Sarah Kelly, GISP, Assistant Teaching Professor in Geography gave a talk at GIS in the Rockies at the University of Denver, in September 2022 to a packed room of GIS professionals. GIS in the Rockies is a geospatial information and technology conference that offers opportunities for industry professionals to learn more about geospatial technology issues and business-centric strategies. Attendees include representatives from local, state, and federal government, the utility industry, environmental services, land surveying professionals, the oil and gas industry, students, educational practitioners, and retail and business marketing professionals. Her talk was entitled Cartography - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
The use of excessive labels makes this map difficult to read.
Map making is often approached with little understanding of effective cartographic techniques, which can lead to a map not meeting its intended purpose, or worse, completely misleading its reader. In her talk, Sarah covered basic cartographic conventions such as using visual variables, applying symbol hierarchy, and using color effectively. The presentation was interactive and included examples of both effective and not-so-effective maps. The presentation was extremely well received by attendees and conference organizers.