Pre-Conference Workshops
Wednesday, April 25, 2012, Sheraton Dover Hotel

We are offering four workshops the day before the conference. Morning workshops are lecture style presentations and afternoon workshops are hands-on presentations. ESRI's hands-on workshop will have laptops provided. If you are attending the Census Data workshop, you will need to bring your own laptop (see description below for details).

If you have any questions regarding workshops, please contact workshops@degis.org

Using Esri’s Data and Tools Offerings to Enhance Decision-Making (lecture)
ESRI staff
Time: 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Location: Sheraton Dover Hotel, Room TBA

This workshop will introduce attendees to several Esri solutions that can help you make more informed, smarter location-related decisions. Both Community Analyst and Business Analyst Online represent Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offerings that provide tools to let users access a wealth of variables for demographic, socioeconomic, health, industry, crime and more. The workshop will consist of presentations to educate attendees about these applications and datasets, interspersed with demonstrations that illustrate specific use-case scenarios. Whether you’re focused on economic development, resource allocation, emergency response or a variety of other topics, this workshop will provide you with an understanding of how Esri products can enhance the way you already use GIS.

GISP Workshop (lecture)
Nicole Minni, GISP, Jocelyn Beland, GISP, Brianne Jordan, GISP
Time: 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Location: Sheraton Dover Hotel, Room TBA

A GISP is a certified geographic information systems (GIS) professional who has met the minimum standards for education, experience and professional practice as established by the GIS Certification Institute (GISCI). This workshop will provide an overview of completing an application for GIS Professional Certification. It is intended to be of interest to future applicants of GISP Certification, people who are getting ready to renew their certification and people who wish to find out more and what’s new with GISP certification.

Creating Web Maps with ArcGIS Online (hands-on)
ESRI staff
Time: 1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Location: Sheraton Dover Hotel, Room TBA

Attendees in this workshop will have the opportunity to work hands-on with Esri’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offering, ArcGIS Online. After an introductory presentation, attendees will be given exercises to follow that introduce the basics of creating web maps with ArcGIS Online, as well as some intermediate capabilities. For those who are new to ArcGIS Online, or maybe have not used it in a while, this workshop provides an opportunity to build skills in the area of Web GIS that you can start using and applying to your work immediately! Because this is a hands-on workshop, we will try to accommodate attendees using their own data during the exercise portion.

Accessing, Understanding, and Mapping Census Data (hands-on)
Whittona Burrell, Information Services Specialist, US Census Philadelphia Regional Office
Kevin Holmes, Geographer, US Census Philadelphia Regional Office
Time: 1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Location: Sheraton Dover Hotel, Room TBA

Level: Beginner

This hands-on workshop will focus on accessing 2010 Census and American Community Survey (ACS) data as well as understanding the methodologies behind creating customized GIS data products from U.S. Census Bureau geographic files.  To have the benefit of a complete hands-on experience, participants are encouraged to provide their own laptops, configured with ArcGIS 10.0 and able to access the internet.  Microsoft Access 2003 or 2007, Google Earth, and Microsoft Silverlight are also recommended for a fully interactive experience.  Registrants will be provided or directed towards any datasets used in the workshop exercise(s).