Academic and Professional Development Offered Throughout Symposium
Tampa, Florida (April 14, 2014)—The GEOINT 2013* Symposium kicked off this morning with a pre-conference science and technology innovation day, and will offer numerous education, training, and professional development opportunities throughout the week. The GEOINT Symposium, hosted by the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF), is renowned for its high-caliber general session keynotes and world-class exhibit hall. However, the event has grown substantially over the past decade to include a wide variety of training and education, with something to suit every attendee, regardless of career level.
“There’s education happening every second of the Symposium,” said USGIF Chief Operating Officer Aimee McGranahan. “We accomplish that in many ways, and while we’re expanding and growing training opportunities, really we achieve this goal in a broader sense with all of our activities. USGIF has done that since Day 1, and it matches our mission and our intent as an organization.”
USGIF will provide more than 30 hours of dedicated training and education throughout the week covering a diverse array of topics.
“We have asked our members to go on the education side of life—so this isn’t teaching ‘buttonology’—it’s teaching concepts,” said Dr. Darryl Murdock, USGIF vice president of professional development. “We see training and education offerings at many, if not all, of our larger events in the future, simply because we believe it’s an important part of what the Foundation can bring to the Community.”
Murdock added that there are multiple events taking place to help forward USGIF’s upcoming Professional GEOINT Certification program.
The Symposium also offers many opportunities for young professionals to take their GEOINT careers to the next level. USGIF offers discounted registration for young professionals 35 years old or younger, as well as a chance to apply for the Young Professionals Golden Ticket, which includes complimentary, full-Symposium registration with a range of exclusive opportunities. The Young Professionals Group will even guide local high school JROTC students through the GEOINT 2013* exhibit hall with an interactive service project.
University-level students will also be attending, including some 2013 USGIF Scholarship recipients, who are offered complimentary registration, and the 14 students participating in the Symposium’s student assistant program.
“These experiences really give people new to their careers or early in their careers an opportunity to see the GEOINT Symposium from a different perspective,” said Carrie Drake, USGIF’s event operations and community relations manager. “They network with senior leaders, hear speakers, and begin building their own professional network.”
As an educational nonprofit, USGIF strives to uphold its three pillars, “Build the Community, Advance the Tradecraft, Accelerate Innovation,” but also to support students, young professionals, and the overall GEOINT Community in continuing education and tradecraft development.
About the GEOINT Symposium
The GEOINT Symposium is the nation’s largest gathering of intelligence professionals. The originally scheduled October 2013 event was unexpectedly postponed as a result of the federal government shutdown. The rescheduled April 14-17 event, which is the 10th symposium, is being called GEOINT 2013*—with an asterisk—for a variety of reasons. First, almost all of programming originally planned for October was retained. Second, it’s a tongue-in-cheek way to make light of an otherwise challenging time. Third, USGIF chose to avoid the environmental and economic waste that would be created by reprinting a considerable amount of signage that had been prepared before the shutdown. Instead, the Foundation chose to affix less costly asterisk stickers to all signage, and continue to spend its resources on educational and training opportunities for the Community.
About USGIF
USGIF is a nonprofit educational foundation dedicated to promoting the geospatial intelligence tradecraft and developing a stronger GEOINT Community with government, industry, academia, professional organizations and individuals who develop and apply geospatial intelligence to address national security challenges. USGIF’s mission is to build the community, advance the tradecraft and accelerate innovation.
Contact:
Kristin Quinn
Publications & Communications Manager
United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation
703-793-0109, ext. 115
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