Monday, May 23
9:00 am - 5:00 pm
BLEgroup Pre-Conference Day:
Education Leader Panels
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Ed Tech Industry Summit Opening Reception
Invited Guests: Education Leaders Panel Members and Companies Attending the Pre-Conference Day
Tuesday, May 24
7:00 am - 8:30 am
Continental Breakfast
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Networking and Informational Session:
Making SIIA Work For You
Join SIIA Education Division staff, education board members and your colleagues from education companies for an informational breakfast. Learn from industry leaders how SIIA is working for their companies through the many initiatives offered in the Education Division and SIIA – and find out how you can make the most of the Ed Tech Industry Summit.
The discussion will focus on SIIA’s current work to support your company’s efforts in:
- Business Development & Networking
- Strategic and Actionable Market Intelligence
- Thought Leadership
- Education Policy and Advocacy
8:30 am - 9:30 am
Welcome and Plenary Session
Celebrating our Past - a Dialogue with
Industry Leaders:
“What Have We Learned?”
What were you doing in 1985? Our guests were hard at work, building the education technology industry. How did it come about? Who were the contributors? Hear luminaries in the ed tech industry as they look back over the past 20 years and ask questions such as:
- What were some of our biggest challenges? Our most rewarding accomplishments?
- What were some of our hardest product development decisions? Smartest sales and marketing strategies?
- What would we do differently if we should go back to 1985 and start over?
- What advice would we give to new ed tech companies? To schools embarking on major new technology initiatives?
And...come with your questions
9:30 am - 10:30 am
- Panel: Sales & Marketing
How Education Buyers View Products and Services to Support NCLB
We hear that our customers need products and services to support the different provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act. In this session, articulate CIO’s and Superintendents will respond to questions such as
- What types of products and services were purchased to address NCLB originally?
- What has worked and not worked….and why?
- What problems have continued and what are we doing to make them go away?
- What are we interested in buying now and in the next few years?
| MODERATOR |
 | Eliot Levinson
President, BLEgroup
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| PANELISTS |
 | Sheryl Abshire
District Administrative Coordinator of Technology, Calcasieu Parish Public Schools, LA
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 | Rich Mincer
Bureau Chief, Technology Services, Idaho Department of Education
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| John Porter
Deputy Superintendent, Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland
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| Peter Robertson
CIO, Cleveland, Ohio Public Schools
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- Panel: Product Development
Towards Ubiquitous Computing – Plausible? Sustainable? And When?
With the advent of One-to-One computing in the K12 arena, the supplemental instructional software industry and platform providers have the opportunity to shift the use of computing from purely supplemental or remedial instructional tools, to being the principal means, or platform, for the delivery of core instruction for students. One-to-One computing is being touted as one vehicle through which students will achieve higher performance on assessment instruments, and also, potentially excel in other areas that form the foundation for academic success and lifelong 21st century skills. This panel will discuss the strategy that the current technology leaders have for shifting from supplemental electronic learning to delivering comprehensive, core instruction, through 1:1 environments.
10:30 am - 11:00 am
Coffee/Networking Break
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
- Panel: Sales & Marketing
What the Research Says about Effectiveness of Education Technology
The use of education technology has grown tremendously in the past 20 years. What have we learned in those 20 years? What can we way about the impact of education technology on teaching and learning? What are the effects on student achievement and on the teacher's role and instructional decisions? The session will address the role of education technology in closing the achievement gap, increasing accountability, and recruiting and retaining highly qualified teachers.
- Panel: Product Development
What Open Source Means to Education Developers and Customers
Open Source technologies continue to proliferate within the secondary and post-secondary market. While schools increasingly continue to use their advantages for infrastructure management, a growing selection of academic content resources collaboratively and rapidly created & distributed within the Open framework is being adopted by staff, teachers and students across the globe. The panel members will provide varying perspectives on how Open Source choices are affecting business models, content development, and customer decisions and why these choices will increasingly affect how education technology resources will be developed and utilized.
| MODERATOR |
 | Page Gravely
Director, Global Education, Red Hat, Inc.
