Away I Go

I am going to be away this week attending the ESRI Federal Users Conference in Washington DC this week. These blogs this week will reflect my time away from home and my experience there. Enjoy.

Today I start my journey to Washington DC and more specifically Arlington, Virginia where my hotel  The Holiday Inn Rosslyn is located.

This is the hotel that I usually stay at when I go to DC on business, on personal travel I usually stay in Gaithersburg, but this is just a couple quick metro rides and I'm inside the building of where I need to be. I can literally walk out of my hotel, across the street and a couple blocks up and I don't have to step outside again.

Weather permitting, I'm going to try to make it to the Arlington Cemetery this trip. The last two times I was there it was bitter cold, hopefully I can get in and settled early enough that I can take a trip over there.

Have a great day, I will

Hi ho hi ho

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes it is once again that time of the week that we all look foreword to, when we can take time to cease the labors for the week and take a little bit of needed time out to enjoy the fruits of those labors. It is once again the dawn of another weekend and a Big Ole Hairy Friday.

Not too much planned for this weekend other than working a couple of days. Next week however I will not be in the office until later in the week as I travel to Washington DC for the ESRI Federal Users Conference. This will be my third time attending this particular conference, it's the second biggest one they have second only to the world wide users conference in San Diego they have every July. I'm trying to attend that one as well as they are very informative and allows me to meet vendors and see new and exciting technologies and innovations.

This weekends plans? Nothing out of the ordinary other than preparing to go to DC next week. I'm renting a car (company credit card) and driving rather than flying, where that would probably take more time. Other than that just going to go out and do a little bit of field work. Fun fun fun. The good part about Friday's? We always order Pizza Al's every Friday.

Have yourselves a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

ESRI Users Conference Day 4

This week Michelle and I will be traveling to the West Coast as I attend the ESRI Users Conference in San Diego. This weeks blogs are pre-written and just a bit of information as to where we are and what we are doing for the week.

While this is not the last day of the Conference, it pretty much is as there are a couple sessions tomorrow morning and it winds up at Noon. This will be my last day here as Michelle and I will be heading back to West Virginia tomorrow.

I'll be attending one more day of specialized training, and maybe spending a little time with Michelle. With Sunday being a travel day and tomorrow being a travel day, my billable hours are going to be way up this week, so today may mostly be our day. There are a few things I would like to see however, so I'll probably be going to the convention center for part of the day.

There is a big social gathering tonight, Michelle and I are still debating if we want to attend or not. I guess we'll play it by ear.

Have yourselves a great day.

ESRI Users Conference Day 3

This week Michelle and I will be traveling to the West Coast as I attend the ESRI Users Conference in San Diego. This weeks blogs are pre-written and just a bit of information as to where we are and what we are doing for the week.

Today is going to be another day like yesterday, a continuation of seeing new technologies and a chance to see in what ways others are using this technology in innovative ways. I think I am on the cusp of one myself with the development of a Federal asset validation tool that I have been working on for the last year or so. There is one other National Lab that has done something similar, but I'm wanting something robust, accurate and that can produce real time information and have the spatial database to support the numbers.

There are a number of sessions today that will help me address that and beyond. I'll be attending about any and all training I can fit into my schedule where there is no conflict. Printing out the full agenda, it's 187 pages in length, now it is up to me to determine what I want to see and where and hope it doesn't conflict with other things in the same time slots. I'm just a kid in a candy store here, but I have already planned what I would like to see.

This evening I'll be attending the Department of Energy's GIS Users group. We met in January and it's nice to be able to meet, put faces and names to some pretty important people including those at Headquarters.

I may even find a few RTI people here.

Have yourselves a great day. 

ESRI Users Conference Day 2

This week Michelle and I will be traveling to the West Coast as I attend the ESRI Users Conference in San Diego. This weeks blogs are pre-written and just a bit of information as to where we are and what we are doing for the week.

With a day of Plenary under our belts, now it is time to bet into the nuts and bolts and meat of this visit. Now is when we can choose to visit a number of more specific topics that are being addressed and also get some hands on training.

This is also when we get to see first hand the new state of the art innovations that are being rolled out. I know Trimble who is one of the big sponsors should have SiteVision fully functional by now. When I spoke to them in DC in January, they were still in the development stage. It was something that really caught my attention earlier this year and I'm a little excited to see it in action.

Have yourselves a great day.

Day One of Users Conference

This week Michelle and I will be traveling to the West Coast as I attend the ESRI Users Conference in San Diego. This weeks blogs are pre-written and just a bit of information as to where we are and what we are doing for the week.

Today I will be at the San Diego Convention Center and on the agenda is a day of Plenary Sessions with some very special guersts. Jack Dangermond the founder of ESRI will speak and will have some very special guests to also speak to us today. Being that this is my third users conference, I've been to two Federal Users Conferences in Washington DC including the one earlier this year, I kind of know that this first day is a day of listening to people speak and this particular one is going to be the largest one ever. It's also the 50th Anniversary of ESRI and this is the Super Bowl of GIS.

Today will be filled with me sitting and listening to people speak, Michelle on the other hand is probably going to be enjoying herself at the San Diego Zoo. We're both going to have very memorable days.

We'll probably grab something to eat this evening somewhere local, as we can get a good nights sleep in anticipation of tomorrows festivities.

Flying to San Diego

This week Michelle and I will be traveling to the West Coast as I attend the ESRI Users Conference in San Diego. This weeks blogs are pre-written and just a bit of information as to where we are and what we are doing for the week.

We will be leaving Pittsburgh International Airport this morning on United Airlines Flight 519 at 8:05. We are making our first stop at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. We shall have a minor layover there and will depart Chicago at 10:15 (11:15 EST) on United Airlines Flight 1590 to sunny San Diego and the San Diego International Airport. We should arrive at 12:30 Pacific Time (or 3:30 EST).

We will be staying at the Four Points by Sheraton San Diego for the week. It's in Little Italy and about a mile from the San Diego Zoo. We will be there a few hours before checkin, so this may be my best time to actually get to see the city a little bit. Michelle will have the week to enjoy the sites.

Have yourselves a great day.