In+ersec+ion for Spatial People

Today was the first day of the Géomatique 2011 event in Montreal, the geospatial event for French canadians. Here's my report.

Local chapter OSGeo-Qc event:

• In collaboration with Géomatique 2011, on Tuesday evening was held an OSGeo-Qc 5 à 7, right after Montréal's WhereCamp (sorry I had to miss that one). Like previous OSGeo-Qc events, it's a wonderful opportunity to learn about various projects people from the area are working on, sometimes with a strange success. Informal gatherings are also the right place to learn about behind-the-scenes tidbits that we couldn't know about otherwise. Thanks OSGeo-Qc, these events do have a lot of value.

Géomatique 2011, first day impressions:

• If you're a French canadian with the slightest interest in geospatial, no matter which color (GIS, remote sensing, GPS, etc), that's clearly the event that you must not miss. Most local (provincial) geospatial stakeholders are attending. 
• That said, don't get your expectations too high on the content of the presentations. You won't see Google or Esri making big announcements there (but Esri, Leica, Bentley, amongst many others, are active participants).
• The event's organization has been stellar so far. Really. Great keynote speakers, excellent food and nice and colorful social cocktail.

Mitch Joel Keynote:

• Mitch Joel is the author of
  Six Pixels of Separation: Everyone Is Connected. Connect Your Business to Everyone.
• While his speech wasn't specifically focusing on geospatial, it was an excellent informative and energizing keynote 
• Mitch argued that location is untaped by businesses

• With people being untethered now (with smartphones, tablets, etc), location becomes key

• It's a rapidly changing world, you must evolve quickly or you'll become irrelevant

• More smartphones are being sold than computers now, and smartphone have location capabilities built-in
• Brands have to reply back to their customers, it's not really about a conversation, it's about direct relations with customers which will in turn share their satisfaction about your products to their entourage
• Focus on the why, not the what or the how
• Most customers don't care about technology, they just want great user experience

The lunch keynote was given by Pierre Chastenay, an astrophysicist who entertained us with 10 yet unanswered questions about the Universe. I also took notes during the talks of the day. I'll share them with you in the coming days.