September 2013, in the UK at least, is Maptember! The sheer volume of geospatial conferences and events has led to the month having to be renamed, with a dedicated website being set-up to guide delegates through the myriad of options open to them.

For the first time ever the global Open Source caravan, FOSS4G, comes to the UK. Co-located with the huge annual UK GI gathering, the AGI GeoCommunity, these two events will turn Nottingham University campus into the focus of the geospatial world. Also, for the first time since its inauguration event, State of the Map will return to the UK being hosted in Birmingham.

In addition the Society of Cartographers, British Cartographic Society and the Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society all hold their annual conferences in Maptember, with workshops and Hacks for OpenStreetMap and QGIS a plenty.

As we all know, Geospatial Conferences are intense affairs and with this focus of activity in a single month we’re advising delegates to prepare for the onslaught with an appropriate training programme. A phased introduction of sleep deprivation, wifi-signal hunting, finger-strengthening exercises are recommended, with additional focus on #geobeer intake enlargement. On a more serious note, how about getting your social media presence ready? Make sure you are using the right #hashtags, connecting with the relevant groups, your profiles are up to date and start networking ahead of the event….or just have business cards at the ready. And don’t forget packing all the electronics – phone chargers (and plug adaptors: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BS_1363).

Booking for FOSS4G remains open until 9th September on the FOSS4G website.