TEDxTysons held their newest main event at the Capital One Headquarters. impact – TEDxTysons was a full Saturday of speakers, networking, and ideas worth spreading. As can be seen in the photos, the headquarters in Capital One was a beautiful, forward-looking venue for TEDx talks. In light of a large tower being built right outside the auditorium, this space was a showcase of possibility.
The atrium heading into the auditorium was a beautifully lit space. Very large open skylights and windows allows daylight to spill into the space. For photos in front of the step and repeat, this was an easy assignment given that the light was bouncing around everywhere!
The speakers gave talks about individuals creating impact. Thus, the impact title becomes [i]mpact. Talks attempt to explain where does this impact come from, and how does it grow? To illustrate this is one of the talks, I contributed one of my photos from above Tysons. Undoubtedly, I was blown away about seeing my photo up there. Moreover seeing it in conjunction with a TEDx talk has been a highlight of my photography career so far. Thanks to TEDxTysons for the opportunity to be a part!
TEDxTysons held Concrete Jungle – another salon event at WeWork – Tysons last month. By comparison, this had an intimate feeling – a smaller room with the audience in closer contact. The salon was setup as an event for presentation on developments in our growing urban area. For this reason, horticulturists and landscape designers were the main presenters.
In contrast to the enormous auditoriums of their previous events, the audience was really shoulder to shoulder this evening. It had the feeling of a dinner party compared to a corporate convention. In short, it was what I had preconceived what a salon would be.
The WeWork in Tysons was the venue on this occasion. Seeing that they had a space filled with natural light from the large windows with natural surfaces on their walls, it set the scene nicely.
Staff and high school students at the Blue Roster office for GIS Day 2014
Arlington, VA
Last year, I covered the GIS Day activities for Blue Raster in Arlington, VA. GIS stands for Geographic Information Systems. Blue Raster is an advanced mapping technology company that uses satellite imaging, and data to help their clients find solutions. They have applications in health, environmental studies, financial impact, and other needs where mapping data can be useful for visualizing and conveying impacts for wider audiences.
On this day, they brought in a group of enthusiastic high
school students that are studying GIS as part of their course work. They were
able to talk to the developers and staff at Blue Raster to see how they use the
mapping data and make it useful for their clients. While we were there, a presentation
at the White House used some of their visualizations for a live address!
A demonstration of their capabilities was even tried in real
time as the students went outside with mobile devices. Outside the offices,
they were able to use the Blue Raster software to mark the type of trees in the
area. With teams working together, they were able to generate some interesting
data very quickly about the vegetation in the area. It was easy to see how this
kind of application would be helpful for those wanting to do something similar
to study farming, water resourcing, or any other application that would rely on
accurate mapped data that could not be found from satellite imaging alone.
While I was at their headquarters, I took some time to make some headshots of some of the staff. Luckily, they had some nicely colored blue walls to match with their corporate branding. With some lighting setup it was easy to get a nice consistent look to all of the photos for their website. It would make for a nice cohesive look to their staffing photos.
Thanks to the team at Blue Raster! I really enjoyed learning about the power of GIS data and I received a nice education on how it can be useful for solving larger problems. Viewing maps had been a hobby with mine. My father impressed the importance of reviewing things like maps for trips, and development for new buildings. Since the early internet, satellite imagery starting with the Microsoft Terra Server and onto the newest mapping apps that we have today has been useful not only for my business, but for my own curiosity. What an interesting job the people at Blue Raster have!
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