Summary: In a letter distributed this afternoon, GITA executive director, Bob Samborski, provides information about the future of the organization

Here is the verbatim letter as distributed by GITA and signed by executive director Bob Samborski:

At its meeting of May 22 in Memphis, Tenn., the GITA Board of Directors approved a plan that will allow the association to continue to provide services to the geospatial industry as a volunteer organization. This is a move necessitated by several years of declining conference attendance and membership, recently made more acute by increasing financial pressures on operations.

Last April, we made the decision to discontinue the annual conference format, given the declining trend in attendance as well as the significant financial commitments that have to be made, sometimes several years in advance, to secure an appropriate venue that would accommodate an event that has been a mainstay of the association.

We sought to replace the traditional annual conference format with a different type of educational event planned for this May. This event, the "Thought Leadership Symposium," had to be canceled due to lack of support.

Given these and other related developments, the GITA Board of Directors was forced to make some difficult decisions to preserve the basic activities of the association. The good news is that GITA will continue to be an educational resource for geospatial professionals into the future.

GITA is transitioning to a new business model that will be less dependent on conferences and physical events, and one that will offer individuals and organizations new and different ways to participate and gain benefit from participation in the wider geospatial community. The go-forward plan includes a transition to a volunteer operation, with the GITA staff transitioning from full-time employment at the end of June.

The GITA News Hub newsletter will continue to provide timely news and best practices on a weekly basis to its more than 18,000 recipients worldwide. Watch the News Hub and check out the GITA website for more details as the situation develops.