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#ffffff;color: black;}Pierre, let me echo Marlene's enthusiasm. This looks like
a most promisinggathering for those in Chicago and for those all over who care
about CTCsand the divides and the basic community technology issues you
highlight.As one who attended all but one of the previous 15 gatherings, I
cancertainly testify to their value.This gathering looks right on and the
selection of Carl Davidson for anaward is a most well-deserved honor, for his
work in Chicago and in thebroader movement.I know there is an incredible range
of issues, and, especially for those of usfrom out of town who are considering
coming, since the conference is for but one day, perhaps you and the other
organizers could help set-up a followingday venue for a continuation, something
informal or, if there is enoughinterest, some "unconference" possibilities. I
know I will give attendingserious consideration and it would make a difference
to see who elsemight be considering attending, too.I am taking the liberty of
posting this along to some other lists wherepeople with these interests gather:
the Alliance for Community Media,the Association for Community Networking, and
the Digital Inclusion Network, the
Digital Divide Network relaunch hosted by E-Democracy.orgLooking forward to
seeing this come together. best, ---peter millerSubject: [CTCNet-listserv]
DexCon2010 - The CTCNet Conference Updated For A New Era]
Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2010From: Pierre Clark <<email obscured>>To:
<email obscured>
For more than fifteen years, hundreds of tech activists and tech
visionaries gathered each year for the annual CTCNet Conference. The
conference was the signature event of Community Technology Centers
Network, a federation of more than 1,200 CTCs at its peak, dedicated to
the spread of neighborhood technology and digital access for all.
Most of us shared many great moments of learning, networking and
friendship-building at those events. I was privileged to be one of the
coordinators of the 1999 conference in Chicago.
Now, 11 years after that pre-new millennium CTCNet Conference,our
Chicago-based organization, the Chicago Digital Access Alliance -
founded by and including many members of CTCNet and its Chicago
affiliate, CTCNet Chicago - is presenting the 1st Chicago Neighborhood
Digital Excellence Conference And Technology Fair, Friday, October 29,
2010, from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at DePaul University Egan Center, 1
East Jackson Boulevard, Lower Level.
Our conference is a one-day event which includes six (6) morning
workshops, a keynote luncheon (keynote speaker: Dr. Nicol Turner Lee,
who founded a CTC in Chicago before moving onto the national digital
inclusion stage); and awards ceremony (honoring former CTCNet board
member and pioneer CTC creator Carl Davidson, Julia Stasch, VP for
Community Development at the MacArthur Foundation, and Illinois State
Representative Constance Howard, a staunch advocate for neighborhood
technology); afternoon roundtable sessions discussing Chicago's BTOP
grant awards, digital youth futures, and the digital excellence concept
and plan for Chicago; and a post-conference networking social.
The issues which sparked the creation of CTCNet still resonate
today. There is still a divide in terms of access, knowledge and
training that separates the creative knowledge workers from the
disconnected and underserved. There are still too few computers in
schools, too few teachers versed in how to teach students using
digital tools, too many areas disconnected from high speed broadband
(more than a quarter of Chicagoans according to one report). Even
though Chicago received $21 million in BTOP grants and the state of
Illinois more than $240 million, deep issues still remain about who
gets what, where and when.
At our conference you will hear about those issues but our focus
is to look toward a future of open stewardship and collaborative
interoperability driven by the benchmark standard of digital
excellence. We believe the glass is half-full, and it's up to us to
fill it up all the way.
Whether you live in Chicago or not, if neighborhood technology is
your passion, Chicago will be ground zero over the next decade. I
invite all of you to connect with the next generation of neighborhood
technology and digital inclusion activism at our conference Friday,
October 29, 2010.
You can register now (before September 30, 2010) at the early bird
rate of $77.00 for the full-day. For more information about the
conference or the CDAA, visit our website at http://www.digitalexcellence.net.
To go directly to the registration page, visit
http://dexcon2010.eventbrite.com.
And if you have any questions or want to speak to me directly, call me
at 312-970-0249.
See you on October 29, 2010.
For The Conference,
Pierre A. Clark, Co-Founder, Chicago Digital Access Alliance Inc.
http://www.digitalexcellence.net
312-970-0249