MAPPS (www.mapps.org), the national association of private sector geospatial firms, has announced a program providing first-class business, technical education, and market opportunities for its annual Winter Conference, to be held January 27-31, 2013 at the Trump International Resort in Sunny Isles (Miami) Beach, Florida.

Sessions will focus on education programs, networking to build business-to-business relationships, and ways to better manage a surveying, mapping or geospatial company. Topics on the conference program will include:

Mergers and acquisitions; human resources: performance evaluations and 360 reviews; health care reform: implementation in your firm and family; wealth management; National Geospatial Advisory Council (NGAC) update; indoor mapping; sensor fusion; automated feature extraction; thermal mapping; asset management; Florida market for geospatial services; Federal agency updates; location/mobile mapping; ethics; privacy issues and geospatial firms; legislative issues roundtable; geospatial excellence awards; CFO issues panel; and an important session on "big data" with Amazon, Esri, and Google all presenting.

"These timely and important sessions focus on the business aspects of the geospatial profession, providing the leaders of private geospatial firms an opportunity to learn about market opportunities, changes in technology, and issues that impact their business such as the implementation of health care reform and privacy legislation," said Mike Tully, (Aerial Services, Inc., Cedar Falls, IA) chairman of the MAPPS program committee.

In addition to the education sessions, the program includes networking events to build teaming relationships and partnerships, a cornerstone to MAPPS conferences.

"For 30 years, MAPPS meetings have been known for the opportunity to network with the leaders of the geospatial community-- the key decision makers, the principals, owners, partners and senior professional executives of the top firms in the market," said John Palatiello, MAPPS Executive Director. "This conference program is one of our best. We are particularly excited that technology leaders such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Esri are all presenting at the conference."

For program, registration and other information, visit the MAPPS web site at www.mapps.org..

MAPPS is offering a special membership promotion for firms that are not current members. The association invites principals of firms to attend the Winter Conference at the non-member rate, but if the firm joins MAPPS prior to the end of the conference on January 31, 2013, the firm will be credited with the difference between the member and non-member rate. That is a 56% savings. The reimbursement will be credited toward the firm's 2013 membership dues in MAPPS.


About MAPPS
Formed in 1982, MAPPS is the only national association exclusively comprised of private firms in the remote sensing, spatial data and geographic information systems field in the United States. The MAPPS membership spans the entire spectrum of the geospatial community, including Member Firms engaged in satellite and airborne remote sensing, surveying, photogrammetry, aerial photography, LIDAR, hydrography, bathymetry, charting, aerial and satellite image processing, GPS, and GIS data collection and conversion services. MAPPS also includes Associate Member Firms, which are companies that provide hardware, software, products and services to the geospatial profession in the United States and other firms from around the world. Independent Consultant Members are sole proprietors engaged in consulting in or to the geospatial profession, or provides a consulting service of interest to the geospatial profession.


MAPPS provides its 160+ member firms opportunities for networking and developing business-to-business relationships, information sharing, education, public policy advocacy, market growth, and professional development and image enhancement.


For more information on MAPPS, please visit www.mapps.org.