ROI for Meeting Attendance - NSGIC

If you’re involved in GIS Coordination,
NSGIC has the right meetings for you.
Shelby D. Johnson
NSGIC President
Arkansas State GIO
NSGIC meetings are a great
example of fiscal responsibility and sound meeting management. We provide a high
Return on Investment (ROI)
to ensure that the cost of
attendance at our meetings
will return an even higher
value to your agency or business. Just read some of the
great examples cited in this
flyer for proof.
Our meetings provide excellent networking opportunities to meet state GIS leaders, Federal agency staff,
and the private sector. Each
of them may be funding work
in your state.
As a state employee, I know
how difficult it is for other
government employees to
get travel approval. Please
review the information in
this flyer, and use it to help
support your travel requests
for our 2015 Midyear and Annual Meetings.
http://nsgic.org
NSGIC is committed to maximizing your
time out of the office with a strong educational program and networking experience. The organization is managed by
state government employees and they
are notorious for their fiscally conservative practices. This flier provides examples of how our members and their
states have benefited from attending
NSGIC meetings and also provides information about the structure of our
meetings. NSGIC is ‘all about’ efficiency
and effectiveness in state government.
A good resource for developing a justification for attending our meeting is
http://www.writingassist.com/
resources/articles/how-to-justifyconference-attendance/.
The Stringfellow Management Group,
NSGIC’s management team, can provide
specific budget information if it is required to obtain travel approval. Please
contact Diane Schafer, Director of
Meetings & Member Services, at (443)
640-1075 ext. 108 or by E-Mail at
[email protected].
Meeting Content
NSGIC is committed to providing its
members with up-to-date information
on the latest coordination issues, Federal programs, and national legislation.
Agenda topics are collected through surveys of the membership. The content
for the upcoming Midyear Meeting in
Annapolis, Maryland, includes Next Generation 9-1-1, Address and Transportation data issues, Federal program up-
National States Geographic Information Council
9 Newport Drive, Suite 200
Forest Hill, MD 21050
http://www.nsgic.org
443.640.1075
January 2, 2015
dates, and Emergency Management activities. There are also State Caucus
meetings where the State GIOs interact
directly with their peers on hot issues,
and a Coastal Caucus meeting to address
the special concerns of coastal states.
NSGIC is supporting new legislation
known as the Geospatial Data Act that
will be introduced early in the 114th Congress. It will strengthen and improve the
National Spatial Data Infrastructure
(NSDI). Congressional staff will provide
background information on this legislation for NSGIC members. We also expect the reintroduction of the Digital
Coast Act that will codify NOAA’s Digital
Coast Program which is vitally important
to coastal states.
Meeting Structure
A common remark made by first-time
attendees at any NSGIC meeting is how
overwhelmed they are with the content
and networking opportunities. Our single-track meetings start no later than
8:30 am and run through 5:30 pm. They
are designed so that no one misses anything. Working breakfasts and lunches
are the rule and committee meetings are
provided after dinner, for up to five
hours each night. For an idea of how
much content is offered, please see the
NSGIC meeting archives at http://
www.nsgic.org/conference-archives.
This page doesn’t reflect the various
NSGIC is a 501 (c) (6)
organization committed to
efficient and effective government through the prudent adoption of geospatial
information technologies.
Voting members include
the senior state geographic
information system managers and coordinators. Other members come from
federal agencies, local government, the private sector, academia and other
professional organizations.
NSGIC members include
nationally and internationally recognized experts in
geospatial information
technologies and policy.
NSGIC provides a unified
voice on geographic information and technology issues, advocates State interests and supports its membership in their statewide
initiatives.
NSGIC reviews legislative
and agency actions, promotes positive legislative
actions and provides factual information to public and
private decision-makers. It
also provides services such
as the GIS Inventory.
committee meetings or discussion time at
the State Caucus meetings. Meals are provided so attendees can work through the
day without interruption. A modest social
event is provided one evening, as an opportunity for effective networking among
geospatial professionals.

Controlling Costs
“The value that I received from this
meeting alone is inestimable. I left the
meeting with the following solutions.
 Connected with a colleague from SD on
an iPad application that they developed
for address verification and mapping.
He is willing to share that application for
Oregon's use.
 Met with a professional colleague from
a sponsor to describe licensing issue.
Our problem was resolved within 15
minutes.
 Met with a colleague from Louisiana to
discuss the addressing data model. We
will share all developments freely. The
value to both states is inestimable.
 Received a commitment of support
from a data model developer related to
an update and management tool.”
NSGIC sets its registration fees based on a
‘cost neutral’ approach. The charges are
designed to cover food service, meeting
room charges, audio-visual costs and associated expenses related to hosting the conference. Registration fees do not provide
significant operating funds for NSGIC,
which come from our membership and
sponsorship fees.
In addition, NSGIC meetings are typically
held near air traffic ‘hubs’ to keep transportation costs low, and the Federal per
diem room rate is available to all registrants. The Midyear meeting is held each
year in Annapolis, Maryland, to keep
rooming costs at 55% of the Washington
rates. You simply can’t do it at a lower
cost.
Testimonials
Anonymous Comments from Post
-Conference Surveys

“Very well run conference. Excellent
job! Paperless, no vendor area, lots of
time for networking. You guys get it.”

“I thought the conference was extremely refreshing with a group of individuals with a common goal of exploiting and utilizing spatial data in the
most effective way to benefit the
economy and meet government legislation. As a vendor and future sponsor, I liked the fact that everyone is
interested in exploring options and all
members were interested in each other's experiences.”
“Another fantastic conference. It is
often my only out of state travel.”
Multiple Problems Solved
Ed Arabas (OR) Senior Operations/Policy
Analyst for the State of Oregon
Conference Grants
We know that it’s increasingly difficult to
obtain travel approval using state funds.
Giving even the ‘appearance’ of travelling
on state funds when you’re actually funded by a third party can be just as problematic. If you’re a state GIS Coordinator,
NSGIC offers meeting grants to cover part,
or even all, of your expenses. These funds
come from NSGIC’s general operating
fund and are not associated with particular vendors. You can’t get a better ROI
than attending a meeting at no cost.
State leaders would be remiss to pass up
this opportunity when they can clearly
document the savings and also demonstrate the potential ROI for their state
through attendance.

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