The 1994 CEDPA Conference in Long Beach again focused on Internet, networking, statewide issues, and emerging technologies. Conference attendance and vendor participation were both up from the 1993 San Jose Conference, and the early response from participants during and after the conference indicates the program was well received. The Long Beach Sheraton was a fine setting and an excellent facility. The support we received from the Sheraton Hotel staff was outstandin--they provided the kind of behind the scenes support that often goes unnoticed but means a great deal to the success of the event.
Highlighting this year's event was the "Internet Room" where members got hands-on experience with the "National Superhighway." Warren Williams was responsible for putting together a practical laboratory environment for Internet access and the results were superb. Working with Farley Stewart and Internet Products, Inc. a T1 line was brought into the hotel solely for the purposes of the conference. Both Macintosh and PC workstations were utilized with GINA, Mosaic, and Gopher software. Also on display were a video server and an Internet gateway server for demonstration purposes as well as basic wiring and connection hardware to make the Internet RoomÕs LAN work.
The speaker program was both diverse and very strong with contributing speakers coming from as far away as Hawaii to present at our conference. Particularly notable were the keynote address George Luginbill's "Merging Technology with Education" and Phil Bossert's lunch time discussion of Hawaii's educational network implementation. Overall Ken Jones did a great job in pulling the speaker program together and making this a strong conference.
Finally, the vendor exhibit program (chaired by Skip Sharp) was among the largest CEDPA has put on. We had a number of new vendors, particularly in the networking and Internet service providing business, that augmented the speaker program very well. Already several of the vendors have responded with interest about next year's conference so we have an indication of the importance vendors place on access to the CEDPA membership and the success of the vendor show from their perspective.
Next year the conference will again be in San Jose. Conference planning will begin early in the 1995 calendar year. If you have any suggestions or comments about the conference please let any of the Board members know. We want to increase conference participation and your thoughts and impressions are important. Thank you for your participation and support, and for the work so many put into making this year's conference the success it was.