2008

Area Youth Explore Virtual Worlds

The conference as viewed by Bill Sams’ avatar in Second Life.

When 320 students from Appalachian Ohio high schools and colleges visited Shawnee State University last week, they went further than Portsmouth Ohio. The conference connected them with virtual worlds that could take them far beyond Southeast Ohio. They were attending the Shawnee 6.0 Conference at Shawnee State University. Entitled Expeditions Beyond Imagination, the conference focused on Interactive Digital Technology (IDT) and the possible jobs for young people in that field. Over 20 presenters demonstrated topics ranging from Computer Game Design, to Motion Capture Techniques, to Business Support for young entrepreneurers.

Virtual worlds were concepts that many of these young people were familiar with from the computer games that they spend hours playing. “I’ve been doing it (playing on-line computer games) for so long now,” said one 17 year-old from Marietta. “You can play with so many people online - it merges generations too. There are people I play with online who are 47 years old; there are people that are grandparents that I play with. It helped to bridge the gap between my parents and myself.”

The conference, presented by ITAAO, the Information Technology Alliance of Appalachian Ohio, and Shawnee State University and sponsored by the US Department of Labor’s WIRED initiative, hopes to bridge the gap between young people in the Southern Ohio region and IDT jobs.

Student audience at Shawnee 6.0 keynote Speech by
Jason Conaway.

Conaway exemplifies much of what conference leaders hope for. He worked with Electronic Arts for seven years in the L.A. area but decided he wanted to return to his hometown of Columbus. The company agreed to let him telecommute from there. He now oversees teams of 100 to 200 people in California from his home in Columbus.

“Technology,” says Bill Sams, Program Director for the WIRED Initiative, “is allowing us to live and work wherever we want to. We just need to grow the capacity of this region for IDT jobs.”

Towards that end three colleges - Ohio University, Kent State University - Tuscarawas, and Shawnee State University have started degree granting programs in electronic game development. Currently, about 600 students are enrolled. “The next task,” says Sams,” is to grow the number of jobs in this region for these highly skilled individuals.” With that goal in mind, the conference gave the three local economic development agencies in the region pieces of virtual real estate -- islands in the virtual world of Second Life. Each of these 16-acre virtual islands provides regional talent the ability to demonstrate their talents to a world audience of potential employers.

Gartner Group, a research organization, says that by 2011 80% of the people on the Internet will have a virtual world presence. One virtual world- Second Life, is already being used to test marketing strategies, host conferences and seminars, host training sessions for employees in virtual training rooms, and find potential employees. The WIRED initiative is working to insure that many of those jobs will be located in Appalachian Ohio.

ITAAO Membership and Sponsorship Campaign Begins

The ITAAO Board of Governors in July launched an expanded membership and sponsorship campaign for the Information Technology Alliance of Appalachian Ohio, Inc. ITAAO. The organization has been fortunate over the past several years to have substantial levels of funding from Ohio’s Edison Center programs through Ohio's IT Alliance. With funding decreases from reduced State budgets, it is now necessary to expand support from local sources. ITAAO received a substantial revenue stream with the awarding of the Department of Labor WIRED - Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development grant about one year ago, and some administrative funds are available through the management of the Third Frontier Internship Program but the administrative operation still has a small funding gap. The growth of the ITAAO membership will not only strengthen the organization but help ITAAO better control its destiny.

ITAAO is on the leading edge of information technology business and workforce development in the region. We are bringing visibility to this high tech, high growth industry in Appalachian Ohio, said Gary Little, president of ITAAO.
ITAAO Board Chairman, Ed McKell, Vice President of Development for Horizon TelCom, Inc. headquartered in Chillicothe, recently said, "ITAAO has come a long way since its founding in 2001, and we expect even more to be accomplished with expanded membership and sponsorship support. ITAAO is a significant partner for the growth of the IT sector in our region."
Early in the last fiscal year we crowned the latest gang of IT guru's from the region at the Annual TIGAR - Technology Industry Gurus of the Appalachian Region - Awards Gala. eLIMBS of Belpre, Electronic Data Payment Systems of Dover, Birdwatchers Digest of Marietta, and IT educators Kamal Bichara of Kent State University Tuscarawas and Mia Consalvo of Ohio University joined the ranks of the region's TIGARs. Throughout the year ITAAO has been working diligently to implement the WIRED "Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development Initiative grant through the US Department of Labor. ITAAO has been a vital partner in this effort that now involves Shawnee State University, Ohio University and three interactive digital technology research laboratories at OU, Hocking College, Washington State Community College, and Kent State University Tuscarawas as well as the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and committee representation from economic development offices, workforce development professionals, high school and college level educators, business people, and elected officials throughout the region. Because of ITAAO's marketing, outreach, grantsmanship, and coordinating efforts Appalachian Ohio is well on its way to being recognized as a "Region of Excellence in Interactive Digital Technology".

