276
April 2015
PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
ASPRS
NEWS
IGTF – RETHINKING THE ASPRS ANNUAL MEETING
I
f you have not been to an ASPRS conference in a
while, come to this one. You will be surprised. This
year’s annual meeting in Tampa is going to be different.
The venue is perfect for us, and we are continuing
with the format changes that were so well-received at
the recent UAS Mapping 2014 and Pecora 19/ISPRS
meetings. The IGTF branding is more than mere
marketing – it is a rethinking and reengineering of
the ASPRS annual meeting into a more modern and
energized conference format.
There will be more plenary talks, more networking time,
fewer conflicting technical sessions, more exhibitor-friendly
arrangements, and less time away from home. And, we are
feeding attendees at lunchtime in the exhibit area. We are
not giving up pre-conference workshops and committee
meetings, although both will be scheduled more conveniently.
We will still have oral sessions, but fewer of them, with
increased prestige given to poster presenters. We will still
present many, many awards.
The technical program will be very different, since it is
being organized to align directly with the divisions and
committees of the Society. Some time slots will emphasize
technologies, while others will emphasize applications for
those technologies, and still others will focus on cross-cutting
themes. For example, there will be sessions on emerging
3D technologies, humanitarian applications of geospatial
technology, and an in-depth session on the new ASPRS
positional accuracy standards and how they are being applied
to make better maps.
Enriching the technical program, ASPRS is happy, once
again, to have as conference partners the geospatial experts
from NGA and the commercial imagery evaluators/buyers
from JACIE (NASA, USGS, NOAA, USDA). ASPRS is also
excited to have new groups participating in our conference –
the machine vision and pattern recognition folks from IAPR,
the energy industry explorationists and environmentalists
from GRSG NA, the transportation infrastructure folks from
TRB, the geodetic survey and control people from AAGS,
the cartographers from CaGIS, and the citizens serving
communities from CAP, the US Air Force Auxiliary.
Also new this year is scuba diving in the shark tank. Yes,
although few or none may do it, swimming with the sharks at
the aquarium during the opening reception is possible, if you
are qualified and will pay. The reception, by the way, will be
held on the evening before the conference technical sessions
start. If you are a “regular” at the annual conference, take
note, the timing of activities is also new this year.
Tampa is convenient to reach, and the downtown
waterfront venue offers unusual local flavors, superb foamy
libation, walkable sightseeing, and deep sea fishing. The
sessions will be of high technical quality, some of which
may be provocative. The plenary speakers will offer market
awareness (Jon Christopherson, with a survey of global
commercial space assets), tell you where billions of dollars
will be spent (Tim Stryker from the White House), and
inspire you with applications of geospatial information that
you may not have considered before (surprise speaker). And,
on the UAS front, we will hold a joint panel discussion with
AUVSI, simulcast between Atlanta and Tampa. Please join
me and a thousand other colleagues in Tampa the first week
of May.
Registration is open at
To exhibit or otherwise sponsor the
conference, contact
.
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Theofficial journal for imagingandgeospatial information scienceand technology
November2014
Volume80,Number11
SPECIAL ISSUES
IGTF – Rethinking the ASPRS Annual Meeting
