MAPPS Newsroom

Microsoft's Alexander Wiechert Opens MAPPS Summer Meeting in Sun Valley, Idaho

Wiechert, Managing Director of Microsoft's photogrammetry unit, kicked-off the conference today with a forecast of the market, focusing on opportunities available to the geospatial and photogrammetric community through Microsoft Virtual Earth. He outlined the business model for Virtual Earth, why it is being implemented, why Microsoft purchased Vexcel, the impact of this acquisition on the field of photogrammetry, and a discussion of the new UltraCam Xp imaging system.

Nearly 200 persons are in attendance at the conference, including private geospatial leaders, guests, key Federal agency personnel and invited speakers. Officials of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) are also participating.

"MAPPS has created a unique niche in the market," said MAPPS Executive Director John Palatiello. "Our conferences combine beautiful and relaxing settings, top notch education programs featuring business and technical information targeted at senior level firm principals, an atmosphere where spouses and children are welcome, the best networking and cross-firm relationship building environment in the profession, and discussions of professional practices, business issues, legislation and public policies affecting the geospatial market."

During the course of the 5-day event, MAPPS members will participate in sessions on business trends, including mergers and acquisitions, geospatial workforce development tools and strategies, client relation management (CRM) software options and applications, how GIS technology is transforming the market, establishing boresight and calibration process for aerial imagery and LIDAR sensors, mobile mapping and terrestrial LIDAR applications, emerging privacy issues that could impact the profession, legislation in Congress affecting the geospatial practice, and activities of the National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC). The conference will also include the MAPPS annual business meeting and a banquet at which the annual MAPPS Geospatial Products and Services Excellence Awards will be presented to leading firms and their projects and clients.

"At our Winter Meeting in January, our Keynote Speaker, Jack Dangermond of ESRI, said it best when he told MAPPS members, 'what I like about this organization is that you are all competitors and you are friends; there's a name for that, it's a profession'," Palatiello noted.

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. Current MAPPS memberships span the entire spectrum of the geospatial community, including Member Firms engaged in satellite and airborne remote sensing, surveying, photogrammetry, aerial photography, 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. MAPPS provides its members 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.