Additionally ITAAO provided a much needed new talent service with the management of the Third Frontier Internship Program focusing upon IT interns. In this year ITAAO is also scheduled to participate in job fairs around the region, and other programs encouraging young people to enter IT careers, such as the Women in IT program at Hocking College.
The region and IT community also gained added representation at the State level this year when ITAAO president, Gary Little, was appointed to the Ohio Broadband Council, and also serves on Appalachian Broadband Taskforce.
Join us …be a part of this growing entourage of IT professionals building a community that will strengthen the region's IT workforce, entrepreneurs, and educators. IT could become the region's most significant growth sector in Appalachian Ohio over the next few years, and you could be a part of one of the region's most influential and beneficial professional organizations………if you will only join…so don't wait...do it today.

Membership information can be found at www.itaao.net or call the office at 740.597.1408, or email Gary or Ginger at garyl@itaao.net or gingerg@itaao.net

Sponsorship/Partnership Opportunities are Also Available

ITAAO is for the first time offering annual sponsorships/partnerships. These partnerships at the silver, gold, and platinum levels provide more visibility through various ITAAO venues. Annual Partnerships provide valuable annual resources to sustain the ITAAO operation and help the organization to expand. Often these local resources can act as match funds for state, federal and even foundation sources that can bring new programming for the benefit of the information technology sector in Appalachian Ohio.

“Our sister organizations in Columbus – Tech Columbus, in Cincinnati – The Circuit, and in Dayton – The Greater Dayton IT Alliance are thriving through generous local partnership resources, and we could do the same for the IT community in our region”, said Gary Little, ITAAO president.
An organization like ITAAO can do a great deal to help the economy of the region by doing a great deal to help the membership…..the IT sector in our region.

Companies, organizations, and institutions interested in Partnerships can contact Gary Little at 740.597.1211, or email at garyl@itaao.net

ITAAO Annual Meeting & TIGAR Awards Gala

ITAAO Annual Meeting and TIGAR Awards Gala will be held later this year. The event usually begins at 4 pm with heavy hors d'oveures and refreshments. Last year’s award winners included: eLIMBS, LLC of Belpre, BirdWatchers Digest of Marietta, Dr. Kamal Bichara with Kent State University Tuscarawas, Dr. Mia Consalvo with Ohio University, Kim Depue with Marietta City Schools, and Electronic Data Payment Systems of Dover.

Last year’s IT Educators of
the Year at the college
level, Dr. Mia Consalvo,
and Dr. Kamal Bichara
receive their TIGAR
Awards from Gary
Little, president of ITAAO.

Last year’s IT Educator
of the Year at elementary
school level, Kim Depue
receives her award from
ITAAO president.

2007 IT Company of the
Year Award is presented
to Phil Coyner, president
of eLIMBS, LLC by
Gary Little.

2007 Bill Treciak, president
of Electronic Data Payment
Systems of Dover receives
his TIGAR Award for best
IT application by a non-IT
company.

Shawnee Conference 6.0 on Interactive Digital Technology Set for October 31, 2008
Electronic Arts Project Engineer, Jason Conaway , to be Keynote Speaker

Shawnee Conference 6.0 on Interactive Digital Technology

announces the selection of Jason Conaway, an Electronic Arts, Inc. (EA) technical engineer with recent video game credits like Medal of Honor: Airborne (2007) as systems engineer; Medal of Honor: Vanguard (2007) as technical director; Medal of Honor: European assault (2005) as engineering lead; Golden Eye: Rogue Agent (2004) with additional engineering as the keynote speaker for the October 31, 2008 event.

“We are pleased to have Jason join us at this year’s conference, said Gary Little, president of the Information Technology Alliance of Appalachian Ohio (ITAAO), one of the founding organizations of the Shawnee Conference. Jason continues an impressive succession of top-notch video game and serious game industry leaders to speak at the Shawnee Conference”, said Little. Jerry Heneghan with Virtual Heroes was the keynote speaker at Shawnee 5.0, and Eric Johnston with LucasArts was at Shawnee 3.0, and Peter Tamte with Destineer Studios was at Shawnee 4.0.
“Since contacting Jason, he has taken a leading role in the development of this year’s conference, said Tom Stead, past Department Chair of the Shawnee State University Fine and Digital Arts department. “Jason was instrumental in the selection of this year’s conference theme: “Expeditions Beyond Imagination” said Stead.
“The theme speaks to much that I see in the video game industry, said Conaway. “Expedition implies an exploratory journey undertaken by a team with a common goal. Teamwork, exploration and goal-oriented progress are all fundamental aspects in modern game development”, continued Conaway. “And Beyond evokes the need to do more and go farther…….beyond classrooms, beyond books, beyond our own thoughts”. And Imagination immediately creates a sense of wonder and sets the stage for inspiration”.

