GeoTec Event is a relatively large geospatial conference held in Canada. The show is fortunate to have a couple geobloggers attending: Ed Parsons is doing the opening keynote and Peter Batty (along with Ed and a couple other luminaries) is going to be on the opening panel. Hope I get a chance to talk with them. If any other geobloggers (even low-output ones like me) are going to be there, drop me a line…

Traditionally, GeoTec has alternated between BC and Ontario, but this year the western show is stopping in Calgary and co-locating with GeoAlberta. It’s not as technical as the vendor shows or events like Where 2.0, but it’s a great chance for traditional GIS folks to connect and learn from others.

This year I’m going to be part of two presentations.

The first is an “Introduction to Open Source” full day lab, where I’ll be working with Bob Bray from Autodesk, Paul Spencer from DM Solutions, and Samuel Smith from Refractions Research to introduce users to one of many potential open source software stacks. In this case: PostGIS, uDig, MapGuide Open Source, and DM Solutions’ Fusion (not yet released).

The second is an integrated case study entitled “City of Nanaimo Chooses Open Source Geospatial and Finds Success,” which is pretty long-winded, but sounded good at the time. Again, working with Samuel Smith and Paul Spencer, we’ll show how the City of Nanaimo is making use of open source tools (PostGIS, FDO, MapGuide Open Source, and Fusion) to deliver user-friendly services to our staff and residents. This will show integration points between traditional proprietary tools and the open source tools that we have implemented where it makes sense. Because most of the audience will probably not be familiar with open source geospatial, we’ll also be doing an introduction to OSGeo and the tools that the City of Nanaimo is using.

As much work as I put into getting ready for these conferences, I always find myself getting my slides finished off the weekend before, so it’s time to stop procrastinating and get back to work :)

-J