It was a pleasure to head to Leicester recently for the GeoPlace Conference 2026. Held at the impressive Leicester Tigers stadium on 21 May, the event brought together members of the Public Sector Geospatial Agreement (PSGA) and invited guests for a day of collaboration and insight.
The atmosphere was vibrant, starting with a lively social event the evening before. After a nerve wracking few moments putting up our new exhibition stand for the conference, Mike (our MD) and Darren (one of our Account Managers) were delighted to draw a line under the stand prep and meet up for drinks. They particularly enjoyed the live music courtesy of Stella from GeoPlace and her husband, performing as Stella ‘N The Loft. It was the perfect way to set the tone for a productive conference.
Catching up with the community
Mike and Darren spent the following day manning stand 26. They had some great conversations with long-standing customers from Harlow Council, Blaby District Council, Cardiff Council, and Denbighshire County Council, amongst others. These discussions often focused on how they are using iShare in the Cloud (iSiC) to streamline their data management and improve service delivery for their residents. Darren enjoyed the opportunity to finesse his iShare Mobile demo skills in front of a live audience.
Launching our summer competition
This year, we decided to bring a bit of the outdoors to our stand. We officially launched our summer sunflower growing competition, which pitches the Astun team against our customers to see who can grow the tallest sunflower.
We gave away packets of seeds and tape measures to everyone willing to take part. We’re looking forward to seeing the progress photos over the coming months as the competition heats up.
Celebrating excellence
The GeoPlace Conference is always a highlight for the local government sector because it celebrates the vital work of Address and Street Custodians. The Exemplar Awards highlighted some truly innovative uses of data that are making a real difference to public services.
While Mike and Darren missed out on the stadium tour, they certainly made up for it with the quality of conversations on the stand. The event remains a key date in our calendar for connecting with the people at the heart of the UK’s addressing.
Reflections from the team
“It’s great to be part of the GeoPlace conference,” says Darren Fennell. “The dedication of the custodians we speak to is inspiring, and it is a privilege to support their work with our technology. Plus, I’m quietly confident that my sunflower is going to be the one to beat!”
Mike adds, “Thanks to GeoPlace for another well-attended event. If we’d known about the location of our stand in advance, we’d have left the sunflower seeds at home and bought a keg and some Astun glasses instead!”
If you didn’t manage to catch us in Leicester but would like to learn more about how we support local government, please get in touch for a chat.