2016 Survey Results
The 2016 NYS GIS Association Survey Report
Full Results (PDF)
Map of Survey Participants
A comparison of 2014 and 2016 survey results about training.
The 2016 NYS GIS Association Member Renewal Report
Full Results (PDF)
This survey attempted to discover the NYS GIS Association’s membership’s professional background and perception of the Association’s value to them. There are currently 610 members, 250 answered the survey including 59 respondents who were not members.
- Over 50% of the members work in government, with the Private Sector a poor 2nd at only 22%.
- About half the respondents participate in regional groups (58%).
- Only a quarter of the members have their GISP certification.
- In all, 60% of members have belonged to the Association for 3 years or longer.
- When asked the best reason for joining a GIS association, most chose being part of a professional GIS organization or Networking with other geospatial professionals.
- Many also wished to be kept informed of GIS news, events and job offerings.
- By far the most popular way for the NYS GIS Association to increase membership value was to increase the number and quality of professional development webinars and training sessions.
- In second ranking of value perceived were networking opportunities and finding ways to support local/regional GIS organizations.
- The vast majority (over 97%) of respondents preferred email as the best way to get renewal notifications for membership subscriptions.
- Finally, on the question of whether an increase in membership fees would impact their decision to renew, 55% said it would not affect this decision and 12% said definitely would.
2014 Survey Results
2013 Member Survey
The 2013 NYS GIS Association Survey Report
Background
The New York State GIS Association conducted an online survey of current members in October 2013. We gathered feedback that will shape the direction of the organization in the future. The survey consisted of 22 questions and could be completed in 5-10 minutes. One hundred and thirty six members of the NYS GIS Association responded. This represents approximately 30% of all members from throughout the state.
Locations of NYS GIS Association members completing the survey
Survey Results
Where Do Members Work?
According to the survey, NYS GIS Association members work primarily in Government (45.6%), Private Sector for profit (33.8%), and in Academia (14.7%). For those indicating Government employment the responses were distributed between State Government (35.9%), County (26.6%), Municipal (18.8%), Federal (14.1%) and Regional (4.7%).
Employment industry of surveyed NYS GIS Association members
What Are Members Roles in GIS?
Members were asked what their “role” in the use of GIS Technology. Most members are GIS Specialists/Analysts using GIS as primary work function (30.1%), Managers of GIS organizations/groups that use GIS technology (25.7%), or non-GIS employees the still use GIS as secondary support function (23.5%). Ten percent (10%) of members are teachers. The fewest responses for GIS role were GIS students (4.4%), those that do not currently use GIS technology (4.4%), and those who are computer programmers using GIS Technology (1.5%).
NYS GIS Association role of members in the use of GIS Technology
Local GIS Organizations? GISP?
The survey revealed that over half of NYS GIS Association members (52.7%) belong to an additional local GIS organization and 22.6% having GISP Certification (Geographic Information Systems Professional). The most frequent reasons for not being GISP certified were “Do not quality for GISP” (51.8%) and “Do not know the value / benefits of GISP” (33.9%). More than half of NYS GIS Association members have joined in the past 5 years.
Communication Methods?
Members prefer to be contacted by email. Eighty percent (80.7%) indicated that an email notice prompted them to renew their annual membership. Eighty three percent (83.8%) indicated they prefer to receive “intermittent” emails from the NYS GIS Association on upcoming events, conferences and membership information. In addition, the NYS GIS Association website was visited by 88.2% of members, with an overall positive response to the website content as 72.4% noted they were “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with the website.
Why are You a Member?
The most frequent reasons provided for maintaining membership in the NYS GIS Association were “Being part of a professional GIS organization” (72.4%), “Networking with other geospatial professionals” (68.7%), and “Keeping informed of the latest GIS news, job offerings and events” (58.2%). Members indicated that membership value could be enhanced by: “Increasing the number and quality of professional development webinars and training sessions” (63.6%) and “Improving networking opportunities”(35.6%).
Reasons indicated by members for joining the NYS GIS Association
| Being a part of a professional GIS organization. | 72.4% |
| Networking with other geospatial professionals. | 68.7% |
| Keeping informed of the latest GIS news, job offerings and events. | 58.2% |
| Attending NY state GIS Conference and NY State Geospatial Summit. | 37.3% |
| Supporting the availability of continuing GIS education and training. | 36.6% |
| Promoting professionalism with the GIS community. | 32.8% |
| Opportunity to impact issues affecting the GIS profession in NYS. | 28.4% |
| Expanding the use of GIS in other professions. | 21.6% |
Responses provided from members on how the NYS GIS Association can add value to membership
Responses provided from members on how the NYS GIS Association can add value to membership
| Increase the number / quality of professional development webinars / training sessions | 63.6% |
| Improve networking opportunities | 35.6% |
| Help you to get GISP certification | 29.5% |
| Find ways to support my local/regional GIS organization | 28.8% |
| Put additional material on the Association website | 25.0% |
| Improve Conferences and Summits so they are more relevant to my work | 22.7% |
| Send more direct communications about Association activities | 20.5% |
| Identify other ways the Association can be of greater value to you | 9.8% |
2010 NYS GIS Association Survey Report
The 2010 NYS GIS Association Survey Report
The Annual Survey provides a wealth of information and feedback from members and non-members about our organization, or priorities, and the state of our profession. Some findings of particular interest:
Top three (3) reasons to join the organization include:
- Being a part of a professional organization
- Keeping abreast of the latest news-note the great work this year by the Communications Committee
- Networking – 80% indicated “Regional Meetings” are their preferred venue
Top two (2) things the Associations should be working on”
- Legislation- 82% felt legislation is either critical or important
- Training- >50% would like to see more webinars, only 1 in 3 feel they are “keeping up” with technology.
Top Challenges
- Less than ¼ of respondents were actually GISP Certified, and >50% did not see the value in professional certification
- ~90% felt outreach to other professional organizations was critical or important.
2008 Member Survey
The 2008 NYS GIS Association Survey Report
In April 2008, the NYS GIS Association conducted a survey of the geospatial community in New York State. The purpose of the report was to evaluate current trends in professional certification and to determine what the geospatial community would like to see from the NYS GIS Association in the coming year.
Over the course of 14 days, we received 166 responses across the State (from Long Island & NYC to Buffalo) which provided extremely good information on certification as well as what the community felt the future direction of the Association should be.
On first blush, the number of folks that had GIS certifications seems low (24), however, the number of individuals considering certification over the next three years is significant (27% yes & 45% maybe). As one of the primary goals of the Association is to support the development of the GIS profession throughout the state, the barriers to certification as outlined by the responders will be examined closely to see what role the Association can play in encouraging these individuals to moving forward with obtaining certification.
The survey indicated that the top four items that the Association should be stressing are:
- Impacting the proposed Surveying Legislation
- Continuing with NYS Geospatial Summit
- Providing training
- Promoting professionalism
While the Association believes that it is currently focused in these areas, it will continue to monitor the geospatial community on a regular basis to insure that it is doing everything possible to meet its needs.
Lastly, the Association wishes to thank all those that took the time to complete the survey and let us know that we can do to make it more responsive to your needs.
For more information, see the survey report.
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