April 30, 2014 - Reston, Virginia -- MAPPS, the national association for geospatial firms, has announced it will host its eighth Geospatial Products and Services Excellence Awards competition. Described as the geospatial profession's equivalent of the 'Academy Awards', the program recognizes the professionalism, value, integrity and achievement demonstrated by members in their project and technology developments over the previous year. 
 
"For eight years, the awards program has provided an opportunity for MAPPS member firms to showcase the high-quality work that is being performed in the geospatial community," said John Palatiello, MAPPS Executive Director. "The Excellence Award program demonstrates the cutting edge technology and professional expertise that MAPPS member firms implement in projects serving their clients." 
 
MAPPS member firms may enter projects in eight categories: airborne and satellite data acquisition; photogrammetry/elevation data generation; remote sensing; GIS/IT; surveying/field data collection; small projects; technology innovation; and licensed data products. A Grand Award will be presented from the category award winners to represent the MAPPS Project of the Year. 
 
The award recipients will be announced at the Geospatial and Engineering International Conference to be held at the Westin Hotel in Alexandria, VA at a reception September 25. A distinguished and impartial panel of five judges will evaluate the submitted projects from the eight categories. 
 
The 2014 contest is open to all MAPPS Regular and Associate Member firms. The deadline for submitting entries is August 8, 2014. For information on the competition, visit www.mapps.org.

About MAPPS
Formed in 1982, MAPPS is the only national association exclusively comprised of private firms in the remote sensing, spatial data and geographic information systems field in the United States. The MAPPS membership spans the entire spectrum of the geospatial community, including Member Firms engaged in satellite and airborne remote sensing, surveying, photogrammetry, aerial photography, LiDAR, hydrography, bathymetry, charting, aerial and satellite image processing, GPS, and GIS data collection and conversion services. MAPPS also includes Associate Member Firms, which are companies that provide hardware, software, products and services to the geospatial profession in the United States and other firms from around the world. Independent Consultant Members are sole proprietors engaged in consulting in or to the geospatial profession, or provides a consulting service of interest to the geospatial profession.
 
MAPPS provides its member firms opportunities for networking and developing business-to-business relationships, information sharing, education, public policy advocacy, market growth, and professional development and image enhancement.
 
For more information on MAPPS, please visit  www.mapps.org.

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