August 07, 2006

4H GeoKids taking the stage at ESRI UC

It's always inpirational hearing from the kids and once again at the ESRI user conference the kids delivered. This year it was a group from the 4H youth organization that took center stage to show us all what they have accomplished and where they are going with GIS and geospatial technologies. This presentation likely drew the biggest and longest rounds of applause (as the kids usually do) as we saw images and heard details of how GIS and in particular, ESRI solutions are helping the non-profit youth organization solve a wide range of community problems and help initiate projects (like determining safety zones, parks planning, etc...). Hearing these stories always gets you motivated and I have no doubt that most of the people in the room were moved to at least think about how they could help a local orginazation or community group by offering up some skills or just a little bit of their own GIS knowledge and skills. Even keynote speaker Senator Bob Kerry made numerous references about the 4H kids and how such a smart and enthusastic group of kids makes him feel good and offers great promise for us (and the planet) moving forward... kudos to the 4H Group and I will definitely pass the word on that GIS professionals around the Globe are encouraged to offer up some help to a local non-profit like 4H. For more about 4H see this thread on the ESRI UC weblog

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