It's Great to be Back!: An In-Person Return to User Conference
Getting swept over by a multitude of jostling voices — thousands of people greeting, laughing, questioning all at once — is an experience that may never have been more welcome in the GIS world than it was during last week’s highly attended Esri User Conference.
That friendly cacophony framed the showcase of booths and the hallways of the San Diego Convention Center for five days as over 14,000 people, all fully vaccinated against Covid, gathered in-person for the first User Conference in three very long years. Shouts of joy rang out as co-workers from opposite ends of the country and world raced into hugs. GIS professionals working solo in their organizations plunged into a like-minded, collaborative sea of peers. And we on the Community team may have had the greatest fortune of all, as we were able to speak face-to-face with so many of you who help make Esri Community the remarkable place it is.
We treasure that unique time spent with our members and asked some of you how it felt to return to UC in-person. The response was unmistakable: It’s great to be back!
Whether you have yet to attend User Conference, participated virtually this year, or count yourself among those 14,000+ who immersed into all things GIS with us last week, consider this an early invitation from all of us on the Esri Community team: We’d love nothing more than to cross paths with you in San Diego next summer when UC returns. You make our week unforgettable every bit as much as we work tirelessly to ensure the same for you.
Now to you: Did you attend UC in person or have you in past years? Tell us your highlights and meaningful moments here in the comments!