George Thompson

Advisor/Consultant (Professional Services) at ESRI

I am an Atlanta Native that relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2013. I lived near, and remembered, KSU when it was a Jr. College and my father attended KSU before going to Georgia Tech. I would go to classes with him in the Library on the 3rd floor when it was Science classrooms.

I currently work as a Consultant for Esri within their Professional Services division. I focus on Strategic Advisory and Enterprise Geodatabase consulting for Esri clients. 

My Education at KSU:

I started at KSU in 2000 and was there for about 1.5 years, then tried my hand at the other careers, then returned to KSU in 2006 for a degree in GIS. Before I learned about the world of GIS, I was a Certified Honda Mechanic at a dealership in Atlanta and a professional banker for SunTrust (now Truist).

My Career at KSU:

During my tenure at KSU I was involved in Geography Club and a Teaching Assistant / Lab Administrator my senior year. When I graduated with my GIS degree, I was already employed by first real “GIS” job with Atkins.

I did my internship with the City of Woodstock, GA updating all the impervious surface data for their Storm Water utility.

I was the teaching assistant for Nancy Hoalst Pullen, Ph.D. and Diana Estrada, GISP during the 2008-2009 school year. I helped the GIS students learn and use ArcView 3.x, ArcGIS 9.x, and Adobe Freehand MX. I also helped the GIS lab IT assistant in all issues that may arise during the course of the year. I spent 3 months during the summer of 2008 with a team of two other peers re-building the GIS lab for better performance and stability.

While at Atkins, I worked in their FEMA Floodplain Mapping group where I was responsible for the creation of floodplain databases and FIRM maps.  https://www.fema.gov/flood-maps/products-tools/products . I worked on floodplain mapping projects all over the US in multiple different states and supported / member of multiple floodplain related organizations.

As part of the team we developed the first version of this website for the State of Georgia:  https://map.georgiadfirm.com/ 

In 2013, I took a job with ESRI, out of the Charlotte Regional office, within Technical Support aiding clients related to the Enterprise Geodatabases and other ESRI technology. I have also provided 24 / 7 support to ESRI’s strategic clients via the Premium Support Program as a Technical Account Manager. 

In 2018, I made the move to Esri’s Professional Services team as Consultant. My focus as a Strategic Advisor is to help my clients create a Geospatial Strategy and take advantage of Esri technology that they have purchased. I also do ad-hoc consulting for many clients in relation to Enterprise Geodatabases. I have done presentations at the annual User Conference in San Diego and at the Esri Headquarters in Redlands, CA.

This is the program I currently endorse:  https://www.esri.com/en-us/arcgis/services/eeap 

My Achievements:

  • Eagle Scout
  • Certified GIS Professional (GISP)
  • Multiple Esri Certifications (Geodatabase Professional / Enterprise Administration / Subject Matter Expert (SME))
  • Former Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM)