Dear Vendor:

Please join us for the 2006 Intermountain GIS Conference sponsored by the Montana Association of Geographic Information Professionals (MAGIP). The 2006 Conference will be held April 3-7, 2006 at the Great Northern Hotel in Helena, Montana. We are offering commercial exhibitors the opportunity to exhibit their products to a large segment of the GIS market from Montana, Idaho and other neighboring states during this conference. The theme of this year's conference is: "Realizing Our Collective Potential."

In past years this conference has been extremely successful due to the cooperative efforts of GIS practitioners in Montana and Idaho, with attendance typically exceeding 300 registrants.

Pre-conference workshops and Public Night will be held on April 3rd and 4th respectively, with concurrent conference sessions on April 5th and 6th. Post-conference workshops are scheduled for April 7th. The gathering will feature a keynote address by Mark Monmonier, author of "How To Lie With Maps" and opening remarks by John Bohlinger, Montana Lt. Governor and Jim Smith, Mayor of Helena.

There are some important information to consider regarding this year's vendor area. Please Read The Information Below Carefully.

The vendor display area will be in the main conference ballroom where the plenary sessions, keynote speeches, and group meals will be conducted. While this will provide for excellent traffic in the vendor area, it will also mean that there will be brief, limited breakdown and setup periods by hotel staff in the vendor area. However vendor booths will not be disturbed during these periods

There are a limited number of full sized 8'x10' display areas available. Booths are available on first come, first saved basis. Therefore, return your registration form with your booth preferences noted (see enclosed chart) and appropriate fees as soon as possible to ensure your participation. Please indicate if there is any location you would not accept.

Internet connectivity will be provided for each booth. You should bring a long CAT5 cable, extension cords, and power strip. Wireless connections are a possibility but are not guaranteed to be available.

There are some areas available for non-standard sized booths at a reduced cost. Please contact me or Janet Cornish if you are interested in this option.

Vendors should plan to arrive on Tuesday, April 4th and be set up by 11:30 am. The cost for exhibitors is $575 per each 8' by 10' booth, which includes registration for two people and their conference meals.

In addition to inviting you to attend the conference, there are a number of other activities and programs we would like to encourage you to participate in or contribute to, including:

• Sponsor a break at the conference! The mid-morning break will feature muffins, tea and coffee. The mid-afternoon breaks will feature cookies, sodas and coffee. The cost to sponsor a break is $500. Vendors who sponsor breaks will be acknowledged at the plenary sessions as well as noted in the conference program.
• Participate in Public Night! Public Night will be held on Tuesday, April 4th. Public Night is an opportunity to reach out to and provide information to the non-GIS public in lay terms about GIS hardware, software, and concepts about which they have little or no former knowledge. All members of the public will be welcome, and activities and festivities will focus on kids and local officials. A special mailing will target K-12 schools, libraries and public officials.
• If you have software that may be of interest to K-12 students, librarians, teachers or public officials, please bring it along to set up at your booth. Also, we would appreciate any contributions of prizes for students who complete all of the activities. In the past student prizes and door prizes have included atlases, hats, pins, mugs, T-shirts, buttons and balloons.
• Contribute an item for our auction and/or raffle. Proceeds go to support various GIS programs and scholarships.
• Give a New Technology presentation! We would love to hear from you! As was the case last year, this year's conference will include a vendor track during the concurrent sessions to allow vendors to present new technologies.
• Present a technical software workshop. Pre- and Post-Conference workshops will be held on Monday, Tuesday morning, and Friday. This would be an opportunity to connect with your user community to offer hands on training. If you are interested in presenting a workshop, contact Stuart Challender at 406-556-0544, stuartc@bridgergeoplan.com.

If you have any questions, please contact:

Janet Cornish, Conference Coordinator
CDS of Montana
406-723-7993
JanAllyce@aol.com

Thank you in advance for helping to make this year's conference a success and we look to seeing you in Helena!

Sincerely,

Fred Gifford

Fred Gifford, Vendor Chair
fgifford@maximusa.com
(406) 457-4098