Other BCS Events
During the year the Society run a range of events in addition to the Annual Conference and Teatime Talks
What's coming up
Winter Lecture
Most years the BCS will invite a key speaker in the industry to talk about their field of interest.​ Recent talks have included:
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Dr Barbara Bond - Mapping Escapes in World War II
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Philippe Frei - The Federal Office of Topography Swisstopo and the history of cartography in Switzerland
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Oliver Green - Mapping the Underground
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A panel session discussing the future roadmap of cartography. With Seppe Cassettari (President, BCS), Mark Wigley (President, Swiss Society of Cartography) and Dr Jochen Schiewe (President, German Cartographic Society), chaired by Alex Kent​​
2025 Winter Lecture
The exploration of the North West Passage:
the fascinating stories of Dr John Rae and Sir John Franklin
Speakers: Fiona Gould and Eugene Rae
This lecture will feature two speakers examining, comparing and contrasting the explorations of Dr John Rae and Sir John Franklin. The talks will especially focus on their quests in the mid 1800s to discover the North West passage in Northern Canada which would link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The contrast between the two men is significant with differences which will be highlighted in the talk in upbringing/social standing, career choice and approach to exploration. Here there was much controversy engendered by factions and supporters of both men with claims and counter claims about what had been achieved. The talk will examine some of these disputes including evidence of surveying and the background to the disappearance of the lost expedition commanded by Sir John Franklin and the part Dr John Rae had in uncovering the truth and his subsequent vilification for doing so.
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Fiona Gould had a career in teaching and supporting students with Special Education Needs (SEN), gifted children and asylum seekers, a career which led to Fiona’s appointment as Project Manager for West Sussex LEA, whereby she established an outreach support service for students with social communication difficulties. Since retiring and living in Orkney, Fiona has worked as a volunteer for Advocacy Orkney and for The John Rae Society as membership secretary, leading historical and archival researcher and has been developing the partnership.
Eugene Rae is the Principal Librarian of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). He has worked at the Society for twenty- five years and is part of a team that looks after the two million items contained within the Society’s Collections. He has a particular interest in the history of exploration and has lectured for the Society on such topics including “Reaching for the Poles: From Phipps to Fiennes: a look at some of the explorers who tried to reach the North or South Poles and some who tried to do both”. Eugene Rae holds a Master of Arts (M.A.) in United States geography and literature from the University of London.
Previous events
Fellows' Events
Most years, our Fellows are invited to an event where they can chat with others who share an interest in mapping and data visualisation.
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Our most recent event was a visit to the Imperial War Museum (IWM) Duxford, on 13th October 2025, where Fellows were shown fascinating items from their map and photograph archive, followed by a guided tour that highlighted some of the amazing conservation work that takes place.
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Previous events have included:
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Talk on Thirty years of Antarctic mapping by Adrian Fox
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Discussion entitled My Pathway to BCS fellowship with Sarah Widdowfield, Warren Vick and Josie Wilson
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Visit to the Bodleian Map library in Oxford​
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AGM 2025
This year's BCS Annual General Meeting (AGM) took place on 11th June 2025 and was be followed by the AGM Talk.​​
Two Years in a Tin Can - a Life in Antarctica
Speaker: Peter Gibbs
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The challenge of cartography in a constantly changing but largely featureless landscape. Also mentioning the Antarctic Place Names Committee as Antarctica is one of the few places on Earth where new place-names are still being added.
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Following a degree in physics and geography at Newcastle University Peter joined the British Antarctic Survey as a meteorologist, living and working in Antarctica for two years at the isolated Halley research station. Peter went on to a more than 30 year career as a front line forecaster with the UK’s Met Office. He regularly chairs the iconic Radio 4 show ‘Gardeners’ Question Time’. He returned to Antarctica in 2016 to report on the global importance of the science programme at Halley for the BBC’s flagship science show ‘Horizon’.
Partner Events
The BCS has collaboration agreements with several similar organisations across the GeospatialIndustry, including the Association of Geographic Information (AGI), Charles Close Society (CCS), Geographical Association (GA) and the Internationa Map Industry Association (IMIA).
We often run join events or participate as contributors to their events.​ The most recent was an IMIA Panel Session on AI and its impact on the mapping industry on 6th March 2025.
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BCS members will participate in the Mapping leaders Forum run by the IMIA May 14th - 15th 2025 in London.​
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Map Curators' Group Events
The Map Curators Group (MCG) often run specialist events in the form of short conferences or workshops on issues of particular interest to those involved in Map Curatorship.
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Go to the Map Curators Group page to see what they are currently involved in.
Historical Military Mapping Group Events
The Historical Military Mapping Group (HMMG) will often run specilaist events in the form of visits or workshops on issues of particular interest to those involved in those interested in or engaged in research into any aspect of the history of military survey and mapping.
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Go to the Historical Military Mapping Group page to see what they are currently involved in.