Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Newer Entries »

GeoSearch at ILMF 2011

Thursday, February 10th, 2011

Over 50 leading geospatial companies were represented in New Orleans this week at The International LIDAR Mapping Forum 2011. LIDAR manufacturers, sensor manufacturers, survey service companies, data processing, GIS and management specialists and the latest mobile mapping technologies were showcasing new trends, the latest technology advances, and recent projects. On the exhibit floor, organizations involved in Airborne, Bathymetric LIDAR and/or Mobile Mapping Systems, including system and component manufacturers, operators and service companies discussed what they do and how they do it. At the social the show offered and featured some of the best jazz in New Orleans with a marching brass.

The LiDAR Workshop Series included discussions lead by Riegl LiDAR Applications, Tuck Mapping, MJ Harden (a GeoEye Company), Fugro Horizons Inc., Optech Inc., Merrick & Company, ESRI, Applanix Corp, LizardTech, Terrasolid, GeoCue Corp, Northrop Grumman, and Leica Geosystems.

GeoSearch noted an increased enthusiasm about the market performance at the end of 2010 and the expectations for 2011. Business is good and business is growing in this segment. Share your ILMF stories with us and contact us for professional recruiting services, contract staffing, or job advertisements.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Wednesday, December 15th, 2010

Unprecedented environmental issues challenge today’s world. Every continent is dealing with climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation. Therefore, international stakeholders (the scientific community, policy‐makers, industry leaders, the donor community, etc.,) are involved in certain stages of a solution based process.  However, efforts to reverse negative trends, and support sustainable and equitable development require coordination and cooperation at the global to regional to local level providing policy‐makers  with uniformed information with which to make appropriate decisions.

Uniformed standards, observations, measurements, scales, mandates, and geographic domains for environmental data and information would provide policy-makers and decision bodies the required tools needed to organize the abstract and fragmented data accumulating at numerous locations in various geographies.  It is crucial to build partnerships to support the collection, acquisition, and organization of this mounting environmental data.

Key stakeholder agreement and joint participation could produce a global environmental information network that would encourage integration of existing systems and networks, and build new ones where appropriate, to keep the world environmental situation under continuous objective review.  The Eye On Earth Summit – Abu Dhabi 2011 will convene the primary policy and technical experts from around the world.  The objective is to build consensus regarding the way forward, and establish mutual commitments for that unanimity.

A growing community of regional and international entities are convening in Abu Dhabi, in early 2011 to address this and other similar challenges.

The Eye On Earth Summit Abu Dhabi, will consist of a multi-track conference and exhibition, will involve the participation of high-level policy-makers, decision-makers and technical specialists from the international community, as well as governmental and non-governmental sectors.

Look for this event and others like it to increase geospatial recruiting in the Arabian Gulf!

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

GIS Day

Wednesday, November 17th, 2010
City of Denver

City of Denver

GIS Day is held each year in the third week of November. This year it falls on November 17th (today). It coincides with Geography Awareness Week. National Geographic established Geography Awareness Week as an annual opportunity for families and schools to engage in fun, educational experiences that draw attention to Geo-Literacy. Visit www.gisday.com to find an event near you!

Tags: , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

International GIS Recruiting

Monday, August 9th, 2010
Health building

Abu Dhabi government building

Although the United Arab Emirates has a rich history dating back as far as 5,500 BCE, the union of the 7 Emirates (Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Quwain) we know today is a remarkably recent unification that materialized in the early 1970’s. The growth of the Emirates civilization has been rapid and massive. The construction programs in this region have developed sophisticated schools, vast, assorted housing; geographically disperse hospitals, commercial buildings, financial districts, and roads.

At the heart of this progress is the capitol Emirate. Abu Dhabi has grown to be a multicultural and multiethnic city. It’s the center of political, industrial, financial, commercial, and engineering activity in the UAE. Important federal government offices are housed in Abu Dhabi, and it is also the home for the Emirati Royal Family. Oil royalties and wealth have transformed this metropolis and now those riches provide the means and investment capital required to meet our planets major environmental challenges.

The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) has initiated a strategic mission to improve the quantity and the quality of water resources in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. EAD wants to improve the air quality and protect society from hazardous materials. To set waste management policy and regulations along with developing a climate change framework, the EAD has invested in technology as a key enabler. Capital investments in ESRI’s ArcGIS family products have resulted in the required data analysis and mapping tools needed for efficient enterprise planning in real estate, tourism, transportation, education, health, environment, public and business sectors.

