MU Conference Office-Conference Talk Newsletter--page 3

Picture of MAGIC Speaker One hears of Global Positioning Systems everywhere it seems. Cars have them, cell phones have them, and combines have them. There is even an exploring game, Geocaching, based around using the GPS unit; kind of like a high tech treasure hunt. But one may wonder how all these units are possible? The 9th Biennial Mid America GIS Symposium held in April 2004 answered questions such as this.

The Mid America GIS Symposium (MAGIC) held at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in Kansas City, Missouri offered an opportunity for educators, researchers, city planners, exhibitors, and others from states such as Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Tennessee, North Dakota, and South Dakota to meet and share information. The Symposium was sponsored by the Mid America GIS Consortium, Ltd., a nonprofit educational organization established to foster the applications of geographic information systems (GIS) and related spatial technologies in the mid-continent region. The program over the course of 5 days, April 18-22, 2004, offered an opportunity to hear three keynote speakers, choose from 38 hands-on short courses, and over 70 concurrent sessions. The Symposium provided a focus for establishing linkages between GIS users having similar application interests; facilitating communication and data sharing across levels of government and between government, industry, and academia; promoting spatial data standards and land records modernization; and promoting collaboration and advancement of geospatial technologies in government.

Picture of MAGIC Exhibitors A unique way MAGIC has made the choices of speakers and classes easier to navigate is by developing a Curriculum. These Curriculums, which are specialized listings of short courses and sessions that are grouped according to an interest area, make it easy for attendees to pick up a “class schedule” or create their own. Interest Areas covered included: Modern Public Safety Information, Web GIS, Multi-Jurisdictional Collaboration, GIS Application Toolbox and New Technologies and others.

The next Symposium will be held in 2006.
Conference coordinated by Jamie Schieber