The Plenary Session went as expected.  Jack Dangermond touched on each industry of GIS, but it was clear the primary theme of this conference would be the introduction of ArcGIS Pro and the continued expansion of ArcGIS Online.  Jack feels that GIS is about to reach an unprecedented level or in his words a "critical mass".  He may be right.  Only time will tell.  I'm inclined to agree with him, and here's why.

One of the biggest obstacles that has always faced GIS professionals is the distribution of GIS information.  The new tools (ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Online) seem to provide an more streamlined solution.  GIS is a mainstream tool for GIS Professionals and intermediate users, but it has eluded some of the lay users.  Now, simple GIS apps and data can be easily shared with the casual user, so they aren't overwhelmed by a full blown GIS application.

One of the underlying themes that Jack briefly touched on is the notion of "Open Data".  I'll expand more on this later in the week after I attend some of the concurrent sessions and technical workshops.

I also attended the evening social which was held in the "user submitted" map gallery.  Most of them were very well done, and the gallery contained maps by gifted cartographers and analysts.  With that said, I realized that the Pickens County GIS Mapping Department is more than capable, and we'll be certain to enter a map in the future.