Latest Contributions by KarenRichardson

Mappers everywhere who harness the power of geographic information system (GIS) technology to tell their stories can now enter Esri's Storytelling with Maps Contest. Esri is inviting users to submit their top Esri Story Map projects for a chance at prizes and peer recognition at the largest gathering of GIS software users in the world—the Esri User Conference. Contest participants can submit up to three preexisting or new maps between now and June 8, 2015. "We're looking for maps that grab people's attention and make a lasting impression," said Allen Carroll, leader of the Esri Story Map team. So what makes a good Story Map, especially a winning one? Being imaginative, choosing the proper Story Map app, paying attention to detail, and showcasing a strong interest in the topic, according to several of last year's contest winners and a judge. "If you are passionate about the subject, it can really get the creative juices flowing," said Rupert Essinger, an Esri product engineer who served on the judging panel for the 2014 contest. Submissions will be judged on a range of factors. Each Story Map selected will combine design, user experience, impact, and overall creativity with an interesting and engaging story. Esri will award first-, second-, and third-place prizes in five categories: Travel/Destinations/Recreation Infrastructure/Planning/Government Science/Technology/Education Culture/History/Events Conservation/Environment/Sustainability One grand prize will be awarded to the best overall Story Map entry, as determined by the contest judges. Here are the prizes: Grand Prize/Best Overall: A one-year ArcGIS Online subscription for five users plus a plaque and a certificate First Prize: A GoPro camera plus a plaque and a certificate Second Prize: A copy of the Esri Press book Cartographica Extraordinaire: The Historical Map Transformed plus a plaque and a certificate Third Prize: A copy of the Esri Press book Cartographica Extraordinaire: The Historical Map Transformed plus a plaque and a certificate All entries must make use of one of the Esri Story Map apps. Entries may be hosted in ArcGIS Online or on another server. Contest participants may—and are encouraged to—customize the Story Map apps to suit their needs. Submissions must be received by 5:00 p.m. (PDT) on June 8. Winners and their Story Map entries will be unveiled at the 2015 Esri User Conference. Enter the contest and get full contest details at esri.com/storytellingwithmaps. Discover more about Esri Story Map apps at storymaps.arcgis.com. ... View more

Esri UC has always been about celebrating your GIS accomplishments. And what better way to say congratulations than with a big, fun party? Each year, we end the conference by throwing the largest, mappiest, geogeekiest party in the world. And this year, we’d like you to pick where we host the Esri UC party! Where do you want to celebrate another successful year in GIS with a few thousand of your closest geogeek friends? Let us know! We have selected three awesome venues for you to choose from. Click through the choices and discover more about each one. Then, vote for the location you’d like to party like it’s UC 2015! Do it fast - voting is only open through Friday, April 17. EMBARCADERO NORTH Last year's party at Balboa Park brought street performers like this juggler. Near the San Diego Convention Center, Embarcadero North boasts gorgeous views of the marina and Coronado Island. The Embarcadero’s green space makes it perfect for live entertainment, carnival games, and dancing. Fun Fact: The Embarcadero was the party location for Esri UC’s from 1999-2010    BALBOA PARK Bask in the beauty of Balboa’s lush gardens and Spanish Colonial Revival architecture. There’s something for everyone here from fine art to model trains to street performers. Fun Fact: Metalachi, the world’s first (and only) metal-mariachi band, played Esri UC since 2011.  SAN DIEGO WATERFRONT PARK (NEW) The San Diego Waterfront Park at night. The San Diego Waterfront Park is ready to party with ample room for a large concert (hint). Located by the USS Midway, the park has a kid’s area, water park, and access to the San Diego Maritime Museum. Fun Fact: The art deco McCarthy building in the center of the park is where Esri signed its first contract. Okay, now you know the three venues! Which do you choose? Got it? Good! Now, go vote! United We Party. United We Map! ... View more

