From Space
Earth observation, satellite imagery and climate intelligence.
WGIC Horizons · Business Case
Horizons:
The Living Landscape
Hosted by
Where geospatial meets the real world. A one-day, approximately 150-person executive conference at Sea to Sky Gondola, Squamish, British Columbia — roughly 45 minutes from Vancouver.
- ~150
- Executive delegates
- 1 day
- Summit Lodge format
- 4,220
- Sq. ft. Summit Lodge
- Oct–Apr
- Buyout window
01The Opportunity
Move beyond the conventional conference model and let the location itself demonstrate the power of geospatial technology.
Delegates would travel from Vancouver along the Sea-to-Sky corridor before ascending by gondola to the Summit Lodge overlooking Howe Sound. Rather than simply hosting Horizons in an impressive venue, the proposition is to make the landscape surrounding the venue part of the conference — exploring how geospatial intelligence, Earth observation, AI, positioning, digital twins and real-time sensing help us understand, manage and protect the physical world.
02Why Sea to Sky
A living geospatial laboratory immediately outside the conference room.
Mountains, forests, waterways, transportation corridors, communities, critical infrastructure and rapidly changing environmental conditions — each with a direct line into a major area of the geospatial industry.
Landscape
Geospatial conversation
Mountains
LiDAR, terrain modelling, GNSS, remote sensing
Forests
Wildfire intelligence, forestry, carbon monitoring
Howe Sound
Hydrography, coastal monitoring, climate
Sea-to-Sky Highway
Transportation, mobility, infrastructure
Communities
Urban growth, planning, digital twins
Gondola
Engineering, asset monitoring, positioning
Weather
Climate intelligence and environmental monitoring
Natural hazards
Landslides, wildfire, emergency response
Delegates can look through the windows and see the problems geospatial technology is helping solve.
03Alignment with Horizons
Horizons has developed into WGIC's flagship global event. Horizons 2025 in Denver attracted more than 130 attendees, while Horizons 2026 in London expanded the conversation around infrastructure, cities, AI, climate, sensing, connectivity, governance and the role of geospatial as critical digital infrastructure — and was subsequently advertised as oversubscribed. A deliberately capped 150-person Sea to Sky edition is therefore well supported by demand. The objective is not dramatically higher attendance, but significantly higher experiential quality.
- DenverMoving Beyond Boundaries
- LondonWhere Geospatial Powers Infrastructure, Cities and Decisions
- Sea to SkyWhere Geospatial Meets the Real World
04The Big Idea
Make the mountain the conference.
Not a conventional sequence of presentations transported to a mountain. The day deliberately connects conference content with the environment surrounding delegates.
From the Air
Drones, aerial mapping, photogrammetry and LiDAR.
From the Ground
GNSS, surveying, mobile mapping and infrastructure intelligence.
Below the Surface
Utilities, geology, subsurface infrastructure and digital twins.
Into the Future
AI, Physical AI, autonomous systems and real-time digital representations of the physical world.
Observe it. Measure it. Understand it. Predict it. Protect it.
05Proposed Event Format
One day, one horizon.
08:00
Vancouver Departure
Optional dedicated Horizons coaches from one or two central Vancouver hotels. A mobile event experience identifies infrastructure, environmental and geographic features along the corridor. The journey becomes part of the programme.
09:00
The Ascent
Delegates arrive and ascend the gondola. Attendees experience the landscape before discussing the technologies used to understand it.
09:30
Opening Keynote — The Living Landscape
A visually driven keynote reading the surrounding region through satellite imagery, LiDAR, mapping, environmental data and digital models. The view outside is the keynote's primary visual reference.
10:00
Session I — Seeing the Earth Differently
Earth observation, remote sensing, aerial imagery, LiDAR and next-generation sensing, with voices from the satellite, aerial mapping, drone and remote-sensing communities.
11:00
Session II — Infrastructure You Can Trust
How precise positioning, reality capture, GIS and digital twins are changing the management of roads, utilities, transportation and critical infrastructure.
12:00
Horizons Summit Lunch
Lunch becomes part of the programme: short 10-minute Horizons Conversations interspersed with networking.
13:15
Outside the Conference Room
The mountain as a geospatial laboratory. Small groups rotate through optional live demonstrations in the terrain itself.
