GIS-Pro 2026

Welcome & Land Acknowledgement
Take a moment to honor the traditional, ancestral, and contemporary homeland of the Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk, and Menominee nations as we gather in Milwaukee.

Celebrate communities and hear from GPN and WLIA leadership as we prepare to share, learn, and connect.

Keynote Address: Unlocking the Evidence: How GIS Mapping Drives Modern Law Enforcement
Chris is a 34 year veteran law enforcement officer specializing in cell phone record analysis. He will share how GIS mapping turns complex data into compelling visual stories. Drawing on real cases and courtroom experiences, he will highlight the evolution of mapping tools and techniques in modern investigations.

Grab lunch and get up to speed fast. This session features rapid-fire presentations from exhibitors, each offering a concise look at new tools, technologies, and services shaping the geospatial industry.

The session will also include the WLIA 50/50 Raffle to raise money for student scholarships, specifically the Damon Anderson Memorial Scholarship.

Celebrate the leaders and innovators shaping the geospatial profession. This hosted breakfast honors outstanding contributions and achievements across the community in a welcoming and inspiring setting.

Wisconsin has had great success with their Wisconsin Land Information Program (WLIP).  This program incentivizes, standardizes, and rolls up several foundational thematic data sets, from all 72 counties into products available for in-state and broader audiences. 

The featured panelists in this session will discuss if this might be a model that is adaptable for national use - examining what makes it work, and what could be scalability and administrative challenges

 Keywords: Local Data; State Data, National Themes, WLIP, NSDI

Panelists:
Curtis Pulford, Enterprise GIS Manager, City of Phoenix
Megan Compton, Senior NSDI Advisor, FGDC
Mike Friis, Director, Resource Policy Bureau, WI Department of Administration
Howard Veregin, State Cartographer, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Eric Damkot, Director of GIS/Land Information Officer, Washington County

Get ready for rapid-fire presentations that pack big ideas into bite-sized, entertaining packages! Our Ignite session brings together creative minds in GIS for lightning-fast talks that will have you laughing, learning, and maybe groaning at a few well-placed puns and dad jokes along the way.

Expect diverse topics and fresh perspectives delivered in this energetic, fast-paced format. Our moderator will keep things lively with humor between presentations, while speakers share innovative approaches, creative solutions, and inspiring insights from across the geospatial community. These quick talks prove that big ideas don't always need big time slots—sometimes the most memorable learning happens in just a few focused minutes.

Fair warning: you might find yourself both educated and entertained, with a few eye-rolls thrown in for good measure!

 Survey123 Recruit Test
Nicole Dogan, GISP, Senior GIS Analyst, Town of Flower Mound, Flower Mound, TX – USA

Fire Risk Monitoring Workflow
Zhuba Goldenlamb, M.S. in GIS (In Progress), GIS Certificate, Environmental Technician, California State University Long Beach, Los Angeles, CA – USA

It’s a Match: Finding your Perfect GIS Mentor
Hannah Walters, GIS Analyst, Denver Water, Denver, CO – USA

 From CAD to GIS: Automating Pavement Data Workflows with FME 
Katie Godding, GISP, GIS Analyst, Terracon, Stoughton, WI - USA 

Volunteer with GPN
Adam Ratliff, GIS Tech II, City of Las Cruces, New Mexico

Quirky Wisconsin 
Colter Sikora, GISP, GIS Lead, Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

Summary of 2025-26 GIS Management Survey
Peter Croswell, PMP, GISP, CMS, President, Croswell-Schulte IT Consultants, Frankfort, KY – USA

Some advice on being a successful GIS professional drawn from Bill Huxhold’s experience of introducing GIS technology at the City of Milwaukee – one of the first urban GIS implementations back in the 1970’s and 80’s. Bill will describe how he brought a vision to the City; his experience with different department personalities who showed reluctance accepting new technology; and how important is it to share knowledge among other GIS professionals. It includes a brief history of the unusual experience that he encountered when the Wisconsin Land Information Program was created soon after he was president of the Urban Regional Information Systems Association (now GPN).