And it’s something to see!  There are lots of sessions to choose from – 992 actually. You’ll find  something for everyone. Pull up a comfy seat and sit in on some super sessions! Introductory sessions to Esri software abound. This is the place to get the most bang for your buck  and get up-to-speed on solutions, whether you are a new user, or an experienced user looking to expand your installation.  Road Ahead sessions give you the absolute latest scoop on what is planned for the coming year.  Plus, you’ll hear directly from the  development team. You’ll find sessions geared towards developers; specific industry use from agriculture to wildland fire management; 3D, Web, and Raster  analysis, geocoding, editing and compiling data, and finally, when you are finished toying with your data – how to make a great map. There are sessions on implementing, installing and configuring ArcGIS. Sit in on topics ranging from Enterprise GIS, Open data, real-time data and sensors, and how to use every single one of Esri’s solutions and extensions. Can’t imagine how to use GIS? We’ve got a session for that – ‘Envisioning ArcGIS for your Industry.’ Ten 45-minute sessions are available for you in the Industry Envisioning Center smack dab in the Industry Showcase. What are you waiting for? Check out the agenda. Haven’t registered yet? Secure your spot at the biggest Esri user meeting in the world. We can’t wait to see you! United we learn. United we map! ... View more

Mansour Raad is a senior software engineer at Esri and Esri’s BigData Advocate. As part of Esri’s development team, he helps users implement Big Data solutions with ArcGIS server. He is also a Cloudera Certificate Hadoop Developer and HBase Specialist. You can  catch Mansour at the Esri UC this July, presenting technical workshops. Esri's Mansour Raad - pretending to be shy. What is your background? I was born in Lebanon and went to high school in France.  I received my Masters of Science in Aerospace Engineering from Boston University. I’ve been doing GIS since 1987. It’s been so long I can’t even remember the specific version of ArcInfo I first learned! How many Esri UCs have you attended? I’ve only missed one since 1995 - when my daughter Caroline was born. What are some hot topics you and your team will be covering at this year’s UC? I’ll be covering the topics I am passionate about including BigData ingestion, processing and visualization. What are you preparing for this year? Return of Killer Apps with my good friend Sajit Thomas - it is always a crowd pleaser. Why do you like maps? Maps are a great way to tell a BigData story. Aside from your software presentations, what do you look most forward to each year at the conference? I really love to talk to users and hear their feedback. When you are aren’t at Esri creating software, what do you most like to do? I am really into road biking. I have a tradition to bike from Redlands to San Diego for the User Conference with my best friend Russell. This distance is called a 200 metric century and takes us about seven hours. Catch Mansour at the Esri UC – register now! ... View more

The Road to UC Jim McKinney is no stranger to Esri conference attendees. As ArcGIS Program Manager, he regularly graces the stages and podiums of the Esri Federal GIS Conference, the Developer Summit, regional user conferences and of course, The Esri UC. We sat down with Jim recently to get some insight into what he’s preparing for the UC and what he looks forward to each year. How many user conferences have you attended? I’ve been at Esri for 25 years and I’ve been to all of the Esri User conferences since 1990.  The only one that I partially missed was when my kids were born, five years ago. That’s a lot of user conferences! How has the event changed? I started going to the User Conferences when they were held in Palm Springs, California. The first user conference I attended had less than 4,000 people. I can honestly say they’ve just gotten better each year. Not just bigger, but better.  As the technology has evolved and as people do more with it, they start being very innovative.  The Esri UC has become this place where users can all come together and take part in a great community. Have you started thinking about this year’s User Conference? The teams I look after, the desktop teams, have already started working on sessions for the UC.  We are focused on creating great balanced content across all Desktop software. We will feature workflows in our presentations, and use the software to illustrate how to accomplish real tasks. And we are stressing this approach with all the presenters. What are you doing at the conference? I expect to be doing a lot of listening. I take great notes on what users tell me they need in the software in order to make them successful. I look forward to sharing our ideas for new features and functions – we usually do this in the ‘Road Ahead Sessions’.   But this year, with the first release of ArcGIS Pro,  we are also spending time on Intro sessions to get folks who are new to Pro up to speed quickly and easily. My team and I use the UC to ‘ground truth’ feedback on what we are planning on building into the software. If folks at the UC really want something and  it’s valuable to them, then we get reaffirmation of that and it helps us set priorities as to what is going to go into the next version. As an example, last year, we announced ArcGIS Pro .  When I talk to users at this year’s conference, I am looking forward to hearing about what they have done with it. We know people are stretching the limits of the software already, so it’s a wonderful time to sit down with them and understand what they are accomplishing and where they want it to take them next. What is your favorite part of the Esri UC? I am personally blown away by the Map Gallery. These aren’t just beautiful maps, they are rich with analysis and storytelling, and they were created using GIS software. What would you tell people who haven’t yet attended the conference? It still amazes me what I learn at the UC. It’s really gratifying for all of us to see how innovative people can be across thousands of domains, and find support throughout the whole GIS community.  The family of users that we are all part of is unlike any other professional domain. Our mission is to help you the user and as long as we can keep doing that and you keep growing, then we are being successful. It’s a real powerful thing and I really enjoy it.  And if I were a user, I wouldn’t miss that experience for the world. Don't miss your chance to hear Jim and his team at the UC and learn all you can about ArcGIS desktop - register now. ... View more