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| LEADERS |
 | Jim Klein
Director, Information Services & Technology, Saugus Union School District
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 | Basha Krasnoff
Lead Researcher, Northwest Educational Technology Consortium
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 | Pete Kronowitt
Linux/OSS Strategic Planner, Intel Corporation
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12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Networking Luncheon
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
- Panel: Sales & Marketing
What the Public Says about Education Technology in Schools
In the past 20 years, there was an emphasis on getting computers into classrooms, teachers trained, and technology integrated into the curriculum. But at present, is there support for continuing to invest in education technology - or do parents believe that, since we now have computers in schools, the work is done? Is education technology a victim of its own success? If so, can we get renewed public support for it? Find out what the recent polls are saying and what our advocacy messages should be for the next 20 years to have significant technology benefits.
- Panel: Product Development
Building Technology Support Systems For Schools
The human capital necessary to support an investment in hardware and other infrastructure in a school district is often overlooked. This creates an artificial cost to installing new technology for the district and the company providing the services making it difficult to purchase and install new software solutions and services that add value to the original hardware configurations. A panel of technology experts from school districts, systems integrators, and software developers will discuss this problem, specific cases where it occurred, and how it can be avoided.
| MODERATOR |
 | George Cigale
Chief Executive Officer, Tutor.com, Inc.
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| LEADERS |
 | Alvin Crawford
Vice President, Schoolnet, Inc.
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 | Pam Korporaal
Director, Integrated Technology Services
and Assessment, Norwalk-La Mirada School District
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 | Lillian Kellogg
Vice President, ENA - Education Networks of America
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- TrendsWatch Session:
The Postsecondary Market
New this year, TrendsWatch sessions are designed to provide participants with more dialogue and interactive discussion than traditional presentations. TrendsWatch leaders will start each session by sharing market information (updates/issues) from the perspective of their organization or company. Join this session to interact with colleagues interested in the Postsecondary Market. Bring information you want to share and questions you want to ask.
| LEADERS: Co-Chairs, SIIA Postsecondary Advisory Council |
| Page Gravely
Director, Global Education, Red Hat, Inc.
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| Cynthia Sanner
Executive Director Technology, Thomson Higher Ed
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 | Ellen Wagner
Senior Director of Education Solutions, Macromedia, Inc.
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2:30 pm - 3:00 pm
Coffee/Networking Break
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
- Feedback Forum: Sales & Marketing
The Cost of Compliance with Government and Customer Requirements
New this year, Feedback Forums are designed to give participants the unique opportunity to get information about and to provide feedback on new SIIA education initiatives. In this session, leaders will review a new initiative that is investigating areas in which technology companies are being asked or required to comply with ever expanding and changing regulations and customer expectations. The result is increased product development costs without an expectation in the market that prices will rise accordingly. The discussion will revolve around the five issues being investigated:
- Correlating products to state content standards
- Providing evidence of scientifically-based research in product design & results
- Providing product accessibility for disabled students
- Meeting the requirements of SIF and other industry developed technical standards
- Accommodating products to the needs of student populations for which English is a second language
| LEADERS |
 | Don Rawitsch
VP Product Development, Siboney Learning Group and Chair, SIIA Cost of Compliance Working Group
|  | Mark Schneiderman
Director, Education Policy, SIIA
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- Panel: Product Development
Getting to True Systems Integration
With ubiquitous networking driven by the Internet and eRate funding, district IT directors are now facing challenges more akin to their corporate counterparts but often with only a fraction of the budget. Similarly, expectations on software publishers are increasing dramatically with respect to installation, service and support. This Panel will examine the issue of what responsibilities and challenges publishers have in terms of systems integration issues faced by their district customers. How far does a publisher need to go to see that their products are successfully integrated into a district's infrastructure? Who pays for this work pre and post sale? Whose responsibility is integrating SIS student roster data, for example, with core instructional applications? These and other issues pertaining to systems integration will be addressed in this session.
- TrendsWatch Session:
The Professional Development Market
Join this session to interact with colleagues interested in the Professional Development Market. New this year, TrendsWatch sessions are designed to provide participants with more dialogue and interactive discussion than traditional presentations. The TrendsWatch leaders will start each session by sharing market information (updates/issues) from the perspective of their organization or company. Bring information you want to share and questions you want to ask about the Professional Development Market.
