Highlights From GEOINT2013 Symposium

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Originally posted on GovDataDownload

The recent GEOINT 2013* Symposium, which took place in mid-April, was a great opportunity for government agencies and industry representatives  to share ideas and best practices, according to Greg Gardner, chief architect for government, defense, and Intel solutions for NetApp's U.S. Public Sector. Gardner spoke with GovDataDownload about his key takeaways from the recent show.

GEOINT2013* was so named because last year's symposium was cancelled due to sequestration and budget cuts. This year's make-up conference, hosted by the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, was a busy one.  Industry, the Intelligence Community and Special Operations Commands all were in attendance and well-represented.

The keynote address by Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper set a framework for the show. He debunked many of the myths surrounding the recent Snowden leaks and discussed the impact they have had on the Intelligence community.

Director Letitia Long of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) shared her vision for the agency during GEOINT and outlined its architecture and the five tenets of how they do business.  Gardner said that one of the most interesting aspects of her speech involved both a vision for immersive intelligence as well as the ways in which activity-based intelligence affects the Intelligence Community.

The Defense Intelligence Information Enterprise  (DI2E) panel addressed the ways in which they are integrating IC-ITE and JIE in a manner that optimizes secure information sharing.

Hear more from Gardner about GEOINT2013* here.

Part of the In Crowd: Crowdsourcing and Events

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Crowdsourcing is the practice of getting ideas and content by reaching out to a large group of people outside of your organization. With the rise of social media this practice has become easier to carry out. From individuals looking for recommendations of doctors or contractors to the government looking for new ways to carry out their missions, everyone is using crowdsourcing.

The government application of crowdsourcing is particularly interesting. In a democratic society it makes sense that "the people" have a say in how the government runs, but traditionally the business of government has been a very insular environment.  From local governments looking to fill potholes, to GSA looking to create a better tracking tool for government travel, to NASA looking for the next innovation in space exploration, groups across government are embracing the power of the people.

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Greening Your Event

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In honor of Earth Day, we wanted to use a post to share some ideas on how to make your events a bit more environmentally friendly. A four-day national tradeshow can cause 1,874 pounds of emissions per in-person participant. That's equivalent to burning two barrels of oil. The average conference participant produces 1.41.lbs of landfill at event venues each day.

There is a wide range of things you can do to make your event more "green." Below are a couple of tips that range from incredibly involved (likely needing a dedicated staff to manage) to more basic. In looking at these options you need to decide what is feasible given your event, attendees, and budget as well as which would make the biggest impression on attendees.

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Event budgets rise by 6%

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Originally posted on www.citmagazine.com by Alison Ledger
The Q1 2014 IPA Bellwether Report has revealed the largest rise in marketing budgets for 14 years, with event budgets rising by 6.2%.

Marketing budgets have grown for the sixth successive quarter and have risen in Q1 to the greatest degree in seven years, according to the Q1 2014 IPA Bellwether Report, published today (17 April).

All areas of marketing saw growth, with main media advertising being the primary beneficiary of the uplift, recording a series record net balance of +11.7%.

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