President's Bulletin
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We all love GIS and maps, why else would we be part of such a great community! However, no technology advancement can help your GPS or phone from ending up either lost, wet and/or at the bottom of a river or lake, and still help you navigate home! Don’t forget to keep your navigation and map reading skills up to par!
As the fall approaches, many people find it a time for reflection. URISA-OC is no different. Our annual strategic meeting is coming up and we will be discussing the upcoming goals for 2011-2012 and how we can continue to provide our members with informative workshops, seminars and eNewsletter content. We have incorporated many member suggestions to this past year’s event calendar and hope that you continue to provide us with your ideas and reviews.
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Board of Directors Update
At our AGM on May 3, 2011, the 2011-2012 board was formed. The URISA-OC board consists of a Communications Director, Programs Director and Member & Educational Services Director along with other key players who help guide the strategic direction of our not-for-profit organization.
Your 2011-2012 Board of Directors:
Communications (and Vice President), Susan Port, who along with her team, continue to provide us with great articles, announcements, etc., via our eNewsletters and eBlasts.
Programs, Catherine Fitzgerald, is new to the board and jumped in with both feet to organize along with her team, to organize the summer event and provide us with our first ever webinar. Catherine was an active member of the Program Committee, and it was fitting for her to take on this position.
Member & Educational Services, Melanie Wawryk, not only focuses on ensuring an up to date membership base and new initiatives, but also has a great creative flair and creates many of the graphics you see on our event posters and on our new banner.
Finance, Dianne Adams, continues to keep our non-profit organization on track and above zero.
Be Spatial, Ryan Poyntz, is also new to the board and we look forward to what he has planned for next Be Spatial/AGM event.
At-Large (Web), Chris Wilkinson, continues to keep our web needs met and provide enhancements whenever possible.
Eastern Section, Jean-Francois Dionne, joined the board part way through this past year. He will be helping us reach out to our eastern members.
...and our Executive Director, Sandra Crutcher, who keeps us running behind the scenes.
Read your new Board of Director's full Bio's here:http://www.urisaoc.ca/Directors2010-12.asp
URISA-OC Events
The Program Committee and Board, have been busy the last few months organizing several successful events and have created many opportunities for the GIS community to network, share and collaborate. Thank you Program Committee for organizing these great events!
AGM/Be Spatial'11 Conference: The annual conference was held on Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011 at Black Creek Pioneer Village in North York. The more intimate venue made it easy to network with colleagues and the ‘Town Hall’ portion of the day was a huge success. Thank you to all our sponsors for supporting this event. Our gold sponsors included: AOLS, Cansel, Consortech, ESRI Canada, First Base Solutions, LIO, SKE, Teranet. Congratulations to all winners. You can find all award winners listed on our website, http://www.urisaoc.ca/BeSpatial-2011.asp.
We will begin to plan our 2012 event in the coming months. If you are interested in volunteering and help organize the event, the Be Spatial Committee is looking for volunteers. Please contact bespatial@urisaoc.ca for details.
Special Webinar Event: On Tuesday, August 9th, we held our first member webinar event. It was a continuation of our GIS and the Law workshop in February. Presented by Elizabeth Symons from the Miller Thomson law firm, this webinar answered many questions on disclaimer provisions and online contracts. This webinar event was also well attended by 34 members. Thank you Elizabeth.
Summer Event: Wednesday, August 24th this year at Carlisle Golf and Country Club. The morning was filled with vendor presentations followed by a wonderful afternoon on the greens. That was the night of the big storm with some tornado touch downs. Lucky for us, it didn’t rain, although we did have to struggle through some strong winds! Thank you to our sponsors of the day: Cansel, ESRI Canada, First Base Solutions, and Teranet,
Stay tuned for more information on our Fall Event being held in November!
Acknowledgements
Thank you to all committee volunteers; without all of your efforts URISA-OC would not be the success it is today.
Communications Committee: Chris Aspila, Paul Beach, Ashleigh Harris
Programs Committee: John Bacon, Walid Belal, Tracey Boitson
2011 AGM Committee: Ryan Poyntz and Alison Munro
A special thank you to Alison Munro (past Director, AGM/Be Spatial) and Jennifer Meszaros (past Director, Programs) for all their time and effort during their tenures on the board; our events were a success due to all their hard work. Thank you, Alison and Jennifer - All the best!
Thank you,
Lena Gomes
URISA-OC President