Thanks to the grant provided by The Surveyors Trust, I was able to travel from my home town to attend Locate 24. Attending this event provided me with the opportunity to network with emerging professionals and senior leaders. I learned about a wide range of disciplines in geospatial that I otherwise would not have encountered, and the sense of community at the event instilled me with the confidence to continue advocating for our profession.

Receiving the grant helped cover the costs for attending Locate, and I strongly recommend other young and emerging professionals take advantage of this opportunity in the future. Attending events like these help give you exposure to our industry and provide an invaluable opportunity to develop and brand yourself professionally.

Attending Locate2024 was an incredibly rewarding experience, thanks to the sponsorship I received from the Surveyors Trust. This support allowed me to travel from inter-state and fully engage with the event. I did my best to take advantage of every opportunity to chat with spatial and surveying industry peers and professionals.  Many of my discussions on the future of the industry with my peers focused on the role of AI and what our industry brings. These conversations were insightful and broadened my understanding of the challenges and innovations shaping our field.

In addition to networking, Locate2024 provided a platform to stay abreast of the announcements and developments in the industry. The sessions I attended were informative, highlighting the latest trends and technological advancements in surveying, remote sensing, and GIS. This exposure inspired me to continue my efforts and reaffirmed my commitment to contributing positively to the industry. It was particularly inspiring to see the Federal Australian Government affirm their support, being a major sponsor. The combination of professional interactions and cutting-edge information made Locate2024 an invaluable experience, leaving me motivated and inspired to continue the good work.

Being awarded the Locate23 Grant was fantastic. It gave me an opportunity to attend the conference without worrying about my financial situation while being there and allowed me to focus on getting the most out of attending the conference. It was a great chance to broaden my views on how geospatial interacts with the real world from applying LiDAR technology to vineyards, using location data in an immersive environment like Virtual reality and collaborating with the space industry. It also was a chance to connect and chat with a wide range of people in our industry in different application areas of geospatial, geographic areas and other young emerging professionals as well. I recommend any young emerging professional to apply for this grant as attending conference is a worthwhile experience and being able to reduce the personal burden to attend it is great.