News Alert Homepage ›
She Snoops for Scoops: The Personal Side of the EdNET Community
She Snoops for Scoops: The Personal Side of the EdNET Community
Vicki Smith Bigham —Thursday, July 03, 2008
Wow, what a terrific week in San Antonio for NECC. The conference was great, the meetings very productive, and there was a lot of fun to be had along the RiverWalk as well. It was wonderful to see so many friends, and I met so many great new people as well. Read on….
One of the highlights of the week for me was our DOLS (Dirty Old Ladies of Software) dinner on Sunday evening. I met so many new DOLS, which was great fun—among them Karleen Schmidt (kschmidt@atomiclearning.com), Marketing & Events Coordinator for Atomic Learning; Katie Condon (Katie.condon@learningstation.com), Central Regional Manager, and Kathy Elerick (Kathy.elerick@learningstation.com), Western Regional Manager for LearningStation; Catherine Wood (Catherine.wood@luminarium.com) of Luminarium; and Deb Postlewait (deb@jackfarrell.com), Vice President of Jack Farrell & Associates Executive Search. This is one powerful network of women, and we are always eager to welcome new members!
Susan McLester, recently with Technology & Learning, made a change a couple of months ago, and I had a chance to catch up with her about her new job, which she loves. She is now Editor-in-Chief for HotChalk. If you didn’t see her in San Antonio, you can drop her a note on congratulations on her new role at susan.mclester@hotchalk.com.
Also moving to a new opportunity after being with Technology & Learning, Jo-Ann McDevitt was in San Antonio and is joining the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP) next week as Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Business Development. She will focus on strategic partnerships and marketing programs designed to build upon AEP's position as the leading professional association for the educational publishing industry. Jo-Ann's career in educational publishing spans 25 years in K-12 supplemental book and trade magazine businesses, including nearly a decade of service on AEP's Board of Directors and a term as president of the association. She was previously publisher of Technology & Learning magazine and its award-winning website and events: techLEARNING.com and Tech Forum, respectively. Prior to this she was a classroom teacher, an administrator and a lecturer in the Rosemont College Education Department. She was also the director of the Creative Computer Learning Center, where she published and marketed computer programs for teachers and students. Jo-Ann’s addition at AEP marks a crucial step in a restructuring process that began in January of 2008 with the creation of the position Vice President of Operations. Filled by AEP's former Programs Manager Doug Ferguson, this position oversees the day-to-day activities of the association, including human resource management and facilities management. Operating directly under Jo-Ann will be Dave Gladney in the new position of Marketing Manager and Stacey Pusey in the new role of Content Manager. Mike Corwin will continue in the expanded role of Director of Membership and Marketing Services. Please join me in congratulating Jo-Ann on joining the AEP team at jmcdevitt@aepweb.org.
Bernice Stafford, Principal Consultant for the Center for Interactive Learning & Collaboration (CILC), was on hand at the DOLS dinner and helping welcome and check in members. On July 7th, she will be entering Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas for a total knee replacement. On the fourth day she’ll be released to one of two Skilled Nursing Facilities to help speed her recovery prior to returning home around July 18th or 19th. Her surgeon is affiliated with The Cleveland Clinic and enrolled her in one of their research programs that calls for a “prehab” regimen prior to the surgery—it is likely her post-surgical rehabilitation will not be as long because of the preconditioning. Join me in wishing our friend Bernice an easy surgery and a quick recovery at Bernice.Stafford@roadrunner.com. If you would like to snail mail a card to her, drop me a note at bighamv@aol.com for her address!
And did you see Kati Elliot, President, KEH Communications, with her cute, shorter haircut? It really is cute, and she said she had 9 inches cut off! What was even better is that she did it for a good cause, giving her lost locks to Locks of Love, a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. It is a wonderful program, and I applaud Kati on such a thoughtful gift. You can drop a note to Kati at kati@kehcomm.com.
I enjoyed visiting with Bob Woodbury, Business Development with VPG Integrated Media, during NECC. But Chip Price, President and CEO, missed San Antonio. For the first time in ten years, he has taken two weeks away from his desk and is on vacation with his wife as they celebrate their 30th anniversary this year with visits to Lake Como, Paris, Dublin, and London—Bob thinks that sounds busier than coming into the office! Say hello to Bob at woodbury@gmail.com, and send best wishes to Chip at cprice@vpg.com.
It was great to hear John Harrington, CEO of Funds for Learning, as he shared with me updates about all of the company’s great work with districts, and he mentioned what sounds like a great book, Predictably Irrational. He has promised to send a book review for an upcoming issue of the ezine, so look for it! You can drop John a note at jharrington@fundsforlearning.com.
I really enjoyed learning more about all that Key Curriculum Press is doing – such impressive products—but I have to admit I could also just listen to Karen Coe, President, talk all day long. She has the most divine Scottish accent and is so articulate. When I told her that, she said her mother is dismayed that she sounds so “American”. She laughed and said she sent her mother the audio of her SIIA presentation and wondered how she could possibly make such an assessment! You can drop an e-mail to Karen at kcoe@keypress.com, but it is even better if you can hear her via phone or face-to-face!
And I loved helping to celebrate the birthday Tuesday night of our friend Charlene Blohm, President, C. Blohm & Associates. She is amazing and was given an amazing margarita of some kind (I mean beautiful and huge!) to help contribute to the festive spirit of the event! We toasted her and told stories (many of which will stay with the group!) and heard some of her plans for her jubilee year. I may be bribed to tell some of those as time goes by;-) You can send birthday wishes to Charlene and see if you can get any of those plans out of her at charlene@cblohm.com.
I saw so, so many more people and shared hugs and stories of family and work and saw pictures of beautiful children – and I loved learning about new products and services in the market to support our schools. There are far too many instances to share, but you know I love it all! And sweet Robert Martellacci (robert@mindsharelearning.com), President of MindShare Learning, thanks for the wonderful Canadian ice wine – George and I will look forward to opening and enjoying it this weekend! NECC was a great conference, and the energy from the educators there was encouraging and inspiring!
Have a terrific weekend, everyone, and for those of us in the United States celebrating Independence Day this weekend, let’s be reminded as we gather with families and friends to give thanks for the freedom and independence our wonderfully diverse people enjoy and cherish in this country. Find your own way in thoughts or prayers or other tangible ways to also think of and thank the men and women serving in other parts of the world—and their families who are without them this weekend—on behalf of all of us.–Vicki, the Snoop
To comment on this story, login or create an account below.