“The responsibility of an Equipment Conference Chair
is the full coordination of equipment sponsorships, software
licensing arrangements, conference consulting contracts,
ISP planning and network design, along with working arrangements
with the A/V contractor,” Dave says.
This is a big job!
Dave
smiles. “Yes. And there’s
more. In addition to working with the Program Chair in
coordination of equipment
and capabilities to support the conference sessions and
workshops, and assisting in the facilities planning, we
also plan the entire setup and teardown during conference
week and all required tech support volunteers. Good fiscal
stewardship plays a big role in how we pull it together.”
We
ask for a little history of Dave’s involvement
in NCCE conference work.
He
pauses for a moment to reflect. “Well,” he
begins. “I became involved in the conference working
as a volunteer with tech support in 1994. I was a committee
member managing tech support and network in the 1998 conference;
I was Equipment Chair in 2001, and now again in 2004. I
was mentored into this role by Eric Jensen, who had this
wonderful habit of forcing me to grow, whether I wanted
to or not! He brought me in as a volunteer, and my learning
path did the rest, taking me to my second round as Chair.”
Jean Bengfort, Conference 2004 Program Chair, has told
us that the conference committees actually begin two to
three years before the conference. We ask Dave how his
team deals with planning across that time span.
“The
first two years are not heavy ones for the equipment
committee.
We meet and get our initial planning
ideas out and then work with program to let us get an idea
of what we need to support. The last year is the hot one
for us in equipment as we kick in our technical deployment
and support planning. As Chair, I take the bulk of the
time commitment to keep the team efficient and keep our
meetings reasonable. With email communications and good
planning, committee members in equipment only need to be
out of their districts around three times prior to the
conference in that final year, and those in the classroom
appreciate that the most.”
So things have really kicked into gear this third year
for the Spokane committees.
“Yes, “he
says. “The last year before
a conference (three year cycle) takes on the realm of a
second job. My district is very gracious to donate some
of my time away from the district for planning meetings
and such, but most is done after the ‘regular’ business
day - if there is such a thing in education.”
We
ask Dave to talk about the most unusual thing he’s
ever experienced in his time as a conference volunteer.
“Ha!” he laughs. “The craziest thing
I can remember is doing a marathon setup in 2001. The equipment
shipment didn’t come in until late Monday afternoon
and we had to configure all of it and get everything operational
before the first Wednesday workshop. It was a 40-hour straight
run. My guys still give me a hard time about being the ‘last
man standing.’ It was one of those things you just
get through with a grin!”
Many teachers who are members of NCCE have joined because
they love technology and working with computers and kids.
So does the average technology-savvy teacher have what
it takes to step into a role on the equipment committee?
Dave
explains that equipment support is one job that requires
volunteers
who already have a considerable amount of expertise
prior to volunteering. “If you haven’t supported
technology before in a direct-support role, a conference
is not the place to learn!” he asserts emphatically. “Equipment
committee members are usually those who live technology
in their classroom, department, building, or district.
You have to have a thirst for bringing it together, a knowledge
base for how it comes together and the patience to keep
a cool head when something doesn’t quite work right
- or altogether fails - and nervous presenters are depending
on you to make it right. Watching it come together is one
of the most satisfying feelings I've ever felt in
my 20 years of tech support and planning.”
As
far as his team is concerned, each equipment committee
member has
a role. Some provide Mac support, some provide
Windows support, and one handles student and adult volunteers,
while another handles network design and/or servers. The
chair handles the vendor sponsorships, the AV support interface,
and the contract approval planning before submitting to
the Executive Conference Planner for signature. “It’s
a great team effort that comes together well!” he
adds proudly.
“A committee’s size depends on the number
of roles you can combine and the efficiency of the conference
center’s physical layout,” he explains. “We
have eight on this year’s equipment committee; it’s
a good match of talents and compliments the layout of the
Spokane Center and the conference hotel meeting areas.
How many other volunteers we need depends on the size and
layout of the conference. Being a volunteer is a great
way to see if you want to dive in deeper into the organization,
because it does take some commitment from start to finish.”
We
ask if the committee can use volunteers at this year’s
conference to help with some of the tasks.
“If anyone would like to give and hour or two during
the conference to tag along and see what we do, we would
love it. Just check in with a committee member and ‘ride
shotgun’ to assist us in what we try our best to
do… supporting your conference!” There is a
spot on the registration form to indicate that you are
willing to volunteer at conference.
Dave
packs up to race off to one of his many duties. “We
are proud of the commitment and confidence the NCCE board
has places in this year’s conference committee,” he
avows, “and we look forward to making this conference
the best professional growth and learning opportunity we
can possibly make it.”
NCCE News would like to thank Dave and his committee,
and all the hard-working conference volunteers for all
their time and dedication to NCCE.
Keep up the good work!
.
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ncce@ncce.org