To maximize the effectiveness of human capital, GeoSearch, Inc. is on-site in Abu Dhabi providing a recruiting effort for two current projects and one upcoming and exciting project. The first project requires subject matter GIS experts in many functional areas. Positions that have been filled include the Senior Environmental GIS/IS Analyst for Marine and Terrestrial Biodiversity, Public Relations and Outreach Specialist, Program Coordinator, Program Manager, Remote Sensing and Technology Specialist, Program Advisor, Operations Manager, Database Administrator, and an Enterprise Architect.

Positions that still need to be filled include an Environmental Data Coordinator, Environmental Data Architect, Environmental Analytics Department Manager, Senior Environmental GIS/IS Analyst for Water and Natural Resource Management, Senior Environmental GIS/IS Analyst for Pollution and Regulatory, Senior Environmental GIS/IS Analyst for Policy, Planning and Performance Measurement, and a Partnership Project Manager.

The second project GeoSearch, Inc. is recruiting for is the Abu Dhabi Systems and Information Center and this project is known as (ADSIC). Here we are looking for an Applications Support Specialist, GIS Analyst, Operations Manager, Enterprise GIS Implementation Planning Specialist, and a GIS Analyst Service Level Agreements (SLA) Coordinator.

A third and very exciting project that is just getting started is the Eye on Earth summit. Look to our next blog for news related to that.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

GeoSearch at the MAPPS Federal Programs Conference

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

GeoSearch at the Capitol

On March 8th, GeoSearch traveled to WASHINGTON, DC, for the 2010 MAPPS Federal Programs Conference. 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 legislative initiatives highlighted during the MAPPS members’ meetings with members of Congress on March 10th included:

* The “Making America Prosperous (MAP)” Act, a proposed bill to authorize the “Imagery for the Nation” concept, authorizing a national geospatial image mapping program to provide baseline geographic data for economic development and a variety of other applications;

* A “Digital Coast” Act, fully authorizes the Digital Coast program within NOAA to help America’s fragile oceans, coasts and shorelines by implementing mapping, charting, and other geospatial data, as recommended in several recent commissions, as well as a National Academy of Sciences report;

* The “FLAIR” Act, or Federal Land Asset Inventory Reform Act, H.R. 1520, will create a current, accurate cadastre, or land inventory, of Federal land ownership, as well as consolidate the more than 100 duplicate, inaccurate, obsolete, and non-interoperable land inventories currently maintained by several Federal agencies;

* And the Freedom from Government Competition Act, H.R. 2682 and S. 1167, to codify the “Yellow Pages” test, a simple test that has been applied by Mayors and Governors, both Democrat and Republican, that says if there are private companies to be found in the Yellow Pages providing products or services in the commercial market that the government is also providing, then the service should be subject to market competition to break up the government monopoly and prove a better value to the taxpayer.

Outside the offices


GeoSearch met with Colorado members of Congress and Congressional staff including Charles Cogar, Legislative Assistant in the Office of Representative Mike Coffman. Jimmy Hague, Legislative Assistant in the Office of Senator Mark Udall. Senator Michael Bennet staff members. Marissa Smith, Legislative Assistant in the Office of Representative Betsy Markey. Tommy Walker, Legislative Assistant in the Office of Representative Diana DeGette. Matt Henken, Legislative Assistant in the Office of Representative Ed Perlmutter and we met with Congressman Doug Lamborn.

Geospatial Technology Exhibition


The campus of the U.S. Capitol Compex was the location of our meetings and an exhibition of geospatial technologies showcased and hosted by MAPPS member firms including Merrick & Company, Riegl USA, Trimble, and Woolpert, Inc.

The Geospatial Technology Exhibition was held on the first floor foyer of the Rayburn House Office Building. U.S. Representative James Moran (D-8th District-VA), who represents MAPPS’ headquarters in Reston, VA, was the sponsor of the event.

