There will be two strands for this conference. The first strand is called "Waterways New York." Over the two days at MCC, presenters will examine different aspects of the rivers, lakes, and canals in New York State. There will be lessons demonstrated for all levels, K-12. This will include using the GIANT Map of New York, water-testing kits, and many other resources that are available to teachers free of charge (some of which have been created by the NYGA). On July 31st, there will be a half-day field trip to study the Genesee River and the Erie Canal in the Rochester area. 

The second section of the mini-conference is part of National Geographic's National Initiative, Geo-Inquiries Training. This strand is for middle school teachers interested in using GIS resources to create maps of their communities. Schools are encouraged to send teachers in pairs, so they can work on projects collaboratively with their students in the upcoming 2018-2019 school year. There will be demonstrations from teachers who have been trained by Nat Geo in 2017 in Washington, DC and this summer at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. There will be time allotted to collect data in the field and to use computers to create maps while on the MCC campus.