I had the opportunity to attend the GoGeomatics 2025 expo in Calgary, Alberta. I was also fortunate enough to be part of the Expo committee where I was actively present in the organization and reviewing of the expos schedule, presented speakers as an emcee, and helped organize the community meetup event on the first day. The expo was also a great for Community Engagement for Calgary GoGeomatics Social Meetup. Many people of all experience levels showed up to connect and share their experiences. It was one of the biggest Calgary Community meetups I witnessed and there was plenty of engagement from all the attendees with a lot of positive energy. For those local to Calgary, the meetup group has events once a month and you can sign up here

As an attendee, my connection to the GoGeomatics expo has been an active volunteer for GoGeomatics as one of the volunteer writers for three years. I also have an ongoing career as a geospatial professional doing both office and field work in Oil and Gas, Construction, and Forestry.

Throughout the two and a half days I was fortunate enough to sit in and participate in as many talks and keynotes as possible. From all the company booths, sitting in on all the panels and speaker demonstrations, and networking. As a geomatics professional and long term GoGeomatics volunteer, this event was just as amazing as the 2023 expo I attended. With the overall theme of the expo about bringing the community together and focusing on what new and exciting projects industry leaders are working on.

The highlights would have to be the Charlie Trimble Keynote, group discussion: Geomatics Through Generations with Charlie Trimble, Bryn Fosburgh, and Jonathan Murphy, and group discussion: From the C-Suite: Navigating the Future of Canada’s Geomatics Sector with Wade Larson, Ashley Robertson, Brent Lane, Kurtis Broda, and Jonathan Murphy.

Charlie Trimble’s historical insight on Trimble’s history and how the company started during its foundational days is an amazing story of perseverance and context to one of the worlds leading commercialized GPS technology services through the years.

C-Suite was a fantastic experience to see industry leaders discuss Canada’s potential future as well as given the time to openly dispute concepts of where the geospatial industry should be heading. Subjects such as industry demands, how to better utilize new graduates, and geospatial operations were discussed openly.

The variety of booths as well as international presence from companies across borders, overseas, and from Canadian coast to coast made this event. It was worth the experience alone to see industry leaders at the height of their career to freely discuss their thoughts on how the Geospatial community is moving forward. 

Seeing the growth in attendance for the expo from 2023 and 2025 is very encouraging, especially the diversity of topics and speakers from across different disciplines and not just Geospatial. It’s also promising to see such a high turnout of students attending and their engagement in talks and social events.

Providing an annual platform for geospatial professionals to participate and share their ideas and research with others in the industry is proving to contribute to fostering greater connection and a more collaborative community. Attendees of all levels of experience were able to connect and share their thoughts on each others presentations in a constructive and friendly way. Seeing growth in the community shows how much traction this event is getting and is definitely worth the continued support to help make “Geospatial” a household name. Hope to see new and familiar faces next year.