Posted in Employers, GIS, Small business, strategic planning, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

International Lidar Mapping Forum Day 1

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

2010 ILMF

2010 ILMF


GeoSearch, Inc. is exhibiting at the ILMF along with 56 other companies that are exhibiting with us. It has had great traffic and has attracted attendance from professionals that have come from all over the world. After spending some time in the Exhibit Hall the Welcoming and Opening Address kicked things off and it previewed that the presentation will cover several aspects of LiDAR as it relates to the end-user. LiDAR uses and applications will be front and center in this forum.
Booth 123

Booth 123

The ASPRS Hot Topics Session went first but the first presentation GeoSearch attended was the Data Collection break out session given and presented by Jamie Young General Manager – LiDAR services team at The Sanborn Map Company. The considerations of new LiDAR sensor technology presentation covered area’s like the learning curve and other challenges inevitable with each update and upgrade in Optech and Leica sensors. However, Sanborn gets great support from both manufactures and they work together to make improvements. It covered Reflectivity. Drop outs due to fresh tar, saturated area’s, and roof pitch among other factors. This presentation also highlighted that new LiDAR sensor technology also provides much better data. Much better. It has lower cost and allows for more applications. The full presentation will be posted later here: http://lidarblog.wordpress.com

James Young

James Young


The other session was called How low can you go: Maximum depths achieved with HawkEye II during projects in 2009 presented by Dan Schnurr, Director, Blom Aerofilms Ltd,. Recent advances in Wetland Vegetation Mapping using Green, Waveform LiDAR Amar Nayegandhi, Project Manager, Remote Sensing Specialist, Jacobs-U.S Geological Survey.. Successful delivery of International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO) Order 1B specification coastal survey data using Bathymetric LiDAR presented by Dr Jerry Wilson, Commercial Manager, Fugro-Pelagos, Inc.
In the hall.

In the hall.


We ended the day with the cocktail reception in the Exhibit Hall. Most conversations centered around optimism. Each and every company seemed to have a difficult 2009 and it seems that everyone we talked with, has had an uptick in business and a pipeline of opportunities. 2010 looks like it will be a terrific rebound year. More this this forum later…

Posted in Employers, GIS, Lidar, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Geospatial Jobs and the 2010 Economy

Friday, January 15th, 2010

On January 28th Directions Media will host a Geospatial Jobs and the 2010 Economy Webinar from 12 to 1 pm Eastern Standard Time.  Mike Agron will moderate and speakers include our own Rich Serby of GeoSearch, David DiBiase from Penn State University, Jennifer Swift from the University of Southern California and Michael Gould of ESRI.

How do the current economic realities impact jobs? Where are the jobs? Which jobs are ‘hot’ and what is the current demand for specific job titles, skills and experience? What are the current educational requirements to land these jobs? This webinar addresses these topics and more. If you have experienced a change in your employment status during this difficult economic period or trying to prepare for the prospect of a entering a difficult job market, this webinar is for you.  Register Here!

Tags:
Posted in candidates, Employers, market, Uncategorized | No Comments »

GIS Career Night at the Tivoli Center, Denver CO

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

Yesterday, the associations of GIS professionals Rocky Mountain Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA), Rocky Mountain Region of American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) and Rocky Mountain Geographic Information Technology Association (GITA) held a GIS CAREER NIGHT at the the Tivoli Student Union which serves as a hub of student activity for the Community College of Denver, Metropolitan State College of Denver and University of Colorado Denver.

The GITA Rocky Mountain Chapter Board of Directors representative Natalie Cutsforth kicked things off with a presentation overview of the Geospatial Information and Technology Association.   GITA is an information resource and community for anyone who has a vested interest in the use of geospatial information.  The organization provides excellent networking opportunities for geospatial job seekers.

That presentation was followed with an overview of ASPRS by  Ms. Linda E. Meyer, the ASPRS Rocky Mountain Region Treasurer.  She highlighted their mission to promote the responsible applications of photogrammetry, remote sensing, GIS, and supporting geotechnologies and explained the advantages of membership.  She also mentioned that her company GeoEye is growing and that hiring activity is up.

Tony Palizzi, the current URISA Rocky Mountain Chapter president, presented the URISA briefing and moderated the distinguished panel, which included Linda Meyer of GeoEye, Pamela Fromhertz of NOAA, and Richard Serby of GeoSearch.

