Databus Issue: 2011 4 10/31/2011
President's Message - Ed Tech Potpourri
Steve Carr President, CETPA
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What a year it has been and what a pleasure it has been to serve as the president of this organization. We continue to be challenged with very tight education budgets, and we have all had to come up with ways to tighten our belt when it appeared that there were no notches left. Yet when the school year started, the students returned, the technology was being delivered with interactive white boards, computers, laptops, tablets, and response pads. This is what we do.
We have had a relatively new board of directors this year. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with this bright, talented, and dedicated group of professionals. We have taken Dr. Kelly Calhoun’s lead from last year and moved forward with the membership initiative. As you may know, annual membership is currently being offered as part of the registration for this year’s conference. Following the conference, membership sign-up will be offered with its benefits beginning in December of 2011. Many other professional organizations offer memberships, and we believe that the $90 annual fee provides CETPA members with great value. CETPA continues to be recognized as the leading organization in the state representing educational technology professionals.
CETPA continues to advocate for its members by having a voice at the legislative table and at the state level to describe challenges and propose solutions for the education community with all things related to technology. Your membership fees will continue to provide funding for our flagship CTO Mentor program. After four completed cohorts of the CTO Mentor graduates, approximately 30 percent have received promotions in their work to support educational technology. Both behind the scenes and in front of the podium, our CETPA Executive Director, Andrea Bennett, has continued to be the face of CETPA. It is clear that she is passionate about her job and role in representing the organization on the state and federal level. She has also helped forge new relationships with affiliate organizations such as CUE, CoSN, CASBO, and ACSA.
CETPA is also very excited to launch the CETPA and Microsoft Strategic Alliance (CAMSA) supported by SHI. Fred Brakeman’s article this month describes the program in detail. I would like to thank Fred Brakeman and Infinity Communications for managing the entire RFP. He has done a phenomenal job of managing the process to assure that we selected the best reseller for our needs. I would also like to thank Mark Williams from the law firm Fagen Freidman and Fullfrost (F3). He assisted us from the beginning in providing detailed research about the program and how CETPA could manage a statewide consortium buy program. He helped us negotiate and structure an agreement with both Microsoft and SHI that will surely save thousands of dollars for schools in California. For more information on this program see our CETPA web site: http://cetpa.net/camsa. This is a new direction for the CETPA organization and offers us the potential to research other opportunities that may serve its membership.
Another goal that was set by the board for this year was to begin the process of establishing an Affiliate Advisory Council (AAC). The plan was to form a small group of respected vendor partners who could help shape the formation of such a council. This council would work directly with the CETPA board to provide feedback and input from the vendor or affiliate perspective as well as to become a communication vehicle from the education member back to the affiliates. We took small but effective steps toward this goal this year. The board selected Fred Brakeman, Infinity Communications, Rob Chambers, Lightspeed Systems, and John Walden from Eagle Software. These three were selected because of their long history with CETPA with some coming from the education ranks, and some even as former members of the board. They have each committed their own time and resources to work on this council and have begun work on development of a survey that will be shared with the affiliate community as to the nature of our conference. We also structured a few sessions during the conference to explore ways to model improved vendor customer relations. CETPA realizes that the vendor affiliate community is critical to our success as technology providers. We all have had experiences where vendors were true partners. During these sessions, we hope to discuss the key components to repeat this relationship.
We are excited to host the 51st annual CETPA conference in Long Beach this year. With more than 160 exhibitors, 135 breakout sessions and labs, motivating keynotes, and a Technology Pavilion filled with information, we expect that this will be an unforgettable conference. We know how difficult it is to get away from the office these days; but, you will find the experience motivating, informative, and fun! Thank you for your continued support.
