Reston, VA – MAPPS, the national trade association of geospatial firms, and the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) today announced they will jointly host the third annual national surveying, mapping, and geospatial conference, March 13-17, 2017 at the Sheraton Hotel in Silver Spring, Maryland.
The conference will bring together associations, professional societies, individuals, companies and government agencies in the surveying, mapping and geospatial fields. It will focus on the profession in private practice, technological innovations and collaboration, and public policy.
Providing a forum for discussions on best practices, technology, issues and policies, the conference gives participants an opportunity to share information, knowledge and tools, as well as opens doors to new markets and facilitates collaboration on data acquisition, processing, applications and the use of new and emerging technology. The program will also feature discussions of business practices and policy issues that directly impact companies in the private sector.
The overall conference will serve as an umbrella to include plenary sessions, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and social/networking activities designed to create synergy among the many vertical segments (technical disciplines, applications, and sectors) of the surveying, mapping and geospatial community.
NSPS will host the team presentations for its annual Student Competition on Monday, March 13. The NSPS annual General Membership meeting, and other business, committee and board meetings, will be scheduled throughout the week in order to allow NSPS leadership to more fully participate in conference activities.
The conference will include the MAPPS annual Federal Programs Conference March 14-15. Tuesday, March 14 will feature presentations by Federal agencies, the newly elected Administration, and members of Congress, including briefings on programs, budgets, and requirements for the acquisition of geospatial services, data and products by contract from the private sector. On Wednesday, March 15, MAPPS and NSPS members will visit some 200 Congressmen and Senators at the U.S. Capitol, advancing a common agenda of legislative issues that serve the public and engage the surveying and mapping community.
The Sheraton Silver Spring was selected as the site of the conference for its meeting facilities and proximity to Washington Metro subway system to particularly provide to attendees easy access and transportation to Capitol Hill in Washington, DC for visits with Congress.
“This conference builds on the partnership formed in 2014 by focusing on business practices, technology, and government programs and policy issues that affect the membership of both associations. We are pleased to continue developing a national surveying and mapping conference intended to compliment, not compete with or duplicate, the continuing education opportunities provided by state surveying societies by focusing on business, technology, and policy issues, and providing an opportunity for engagement between practitioners and technology providers in a “vendor-neutral” setting,” said NSPS Executive Director Curtis W. Sumner, LS, and MAPPS Executive Director John M. Palatiello.
The website, www.surveyingandmapping.net, will include updates on program details and links to on-line registration.
About NSPS
Having incorporated ACSM within NSPS in 2012, the organization is the preeminent national professional society working in affiliation with the respective state societies of professional surveyors and along with persons trained, registered, or interested in the profession of surveying and mapping. NSPS advances the sciences and disciplines within the profession and strives to establish and further common interests, objectives, and political efforts to help bind the surveying profession into a unified body in the United States. NSPS is the interface for the surveying profession with a multitude of national organizations in related fields, and with federal government entities.
About MAPPS
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. The MAPPS membership spans the entire spectrum of the geospatial community, including Member Firms engaged in satellite and airborne remote sensing, surveying, photogrammetry, aerial photography, LIDAR, 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. Independent Consultant Members are sole proprietors engaged in consulting in or to the geospatial profession, or provides a consulting service of interest to the geospatial profession.
