2023 Esri User Conference

17 hour flight from Malaysia to Los Angeles, me and ESRI Malaysia team arrived San Diego at 2 in the morning. Even though I feel tired, my excitement is still there for tomorrow’s activities and beyond.

Upon my arrival at Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel, we had a late dinner and that’s where I got to know each one of the ESRI Malaysia team.

Day Two (8/7/23) - Saturday

Since we were all exhausted from the long hour flight and arrived San Diego early in the morning, we just rested and settled down everything at the hotel.

On the evening, I went to the Coronado Central Beach together with the ESRI Malaysia team. We strolled around the beach area and had a tea at the nearby café.

Day Three (9/7/23) - Sunday

First day attended the ESRI Education GIS Conference. I downloaded ESRI Event apps last night and planned my schedule throughout my day here.

I never thought that I would attend the conference alone here, so this app helped me a lot.

Most of ESRI Education GIS Conference activities and workshops held at Marriot Marquis Hotel which just 10 minutes walking distance from the hotel.

I attended ‘Getting Started with ArcGIS Dashboard’ in the morning. This topic is designed for anyone who wishes to convey a large amount of data in a simple and effective manner by utilizing aesthetically appealing dashboards.

The speaker taught us about the dashboard types, techniques and organizing data to meet the end user expectations.

In between short break on early session, I had the opportunity to meet other EYSA winners. We got to know each other, chatted about our projects and plans while in San Diego. Here I also met the winner from Indonesia, Agnez.

We became close friends throughout my stay here. Michael, the person-in-charge for the EYSA team is really helpful by giving us tips and what can we do during our stay in San Diego.

After that, I attended Education Summit Plenary. Education leaders around United States showcase their projects that take a geographic approach to understanding about climate, equity across communities and hear a state governor’s perspective on the need of sustainability education.

This plenary session gave me hope that education in Malaysia should start to implement GIS technology immediately in schools for the benefit of our future leaders.

Day Four (10/7/23) - Monday

Second day attended the ESRI Education GIS Conference, I tried not to make my schedule tightly with the activities as my body still adjusting with the San Diego’s weather and surrounding area.

I attended the ESRI UC Plenary Session. The first session was opened by Jack Dangermond himself. He shared examples of incredible work from the GIS user community, his vision for future and advancements n ArcGIS technology.

The second and third session started with industrial community, local and state council and students across United States shared their projects and presentations using GIS technology in their daily work.

It is fascinating to see how far has GIS goes in United States. I hope Malaysia can reach that level faster!

After that, all the EYSA winners have to go the Map Gallery. The ESRI provides special section for the EYSA winners where all our project’s poster were displayed. Each of us have to be in front of our project’s poster, talk about our project with people who were there in the gallery.

I really enjoyed sharing my project with the attendee. I got a boat-load of feedback and praise from them.

 _{Extra: Because of Jack Dangermond also were at the Map Gallery, my Indonesia friend and I went to take a quick shot with the Jack! It was not easy as everyone wanted to take picture with him, but we made it!} 

Day Five (11/7/23) - Tuesday

Half of the day, I only attended Hands-On Learning Lab to take free lessons on variety of GIS and ArcGIS products.

Each self-paced lesson took about 1 hour to complete and include conceptual information and step-by-step software exercises. For me, these session help me in understanding and improving my skills using ESRI products.

Then, I stopped by at ESRI Merchandise store. They opened today. I bought a souvenir for my lecturers because they helped my master degree’s project until I won this competition. I am super grateful for their immerse support. 

In the afternoon, I walked around the downtown to find a restaurant that serves halal food. I tried The Kebab Shop, a Mediterranean restaurant located at 630 Ninth Eve (18 mins walking from San Diego Convention Center). It was good, believe me.

 _{Side note: Only lamb is halal here based on their website for San Diego branch.} 

I spent my day by went to taking session related to GIS with Phyton and 3D. The speakers guided attendee with various modules of the ArcGIS API for Phyton and demonstrated their value with examples. Then after lunch, I went to Asia Pacific Regional User Group (RUG) meeting to connect with other Asia Pacific users to share updates, cases success stories and many more.

After lunch, I went to collect my award. All the EYSA winners were gathered and attended the ESRI Award Ceremony. We also had a chance to have a group photo with Jack Dangermond. That was the highlight of the day!

At night, ESRI Malaysia held a Malaysia’s Night Dinner to meet Malaysians who attended the conference and share their experiences. Here also, I met Kak Shady and Kak Umi, a representative from Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam (MBSA). From that night, we went along really well and explore the San Diego downtown together.

Day Seven (13/7/23) – Thursday

The whole day I only went to the Expo. I took the opportunity to stop by several ESRI booths and talked to their staff about the ESRI products that can be used for urban planning fields.

Not just the booths, the Expo also have a small plenary session where industrial people demonstrates their projects and works.

On the evening, ESRI held a Party at Balboa Park. I went there with Kak Shady and Kak Umi by bus provided by the ESRI. We took the opportunity to each museums located at the Balboa Park. It was so much fun!

We went to San Diego Natural History Museum, Photography Museum and many more.

As Kak Shady and Kak Umi had to go back early, I spent the rest of my night with my Indonesian friend, Agnez. We had a great night enjoying the party and dinner there!

Day Eight (15/7/23) – Friday

This is the last day of ESRI User Conference. There was not much session left. So, I planned with Kak Shady and Kak Umi to go explore the San Diego downtown. We went to Sunset Cliff where one of the best sunset views in San Diego.

We also walked around the Gaslamp District located only 5 minutes away from the San Diego Convention Centre. Gaslamp Quarter is known for its great abundance of entertainment sites and its nightlife venues. However, it's also known for its historical places.

Then, we ended our day by dinner at Bandar Restaurant which only a couple of blocks from the hotels. I rested at the hotel and started packing my stuff for tomorrow’s flight.