Remote Working and GIS Day 2023. Ideas?

[Jeremy_Z]

So I work remotely from home and go into an office once a week. It's just a local branch with very few folks there that do the same thing.

I used to do some bigger GIS Day functions and trainings, Intro to GIS, TIPS & Tricks or Here's What's Ahead sessions for my end users when I was in the office. Now in my new role everyone is spread out around the country and I'm trying to figure out the best way to still do something for GIS Day with a group that KNOWS GIS.

Any suggestions?

I was thinking a Teams call for folks to do a "Bring Something Cool" session to show off something GIS related they've worked on, need help on, or have seen around. We did this during covid a bit as a Mappy Hour after work visit to show off mapping related things we have.

For example for this section, my wife crocheted me a globe of Earth and I showed it off, along with some cool maps and books I've purchased. Some antique compasses and other things. A friend of mine showed off her collection of globes. Then we got into cool arcade scripts and other things we had found and used in the previous year.

[jfiacco]

In 2021, we hosted a virtual event for everyone in our organization. Our group is very diverse in terms of GIS knowledge so we kept it pretty simple but perhaps you could do something along these same lines. I created a public Hub site with lots of basic GIS information and activities for them to participate in even though it was a virtual event. We included Survey123 based trivia where all answers could be found within the Hub site. This encouraged everyone to actually read through the site and sparked some friendly competition. Everyone seemed to enjoy it! Here's the Hub site for reference: PWSD GIS Day Hub 2021 (arcgis.com).

[JesseCloutier]

Okay, so you're definitely going to have to share some photos of that crocheted glob and antique compasses, @Jeremy_Z! Those sound awesome, and your idea of having everyone do a 'bring something cool' session in a virtual gathering strikes me as a lot of fun. Another idea I'll throw out there is something Esri's @JenniferAcunto shared recently that I thought was brilliant and may help spark some creative GIS Day ideas: Learning that Pops: StoryMaps Escape Room.

[Jeremy_Z]

Here it is!

She's very talented and makes all sorts of stuff for her side hustle. She's always helping me out with Excel as she uses it quite a bit for work. I'm getting little red X's done every place we've been together in the world on it.

Handmade crocheted items and patterns. – Happy Twists

What a wonderful world...

I'll have to get a picture of the compasses and stuff I've got at some point.

I like the idea of a StoryMap escape room. I recently did a training in Alaska where we built a Survey123 form together in the Web Designer, and it went like a Improv Night at a comedy club. We just started talking and I'd add a question in there based off of what the conversation was.

"Are we actually going to go outside and use this?"
'Yes'
'No'
'Perhaps'
'You are not my supervisor!'

"What is the airspeed of an unladen swallow?"
'42'
'African or European?'
'I don't know that!'
'Arrrgggghhhh!'

It was a blast.

[JesseCloutier]

How cool is that globe?! I love that x's are being added to it as you both keep a record of your travels together. That's such a unique, personal way of holding on to fond memories. And your training event with Survey123 improvisation deserves a round of applause as well!

[BriannaEttley]

Woah - I've never seen a crochet globe like this before... this is SO cool, @Jeremy_Z. I love the idea of adding x's to the places you've traveled to - such a great idea! Improv night at a comedy club while building Survey123 forms... might have to steal this idea!

[Jeremy_Z]

Thank you both. If you are interested in one, hit her up on her website above, she will custom make one (soft and squishy) in the colors you want, even put a X on Redlands for you if you like. Hahahah!

The improv thing came up at the very last minute, and it sure kept everyone connected and involved. The results from their test collections were great, photos with folks doing headstands, funny comments, everyone stayed around the last day so they could see who had the funniest photos or answers to the questions.