The New Zealand Cartographic Society and Australian and New Zealand Map Society would like to extend a warm invitation to everyone to attend GeoCart'2018. The event will convene on 5-7 September, 2018, and once again be hosted at the National Library of New Zealand in Wellington. The theme this year is Cartographies of Change: Then, Now and Tomorrow.

As of today the conference website is live at https://geocart.cartography.org.nz. A lot of information has been published already, but should you have any additional questions feel free to send them to the conference organisers at geocart@cartography.org.nz.

Registration

Registration is now open! Multiple packages for full conference and single day attendance are available. Discounted early registration will run through 31 July, after which standard prices will apply. Tickets will also be available at the door during the conference.

NZCS and ANZMapS members can claim their $50 membership discount by logging into the website before registering (discount will be automatic).

Keynote speakers for GeoCart'2018:

Dr. Linda Beale - Lead Product Engineer (Geoprocessing) at ESRI
Dr. Aileen Buckley - Research Cartographer at ESRI
Roger Carman - Group Manager, Topography at Land Information New Zealand
Christopher Fleet - Map Curator at the National Library of Scotland
Kent Lee - Co-founder and CEO of East View Comapanies
Dr. Chris McDowall - Product Manager at Figure.NZ

Second Call for Contributions

The Call for Contributions continues and we encourage anyone with an interest in presenting a paper or poster to submit an abstract. Please see the Author Guidelines page on the website for additional details. Approved principal authors are eligible for a 10% discount off their conference registration. All authors must obtain abstract approval before registering to claim their discount. Abstracts should be submitted at https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=geocart2018. The deadline for abstract submissions is 11 May.

Young Geospatial Competitions

NZCS is proud to announce two new competitions for young geospatial professionals at this year's conference. The NZCS Young Geospatial Competitions (YGC) are open to anyone under 30 years of age. They will encompass two categories: posters and lightning talks, both to be held on the opening day of the conference (5 Sept). YGC entries are subject to the same submission process and evaluation process as other abstracts. Prizes for each category include a map poster from The Map Kiwi and a $100 Prezzy card. Approved YGC poster and lightning talk authors are eligible for a 10% and 5% discount, respectively, off their conference registrations. All authors must obtain abstract approval before registering to claim their discount. Please see the YGC Guidelines page on the website for additional details. Abstracts should be submitted at https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=geocart2018. The deadline for abstract submissions is 11 May.

Social Programme

There is a busy social schedule planned in addition to the regular line-up of fantastic keynotes and paper presentations. The Ice Breaker networking function will take place on Wednesday evening at the National Library. Thursday evening will be the Gala Dinner at Wellington's waterfront Dockside restaurant. Women in Spatial is planning a special lunchtime presentation (day to be announced). NZ Emerging Spatial Professionals is also discussing the possibility of hosting a presentation. If you are part of a group that would be interested in hosting a special session during the course of the conference, please email us at geocart@cartography.org.nz. After the conclusion of the conference on Friday, several unique and exciting excursions are being planned to destinations of interest around Wellington. Stayed tuned for future announcements.

Workshops

Preceding the conference will be three workshops:

NZCS Map Design Workshop (MDW'2018) - 3-4 Sept | VUW Kelburn Campus
Dr. Aileen Buckley will provide a comprehensive introduction to mapping with the ArcGIS platform. The first day will focus on reference mapping and the second day thematic mapping. Morning sessions will teach creating print and on-screen maps; sessions after lunch will be dedicated to web maps and apps. By the end of this workshop, few stones will be left unturned in discovering the power of the ArcGIS platform to meet any mapping need. This workshop is designed for individuals new to GIS and digital map creation.
ANZMapS Historical Maps Online Workshop - 4 Sept | School of Information Management, VUW Pipitea Campus
Chris Fleet, Map Curator of the National Library of Scotland, will teach about creating and curating online map collections. The workshop is designed for individuals in charge of online collections as well as those with interest in the process.
ANZMapS Map Conservation Workshop - 4 Sept | National Library
Conservators from the Alexander Turnbull Library Collection Care team will lead a workshop on assessing maps for treatment, different techniques for conservation and repair, as well as recommendations for housing and storing maps. This workshop is designed for individuals responsible for the management and storage of map collections in all organisation sizes.

Sponsorship

A very large thank you to Land Information New Zealand for becoming the Platinum Sponsor for GeoCart'2018! Other sponsorship opportunities are still available, so please get in touch at geocart@cartography.org.nz if your organisation would like to support this fantastic event. Attached to this email will be a PDF sponsorship flyer advertising the available opportunities. Please feel free to pass it on to any interested parties.

Accommodation Discount

For 2018, the GeoCart organisers have negotiated a reduced accommodation rate with the Accor Hotels chain. The deal may be claimed by going to https://accorconferences.co.nz/custom-offers/geocart-2018.

As more information becomes available regarding the conference or workshops we will keep you informed through additional emails. Attached to this message is a PDF flyer for the conference, should you wish to print or forward it to other interested parties. GeoCart is always an exciting event bringing together the greater New Zealand cartographic and geospatial community. We look forward to seeing you in Wellington this September!

Kind regards,
Michelle Knight, Shannon L. McColley, Mark Bagnall, and Geoff O'Malley
GeoCart'2018 Organising Committee