It's Time to think about submitting your entry for the BeSpatial 2024 Best Challenge Awards.

For details, visit the BCA Awards section

The Geospatial and Information Community wants to recognize you for your hard work, creativity and dedication by giving you an opportunity to apply for one of our BCAs - Best Challenge Awards.

Visit the Awards Page for past results announced at BeSpatial

BeSpatial 2022 GOLD Award Winners

Best Public Sector GIS - City of Hamilton
Innovation in GIS - Region of Peel 
Best Web GIS - Town of Milton

NOTICE TO MEMBERS

Take Notice that the Annual General Meeting of the Members of the "Association") will take place  on the

?nd of May, 2024 at the hour of 8:15-8:45a.m. 

to be held virtually

for the purpose of approving the financial statements of the Corporation, to elect directors for the ensuing year, to appoint auditors for the Corporation for the ensuing year, approving all Acts of the Board and of the Officers and to deal with such other matters as may be properly presented at the meeting. 

 For details, sign on and visit members area.

Dear BeSpatial Members,

Well, another year is in the books. And while it feels good to slowly be returning to normal (post-CoVID), the operative word is “slowly”. We’re not quite out of the woods yet, as I can attest as I recover from a bout of CoVID in late November. Fortunately, it wasn’t severe, and other than a loss of smell and taste, it felt more like a mild cold. I’m therefore grateful for the vaccines I received and the continued watchfulness of our Public Health authorities.

It definitely felt good to have our first in-person Board meeting in late August since I joined BeSpatial. Many of my colleagues on the board were only known to me virtually. We convened to have a strategy meeting to review our mission and strategic objectives, and set some priorities for the organization.

One of those priorities was to continue to provide meaningful content to our members. Since our AGM, we staged 4 different webinars, including one on Airborne LiDAR, Addressing the Housing Affordability Crisis with Geospatial Data in September, Hamilton’s Enterprise GIS Roadmap in early November, and how the Broadband One Window online map-based platform supports the Province of Ontario’s Accelerated High-Speed Internet Program in late November.

I’m also thrilled to report that we have filled a vacancy in our team. The Board has welcomed James Dorland, OLS, CLS as Northern Director. James is based in Sudbury, and is actively working towards staging a BeSpatial event in the area in 2023.

As we look forward to the year ahead, the BeSpatial Board of Directors are already hard at work planning our 2023 AGM, on May 2-3. The theme we have selected is “BeCreative”. Creativity is intelligence having fun!

• Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way
• Creativity is seeing what everyone else has seen, and thinking what no one else has thought

Our Geospatial Professional members are creating new insights every day with the work they perform, so this theme should provide a wealth of material. We are deeply appreciative of the sponsors that have already announced their support.

 An initial “Save The Date” e-mail was sent out in late September, and we have recently issued a call for presentations. We’ll once again have different streams, centered around Technical, Business Apps and Strategy, and reflecting the diverse roles our members occupy. In short, we’ll have something for everyone. Please send us your expression of interest to present and a brief abstract, as soon as possible.

Based on the feedback we received from our last Annual General Meeting, we took the decision to once again host the event virtually. While this may be disappointing to those that were looking forward to some real, face-to-face interaction (including myself), the fact is that we are able to reach a far greater number of our members this way. Many organizations, whether public or private, typically limit how many employees can attend such a live event. Those limitations don’t come into play for a virtual event. But we also recognize that many folks yearn for some in-person networking opportunities, and we have committed to holding a 1 day event in each of our three regions (Eastern, Western & Northern) in 2023.

Last but certainly not least, I’d like to acknowledge and thank all of the stakeholders that contribute to bringing value to this community of like-minded geo-professionals, from our executive director and board to our volunteers, members, sponsors and other supporting organizations. May this new year hold much health, happiness and prosperity for you and yours.

Sincerely,

Peter Hettstedt
President, BeSpatial

We're excited to announce that early bird registration (up until March 31) will give you a chance to win a fantastic  draw prizes!

Interest in the program is high with presentation spots quickly filling up  the 20+ sessions being offered. Bookmark the Programs Spotlight area for breaking news about our presentations

BeSpatial'24 is a once a year opportunity that will provide you with professional development , valuable information and updates about what is happening in your field, a chance to visit with exhibitors to learn about their new products and services and networking with others in the geospatial and information community and much more... 

MApps (Maps and Applications) People's Choice Award & Gallery

It's not too early to start thinking and planning to exhibit in the Gallery! 

You've worked hard to create a map or application for your organization and now is your chance to show it off to other GIS professionals and colleagues from around the Province at the annual BeSpatial program event!  Show off your best traditional Map design or create a layout to display your latest Web Application. Open for submissions until April 14th.

For more details

Announcing BeSpatial 2024

May ?-? (Virtual)

BeSpatial Ontario is inviting you to view the PheedLoop Home Page for  program highlights as a sampling of sessions being offered.

Register today to join your colleagues at the geospatial and information community's annual 37th AGM (Annual General Meeting), program event and EXPO.  Bookmark this page and check back often as program details are being updated! 

Registration will soon open to attend  the May ?  workshop:  Title TBA. There are limited seats and registration is on a  first come basis. 

A special thank you to our current sponsors and exhibitors. There are opportunities available for you and BeSpatial has added extra features to enhance your exhibit experience. Come join us in the exhibit hall!

BeSpatial'24 is a once a year opportunity that will provide you with professional development , valuable information and updates about what is happening in your field, a chance to visit with exhibitors to learn about their new products and services and networking with others in the geospatial and information community and much more... 

I've found an excellent article on https://community.challengefactory.ca/where-have-all-the-workers-gone/ which may interest you.

Lisa Taylor from the Challenge Factory presented at  our BeSpatial'21 conference.

  BeSpatial Ontario is seeking one or preferably two Northern Section representatives. This volunteer Board position(s) is responsible for promoting BeSpatial to potential new members and organizations within Northern Ontario, liaising and representing the organization to existing members, and developing content in the form of webinars or seminars that is relevant to the regional membership. The position and related activities should align with our strategic objectives of...

• Proactively encouraging individuals and organizations to participate and volunteer in the geospatial and information community
• Deliver networking opportunities, programs and services contributing to geospatial and information community growth, enhanced productivity and innovation.
• Engage community participation in actively sharing their geospatial and information knowledge and leadership.
• Advocate for standards that will influence the geospatial and information community.
• Recognize and reward excellence and innovation within the geospatial and information community.

Due to the size of the Northern Section in Ontario, it would be preferable to have the duties split between 2 co-leads, one based in the Eastern half and one based in northwestern Ontario. The position(s) will be supported by the BeSpatial Board of Directors. Other duties would also include assisting with the planning, organizing and staging of our annual AGM, attending monthly Board meetings to report on activities and issues within the Northern Section.

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Check out the Full list of BeSpatial Sponsors and Exhibitors