May 20, 2011 – Anything Geospatial

This TopGuest social checkin service (for iPhone) with hotel reward program + fb + foursquare + instagram integration is way clever! The service, running on iPhone (and web) is designed for frequent travelers to use as they visit and checkin at hotels from major chains any place. The idea is that through facebook connect, the application can also tie into a user’s foursquare account (and instagram apparently) and when a user checks in from a hotel they can accumulate points.
Many major hotel reward programs are included (I’ve tied the service to Hilton Honors, Kimpton, and Wyndham rewards already). Now when I checkin from any venue I can start gathering even more points – an interesting concept.

See more details in this PR on LBSzone – or search out TopGuest in the iTunes store

Topguest social checkin for Hotel Guests
Originally uploaded by @gletham GIS, Social, Mobile Tech Images

There’s no questioning that Colorado is likely one of the hottest regions in North America when it comes to GIS and Geo technology. So there’s no surprise that there’s a number of good reasons to plan a visit, perhaps to take in a Geo Tech event or 2. Later this summer there’s several events taking place in a short time period, perhaps providing you with a good reason to plan on visiting for a couple of weeks. The following are just 4 good reasons to consider booking a trip at the end of August:

FOSS4G, THE Open Source GeoGeek event of the year! @foss4g
FOSS4G is the global conference focused on Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial, organized by OSGeo. In 2011, FOSS4G will be held in Denver, after being held in Barcelona, Sydney and Cape Town the past three years. The last North American FOSS4G event was in Victoria, BC, in 2007. You can download a cool poster and flyer for FOSS4G at http://2011.foss4g.org/identity

SoTM – State of the Map @sotm
Is Open Street Map your thing? IF so then SoTM should be on your radar.
The 5th Annual International OpenStreetMap Conference takes place in Denver, Colorado, September 9th – 11, 2011. Attendees will hear talks, participate in workshops and hang out with OpenStreetMappers from around the world. From the event planners… If you are involved with any aspect of OpenStreetMap from mapping to coding to campaigning, or if you want to hear more from the global mapping movement that is changing the way maps are made and used,the State of the Map is for you!

GIS In The Rockies – Denver, CO Aug 30 – Sept 1 @GISInTheRockies
this year the GITR event moves south from Loveland to Denver in this annual gathering of Colorado (and area) GIS professionals. Typically attracting several hundred events, GIS in the Rockies brings together CO GIS pros as well as others from around the country for 2 days of sessions, speakers, demos, and exhibits. You don’t have to be from CO to love this event and many people use this one as a great excuse to visit the Front Range during a beautiful time of the year.

GeoGathering 2011
If the oil and gas industry is your thing then add GeoGathering to your list of must consider events. The GeoGathering conference provides a venue for oil and gas gathering system and production line operators to share their experiences in applying GIS technology towards data maintenance and integrity management initiatives. This year the 5th annual event takes place Aug 31 – Sept 1 in Broomfield, CO