Fun with GIS 271: 2020 Esri User Conference and Education Summit
2020 is the year of online conferences!
- Esri 2020 User Conference: Mon July 13 through Wed July 15, 2020
- Esri 2020 Education Summit: Thu Aug 6 and Fri Aug 7, 2020.
Though separated by weeks, the Education Summit ("EdUC") will be a key complement to the User Conference ("UC"); coming just before most US K12 schools open, the EdUC will bridge the excitement of the UC with the realities of teaching in a pandemic.
The UC is open to all, for free, with registration required. For those who were unlikely ever to see the live in-person UC in San Diego, this will be the next best thing. Imagine being at plenary sessions, and hours of the tech sessions most important for you, all from the comfort of home … or at a watch party of colleagues! With a likely audience of many more thousands than usual packed into fewer days, think of this as a chance to see and hear tightly focused content, rather than racing between room and hoping to talk one-to-one with Esri staff in an extended fashion.
Even non-customers can register and attend the plenary sessions, split across Mon-Tue-Wed July 13-15. Persons with an "Esri-access-enabled login to an ArcGIS Online account" (e.g. an ArcGIS Online login "with Esri access enabled" in the Org of a standard School Software Bundle) can use that and the institution's Esri Customer Number to register as educator or student. K12 students using properly configured account info should be able to attend the UC without needing to share any personally identifiable information, with access to hundreds of hours of content.
((Update: See also Fun with GIS 272, with important UC strategies.))
Time for education-focused content and interacting with friends, colleagues, and specialists comes at the Education Summit. The EdUC will feature different blocks for K12 and Higher Ed, so people can attend just their preferred segment or see everything for everyone. The exact schedule is still being tweaked but should provide time both for focus on how to use the free ArcGIS School Bundle and for networking. ((Update: See Fun with GIS 273.))
In this time of unprecedented stress, upheaval, awakening, commitment, and change, taking advantage of tools and perspectives that help us each discover, illuminate, analyze, document, and share is paramount. Coming together and learning to make fullest use of these extraordinary platforms for exploration, integration, and problem-solving is our best way to reach toward common ground.
Check out the Esri 2020 User Conference and Esri 2020 Education Summit!