2015 GIS Conference
The 2015 GIS in Action Conference Committee wanted to share the following news and reminders with you.  This year’s joint conference will be May 4 – 6 at the Hilton Vancouver Hotel and Conference Center in Vancouver, WA.

Abstracts
Have you been writing your presentation abstract for the 2015 GIS in Action, but were waiting for that last detail to make it perfect? Well you are in luck, because the deadline for Call for Abstracts has been extended to midnight, Saturday, February 28. This is your chance to be a part of the program, receive a $60 conference discount and earn professional certification credits.

Abstracts submitted will be reviewed in the order that they are received. Presentations will be chosen based on content, message, and fit into the program. Those abstracts received early will be given first consideration for limited program space by the program committee.

Workshops
REMINDER – All workshop proposals are due by February 10th. Please see the Call for Workshop Proposals for further details. Or email questions to Workshops@waurisa.org.

The Washington and Oregon chapters of URISA and the Columbia River Region of the ASPRS are seeking instructors to give workshops on a wide range of GIS and geospatial topics at the 2015 GIS in Action conference. All submissions are welcome and will be evaluated as a potential workshop focus.

Charter Bus Survey
The Washington URISA Board is looking into chartering a 47 passenger bus to go from Bellingham to Vancouver and back for the conference. The bus would make stops along the way to pick up conference attendees at park & rides along I-5. We are also working on the logistics of people taking the train down and the bus back from the conference for those attendees going to the Monday workshops.

If you are interested in either of these options, please fill out this survey!

More information
More information is available on Washington URISA’s website on the 9th annual Richard “Dick” Thomas Memorial Student Presentation Competition & Award, including the Complete Guidelines (PDF) and Competition FAQs (PDF) for information on Richard “Dick” Thomas Award, as well as, information on how to nominatean a deserving individual for The Summit Award.

The deadline to enter the Dick Thomas Award is April 9, 2015. The deadline to submit a nomination for The Summit Award is April 20, 2015.

Coming soon on the GIS in Action website will be information for vendors, registration, the poster contest, and social events.

Registration for the 2015 joint GIS in Action Conference will open soon.