President's Message

Don't miss this one! Our roles and challenges continue to expand. More and more we are called upon to provide leadership, infrastructure, support and solutions to the direct benefit of the educator and student. Where not called upon, how should we endeavor to ensure that these needs are appropriately addressed? Such are the considerations for "Reaching The Classroom". We are well on the way to bringing you a 1998 Conference which can help you.

On Day One Kathryn Yates, Director of Microsoft's K-12 Group, will deliver the Opening Keynote address. Ms. Yates is responsible worldwide for product planning, sales and marketing, industry and public relations as they apply to our K-12 marketplace. On Friday Rich Seider, Oracle Corporation's Executive Director of Business Development for K-12 Education serves as our Closing Keynote speaker. Mr. Seider directs strategic application of K-12 technology solutions worldwide.

The participation of our two keynote speakers is a direct result of SIG meetings held in this past year. At the Conference, you can help direct the composition of the 1998-99 special interest group meetings. These meetings provide an immediacy which can be extremely beneficial as you address your own work in the upcoming year. Your participation at the Conference results in immediate and future dividends.

CEDPA's statewide advocacy for K-12 technologists continues to grow. We've a long standing want of providing avenues for raising critical issues, as well as avenues for understanding and resolving them through the Conference and SIG programs. This past year, CEDPA has been invited to formally represent membership concerns and help shape program and policy in a number of statewide forums. Among these are the California Department of Education's process to provide guidance in technology planning; the California County Superintendent's Educational Services Association (CCSESA) Telecommunications Task Force and the subsequent permanent Sub-Committee; and, the California School Information System (CSIS) project. Among other things, this gives you a seat at the tables considering tens of millions of dollars of K-12 technology funding. At the Conference, you'll get feedback regarding these efforts to date and an opportunity to provide further comment and direction as to your needs.

No CEDPA Conference is successful without the support that you the membership continually extends. The speaker program's strength continues to be the quality of your collegial presentations. Please take a moment to examine the Breakout Sessions. The breadth and extent of these is, once again, remarkable. To those of you taking the time and effort to share your experiences this year, thank you - we are indebted.

We are further indebted to the support of the K-12 vendor community. At the 1998 Conference, you've various opportunities to benefit from their investments in us - as breakout speakers presenting 'white paper' issues, and at the Vendor Show on Day Two. Historically, the CEDPA Vendor Show is comprised of the single largest K-12 focus of technology infrastructure, product and services in California. More than 50 vendors are expected to contribute.

We are particularly proud of the extent to which we are able to bring technology to the conference attendee. Our popular Internet Room, first instituted at the Long Beach conference in 1994, is giving way to a Network Operations Center. In the NOC, we'll present technologies and techniques for managing the incredible investments being made in LAN/WAN connectivity and functionality. You can still experience intra and internet 'basics', while considering newer technologies for traffic management. Within the confines of the NOC, there'll be Technical Talks. Given by vendor technicians and engineers to small audiences seeking brand specific answers, these are an enhancement to our speaker Breakout program.

For those individuals that can manage an extra day away from the shop, consider attending a Pre-Conference Workshop on Tuesday. This 'extra' day allows us to provide more in-depth treatment of topics, particularly those of a more technical nature. These are seldom found opportunities providing growth for the attendee.

Have you noticed? We are returning to the Palm Springs Marquis, site of our 1996 Conference which is among the best received of all our 37 previous yearly gatherings. If you really need to be sold on this hotel and city as a venue, please take a moment to explore the links on our website.

To realize the objectives embodied in this year's Conference theme "Reaching the Classroom", requires considerable expertise, investment, resourcefulness and resolve. Much the same can be said of the resources needed to structure the Conference itself. Now in our 38th year of putting together meaningful programs and forums for presentation and exchange of information and ideas, we are confident that CEDPA's manifold expertise is without peers. The investment evident in the contributions of both general and Board members, as well as those of the vendors of K-12 services and products is immeasurable. The conference planning process has already considered multiple possibilities -- a readiness for change and the will to deliver the very best in a K-12 technology conference will get us through any unexpected twists typical of such a complex undertaking.

Your CEDPA Board invites you to consider the opportunities which await. We hope to see you in Palm Springs.

Russ Brawn
CEDPA President