This year’s New Zealand Esri User Conference saw the highest attendance in its 21 year history with 585 attendees taking part in the conference held in Auckland from the 14 to 16th August.
The team at GBS look forward to the conference each year as it is a chance for the team to get up to date with the tech and strategic direction for Esri. Hearing from Esri users as they presented their stories was also beneficial.
For Mike Mazerolle, Solutions Manager for GBS, the conference was a chance to get exposure to what others in the GIS community were working on. “After working in a single industry, with a focus on a particular type of user, it was good to broaden my horizons with learning about different technologies/products, areas or domains of expertise, and just to get a better sense of the make-up of the geospatial community in NZ.”
The takeaways for Daryl Anderson, GIS Developer for GBS were exposure to the 3D feature data and proper application of raster analysis. “Being able to see how these can be applied is very useful as a reference point to translate these into applications for our clients,” says Daryl.
It is also a valuable opportunity to meet existing clients, as well as meeting those who are looking to develop their Esri capabilities and hear what challenges they are looking to solve. Tony Elson, director of GBS, explains that it’s always a great networking opportunity. “Getting to catch up with people in person always strengthens ties and gives us the chance to share our knowledge and experiences. But it is also a learning exercise for us. We get to understand some of the issues and needs our clients have, and our staff get over the tech a bit more,” said Tony.
The conference was not just a learning opportunity but a chance to socialise with the other attendees with the highlight the Winter Wonderland dinner at the end of day one. Many dress up to the theme – which meant there were a few Game of Thrones costumes in the mix from team GBS.
“It was also good to have this dinner take place in a relaxed environment, which enabled an opportunity to socialise, which can be limited within the overall community during the typical Monday-Friday work week,” says Mike.
“Right now we’re busy applying what we learned from the UC,” says Tony. “We’ve got the 2017 Spatial Excellence Awards in November marked in our calendars and it will be great to reconnect with everyone again in Wellington.”