Leading GIS Developer Slated for Coast Geospatial Conference

August 24, 2005

OCEAN SPRINGS – Users of geographical information systems (GIS) will have access to the latest information from the world's leading developer of GIS software during the third annual Mississippi Gulf Coast geospatial conference Oct. 19-20 at the Palace Casino Resort in Biloxi.

The software development company Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) has selected the October geospatial conference as a site for a one-day recap of this year’s ESRI International User Conference.

"More than 13,000 people attended the 25th annual ESRI conference in San Diego this year, and the fact that ESRI wants to have a one-day recap of their user group conference in conjunction with the Mississippi Gulf Coast geospatial conference is really big," said Anitra Blake, user liaison with the Gulf Coast Geospatial Center, organizer of the conference. "They only have a limited number of these recap meetings during the year, and we have been selected as one of their sites."

Blake said the theme of this year's coast conference is geospatial applications in support of coastal research. Highlights include luncheons, concurrent sessions for oral presentations, exhibits, poster sessions and networking receptions.

Partners in hosting the 2005 event are The University of Southern Mississippi, the Pearl River Community College and the Gulf Coast Geospatial Center. Sponsors are the Enterprise for Innovative Geospatial Solutions (EIGS), ESRI, NASA Applied Science Directorate, the Mississippi Automated Resource Information System (MARIS), Mississippi State University GeoResources Institute, EarthData, and Information Management Systems (IMS).

Registration is $200 ($125 for students). For more information contact Anitra Blake at (228) 818-8858 or visit http://www.usm.edu/gcgc/conference.