Webinar Recording: Introduction to GIS and ESRI ArcView

Charles Convis of ESRI and Steve Spiker of the Urban Strategies Council talked to us yesterday in our latest installment of our TechSoup Talks! webinars. They did a great job explaining the uses of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for social benefit organizations and demonstrating some of the features of ESRI ArcView. 

You can listen to the recording on the archive page where you'll also find a copy of the PowerPoint presentation and links to the sites discussed during the webinar. For the follow-up conversation, visit this thread in the TechSoup Software Forum.

Here's what some of the attendees had to say about the event:

I told myself I wouldn't download new software. I told myself that several times before I started this webinar; yet, I downloaded ArcGIS Explorer before the webinar ended. Thanks for changing my mind.

Before this webinar my organization was torn between using Google Earth and ArcGIS software for data and mapping purposes.  As we investigate ArcGIS and learn more about its capabilities we are beginning to realize that it will serve our needs and our customers' need far better.

I think the presenters were excellent. I use GIS maps in our work but have never created any. The presenters motivated me to try creating some presentations of my own by making it look easier than it is in reality.

Learning what is "underneath" — the layers, etc — was very interesting. It helps to understand the basics in order to be able to see in what ways GIS might be used in my specific environment.

There's no doubt that GIS can be complicated but it also can tell a complex story about your nonprofit's work with graphic images. Everyone knows a picture (or map, in this case) can be worth a 1,000 words.