The Road to UC. Karlee and Taylor are Esri events marketing coordinators who handle the housing needs for the Esri UC. As you can imagine, it’s a big job that requires two people – although some days it probably feels like an army couldn’t get it all done! It’s helpful that they knew each other before working so closely together here in Redlands - both ladies worked at the same retailer previously, one as a scheduler and another in accounting. They also attended the same University - California State University San Bernardino. Karlee has a GIS certificate, as well as her bachelor in Geography with a minor in Environmental Studies. Taylor is a Sports and Entertainment Marketing major. Together, they make sure there are places to stay in San Diego so you can get a good night’s sleep and get the most you can out of the conference. While neither one would share any funny stories they had about the UC (what happens in San Diego, stays in San Diego? At any rate – your secrets are safe with these two!) They did tell us a little bit about themselves and what goes into their preparations for the UC. How did you discover Esri? Karlee: I discovered Esri the moment I started the GIS program in college. Esri was the place to work if you wanted anything to do with GIS. I found that Esri was hiring through a career fair at Cal State – San Bernardino. Esri had a booth there and someone from the human resources department did an interview on the spot and told me to apply online. When do you start preparing for the UC? Taylor: The minute it’s over! I begin setting timelines and organizing information for the next year in August. What are some fun facts about housing at the UC you can share?   K K          Karlee: We block around 30,000 room nights for attendees to book at a discounted rate throughout the conference dates. What do you like most about the UC?           Karlee:I love seeing and meeting so many different people from all walks of life. I am always amazed to see people from almost      every country one place, with one common interest.      Taylor: There are a lot of late nights and stressful days leading up to UC, so I love getting on-site and seeing all of our hard work come to life. I      also love interacting with users on-site. They are all so excited to be there and are so passionate about what they do. Why do you like maps? Karlee: There are so many things that can be mapped. Trends, patterns, phenomena, all sorts of things! It’s also fascinating to me that we can map the same thing in multiple ways, giving us a different perspective each time we look at it again. Taylor: I like maps because they each tell their own story. What is your insider tip for the UC?                Karlee: Make your hotel reservations as early as possible to get rooms at the closest hotels! Rooms sell out fast!!                Taylor: Wear comfortable shoes! Have you registered yet? That is your first step to securing a great hotel room at a super price. Register now! ... View more

The UC is a big place - last year, 16,000 of us gathered together in San Diego. What would you recommend to someone who is coming to the UC for the very first time? Don't miss the plenary? Go to one of the Road Ahead sessions? Meeting with tech or training staff at the Esri Expo? Help us make this year's UC the best ever for those first timers. Tell me what you think! ... View more