EduComm

Registration is now open for UBTech. “The conference formerly known as EduComm” returns to the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, June 11-13. With the theme Technology Changes Everything, UBTech 2012 will feature a wide assortment of sessions focusing on how technology impacts Campus Networks and Infrastructure, Facilities Planning and Design, Teaching and Learning Technologies, Marketing Your Institution, and Financial Services. This year the conference also includes, for the first time, four pre-conference summits.

Last month, Professional Media Group, owners and producers of the EduComm conference, announced a new name for the conference’s 2012 incarnation: UBTech.

When it began in 2003, EduComm’s focus was on the convergence of AV and IT in higher education. But as the years went by, EduComm sessions increasingly reflected the disciplines and topics covered in University Business magazine and its companion web seminar series.

EduComm 2011 was a big success. Big in many ways. In addition to a record-setting attendance (more than 900 registered), EduComm 2011 had the biggest exhibit floor it has ever had, with more than 40 exhibitors.

Big, but not too big.

That's what we keep hearing from attendees. They tell us they like that EduComm is growing, but they also caution us not to grow too big. They fear we'll lose the intimacy and camaraderie that is evident in a conference our size. That's important to us.

Old friends and new faces. That's what EduComm attendees can expect to see not only on the exhibit floor and in the session rooms, but also with our keynote speakers. EduComm returns to Orlando, June 13 to 15, at the Hilton Walt Disney World Resort, with more thought-provoking, inspirational content than ever.

One "old friend" is EduComm favorite David Pogue, who will return with an all-new presentation called "The Pogue 2011 Higher Education Tech Update."

Mark your calendar for EduComm 2010, which returns to Las Vegas, June 7-9. This year's conference promises to be more informative, more cutting edge, and more value-packed than ever.

We asked members of The EduComm Institute to help us plan the 2010 conference program and they delivered. As a result, this year more than ever, the program features the topics and speakers that you told us you want to see.

IT WAS A GREAT EXPERIENCE MEETING with many University Business readers last month at EduComm 2009 in Orlando. Attendance was strong—considering the economy—the venue was great, and we appreciated hearing your ideas and your concerns. We don’t want that interaction to end.

EDUCOMM 2009 BROUGHT SOME OF THE brightest stars in higher education to the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes resort, for three days of education sessions, new product introductions, and fun. The conference featured a number of firsts. For example, it was the first time in six years that EduComm took place independent of InfoComm. Also for the first time, the conference featured five keynote sessions that mixed thought-provoking topics with light-hearted “edutainment” sessions.

We all know budgets are tight right now, but let me make a pitch for time and money well spent. To paraphrase the movie advertisements, if you go to one conference this year, make it the EduComm conference, June 16-18 at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes. Why?