in Action
Selecting the Best
Lauren Lucas, ISTE’s Conference Services
event project manager, talks about the work
ISTE’s Program Committee does to deliver
an exceptional conference each year
You did your part. You devel- oped and submitted a moun- tain of proposals. That was the
ISTE Program Committee’s cue to
get down to the business of choosing
the best of the best for ISTE 2010 in
Denver, Colorado.
We kicked off the selection process
last fall by sending the thousands of
proposals to approximately 300 reviewers. We recruit session and workshop review captains from the Special
Interest Group (SIG) communities
and the region where the conference
takes place. Each captain assembles a
team of three independent reviewers
to examine approximately 40 proposals grouped by themes and strands,
such as early childhood education
and Web 2.0. Every reviewer fills
out an online form before the group
submits a final recommendation of
accept, accept if room, not objectionable, or do not accept. They base their
evaluations on the relevance of the
topic to the ed tech field, significance
and contribution to the respective
theme and strand, ease of replication,
value to attendees, and the presenters’
knowledge and experience.
Then it was the Program Commit-
tee’s turn. Members flew from around
the United States to ISTE’s Eugene,
Oregon, office to spend the second
week of November evaluating the
reviewer feedback and making the
final selections. ISTE’s national pro-
gram chair, regional program chair,
and program adviser met first over
the weekend to evaluate the team
reviews and spotlight sessions. On
Monday, the senior strategic initia-
tives officer, regional workshop chair,
model lesson chair, program content
manager, and I joined them to discuss
the themes and strands we felt the
conference should include. Our after-
noon session was a roundtable review
of the workshop sessions.
Anita McAnear ............. National Program Chair
Karen Ortiz.................. Regional Program Chair
Camilla Gagliolo ..................... Program Adviser
Lynn Nolan.....Senior Strategic Initiatives Officer
Kara Gann................. Regional Workshop Chair
Jill Brown ......................... Model Lesson Chair
Kim McGonagle ......... Student Showcase Chair
Ross Rogers ........ Bring Your Own Laptop Chair
Chris Johnson.............................. Poster Chair
Neal Strudler ................. Research Paper Chair
Laurie Thornley....... Program Content Manager
Lauren Lucas................ Event Project Manager
ISTE 2010 Program Committee
