GEOINT symposium postponed until next spring

The GEOINT 2013 symposium has been postponed, organizers said, a victim of the partial government shutdown.

The annual geospatial intelligence conference had been scheduled for Oct. 13-16 in Tampa, Fla. Organizers said the inability of government speakers to travel during the federal government shutdown means the event will be postponed until sometime in the spring of 2014.

The House has approved funding that would allow most Defense Department personnel to return to work, and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel responded by calling most personnel back to their posts. However, the House legislation does not allow travel to attend events.

As result, GEOINT 2013 organizers said they had little choice but to postpone the symposium until next spring.

Keith Masback, CEO of symposium organizer United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, said Oct. 8 that “government and military registration, both U.S. and international, was the highest ever as a percentage of total registration.” But restrictions on government travel meant his group “is simply unable to commence and maintain the event in its original scope.”

Masback added, “Given the absence of government speakers from our program and the absence of government customers from our exhibit hall, we have no choice by to postpone the 10^th Annual GEOINT Symposium to spring 2014.”