[k82a]

Nice! I think it's a good initiative to organize more local types of meetups in the geospatial community. Geospatial experts are a bit too few and inbetween to bump into many of them on a regular day, so anything that gets these people together is a big win.

As a side note to HN readers, geospatial is a super interesting application/ specialization that you might consider getting into if you're looking to add more meaning and purpose to your programming or tech career. You're often working to improve quality of life for someone, there are lots of interesting companies, people are generally super friendly and accessible, and there's a wealth of interesting problems and challenges to work on. My 2 cents!

[FactualActuals]

Due to the nature of my job, I interact with some of the more noteworthy geospatial experts on a weekly basis. These people will take any time of the day to explain to you all of the microscopic nuances about how any GNSS works.

[toomuchtodo]

I would listen to this podcast.

[lukasgraf]

Not a podcast, but a Stanford MOOC (massive open online course): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1Fyn_h6LKU&list=PLGvhNIiu1u...

The basic operation of a GNSS with ~30m accuracy is literally explained on one slide in lecture 1.2, and from then on the rest of the course is about implementation specifics, and enhancing performance.

The basic concept at its core is so elegant and beautiful, but no less interesting are all the ways this system is augmented with different techniques to improve the accuracy down to ~1cm.

This is one of those resources I've downloaded and made sure to have backed up, because it's so invaluable to me.

[toomuchtodo]

This makes my weekend, going to binge this. Email in profile if I can buy you a coffee or beer for sharing. Thanks for taking the time!

[nonethewiser]

GIS seems interesting but it also doesnt seem like it pays well. Being niche isn't bad per-se but I would expect it to be more lucrative.

In some ways it seems like GIS is to software engineering as business analyst is to data science. Not in nicheness, because business analyst isnt so niche. But doesn't pay as well and less programming, more GUI/business tools.

Are these impressions wrong?

[tony_cannistra]

Not wrong necessarily, if "traditional GIS" is your chosen application of geospatial skills. (By "traditional GIS" I mean creating one-off analyses by interacting primarily with enterprise desktop/GUI tools like ArcGIS).

But when combined with software engineering expertise, geospatial knowledge can be as lucrative as any other software job. (I am a geospatial software engineer.)

[nonethewiser]

Thanks for the insight. I gained a sliver of insight into GIS when trying to do some data analysis on lakes. I discovered that there is a lot to it. Its an interesting space, especially for those interested in geography or the outdoors.

[ikr678]

It is niche, but it's almost always a cost center role and heaviest users of GIS are govt and utilities, which have constraints on remuneration.

It can be lucrative in the right industry with domain knowledge (eg mining or oil&gas).

[tony_cannistra]

I totally agree with your latter assessment. I wrote off software engineering as a career that I would deeply enjoy for a few years, went to become a scientist. I came back to software when I discovered geospatial; it's way fun.