Learning and discovering at InfoComm.

Are you a user of audiovisual equipment? Do you want to learn from your peers and experts how to take advantage of these technologies? Are you going to InfoComm?

These were questions I could have asked myself long before I began to work at ICIA, the International Communications Industries Association, founder of the tradeshow InfoComm. I am a life-long educator who has taught in secondary schools, taught in universities, and been a college administrator. My Ph.D. is in education, but my graduate work alone did not give me all I needed to teach graduate educational technology courses or to administer a nationally recognized distance education program.

It was at InfoComm in 1989 that I learned about videoconferencing equipment when my college bought its first codecs. At that same meeting I heard from my peers how to implement the technology and create an effective instructional program. In a subsequent year I reviewed various LCD panels (the old ones that sat on top of overhead projectors) which led to my college buying several and our dean seeing Harvard Graphics (again a few years before PowerPoint). Later yet I picked out an LCD projector that made it all much easier to effectively communicate my message.

Educators coming to InfoComm in 2004 will get the same opportunities to take classes, interact with their peers, and see the state-of-the-art technologies that will be in their institutions in the next few years. Some highlights:

* EduComm at InfoComm is an unparalleled opportunity to learn from your peers and industry experts. We are extremely pleased that District Administration and University Business magazines are bringing you this opportunity at InfoComm.

* Visit InfoComm's 600 exhibitors and look for the signs that tell you that an exhibitor has a special interest in education. Don't miss the sub-$1,000 projectors that are now affordable for K-12 as well as higher education.

* See the Ultimate Classroom, a working model of the classroom you will want to build. And while you are there, register to win the Classroom and other prizes in a free raffle supported by InfoComm exhibitors.

* Go to the Streaming Media pavilion on the show floor to see the newest media technologies and on-the-floor presentations by experts. This is now mainstream technology with numerous applications throughout your institution.

* Close by will be the Collaborative Conferencing Pavilion, where videoconferencing and other technologies will be shown. You can see the newest gear that has changed a great deal from the equipment that excited me back in 1989.

* Attend an InfoComm seminar for the highest level technical courses in the industry. ICIA's training and certification programs are the means to know technology and its applications so you can make good decisions for your college, district or school.

* Join an AVolution Tour to Emory and Georgia Tech Universities to see state-of-the-art educational applications of the technology you will see on the show floor. Or go to the Georgia Dome and the Philips Arena for big venue AV.

* Arrive the day before the Show floor opens to attend the Manufacturers Industry Forum, where six top executives will forecast the future of the industry; then attend the InfoComm Opening Welcome Reception to kick off your networking activities.

It is these kinds of activities that brought me to InfoComm when I needed to understand and apply educational technology. I know that like me, you will benefit from interacting with your peers, attending great seminars, and participating in the best exhibition in the industry. To get to Atlanta and attend the show, you first need to visit www.infocomm.org, where you can learn more and register. See you there!