Want To Be A GIO?

Here's your opportunity!

State of Wisconsin Geographic Information Officer job posting. Via the State Cartographer's Office (Thanks Jim for the heads up!)

You may recall the recent announcement of the current GIO leaving for the private sector.

Register Now for EWUG 2007

The registration form for this year's EWUG conference and the preliminary agenda are available on EWUG's website.

If you've never been to EWUG before, attendance is usually between 200 and 250 people. It's a relaxed conference that is very valuable for networking with other users. Because it's a user conference, we tend to be a little more technical side of things. People come from a wide range of backgrounds, public and private sector. From what others tell us, its a very well run and informative user conference. We've be doing it for 8 years now.

And its only $75 for two days.

Sharing GIS Resources

What are the possibilities for sharing GIS and making it more affordable for small communities?

In Maine, there is talk about sharing hosting services .

In Iowa, there is a GIS Coordinator that services two Counties.

Would Wis.'s smaller communities can benefit by sharing resources with other communities? Many counties and municipalities have done it with data collection. Are maintenance and coordianation duties not far behind?

Viewing Groundwater From the Air

Came across this UW-Madison News article via APB. I've mentioned do-it-yourself imagery before.

The plane was designed to fly a selected route on autopilot while snapping thermal infrared photos of the terrain below. These low elevation photos provide much more detail than satellite imagery at a significantly lower cost than sending a piloted plane to do the same job. The thermal photos will help map areas where cold groundwater springs enter surface streams, an important first step toward implementing the state's new groundwater protection law, 2003 Wisconsin Act 310.

No Cost ESRI Add-Ons

It's kind of hidden on ESRI's website, but they offer some free extensions to their software. And there will be a addition soon to help with the prep for Census 2010.

• ArcSketch (download)
• Census Tools for ArcGIS (download) For Census LUCA and BAS!
  
• Districting for ArcGIS (download)
• Geodatabase Toolset (GDBT) (download)
• GIS Portal Toolbar for ArcGIS (download)
• OLAP for ArcGIS (download)
• U.S. National Grid Tools for ArcGIS (download)

Damon Anderson

Damon Anderson, the Ozaukee County Land Information Officer suddenly passed away this week. This is the email that went out to WLIA members:

Good Afternoon,

It is always difficult to share sad news about a friend, fellow professional, and Association member. This morning [Wed] Damon Anderson passed away from apparent heart valve failure while on vacation with his family. Damon was the Land Information Officer of Ozaukee County, the current Land Information Officer Network Chair, and also a long time WLIA member and past board member. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Damon's family during this difficult time. Funeral arrangements are pending and will be sent out when available.

Many of us knew and worked with Damon over the years, and with this sad news many of us will be thinking about him over the next few days. I encourage you to pick up the phone and talk to fellow WLIA members and share some stories that celebrate his life, and the opportunity that we had of knowing Damon. Damon was a friend to many of us, a dedicated professional, a gentleman, and will be greatly missed... but will not be forgotten. The WLIA will be showing our support for the family in hopes of helping them through this difficult time.


Sincerely,

Jason R. Grueneberg, President
Wisconsin Land Information Association

Update: Obituary

UW-Stevens Point GIS Funding

Part of the US House Agriculture Spending bill includes (still to be approved):

"$2.475 million to help establish a program at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point to train students in the use of Geographic Information Systems and spatial analysis techniques."

Source