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NACIS News: It’s almost conference time

Date posted: September 29, 2021

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Buy your conference swag now!

Visit the NACIS online shop to buy your conference swag, including items featuring Hannah Dormido’s beautiful hand-drawn logo. New products include t-shirts, hoodies, hats, and a camp mug. Place your orders now so they arrive before the conference. We will not be selling t-shirts at the conference this year.

You can also submit your own design and help support the NACIS community. All proceeds go toward popular NACIS initiatives, including student travel grants, contest awards, and video streaming.

The hybrid conference experience at #NACIS2021

We’re excited to host our first hybrid conference this year. The most common question from those planning to attend is “What can I expect?” You can expect a robust and engaging experience, whether you’re joining us in Oklahoma City or from home. Here are some highlights:

In-person attendees are invited to Tuesday Night Meetup while remote attendees set their alarms for Central Daylight Time.
At Practical Cartography Day, currently 7 in-person live talks and 16 remote pre-recorded livestream presentations.
A keynote on “Land Grab Universities” with Tristan Ahtone in the room and Bobby Lee remote from the UK.
At the main conference, currently 21 in-person live talks and 53 remote pre-recorded livestream presentations.
Two panel sessions, one held remotely and livestreamed, and one hybrid panel happening in the room and livestreamed to remote attendees.
Typical in-person evening social events on Wednesday (Map Gallery), Thursday (NACIS Night Out), and Friday (Banquet) for in-person attendees, and social events in Remo all three nights for remote attendees.
Friday’s Lunch Bunch for in-person attendees and Meet a Carto in Remo for remote attendees.
Saturday events include field trips for in-person attendees, and a free online workshop for anyone registered.

Important deadlines

Not registered for the conference yet? Early bird pricing ends October 5th.
If you haven’t voted for NACIS board members yet, please vote now. Voting closes October 10th at midnight.

Sheen Kim Wins NACIS Undergraduate Scholarship

NACIS is happy to announce that the winner of the 2021 NACIS Undergraduate Student Scholarship in Cartography is Sheen Kim.

Sheen is majoring in Geography and Anthropology at Dartmouth College. Her entry titled “U.S Military Sites and Related Incidents in South Korea” presents an interactive web map. The awards committee noted that Sheen’s map “visually challenges notions of safety and sovereignty” in the context of civilian killings, protests, and other incidents against U.S. territorial occupations on Korean land since the Korean War. Her map was accompanied by a thoughtful statement that nicely tied together the cartographer’s motivation for the project with the visual narrative of the map.

NACIS is proud to foster Sheen’s continued pursuit of academic learning and excellence and wishes the very best in this continued path within the cartographic domain. The NACIS Undergraduate Scholarship in Cartography awards $1,000 and opens to applicants in the spring of each year.

Statement in Support of LGBTQ+ Communities

NACIS does not tolerate harassment, discrimination, or mistreatment of anyone, whether explicit or implied. We strongly reject all forms of racism, sexism, ageism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, queerphobia, religious intolerance, and any actions that infringe on the dignity of our members.

We do not agree with the conference host state (or any state) government actively discriminating against trans folx and call for the state to not pass discriminatory legislation.

We encourage folx to donate to local LGBTQ+ non-profits that support advocacy, education, programs, and more, and/or donate to Pull for Pride, which funds transgender and gender nonconforming athletes participation in strength sports. See our website for links and more info.

Video sponsors needed

Every year it costs NACIS about $20,000 to record and stream our conference. We’re seeking sponsorships to cover the cost of recording and preparing the videos so we can continue to make streams available and build a library of cartographic content available to anyone on our YouTube channel. Please visit our video sponsorship page if you or your organization can make a donation. Thanks!

Annual Map Design Competition

The Cartography and Geographic Information Society is pleased to announce our 49th Annual Map Design Competition. The competition is open to all mapmakers in the United States & Canada for maps completed or published during the calendar year of 2021. Entry is free for all.

The purpose of the competition is to promote interest in map design and to recognize significant design advances in cartography. The focus of this competition is design; therefore, judging is based on cartographic design criteria, such as creativity, text (spelling and grammar too), balance, unity, visual hierarchy, clarity, use of color, and subject matter. See award categories and entry details here.

Banner image: Oklahoma City Skyline from Bricktown at Night by the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber and Oklahoma City Convention and Visitors Bureau