Those in attendance included employees of the Census Bureau, DOT, Metro State, DU, and Inergraph.  There were professional land surveyors, oil and gas technicians, land use GIS, Regional Council of Government members, LiDAR professionals, and dozens of former, current, and future students.  The crowd numbered about 50.  Last year totaled over 150.

Lengthy discussions ensued on numerous topics.  The first discussion revolved around the geospatial career outlook.  Richard Serby went over the national unemployment numbers from last year, this year, and the best of years.  Colorado unemployment numbers have been better than the national numbers but that isn’t to say that the local economy hasn’t suffered.  “Let’s talk about the good news.” he said, “I’m done talking about the bad news.”  The good news is that companies, agencies, and the federal government have started to add staff.  “It will be a long road to reach the optimal unemployment number of 5%.” he said.  But now that demand for geospatial applications  is on the rise, more jobs need to be filled and that is chipping away at the 10% unemployment number where we currently sit.

Several questions on internships followed.  Most of the panel agreed that for students that need to gain experience, an internship can be invaluable.  Tips to negotiate a paid internship were discussed and the value of an unpaid internship is not to be overlooked for getting your foot in the door.  Many colleges are helping students make this happen.  To see more on this topic read:The First Rung of the Ladder… Many on the panel started their geospatial career with a paid internship.

Before the networking session the topics included citizenship, clearances, overqualified objections, the new energy economy, and networking your way into the seat that you want.  We hope to network with you at this event next year!  If you attended, we would love your feedback.

Posted in candidates, Employers, Employment Situation, Energy, GIS, Uncategorized | No Comments »

The First Rung of the Ladder…

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

This blog has been following the geospatial career market. Most current indicators point to great demand for an increasing number of geospatial related services in dozens of markets from smart grid technologies, location intelligence, and mobile applications to name a few. Job seekers will tackle the overall employment increase by stepping on many different rungs of the corporate ladder.

Now, there is good news for those that need to start on the first rung of the ladder. The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a grant to The Pikes Peak Community College Geography Department in August of 2009. This pilot program seeks to implement a Tiered Internship Model for Students in Geospatial Technology (TIMSGeoTech). Interns that have an interest in starting a geospatial career can participate in this program and create a network of contacts while gaining school credit.

The funding of $149,542 will sustain the program from this year through the summer 2011. Under-represented groups will benifet from TIMSGeoTech through outreach to workforce development offices, by providing resources to unemployed and underemployed individuals. The PPCC GIS Advisory Board, made up of Colorado industry professionals starting with Donna Arkowski, the PPCC Geography Department chair, and Dr. Irina Kopteva, principal investigator for the project and adjunct Geography and GIS instructor. The work is supported by Mary-Ann Wermers, dean of Health, Environmental, Natural & Physical Sciences; Jennifer Jirous, Colorado Community College System; Jason San Souci, executive vice president and chief operating officer of NCDC Imaging & Mapping; Richard Serby, president and owner of GeoSearch, Inc.; Jay Tilley, senior vice president and general manager of Sanborn, Inc.; Cynthia Pesek, director for Career and Technical Education at Academy School District 20; Patressa Gardner, South Carolina Advanced Technological Education (SC ATE) Center; and Dr. Phillip Davis, National Geospatial Technology (GeoTech) Center.

The results of TIMSGeoTech will provide many opportunities for programming students. There are always geospatial jobs for candidates using VB, Java, Python, html, xml, ESRI’s map objects, and other programs that integrate provide digital map development, spatial data management, application development, data migration, and more. GIS is a rapidly changing and developing industry.

To step on the first rung of the ladder in this industry, a GIS certificate and AAS degree, along with a full retinue of GIS coursework is a great place to start.

Tags:
Posted in candidates, Employment Situation, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Location Intelligence Conference 2009… Panel on Geospatial Jobs.

Monday, October 5th, 2009


GeoSearch hosted and moderated the geospatial Jobs and the 2009 Economy workshop.

The Panelists included Richard Serby – President of GeoSearch in Colorado Springs.
Brian Soliday – President of Global Sales, Revenue Compass, Greater Denver Area.
John Corbett – CEO, aWhere in Golden CO.
Michael Bullock – VP Consumer Electronics and President, Intermap Greater Denver Area.
Joe Berry – Principal, BASIS and Keck Scholar in Geosciences, University of Denver.

The workshop focused on individual employment concerns and questions. More details to come…

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Newer Entries »