4:00 pm - 4:30 pm
Coffee/Networking Break
4:30 pm - 5:30 pm
- TechWatch Session:
Section 508 Compliance- Search for Development Solutions
Accessibility is key for all learners and those with disabilities have particular accessibility needs. Section 508 defines specifications regarding technologies used to access information for those with special needs. Developing solutions that are Section 508 compliant is often an after thought and yet this functionality should be included as part of the initial product design and development process. Join members of the SIIA Development and Technology working group in a discussion of the latest innovations to address Section 508 and brainstorm initiatives that could assist your organization in addressing these specifications and begin realizing the business benefits associated with Section 508 compliance.
| LEADERS: |
| Bobbie Baird
Director of Strategic Alliances, Educational & Productivity Solutions, Texas Instruments
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 | Michael Jay
President, Educational Systemics
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 | Sarah Zaner
Researcher/Developer, Center for Technology and Learning, SRI International
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- SIIA Education Committee Meetings
- Ed Tech Policy Committee Meeting
SIIA members are encouraged to participate in SIIA's Education & Workforce Development Policy Committee meeting. This forum will enable SIIA members to both gain updates on key ed tech funding and regulatory issues critical to the market, as well as help shape SIIA's advocacy agenda. Issues to be discussed include federal EETT funding, E-Rate, State Textbook Adoption Reform, Scientifically Based Research and the What Works Clearinghouse, and other national and state initiatives such as the Texas eLearning Initiative. (SIIA Members Only)
| LEADER |
| Mark Schneiderman
Director Education Policy, Software & Information Industry Association
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- Education Division Marketing Committee Meeting
The Education Divison's Marketing Committee invites SIIA members to participate in their monthly meeting to share ideas for marketing the SIIA Education Initiatives. The session will center on the work that the Marketing Committee does and how you can participate as they develop and review SIIA’s Ed Division member recruitment materials, marketing plans for publication sales, and support the marketing of SIIA's three Education Division events: The Ed Tech DC Fly-In, Ed Tech Industry Summit and Ed Tech Business Forum. The committee is currently working on an advocacy project to promote the awareness of technology in schools and its inherent benefits. (SIIA Members Only)
| LEADERS |
 | Pam Nelson (Committee Co-Chair)
Principal, Nelson Consulting
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 | Pat Walkington (Committee Co-Chair)
Education Consultant, The Greaves Group
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6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Reunion Reception
Celebrating Two Decades of Success and Recognizing our Ed Tech Leaders
Join us for an evening of nostaglia and refreshments with your colleagues in the industry.
 
sponsored by Pearson Learning & Riverdeep
Help celebrate the last 20 years of education technology with the outstanding leaders who have made our companies, products, and customers so successful. Meet the innovators in the ed tech industry. Reminisce with the early contributors to the field and the memorabilia they bring.
Who will be there? Special invited guests....stay tuned!
Wednesday, May 25
8:00 am - 8:30 am
Continental Breakfast
8:30 am - 9:30 am
Plenary Session:
Envisioning our Future
"Serving Two Masters: Learners and Decision-makers"
What products will our education customers want to buy in the next 5 years - 10 years - 20 years? Our guests for this session have an understanding of what the students will want and what educators will need. Hear these leaders in the ed tech industry present the perspective of the learners versus the decision-makers - then predict some of our biggest challenges and the potential rewards.
| WELCOME & INTRODUCTIONS | HOST |
 | Mona Westhaver
President and Co-Founder, Inspiration Software, Inc., and Co-Chair, SIIA Education Board of Directors
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 | Frank Catalano
Senior Vice President, Marketing, Pearson Assessments & Testing
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| SPECIAL GUESTS |
 | Julie Evans
Chief Executive Officer, NetDay
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 | Lou Pugliese
Vice President, Marketing, Educational Testing Service
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9:30 am - 10:30 am
- Panel: Sales & Marketing
Trends in the K-12 Market
In this session, the future of the industry will be discussed by a leading market analyst, a technology expert and a watcher of trends.The panel will use the latest market data to talk about upcoming trends and opportunities in the ed tech industry. A new resource available to SIIA members, TrendsWatch Database, will be announced.
| MODERATOR |
 | Sue Collins
Principal, CollinsConsults
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| PANELISTS |
 | Jeanne Hayes
Industry Consultant, Hayes Connection and Founder, Quality Education Data, Inc.
