SpatialNews Press Release
Destination Lab™ “Integrating Geospatial Technologies into 21st Century Management”
Interactive, Hands-On Training To Be Launched in Celebration, Florida
(January 30, 2001) Huntsville, AL -- Today, Geospatial technology is essential
in finding solutions to real-life problems in our businesses, our communities and our
lives. GIS (geographic information system) has become the “management tool for the
new millennium”, as it allows professionals to collect real-time data and attach it to
images and information needed to solve problems.
The U.S. Space & Rocket Center® and Stanford Research Institute, International
(SRI) the world’s largest independent, nonprofit R&D organization, have joined together
to develop Destination Lab™, an interactive training experience for those who plan and
manage our resources, cities, states, and counties.
Destination Lab is not your typical GIS seminar, workshop or conference. It is a
field-based, hands-on, interactive training retreat that actively involves each participant.
Destination Lab engages participants in a non-stop, three-and-a-half day experience that
immerses them in the “community of practice”. In addition to interacting with some of
the country’s leading geospatial technologists and practitioners, the participants will be
challenged to utilize GIS, GPS and remote sensing technology in a project based
environment to solve real-world problems.
Each Destination Lab is limited to 30 participants and custom-designed to meet
the specific needs of the audience. The first Destination Lab, “Integrating Geospatial
Technologies into 21st Century Management”, to be held February 25-28, 2001, targets
city/state planners, municipal staff and managers, emergency managers, metropolitan
master planners, developers, city officials, and those wanting to increase productivity and
efficiency. This Lab will be held in Celebration, Florida. Celebration, one of the
country’s newest, most innovative cities, is an ideal “classroom” and case study for this
educational experience. It is located just 4 miles from Epcot® where participants will
enjoy entertainment during the closing ceremony of the training “retreat”. The venue for
this location, and all Destination Lab locations, was selected because it is a perfect fit
for the topic. In fact, the location itself becomes part of the curriculum in the interactive,
hands-on experience.
Lyna Wiggins, president of URISA, will address the group and offer case studies,
share new concepts for spatial technologies and have one-on-one interaction with the
participants. Also, as a part of the Destination Lab experience, teams of participants are
assigned a professional who acts as a mentor-- a leader who guides, directs and inspires
the team. Each team will gather data from the field experiences then enter it into project
computers and process the information in exercises that will demonstrate practical
applications. Unlike other educational programs, Destination Lab is totally interactive,
enabling participants to take home valuable knowledge of applications that can be used to
benefit their community, company or organization.
“The Destination Lab experience is the culmination of many years of research,
study, and development,” states Dr. Tommie Blackwell, Senior Vice President of Spatial
Technologies for the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, located in Huntsville, Alabama. “The
collaboration between our organization and SRI has been a great experience. For over 50
years, SRI has excelled at researching, creating, applying, and bringing new discoveries
to the marketplace worldwide. The U.S. Space & Rocket Center has over 20 of years
experience in designing, developing and implementing innovative interactive educational
programs around the world. Together we are taking spatial technology training to the
next level with the Destination Lab concept.”
In addition to “Integrating Geospatial Technologies into 21st Century
Management,” other Destination Labs will be offered starting in March. Destination
Lab for Water Resource Management will explore issues concerning water resource
management, EPA, farm topics, government mandates, water rights and the Clean Water
Act. The lab will be located in one of Orlando’s premier locations and is ideal for
government and the private sector. The oldest city in the Florida, St. Augustine, Florida, is
the venue selected for a special Destination Lab where historic redevelopment and
preservation professionals will explore the latest GIS applications as they apply to
advancing infrastructure, growth management, historical preservation, and archeology.
For more information and registration, visit the Destination Lab Web site at
http://www.destinationlab.com or call Chris Johnson, Director of Destination Lab, at the
U.S. Space & Rocket Center at 256-721-7104 or email:
chrisj@destinationlab.com
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
M. Andrea Kudlacz
(407) 423-0668
E-mail: makudlacz@cs.com
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