Meeting Resources
This page contains recordings, slides, handouts, and other resources from past meetings.
Click here for a storymap of the Arcade examples.
Click here for the presentation slides.
Click here for the 411! Goal worksheet and Kick Ass Guide to Goal Setting workbook.
Leadership & GIS: How everyone is involved
During the January 2024 meeting, Joanne Markert (State Geographic Information Officer, WaTech) described her view of the differences between leadership vs management, provide some examples from her own experiences and open it up to questions or discussions from the group. Join us for a lively presentation, collaborative discussion and reflection on your own piece of the puzzle.
Joanne is committed to creating a team environment that encourages collaboration among state, local, federal, and tribal partners and enjoys learning new ways to apply GIS for the benefit of Washington State. She is an enthusiastic and consistent advocate for GIS technology and the dedicated professionals that make the magic happen.
Using Python to Quality Check Data
During our September meeting, Ann Stark (GIS Manager for the City of Bellingham) showed us how to use python to quality check your data. The City of Bellingham uses python scripts to run quality checks on feature classes to make sure that feature edits don’t create illogical conditions. In this presentation, Ann will show how they use python and a JSON configuration file to manage this script and the email output it creates. She also touched on other topics like using a python script template, logging script outputs, emailing users, generally how python is used at the City of Bellingham.
Ann has been using python to manage GIS tasks for 15 years at the City of Bellingham. She is a self-taught Python coder with years of hands-on scripting experience. Ann brings humor and an engaging teaching style and has earned a reputation as a dynamic and enjoyable educator. Being self-taught, she remembers the pitfalls of getting started in a solo environment and can offer advice on how to grow your skills.
Let’s Play in Arcade
During our April 2023 meeting, Vanessa Simpson (Senior GIS Analyst/Developer at City of Tacoma) walked us through an introduction to Arcade. “ArcGIS Arcade is a scripting language that allows you to calculate new data values on-the-fly. Think of it like “calculate field” but without directly editing your database.” We are so excited to offer this session as Arcade was one of the Top 3 topics our member wanted to learn more about in 2023.
Vanessa has been playing with and working in maps and databases for the past two decades. She never thought she would work in IT. But the magic of GIS pulled her in, and she has been creating and analyzing data ever since. Vanessa has her Bachelor of Science in Geography from University of Nevada, Reno and has been with the City of Tacoma for the past 8 years. When Vanessa isn’t at work, you might find her running the trails of Point Defiance, roaming the isles of her local thrift or art store, or heading out on a camping trip with her family. She is a Washington State transplant, who grew up spending equal amounts of her childhood getting dusty on the edge of the Black Rock Desert and splashing around in the alpine lakes of the Sierra Nevada.
ArcGIS Pro Tasks & Attribute Rules
During our November 2022 meeting we discussed tools to help manage people, processes, and products in ArcGIS Pro. Kaitlin E. Schrup and Tonya Kauhi shared their experiences using ArcGIS Pro Tasks and Attribute Rules.
Kaitlin is a Certified Geographic Information Systems Professional (GISP) serving as the GIS Analyst for the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, where she provides geospatial solutions to promote the preservation of the Tribe’s resources and sovereignty.
Tonya has more than 22 years’ experience focusing on GIS, databases and applications and currently serves as a GIS Data Analyst for the WA State Department of Health.
Goal Setting Made Simple with 411!
We had an amazing guest speaker at our October 2022 meeting. discussed Rebecca Del Pozzo, Founder & CEO of Rebecca Del Pozo & Company, will share her experience with the goal setting practice called 411. The 411 is a tool to help keep track of weekly, monthly, and annual goals and helps keep you accountable in both your personal and professional life. Get ready to be inspired and set your goals in a simple and easy way!
Rebecca Del Pozo is an award-winning real estate agent with Keller Williams Realty. She leads a team of agents as the Founder & CEO of Rebecca Del Pozo & Company. Rebecca is passionate about mindset and building wealth with multiple income streams. In addition to her real estate business which began at KW in 2003, Rebecca is a real estate investor, she's a published author, a sought-after teacher and speaker, and the founder of the Millionaire Real Estate Mom ™ (MREM) program. Rebecca holds specialty real estate designations in both luxury real estate and working with senior clients. Rebecca is passionate about helping others achieve their biggest dreams in life and in business through being a KW University Approved Trainer.