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 | Midian Kurland
Vice President Technology and Development, Scholastic Education
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 | Becky Snyder
Vice President and Publisher, ABC-CLIO Schools Division, ABC- CLIO
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- Panel: Business & Finance
What Education Investors Are Looking For
This session will start with a 10-minute primer on how your current size and stage relates to the type of investment you should be seeking. Hear from the Angel, Early Stage and Large investor's perspective and how they see the education market. Find out who's investing and what investment your company could expect, given your size and strategy.
| MODERATOR |
 | Kevin Custer
Founding Partner, Arc Capital Development
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| PANELISTS |
 | Ken Deemer
Founding Partner and Chairman, Los Angeles Social Venture Partners
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| Lyla Oyakawa
Director, Terrapin Partners, LLC
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10:30 am - 11:00 am
Coffee/Networking Break
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
- Panel: Sales & Marketing
Textbook Adoption of Electronic Instructional Material: State Reforms and Publisher Opportunities
SIIA is working with states to ensure their textbook adoption systems evolve to meet the classroom environment and instructional materials of today’s digital age. Join representatives from key states and an education technology provider to see how they are working together to decrease the barriers to adoption of digital, electronic and online materials and towards a system that meets the opportunities presented by electronic and online learning resources.
- Panel: Business & Finance
Raising Capital by Raising Revenue
What strategies should you take to build revenue and make you company more attractive to investors? How should you spend valuable company resouces to warrant a higher investment or better financing? Should you focus on building more/better products or getting more/larger customers with the product you have? How do build revenue in a way that makes your company the best investment possibility?
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
 Luncheon and Keynote Address:
Marjorie Scardino, Chief Executive, Pearson PLC
Pearson and its leadership tell an important story about the changes facing all companies operating in these competitive environments. Hear Scardino's views on the current business climate and major issues for today's companies:
- latest trends and influences for content and education businesses in the next year
- strategies for maximizing the value of successful companies
- promising practices for successfully creating, publishing and distributing digital content
- the current environment for mergers and acquisitions
- maintaining leadership roles during these challenging times
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
- Seminar:
Case Studies: Successful Exit Strategies
On a plane or in a theatre, it’s wise to know where your exits are when you enter. The same is true in business. In this session we’ll hear three different perspectives on the relevance and necessity of exit planning as you build a business. What role does it play from the investor view – how does it color the process of determining where and how much to invest? What are the challenges for companies in acquisition mode when identifying and evaluating targets? When does exit-thinking play a role for the entrepreneur who is growing a successful business? Remember, it’s not how you start, its how you finish!
- Seminar:
Leverage Interoperability with SIF - Vendor and End-User Successes
How does SIF (School Interoperability Framework) benefit the education customer and the vendor? How is SIF currnently working with the US Department of Education, the states, and LEA's? This session will include a discussion of the specs around assessment, academic content standards, digital resources and other areas that will quickly impact vendors. How can you be proactive with SIF and be sure the investment pays off? Will the costs of agent development and certification testing provide a good ROI? This session will also be interactive so that companies with content-focused products can understand the impact on costs and can justify it with a valid cost-benefit analysis.
| LEADER |
| Larry Fruth
Executive Director, SIF (School Interoperability Framework)
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- Feedback Forum:
Benchmarking for Promising Practices in K-12 Software Implementation
This Feedback Forum is designed to provide participants with information resulting from a new SIIA Benchmarking Survey for Successful Software Implementation. This survey was recently developed and sent to K-12 software vendors to better understand the components that are needed for successful implemention - from the vendor's perspective. Another survey will be send to education leaders, giving participants in this session a chance to provide input as to what that survey should contain . Come to the session let us know what you want to know from your customers.
| FACILITATOR |
 | Linda Winter
Founder and President, The Winter Group
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| LEADERS |
| Helene Duvin
Director Business Operations, Educational Testing Service
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 | John Ross
Senior Research & Development Specialist, AEL
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- TrendsWatch Session:
Supplemental Education Service Market
Join this session to interact with colleagues knowledgeble or interested in the SES Market. New this year, the TrendsWatch sessions are designed to provide participants with more dialogue and discussion than traditional presentations. TrendsWatch leaders will start each session by sharing market information (updates/issues) from the perspective of their organization or company. Bring information you want to share and questions you want to ask about the SES Market.
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
- One-to One Business Connections Meetings
SIIA brings together companies seeking capital or strategic partnerships with investors, publishers, and other sources of capital or revenue.
