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California Educational Data Processing Association
The DataBus - Vol. 36, No. 6
Conference Edition, 1996

Welcome to the 36th Annual CEDPA Conference

Ken Jones, CEDPA President

Welcome to the Palm Springs Marquis Crowne Plaza Resort & Suites and the California Educational Data Processing Association's annual conference. During your visit to downtown Palm Springs, you will find some wonderful restaurants, clubs, conference facilities and lots of sites to see. The Marquis is one of the nicest and prettiest hotels we have used for a conference. The staff will bend over backwards to help you.

This year's conference, our 36th, will emphasize the commitment that we all have to newest in networking technologies and how they will improve the education of our students. Distance learning, student records exchange and Internet are major topics on the plate for each of us.

Dr. Rudy M. Castruita will start the conference out as our keynote speaker. Dr. Castruita is the Superintendent of the San Diego County Office of Education and will present his perspective of the importance of district superintendents becoming involved with technology. Alex Kaplan is returning to speak for the second year, this time as the Principal of North American K-12 Consulting for IBM. He will be sharing his prospective on school districts' alternative methods for providing technology service and support to their customers. Finally, some broad brush strokes on the big picture will come from Jody Warne-Ellison. She will share experiences in the computer industry and her unique perspectives will be sure to start you thinking about the future and how you'll relate to the technology of tomorrow.

The Internet Room (see related story) gives you an opportunity to see and experience how to make physical connections to Internet and to understand how each piece of equipment works and how the system works together. This is our third year for including the Internet Room as part of our conference--and this year it is bigger and more sophisticated than prior years. We owe a great debt to Farley Stewart and Internet Products, Inc. for providing much of the equipment and the expertise to put it all together. All of this has been orchestrated for all three years by Warren Williams of Grossmont Union High School District. Our hats are off to Warren for a job well done.

Judy Acosta of Ventura County Office of Education is the speaker chair and will fill your time with interesting and challenging breakout sessions. Warren Williams also arranged the Thursday vendor show. Both Warren and Judy worked innumerable hours to make this conference a success for you. Thanks to the both of you!

This year also marks the first year that CEDPA is hosting a CEDPA Golf Tournament. For those of you that signed up, enjoy yourselves after the conference concludes at the Tahquitz Creek Resort Course. CEDPA board members will be on hand to pass out crying towels!

Have a terrific conference, enjoy Palm Springs and plan now for a visit next October to the Sacramento Radisson Hotel and two years from now here again at the Palm Springs Marquis Crowne Plaza & Resort Suites.

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