in advance online.  As a thank you to those who have supported the growth of the summit, returning attendees from the last two years are eligible for a registration discount – check your emails for an invitation. Hope to see you there! ... View more

One of the best things you can do to get executive sponsorship for your public sector GIS program is to get your IT director to attend the Esri Public Sector CIO Summit. All IT leaders need at a minimum an annual briefing on the latest trends in GIS. The event is Mar. 25-26 at Esri HQ in Redlands. There is no charge to attend. I have personally seen how this one event changed the attitude of IT directors and they became enthusiastic sponsors of enterprise GIS. Please forward along this info to your IT directors. There will be powerful presentations and lots of time to network with their peers. In addition to Esri leadership, this year’s featured speakers include: Rob Burke, Business Services Manager & Enterprise GIS Program Lead, Manatee Co., FL Chris Carter, GIS Manager, Anaheim, CA Brendan Cleary, GIS Manager, Chattanooga, TN Elizabeth Crowe, Director of Urban Analytics & Innovation, Cleveland, OH Heather Danforth, VP of US State, Local & Education, Microsoft Ed Jin, Info. Systems Manager, Anaheim, CA Aaron Judy, Chief of Innovation & Emerging Technologies, Maricopa Co., AZ Bill Kehoe, Director & State CIO, Washington John Matelski, CIO, National Association of Counties (NACo) Richard McHattie, CIO, Maricopa Co., AZ Jerele Neeld, CIO, Chattanooga, TN Ryan Ritualo, IT Manager, East Valley Water District Doug Robinson, Executive Director, NASCIO Teryn Zmuda, Chief Economist & Chief Research Officer, NACo More info here: https://www.esri.com/en-us/about/events/cio-summit/overview   ... View more

Great new fleet management case study from the superstars at St. Johns Co., FL Public Works: St. Johns County integrated ArcGIS Enterprise with Cityworks to create a GIS-powered fleet management system. The vehicle condition index (VCI) enables objective, data-driven decisions for replacements and budgeting. Dashboards and automation improved preventive maintenance compliance, reduced downtime, and saved costs. https://www.esri.com/en-us/lg/industry/government/stories/st-johns-county-digitally-transforms-flee… ... View more

I’m thrilled to announce that the GIS Managers Summit is now the GIS Leadership Summit! This new name reflects the event’s expanded focus and the evolving role of GIS professionals as leaders and innovators. Along with the rebranding, there are exciting changes to the event itself—new opportunities for learning, collaboration, and networking that will make this year’s summit more valuable and inspiring than ever before. After being involved with the Esri GIS Leadership Summit for the past 15 years, I’ve seen firsthand how this event brings together the best minds in GIS. Each year has offered something new, but this year, I’m especially excited about the changes coming to the summit in San Diego on July 12, 2026. What’s New—and Why It Matters The summit is expanding to welcome a broader community of GIS leaders. Esri’s renewed focus on practical leadership strategies and peer learning means attendees will: Discover advanced ways to build high-performing GIS programs and teams Share and learn new solutions for innovation Connect with peers – from organizations and teams big and small, experienced and just getting started leading the evolution of GIS in their organizations – for actionable insights Every session and networking opportunity is crafted to deliver real benefits, whether you want to solve challenges, expand your network, or get inspired. Why You Should Be Excited What excites me most is the summit’s commitment to a collaborative community. By bringing together new and returning attendees, we’ll see a dynamic mix of ideas and expertise. This is where innovation happens—when passionate professionals connect and spark new solutions. How You Can Attend the GIS Leadership Summit in 2026 The GIS Leadership Summit is a stand-alone event on Sunday, July 12, and a great way to lead into the Esri User Conference that starts on Monday, July 13.  With all these enhancements to the summit, and a full day including breakfast, lunch, and the all-inclusive social, the Summit will have a fee of $149 – for return attendees, there is a special discount that will come to your email soon, so keep an eye out.  You can see more details of the summit and register online. If you’re considering attending, know that these changes are all about your growth and impact. Registration is limited and open now – I’m looking forward to seeing how these updates empower us all. Join me in San Diego and experience the difference! ... View more

Houston has successfully digitally transformed by using GIS for better infrastructure management and updating systems to make the city more resilient. Key Takeaways Houston’s public works department has modernized infrastructure management using GIS technology, cloud services, mobile apps, and AI. Real-time data and tools aid public works first responders during extreme weather events. The city’s next-gen public works boosts operational efficiency and speeds assessment of infrastructure conditions. https://www.esri.com/about/newsroom/blog/houston-resilient-public-works   ... View more