15:00
Where Does Geospatial Go Next?
Everyone returns for the strategic conversation: geospatial + AI, Physical AI, autonomous systems, climate intelligence, digital twins, real-time Earth observation, resilient infrastructure, trusted location intelligence and geospatial as critical digital infrastructure.
16:30
Horizons at the Summit
A closing conversation followed by drinks and networking overlooking Howe Sound.
06The Mountain as a Laboratory
The signature feature: technology demonstrated in context, not in a booth.
Attendees divide into small groups for a series of optional demonstrations in the terrain itself. This gives partners something considerably more valuable than a conventional exhibition presence.
GNSS & Positioning
Precision positioning demonstrated in challenging mountain terrain.
Drone & Reality Capture
Capture an area live and transform it into a 3D model.
LiDAR
The difference between the landscape you see and the point cloud a machine sees.
Earth Observation
Compare the landscape in front of you with satellite observations over time.
Wildfire & Forest Intelligence
Fuels, vegetation, risk and predictive wildfire models.
AI / Digital Twin
Build and explore a digital representation of the surrounding environment.
07Closing Experience
One Landscape.
A Thousand Data Layers.
Delegates spend the day looking at the same physical landscape through many different technological lenses. Horizons at the Summit closes the loop: a final conversation, then drinks and networking above Howe Sound as the light goes.
08Why Vancouver / British Columbia
The Vancouver region provides an unusually strong ecosystem for Horizons, with strong international accessibility through Vancouver International Airport and a dramatically different environment from previous Horizons locations — a major international city alongside an extraordinary natural geospatial laboratory.
- Geospatial technology
- Earth observation
- Forestry
- Mining
- Energy
- Transportation
- Utilities
- Environmental monitoring
- Wildfire management
- Climate resilience
- Autonomous systems
- AI and technology
09Partnership Opportunity
Experiential partnerships instead of logo placement.
A capacity of approximately 150 creates scarcity and positions Horizons as an executive-level gathering rather than a trade show. Mapping partners to experiences creates more inventory — and more value — than a conventional Gold/Silver/Bronze structure.
Presenting Partner
Overall Horizons partner
The Ascent Partner
Delegate arrival and gondola experience
Earth Observation Partner
Satellite and aerial intelligence demonstration
Positioning Partner
GNSS and surveying demonstration
Reality Capture Partner
LiDAR, drone and 3D mapping experience
Infrastructure Intelligence Partner
Digital twins and infrastructure
Wildfire & Resilience Partner
Forest and environmental intelligence
Horizons Summit Lunch Partner
The lunch experience
Summit Reception Partner
The closing reception
10Venue Fit & Open Questions
The venue facts check out.
Sea to Sky Gondola explicitly promotes the property for meetings, company retreats and private functions. Summit Lodge provides approximately 4,220 sq. ft. and is listed for 175 seated with tables or 300 standing, with catering and basic AV available. Summit Lodge buyouts are stated as available October through April — which may work in Horizons' favour, delivering dramatic mountain conditions outside the peak tourism period.
First question to the events team
Can Summit Lodge accommodate approximately 150 attendees in an effective conference / theatre configuration?
No theatre-style capacity is currently published for the entire Summit Lodge. A site visit and floor-plan exercise would be essential.
Also to confirm
- Exclusive venue availability
- Operating hours
- Weather contingencies
- Gondola capacity and delegate movement
- Theatre seating configuration
- Staging
- Professional AV requirements
- Wi-Fi capacity
- Catering
- Outdoor demonstration permissions
- Drone restrictions
- Transportation and parking
- Accessibility
- Emergency procedures
Summit Lodge & the mountain
11Recommendation
Proceed to a venue feasibility and preliminary pricing discussion with Sea to Sky Gondola.
The objective should not initially be to book the venue. It should be to establish whether a 150-person, full-day, exclusive Horizons experience can be operationally delivered. If the theatre configuration, exclusivity, AV and economics work, Sea to Sky should be considered a serious candidate for the next North American WGIC Horizons flagship event.
The strategic question isn't whether Sea to Sky is a good conference venue. It is whether Horizons can become an event people travel internationally to attend because they cannot experience it anywhere else. The location isn't merely memorable — it gives Horizons a story.