- Seminar:
What You Must Know if you are EVER going to sell your company
Are you are thinking about selling your company, think it may be an option in the distant future, or you just want to understand the value of your enterprise? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you need to come to this session and learn the buyer’s viewpoint. This panel will discuss the key criteria that can lead to success, as well as how overlooking certain aspects can lead to a horror story when it comes to valuation. Presenters will provide real stories from the trenches as they cover different types of buyers, different sales methodologies, and what you have to do to prepare. Gain the advantage by bringing your questions to those who have been involved in numerous deals, enabling you to better understand the process and your options.
- TrendsWatch Session:
Library and Media Specialists Market
New this year, TrendsWatch sessions are designed to provide participants with more dialogue and interactive discussion than traditional presentations. TrendsWatch leaders will start each session by sharing market information (updates/issues) from the perspective of their organization or company. Join this session to interact with colleagues interested in the Library and Media Specialist Market. Bring information you want to share and questions you want to ask.
| LEADER |
 | Becky Snyder
Vice President and Publisher, ABC-CLIO Schools Division, ABC- CLIO
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- TrendsWatch Session:
IDEA and Special Ed Market
This TrendsWatch session will provide participants with dialogue and an interactive discussion between education vendors and those educators and organizations that are closely involved in the day-to-day implementation. TrendsWatch leaders will start each session by sharing market information (updates/issues) from the perspective of their organization or company. Join this session to interact with colleagues interested in the IDEA and Special Needs Market. Bring information you want to share and questions you want to ask about the funding, sales and implementation issues in this market. Find out how your products can meet the needs of a growing number of students who are not making Adequate Yearly Progress.
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
- One-to One Business Connections Meetings
SIIA brings together companies seeking capital or strategic partnerships with investors, publishers, and other sources of capital or revenue.
- Feedback Forum: Sales & Marketing:
Best Sales and Marketing Practices in Education Software
SIIA's Education Business Metrics Working Group recently developed and sent out a benchmarking survey to better understand the sales and marketing practices of education industry providers. Find out in this Feedback Forum what they learned from the survey and let us know what additional benchmarking information you would like next that's specific to ed tech providers. The Working Group would also like input for their upcoming Financial Survey.
- Seminar:
Aligning your products and services to NCLB requirements
Schools can use federal or state funding to purchase products and services only if they meet specific government regulations. These funding sources are a significant supplement to each school district's budget. Companies selling programs and services to the K-12 market must be in a position to respond directly to government guidelines. That capability is a critical component of funding-centered sales.
This talk will address practical issues such as:
- Establishing professional, successful capabilities within your company that can identify and pursue funding from No Child Left Behind (NCLB), diverse federal agencies, private foundations and corporations;
- Aligning your product and services with the requirements of NCLB regulations and develop marketing and sales materials that publicize that alignment;
- Providing assistance in navigating, sourcing, and writing state, federal, and foundation grants to generate new opportunities and provide clients with the information and support they need to buy your products and services; and
- Training sales staff to work effectively with schools and districts as they develop proposals for grant funding.
- TrendsWatch Session:
International Markets
Join this TrendsWatch session to interact with colleagues interested in the International Market. New this year, The TrendsWatch sessions provide participants with dialogue and an interactive discussion than traditional panel presentations. TrendsWatch leaders will start each session by sharing market information (updates/issues) from the perspective of their organization or company. Bring information you want to share and questions you want to ask about the market - from product development to strategic allliances to marketing and sales through implementation.
| LEADER |
 | Dick Casabonne
Principal and Senior Consultant for MarketingWorks, Inc.
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5:00 pm - 5:45 pm
Focus Group: Drafting NetDay's Speak Up Day Online Survey
Join NetDay’s CEO, Julie Evans, for a 45 minute focus group discussion to share your ideas for questions for this year’s Speak Up Day surveys. This session is for ed tech marketing and product development professionals to help draft questions for NetDay’s 3rd annual online surveys for students and teachers. With your help, we can ask 400,000 K-12 students from across the country about their uses of all kinds of technology and their aspirations for new technologies to improve their education. NetDay’s research is informing federal policies, state programs and local budgeting for ed tech, and driving a new national awareness on including students in ed tech decisions.
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Codie Awards Reception
7:00 pm - 12:00 am
20th Annual Codie Awards Gala
| PRESENTERS FOR EDUCATION CATEGORIES |
 | Kathy Hurley
Senior Vice President, Pearson Education
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 | Edmundo Gonzalez
Vice President, Software Technology Inc.
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REUNION RECEPTION SPONSORS
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