Teacher Professional Development Opportunity! This year, the National Council for Geographic Education is holding its national conference in Omaha, Nebraska. The conference runs from Friday, October 17, to Sunday, October 19, 2025. Lots of good PD for social studies and geography teachers and anyone interested in adding more geospatial learning to their classroom. We would love to pack the house with Iowa teachers. If you are interested, but need help with any funding, please contact Amy Logan.
Teacher Professional Development Opportunity! The Iowa Technology Education Connection Conference will be in Des Moines, Iowa, from Sunday, October 12, through Tuesday, October 14, 2025—a good opportunity to check out new technologies or learn how to utilize existing technologies in the classroom.
This year due to safety concerns with the COVID-19 pandemic the Iowa Technology and Geospatial (ITAG) Conference 2020 was cancelled. Instead of the typical four-day in person event, ITAG hosted a half-day virtual event. Here is the link to the recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y31tVqT2Y2dt68kFsefBqSNOTzq0ycIj/view?usp=sharing. Below are descriptions of presentations and links to presenters’ powerpoints:
What’s New with Collector for ArcGIS Jay Riester and Gale Shea, Seiler Geospatial Collector for ArcGIS is an ever-evolving field app. Learn what’s new with both the iOS and Android version of Collector.
DEMs – Which One Do I Choose? Brian Gelder, Iowa State University The ready availability of Lidar and Phodar datasets has vastly increased the types of Digital Elevation Models that are now available. One can now generate or choose from surface models and elevation models with some having various levels of hydroflattening or hydrocorrection applied. There are also numerous algorithms which can be used to generate the different types of DEMs. So, how does one choose which one is best for the needs of one’s project? We will discuss general DEM types, the underlying assumptions, best choices for certain applications, and sources for prebuilt DEMs for the state of Iowa.
Mapping the Rural Hitch – How One Fire Department Is Utilizing GIS to Prepare for Rural Structure Fires Adam Gebhart, Johnson County Traveling around most urban areas, you see fire hydrants or access to a continuous water supply every few hundred feet. However, when traveling around rural portions of the state, these types of continuous water resources are rarely found. This lack of continuous water resource poses a considerable challenge for local fire departments when responding to fires in rural areas. When a fire occurs, response time is everything. Given the considerable challenges in effectively responding to fire emergencies in rural areas, North Liberty Fire Department (NLFD) is one place utilizing GIS technology to improve these response times. This presentation will provide background information on mapping the rural hitch to help other fire departments understand how GIS can improve their response to rural fires.
How Data “Moves” in a Versioned Enterprise Geodatabase Workflow Nathan Teut, Cedar County The ability to branch child versions off of other versions in a multiuser geodatabase tree structure gives us the ability to edit without stepping on each other’s toes or eating each other’s brains. This also allows QAQC protocols to be put into place when migrating those edits (reconcile and post operations) into the parent versions. To better understand these editing operations, it is necessary to understand the version tree and the concept of state IDs which can be easily viewed through SQL Server Management Studio. In a demo-based presentation, let’s go through an editing example, tracking the advancement of a zombie apocalypse upon Cedar County, by two simultaneous users, and check the state IDs to better understand how the data “moves” from child to parent. Finally, lets quickly review the arcpy methods for automating reconcile, post, and geodatabase maintenance (rebuild, analyze, and compress operations).
Playing Nice with Your Neighbors NG911 Jeff Miller, Dubuque County This will be a county focused meetup to discuss boundary and alignment issues between counties. For Next Gen 911 to work as expected the boundaries need to be edge matched and roads need to be connected at county boundaries.
GIS Leadership in an Organization and Best Practices for GIS Success Matt Hoehn and Dan Haag, Esri Esri’s Dan Haag (St Louis Region Manager) and Matt Hoehn (Account manager for Local governments in Iowa) will be presenting on lessons learned and best practices for GIS and IT professionals to use Location Technology to become leaders in their organizations. Presentation and discussion topics include; GIS and technology strategy, focusing on capabilities, establishing GIS value with business focused solutions, overcoming technology challenges, and implementing best practices.
Interested in presenting? The ITAG planning committee invites the submission of abstracts from professionals, educators, students and others participating in the latest developments in information technology and GIS.
Example topics might include: • ArcGIS Pro • GIS Web Applications • Drones • Next Gen 911 • Python • SQL Server • VMware • Windows Server 2019 • Project Management
Presentation types: • General Session – (Select 60, 45, 30, or 15 minute time-slots) • Lightning Round – (15 minutes) • Round-Table or Collaborative Session
Abstract Guidelines: • Abstracts cannot exceed 1,500 characters • Abstract submission is online only • Please fill out separate forms for each presentation submittal • Presentations should be informative and educational and not sales oriented
Gift Cards for Presenters: • Will receive $50 gift card for 60 minute talk, $25 for 30 minute talk • If a presentation has multiple presenters, they will only receive one gift card for the group • If presenter is presenting two or more times, they will only receive one card • Not valid for exhibitor or student presentations • Must submit presentation by April 15 and must register for conference before May 8 • Only applied if presentation is accepted for the conference • Card will be given at the conference