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Who We Are
MAGIP, is a non-profit professional association of diverse GIS users from federal, tribal and state agencies, local government, private industry, K-12 schools, and university affiliates. To support our goals we:
- Provide an objective educational forum and promote training opportunities
- Foster the exchange of ideas and studies dealing with the planning, operation and consequences of geographic information systems
- Promote professional interaction, stimulate research, encourage publication, and assist the advancement of our members.
Structure
GIS Conferences have been the focus of 50% of our activities, from planning to implementation - The purpose of our conferences and workshops is to: educate users about the latest GIS developments; showcase emerging GIS applications; share expertise; and promote interaction between a diverse group of GIS users, service providers, and the clients they serve. MTGIS and Intermountain GIS Conferences have been held annually from 1998 to the present, in recent years rotating between Montana and our Idaho URISA partners. The 11th GIS Users's Conference - Tools of Discovery was held April 19-23, 2004 in Billings MT.
- Attendance has grown from 80 people in 1988 to 250 + in 2005
- Draws/attracts nationally recognized plenary speakers like Jack Dangermond, CEO of ESRI, and Bruce C. Cahon, President of Urban Logic, Inc.
- Affordable registration (Billings Conference $140.00 for full registration fee)
- Diverse set of pre- and post- conference workshops. Nominal fee for half or full day workshops. Discount for MAGIP members.
- Poster session with professional judging
- Student scholarships requiring 1/2 or whole day assistance at annual Conference and presentation from scholarship recipient
- See archive for past GIS Conferences: Helena 1988; Billings 1989; Missoula 1990; Bozeman 1991; Butte 1992; Missoula 1993; Kalispell 1994; Helena 1995; Missoula 1996; Bozeman 1997; Butte 1998; Idaho Falls 1999; Kalispell 2000; Boise 2001; Big Sky 2002; Coeur d'Alene 2004; Billings 2005 .
GIS Education (40% of our activities) - We promote the advancement and dissemination of geographic concepts to students from kindergarten through university and their teachers, and the advancement of excellence in professional GIS activities. For example,
- We provide one or more scholarships in the amount of $1000.00 to be awarded each year to an undergraduate senior or a first-year graduate student attending any Montana College or University.
- Offer K-12 GIS in Educational Curriculum Development Grants to educators.
- We have developed and continue to maintain Geospatial Trunks (Grades K-5 and 6-12) designed to provide GIS project-oriented curriculum for teachers to incorporate into their existing curriculum. To reserve either of the Geospatial Trunks, contact The Nature Center at 406-327-0405 or email at mnhc@montana.com. For more information, their website is www.thenaturecenter.org.
- We organize and sponsor workshops offered at annual GIS conferences,
- The Education Committee helps to organize Public Night, held at the Annual Intermountain GIS Conference, where the community can participate in hands on activities relating to GIS, GPS, Remote Sensing and mapping.
- Sponsor GIS workshops offered by organizations and vendors throughout Montana.
- We sponsor awards to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding performance in GIS activities including, but not limited to, education, GIS organizations, and general excellence for GIS application development.
Montana GIS Newsletter (10% of our activities) The Montana GIS News, established in 1992 by MTGIS, is our official publication. To support our mission of education and outreach we develop articles and oversee publication and distribution of a quarterly newsletter that contains information about current and future GIS activities, data sets, projects, and GIS related events taking place in Montana.
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