How I Maximized My AAG Conference Experience
The American Association of Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting 2024 in Honolulu, Hawaii was an experience that has left a lasting impression on my research journey. But before talking about this experience, let me first introduce who I am and what were my steps before arriving in Honolulu to attend the AAG.
My Fulbright Journey
My Fulbright journey started on August 15th, 2023, at UM. Since then, I haven’t missed any opportunity of Educational and Cultural Exchange (which is the main goal of the Fulbright program). I participated in different seminars, workshops, and conferences. I participated in a Story-maps competition organized by UM in celebration of GIS day, and guess what? I got the Top Award. And the last one (until now 😊) is the AAG!
Attending the AAG Annual Meeting
How did I attend the AAG? Really by chance! I had a meeting with my supervisor as usual, and he told me he submitted a paper to the AAG, and that I’m lucky because they extended the submission deadline if I want to submit to present my project. My response was why not? Of course, I’ll submit it (even though I have not completed my work yet, but this would be a good motivation to complete it). So, thank you Professor Sarbeswar for the information and support, and thank you the AAG team for extending the submission deadline! It was really an amazing opportunity at all levels.
When I arrived at AAG in Oahu, Hawaii, the location in which AAG was taking place, I had the chance to attend many interesting sessions. I also made new connections and networked with experts in my research area. I visited the exhibit hall, I met with Esri team members and, for the first time, learned about the Esri Young Professional Network (YPN) (which I joined). Finally, I had the opportunity to discover the beauty of Oahu Island.
Presenting my project at AAG
After registering in the AAG, I had to find a session in which I can submit my presentation. The AAG sessions program was so rich, and I was sure that I would find the suitable session for my project. My project is titled “Digital Twin for a Sustainable Urban Regeneration Process”, in which I’m developing a digital twin framework to help decision-making in urban regeneration projects, and I am using some of Esri products like ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS StoryMaps.
So here is a suitable session for my project "Symposium on Human Dynamics Research: Geospatial Digital Twins (GDT) for Sustainable Planning and Management"! I contacted the chair organizer of the session, and he accepted immediately to add my presentation to the session program. Thursday Apil 18th, I presented my project, and I was so happy with the feedback of the session organizer and all attendees.
Getting an Award from an AAG Specialty Group
A few weeks before the conference, on LinkedIn I found a call for participation for a Travel Award organized by the AAG Applied Geography Specialty Group (AGSG) for students to attend and present their projects at the AAG annual meeting 2024. Again: Why not? I’m already registered, my abstract is submitted, and my project is a good fit for applied geography. So, I completed the award form. A few days after, a notification in my LinkedIn “the Applied Geography Specialty Group mentioned your name in a post”! It was me and five other students who are bestowed with this Award.
It was really a pleasure to attend the business meeting of the AGSG, in which I met with board members, other awardees, and I had the chance to connect with Gary Molyneaux, PhD, the 2023 Anderson Medalist. Warm thanks to the AAG, and especially the AGSG!
Advice to Other Students
Submit to present about your project, participate in challenges or competition, be engaged and active on Linked, and put yourself out there to meet people and the potential it may lead to.
What is next for me after having this amazing attending, presenting, and winning an award at the AAG Annual Meeting?
What’s next is I will be attending the 2024 Esri User Conference (UC) which is the world’s largest GIS conference.
Now that I know what it’s like to immerse myself into a conference to get the most out of it, I intend to do the same at Esri UC.
See you there!