Kicking off Esri YPN St. Louis Chapter’s First Event
On October 19th, the St. Louis Regional chapter of Esri’s Young Professionals Network (YPN) held its first event, inviting students and GIS professionals in the area to connect and get to know each other. It was held at Esri’s new space at the Globe Building located in downtown St. Louis. We also had the pleasure of hosting the event with with United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation’s (USGIF) Young Professionals Group (YPG). It was a successful night, bringing together around 20 students and professionals to engage in conversation with each other.
Mapping the Event
Esri’s new office at the Globe Building made for a convenient location, as it’s home to some of Esri’s partners such as Maxar and T-Kartor USA. The building is also situated closely to the T-REX, a non-profit innovation and entrepreneur development center working with geospatial startup companies, and NGA’s future St. Louis campus. Saint Louis University, Harris-Stowe State University and Washington University in St. Louis are all a few short miles away from Downtown, making the location ideal for students to participate as well.
As this was the first YPN event hosted in St. Louis, we kept the agenda light and open to allow for maximum networking time. We wanted to learn about the group so we could better prepare future events and plan relevant content. When we realized United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) was hosting their monthly Young Professionals Group (YPG) event at the same time and just down the street at the T-REX, we joined forces last minute to create a more coherent experience for the geospatial community in St. Louis. The networking was nicely supplemented with geography trivia hosted by USGIF.
Sparking Connections and Friendly Competitions
Attendees ranged from students to GIS Professionals early in their career to experts who’ve been involved with GIS long enough to have explored many industries. After the YPN and YPG representatives made some introductions and announcements, we continued socializing while others put their geography knowledge to the test at trivia. Spurring friendly competition and discussion around surprising answers, it created new points of connection. We wrapped up the evening exchanging contact information and excitement to see each other in the future.
None of this would have been possible without the help of the Globe Building staff for helping with event set up, Tara Mott, NGA Account Manager at Esri, and Molly Brady from USGIF for coordinating the collaboration with us, Nicki Mathern and Chris Buechner from USGIF, and fellow Esri employees: Caleb Buffa, Kelly Corzo-Rivera, and Marie Holler. Thank you all for the support!
Looking Down the Road
The St. Louis chapter will continue partnering with USGIF and other community groups to host events in the future. We look forward to solidifying our presence in the St. Louis area and connecting with more folks interested in geospatial careers!
Are you looking to connect in person with other GIS professionals in your area? Maybe you don’t live in St. Louis but still want to explore opportunities closer to home?
Join your local YPN regional chapter to attend in-person networking events across the US including Redlands, CA; San Antonio, TX; Charlotte, NC; Denver, CO; Philadelphia, PA; and Washington D.C.
We hope to see you there!