Data & Dashboards
Our March 2022 meeting discussed Data & Dashboards and considerations for ensuring dynamic data can be efficiently supported, maintained and be useful beyond the initial dashboard request. Alicia Bradshaw, Tonya Kauhi and Maria Sevier, shared their unique experiences managing dynamic data and visualizing it through dashboards (ArcGIS or PowerBI) and left us with some tangible tips to use on your next project.
Alicia has 7 years of GIS-related experience ranging from research about brownfield redevelopment in Michigan to stormwater education and public transportation planning in Washington.
Maria is a geospatial professional with 25 years’ experience who specializes in GIS mapping solutions for government, private and non-profit organizations.
Tonya has more than 20 years’ experience focusing on GIS, databases and applications.
GIS Professional (GISP) Certification Journey
The GIS Professional (GISP) Certification has become a respected and in-demand indication of a GIS Professional’s skills. To become certified, you must complete an exam, application, and approved portfolio with details relating to your education, experience, and years of service. If you are wondering if the GISP is for you and where to start, please join WWGT members: Rhonda Perozzo, Christina Chelf and Kaitlin Schrup discussing their GISP journey. Read more about the GISP here: GIS Professional Certification | URISA.
Links to Presentation Materials/Resources: Slides | Resources
Essential Facilitation Skills
This meeting is about essential facilitation skills where we discussed methods and tools to make your meetings more effective. KayLyne Newell (Tacoma Water) shared her experiences around meeting facilitation and tools and concepts to enhance your facilitation skills. Whether an experienced facilitator or new to the practice, you will walk away with something to put into practice to make your meetings more effective. Click on the links to download the presentation slides, meeting handout and facilitation guide.
KayLyne Newell is the strategy manager for Tacoma Water and joined in 2018 after serving in state government for eight years. She is an experienced facilitator, communicator, and a certified Prosci Change Management Practitioner and holds a Bachelor’s in Leadership and Master’s in Business Administration. When she is not strategizing at Tacoma Water, she can be found planning her next international vacation with her husband or hunting for a delicious recipe.
Introduction to Web Mapping with Leaflet
This workshop is a hands-on introduction to web mapping with Leaflet. Intended for beginners, it will cover the basics of constructing web maps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and will introduce how to work with GeoJSON data and tiled base maps. Resources for incorporating more advanced functionality will also be provided. Participants are encouraged to download a text editor (such as Atom) in advance of watching the video. Click here for the lesson plan.
Emma Slager lead the session. Emma is an Assistant Professor in the School of Urban Studies at the University of Washington Tacoma. They teach primarily in the Masters of Science in Geospatial Technology program, focusing especially on web mapping, community-engaged research, and participatory mapping.
Year Ahead Planning Meeting - 2020
The purpose of this meeting is to plan our year and decide on what topics to focus our year. The slides summarize the results of our 2020 Year ahead survey. Thank you to all who completed the survey and provided feedback.
Click this link to download the presentation slides.
Esri User Conference Recap
This meeting shared a few highlights of the Esri User Conference. We summarized what’s new, what’s coming and where should we be focused for the future.
Click this link to download the presentation slides.
Who is WWGT?
Want to learn more about WWGT? This video highlights WWGT’s members and some of the meetings, social hours and activities over the last six years.
Overcoming Inequity in the GIS Workplace
Join Miriam Olivares and Toby Soto (GISSuccess.com) to discuss overcoming inequity in the GIS Workplace. Webinar is presented and hosted by GISSuccess.com.
Mapping Your Unique Value: A Roadmap to Personal Branding.
How do you take control of your brand, allowing you to influence and shape what you would like people to say about you? This is done through personal branding. Personal branding is the process of developing a strategy and actions to guide your brand. This workbook will give you the tools and material to take help you begin developing your personal brand.
This workbook was created as part of a workshop at the WAURISA conference in 2014. Click this link to download the workbook.