To better serve the California geospatial community, we have restructured our Hot News page into four areas: Feature News, General News, Training Opportunities, and Employment Opportunities. The Statewide Events Calendar is a quick way to see the major events that have come to our attention. Please email George White, CGIA Chair ( ) regarding any news items that you would like to see included in any of our news categories so that we can serve you better.

Hot News Items - December 2006
FEATURE NEWS

CalGIS 2007: Bill Clement, CalGIS Conference Chair, special invitation to attend CalGIS 2007 to all CGIA members and interested parties:

This year's conference theme is THE VALUE OF GIS.

GIS can be a valuable tool to effect positive change in our society and our environment. We do this with the requirements and resources of the public sector, the tools and assistance of the private sector, and the knowledge gained through our institutions of higher education.

Not all understand the Value of GIS. We must often justify funding for our GIS work, and afterwards show our customers, our decision makers and the public the return on investment that our GIS work has provided.

The California GIS conference to be held in downtown Oakland April 4-6, 2007, provides an excellent opportunity to educate each other on how we have each been successful in demonstrating the Value of GIS.

Bill Clement
CalGIS 2007 Conference Chair

CALGIS Call for Paper Abstract formally closed on December 1, 2006. If you have not spent in your abstract, you should do it immediately; otherwise you may miss this opportunity to present on the Value of GIS from your unique perspective.

CGIA's Planned Activities at CalGIS 2007
CGIA will be actively participating in CalGIS 2007, because we believe in the "value of GIS." CGIA will have a booth at CalGIS to inform you about what CGIA is doing and kick off the 2007-08 membership drive. CGIA will also hold a social hour on Tuesday afternoon April 3rd as a pre-conference event, right after the CGIA Board meeting where we will have one of the few opportunities to meet face to face. And finally, CGIA is planning to have a presentation about the organization's accomplishments and future directions.

CGIA Elections
The CGIA election process will start up in January 2007. We will be seeking new Board members to fill seats that become vacant each year. The process will be completed by 30 June 2007. Elected Board members serve for two years, representing one of nine sectors, starting in July 1, 2007. For more details, please review the CGIA Board roster so you can see which second year Board seat may apply to your interest. The About CGIA web page contains detailed background information about CGIA. You may also contact any CGIA Board member to get your questions answered if you are considering running for a CGIA Board member position.

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