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Join us At TechCon 2009!

As you may know, the Illinois Computing Educators organization has partnered over the past three years with two other professional organizations – The Illinois Association of School Business Officials (IASBO) and the Illinois Chief Technology Officers (IL-CTO) – to host an annual event called TechCon. I am pleased to announce that plans are being finalized for the 3rd annual conference to be held on October 16, 2009, at the Naperville campus of Northern Illinois University. Meg Ormiston is scheduled to be the featured speaker, and the program also includes presentations by members of the three host organizations. Charlene Chausis, Phil Lacey, and Nadine Norris will present sessions on behalf of the Illinois Computing Educators. You can view more information about the event and the presentation topics by visiting the TechCon home page.

Technology is changing society and education. From business managers to technology directors, investment in technology will change the future of learning. As access moves faster than understanding, education professionals must keep pace. These three leading education organizations have created an event to meet these needs. This one-day conference addresses the single element effecting education across the board.

Event: 3rd Annual TechCon: Technology and Financial Issues for the 21st Century Conference.
Date: Friday, October 16, 2009
Location: NIU/Naperville Campus

TechCon 2009 will be held at the Naperville Campus of Northern Illinois University. This is a well-located Chicago Area Conference Center, easily accessible from Interstates 88 and 355, only 27 miles from both O'Hare and Midway International Airports, and less than five miles from the Metra Train Station. The facility is located at 1120 E. Diehl Road, Naperville, IL 60563. The conference planners have selected this site because they are confident that the facilities are ideally suited for this event and that the location will be readily accessible to educators throughout the northern counties in Illinois.

Registration for TechCon is easy! Just click here to view the registration page on the Illinois ASBO's Web site and then follow the instructions on the web page. A confirmation e-mail will be sent once your registration is complete. Illinois ASBO members can use existing member information to complete registration. Non-Illinois ASBO members that have not previously attended an Illinois ASBO function will need to complete a quick "new customer" form. Registration is facilitated by Illinois ASBO. Illinois ASBO members can also register through the normal seminar registration process that can be accessed by logging in at www.iasbo.org and clicking on the events link. Please call 815.753.9365 for any questions you may have regarding registration for this event.

Mt. Vernon Conference

Educators from all across the southern region of Illinois will gather in Mt. Vernon on October 30 and 31 for the 29th annual Mt. Vernon Conference. I am joined at this event by ICE past-president Kathleen Molloy and Mindy Fiscus, a member of the ICE Governing Board and one of the planners of the conference. Other Illinois educators with links to ICE who will give presentations include Luke Allen, Meg Ormiston, and Kurt Strothmann, and many ICE members will be present at the conference.

I will be representing ICE at the Mt. Vernon Conference and I will conduct two presentations titled, "Illinois Computing Educators: Growing and Evolving to Meet your needs. Kathleen and I will also be available at the ICE booth throughout the conference to explain the opportunities and benefits available to ICE members, and we will encourage attendees to sign up to join our organization.

We also have big plans to promote ICE at the upcoming IETC in Springfield in November, and we will continue to explore the possibilities of establishing new ICE chapters in regions of the state that are currently too distant from existing chapters.

Beardstown Teacher Institute

ICE President Ginger Long and I are in Beardstown to represent our organization at the annual Regional Teacher Institute serving Brown, Cass, Morgan, and Scott Counties in the Western region of Illinois. We will set up an ICE booth to invite the educators in attendance to learn more about the programs and benefits that we offer, and we will each present breakout sessions as part of the Institute program. The keynote speaker is Christopher Koch, State Superintendent of Schools.

This teacher institute is the first of a series of events across the state in the next two months in which members of the ICE Executive Board will join me to promote ICE activities. On October 17, Kathleen Molloy and I will join leaders of the Illinois Association of School Business Officials (IASBO) and the Illinois Chief Technology Officers (IL-CTO) to host the second annual TechCon conference in Naperville. Kathleen and I will travel to Mt. Vernon on October 30 and 31 for the 29^th annual teacher conference coordinated by Mindy Fiscus and her colleagues at ROE 25 in Hamilton County and Jefferson County. Finally, several members of the ICE Executive Board will represent our organization at the 15^th annual IETC Conference in Springfield on November 20 and 21. ICE is a Gold Sponsor for the event and we hope to see many of our members at this great conference.

Remember that even though ICE Conference 2009 is still months away, registration for the conference will open in just a few weeks. Watch the ICE web site for more information.

TechCon 2008

The Illinois Association of School Business Officials, the Illinois Computing Educators and Illinois Chief Technology Officers are pleased to announce the second annual:

TechCon: Technology and Financial Issues for the 21st Century Conference

Technology is changing society and education. From business managers to technology directors, investment in technology will change the future of learning. As access moves faster than understanding, education professionals must keep pace. Illinois ASBO, the Illinois Computing Educators and the Illinois Chief Technology Officers have created a conference to meet these needs.

Of special interest to educators is the fact that noted speaker Wesley Fryer will give the keynote presentation in addition to a breakout session later in the day. ICE members David Jakes and Charlene Chausis are also featured presenters during the day, and each will present sessions focusing on the challenges and opportunities that Web 2.0 resources present to teachers and school administrators.

The 2008 TechCon will be held on Friday, October 17, 2008, at the Holiday Inn Select in Naperville; 1801 Naper Boulevard, Naperville, IL 60563. For more information about the event and links to the online registration site, please click the link below to view the conference web site:

http://events.iasbo.org/techcon/index.html

Last year's conference was a great success and this year's event promises to be even more powerful. Please save the date and plan to join us for a valuable and thought-provoking program!

Join us at NECC 2008

Are you planning to be at the NECC 2008 Conference in San Antonio next month? If so, please plan to join us for the annual ICE reception and social event on July 1. ICE members and their guests from across the state will be getting together at the Zuni Grill to relax with good friends and enjoy some Southwestern-style appetizers and drinks. The Zuni Grill is just a short walk from the convention center and is located right on the famous San Antonio Riverwalk. Our private dining room features a large balcony that overlooks the river.

If you are planning to attend, please download the reservation form and send it by mail, fax, or e-mail so that it arrives at the ICE office no later than June 17. This will help us to know how many people to plan for as we make our final preparations with the restaurant staff.  You can also view and download the reservation form on the ICE web site.

Download icereception.pdf

Tuesday, July 1, 2008
4:30 pm – 7:00 pm

Zuni Grill
223 Losoya Street
San Antonio, TX 78205    
210-227-0864

$10/person for ICE members
$20/person for non-ICE members

Cost of admission includes two drink tickets that can be used for beer, wine, margaritas, and soda as well as a variety of Southwestern appetizers, fruit and cheese selections with baguettes, tortilla chips, and special salsa.  For more information, visit the restaurant’s website. 

While you are here, please take a few moments to leave a comment on this blog to let us and your ICE friends know that you are planning to attend the ICE Reception. You can also subscribe to the ICE blogs so that you can receive updates via e-mail or with RSS feeds to your favorite blog aggregators. Just use the tools in the upper right portion of the screen to subscribe. The chapter blogs are just being formulated, but we hope that you will watch those sites as well as they develop and take an active role in the ICE events in your region of the state.

We hope you can join us in San Antonio!