I hope everyone is surviving this busy fall academic session. As we move toward the end of the semester, I wanted to take this chance to share some news and updates from the Higher Education Web Professionals Association.
First, thanks to everyone for a very successful HighEdWeb 2010 – 500 or so higher ed Web pros came to Cincinnati and, together, created a conference of incredible professional and personal value! As we go through evaluations, we’re reading some great comments:
- “Great presentations + speakers – all highly relevant to my job.”
- “Very well organized. (HighEdWeb) has a lot of serious work happening in a fun atmosphere.”
- “This is the best conference for my profession.”
And of course, we’ll be using *all* of your feedback to make next year’s conference another great experience for higher ed Web pros.
Speaking for next year: don’t forget to mark your calendars for HighEdWeb 2011 in Austin, TX October 23-26, 2011. Please consider participating as a presenter, and start talking with the Powers That Be now so you can take advantage of the early bird rate once it is announced. We will be doing a call for proposals in early spring, with registration opening in mid-2011.
I’m also pleased to share that HighEdWeb 2012 will be held in Milwaukee, WI. Details will be available about #heweb12 early in the new year, in line with our plan to announce conference location and other information two years in advance .
At the HighEdWeb 2010 conference, I was asked numerous times, “How can I get involved in HighEdWeb?” I’m pleased to report that there are a number of committees and opportunities – both established and new – in which you can get more involved. I gave a basic overview at the conference, but let me share again, in more detail.
Standing HighEdWeb Committees
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors governs the day-to-day efforts of the Higher Education Web Professionals Association. The Board focuses on the strategic direction of the Association, as well as fiscal responsibilities and operational duties. Information will soon be available on the process for applying to and being considered for Board membership
Conference Committee
The Conference Committee is responsible for the logistics, scheduling, and production of the annual HighEdWeb conference. A chairperson is chosen based on the conference’s location, then specific positions are appointed to bring together the many needed skill sets, including: marketing, vendor relations, photography, swag merchandise, entertainment planning, design, customer relations, etc. A breakdown of the position descriptions will be forthcoming. People interested in participating must be able to fulfill need of the committee position and be appointed by the Conference Committee chair.
Program Committee
The Program Committee helps select annual conference presentations, and members operate as Track Chairs in the conference session rooms. There are two track chairs per track (with five session tracks, a poster track, and a workshop track) plus an overall committee chair. The Program Committee also selects the best track and overall conference presentations. To be considered for membership on the Program Committee, one must have experience presenting at HighEdWeb and must be invited by the committee chair. The best way to get involved with this committee is to present and volunteer to assist the track chairs.
New HighEdWeb Committees
There are additional directives that the Board would like to initiate, providing both forward momentum for the Association, as well as offering new opportunities for involvement. Because of these needs, we are expanding the organization to include three new committees.
Registration System Support Committee
The charge of the Registration System Support Committee is to evolve and maintain the current HighEdWeb conference registration system. This custom-created system is already in place, but will need modifications to grow for future use, including helping to organize and manage HighEdWeb Regional Conferences. Members of this committee will be required to sign confidentiality agreements, as well as be well versed in ASP.net and MicroSoft SQL Server.
Regional Support Committee
The Regional Support Committee helps manage official HighEdWeb Regional Conferences. The committee will be a reference and guide toauthorized region conference. The Regional Support Committee works closely with all of the approved Regional Conferences on logistics of scheduling, hosting, marketing, budgeting, identifying presenters, and planning.
HighEdWeb Online Magazine
The future HighEdWeb Online Magazine will be a central place where members will publish articles on topics of professional interest. HighEdWeb Online Magazine will need members in roles such as editor, designer, writer, organizer, etc. It is my personal hope to begin the magazine in 2011.
Next Steps
If you want to be more involved via one of the above opportunities, please e-mail me directly at frommelt{at}uwplatt{dot}edu. Please include the phrase HighEdWeb in the subject line to help gain my attention, and I will review and respond in the first week of November 2010.
Our goal is to allow multiple opportunities for people to participate in HighEdWeb: be a presenter, be a volunteer at a conference, be a writer for the magazine, host a regional conference, help maintain the registration system … help as you are able and be an even bigger part of HighEdWeb. The Board of Directors hopes these new opportunities continue to allow us all to focus together on the Higher Ed Web Professionals Association’s overarching mission:
“To advance Web professionals, technologies, and standards in higher education.”
I look forward to hearing from – and working with – you soon.
Chris Wilson (@cwilso): Open Web Guy. Microsoft IE Developer. Developer Advocate at Google, Inc.
