June 11, 2013 -- MAPPS (www.mapps.org), the association for private sector geospatial firms, today announced the program for the 2013 Summer Conference to be held July 22-26 at the Samoset Resort in Rockport, ME.

 

The conference will focus on business, management, marketing, technical, policy, and workforce issues relevant to the geospatial market. The agenda is designed by and for private geospatial firm principals, owners, partners and senior professionals.

 

Topics include a status update on unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) regulations and sensors, marketing and reputation management in social media, privacy regulations, coastal modeling and programs, status of implementation of the highway bill (MAP-21), among other relevant presentations.

 

"The program touches on all aspects of the geospatial market including new technologies, workforce development, marketing and business opportunities, that impact our businesses on a daily basis," said Mike Tully (Aerial Services, Inc., Cedar Falls, IA), Program Committee Chairman and member of the MAPPS Board of Directors.

 

The conference will begin with a keynote address from Paul LePage, Governor of Maine, on Monday, July 22. The conference will conclude with a presentation by Boston Consulting Group on a report the firm conducted highlighting the annual revenue generated by the geospatial market, which reaches nearly $75 billion and drives more than $1.6 trillion in economic activity in the United States.

 

Intermixed with the educational sessions, the program includes networking events to build teaming relationships and partnerships, a cornerstone of MAPPS conferences.

 

"MAPPS meetings allow information to be shared about markets, technologies, and business practices among the professionals that make up the leading firms in the geospatial profession," said John Palatiello, Executive Director. "Our conferences have become a venue for senior officials to collaborate and exchange ideas on best practices, improve their knowledge base on topics that impact their business on a daily basis while also expanding business partnerships."

 

For full program, registration and other information, visit www.mapps.org.

 

MAPPS is offering a special membership promotion for firms that are not current members. The association invites principals of firms to attend the Summer Conference at the non-member rate. If the firm joins MAPPS prior to the end of the conference on July 26, 2013, the firm will be credited with the difference between the member and non-member rate. That is a 56% savings. The reimbursement will be credited toward the firm's 2013 membership dues in MAPPS.

 

Formed in 1982, MAPPS is the only national association exclusively comprised of private firms in the remote sensing, spatial data and geographic information systems field in the United States. The MAPPS membership spans the entire spectrum of the geospatial community, including Member Firms engaged in satellite and airborne remote sensing, surveying, photogrammetry, aerial photography, LIDAR, hydrography, bathymetry, charting, aerial and satellite image processing, GPS, and GIS data collection and conversion services. MAPPS also includes Associate Member Firms, which are companies that provide hardware, software, products and services to the geospatial profession in the United States and other firms from around the world. Independent Consultant Members are sole proprietors engaged in consulting in or to the geospatial profession, or provides a consulting service of interest to the geospatial profession.

 

MAPPS provides its member firms opportunities for networking and developing business-to-business relationships, information sharing, education, public policy advocacy, market growth, and professional development and image enhancement.

 

For more information on MAPPS, please visit www.mapps.org.