ESRI 2008 Fed UC Vibe

At the risk of sounding like an ESRI shill…

The FedUC starts on Wednesday and this year it seems to have a different feel to it. It feels like it’s definitely picked up some momentum over previous years. The sessions seem to be a little meatier and the atmosphere feels more purposeful and businesslike now.

I have been a proponent of the FedUC since it has started. First of all, I do a lot of work with ESRI products for the Federal government and the idea of having a major event (i.e. not a user group meeting) on the East Coast has been rather compelling. I’ve blogged a lot about the development I do but my company is small and I wear a lot of hats, including project manager, marketing, etc. ESRI’s federal team in Vienna, VA has put a lot of effort over the past few years into beefing up the FedUC, and it feels like that work is paying off this year.

I’ve had numerous meeting requests this year. In addition, there are a number of sessions I want to see as well as exhibits by some companies that I have been wanting to see. From a business standpoint, there’s a lot of return on it this year (for me anyway). For those west of the Mississippi, you can probably get a lot of the same benefits in San Diego but those in the East (particularly those doing federal work) may want to give the FedUC a closer look. This will be the first year that I will probably spend each day there from beginning to end.