In addition to the keynote address from video game development industry leaders, the Conference brings together students, teachers, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and financiers to explore the expanding high tech industry of video game development, simulation training, serious game development for education and training, and the exploding new medium of virtual worlds, such as Second Life, Disney Toontown, Mokitown, and BarbieGirls. In past years 350 to 500 participants each year take advantage of the day-long schedule of workshops, presentations, exhibits by students, and school and company displays that fill the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts and adjacent buildings on the Shawnee State University campus.

The Shawnee Conference will have greater emphasis this year on the impact of interactive digital technology on workforce development and economic development for the Appalachian Region of Ohio. A major effort to train the workforce in Appalachian Ohio in interactive digital technology will be highlighted at this year’s conference with the support of a Department of Labor Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) Initiative grant for the region.
Lynn Gellermann, President of Adena Ventures, located in Athens and a founding sponsor of the Shawnee Conference, said, “we continue to believe that this can be a Region of Excellence in Interactive Digital Technology, and the network created by Shawnee State University, Ohio University, Kent St. University Tuscarawas, ITAAO, and others throughout the region have shown that a community exists that can support the creation of this high tech industry in Appalachian Ohio”.

More information on the Shawnee Conference 6.0 can be found at www.ovita.org

Gary Lambert With Connect Ohio

Gary Lambert of Zanesville is the new director of southern and eastern Ohio operations
for Connect Ohio. Connect Ohio is working in conjunction with the Ohio Broadband Council
to expand broadband service in residential and commercial neighborhoods. Lambert has been
the Executive Director of ACCEL- Appalachian Center for Cognative and Excellerated Learning, and
Acting Executive Director of the Ohio Community Computing Network (OCCN). Lambert is also
on the Board of Governors for ITAAO.

Connect Ohio also recently published updated broadband maps for the State of Ohio. Information can
be found at www.connectohio.org

WIRED Team Attends-Exhibits at Department of Labor Employment Training Administration Innovations 2008 Conference in New Orleans.

Bill Sams, OVITA WIRED Initiative
Program Director, and Bruce
Madson (in the background)
talk to interested visitors at the OVITA
WIRED exhibit at the Dept. of Labor
Employment Training Administration
Innovations 2008 Conference in New
Orleans in July.

July heat in New Orleans couldn’t keep the Appalachan Ohio WIRED – Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development – team from attending and exhibiting at the 2008 Innovations Conference in New Orleans the week of July 14 through 18. The Employment Training Administration also asked the Appalachian Ohio WIRED Initiative to exhibit at a Talent Plaza. The Appalachian Ohio WIRED Team included Bill Sams, Ohio Valley Information Technology Alliance(OVITA) WIRED Initiative Director; Bruce Madson, OVITA WIRED Initiative Associate Director for Project Management; Gary Little, OVITA WIRED Associate Director for Regional Collaboration and ITAAO President; Tom Stead, OVITA WIRED Associate Director for Workforce and Education, and the OVITA WIRED Initiative fiscal agent, Rosie Picklesimer, Director of Workforce Investment Board 1 at the Community Action Organization of Scioto County.

The Innovations Conference is an annual, nationwide conference held by the Department of Labor Employment Training Administration with nearly four thousand workforce development professionals attending. Nearly all the thirty nine WIRED Regions also attended this conference.

Crowds often surrounded the exhibit to see Tom Stead’s beautifully developed Keynote presentations and Second Life demonstrations on training applications using simulation and virtual world technologies.
A timely presentation too, with Innovations Conference keynoter, Don Tapscott, author of Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything, Growing Up Digital, and soon to be published, Grown Up Digital espousing the use of new technologies in learning, such as Second Life, to keep up with the new, high tech, multi-tasking workforce that is about to change our ways of doing business and communicating, said Tapscott.

ITAAO Launches New Website

After six years ITAAO’s website is sporting a new set of clothes…….and a little flash too! Our previous site had served us well and was well developed by ITAAO member Horizon TelCom in 2002, but we decided to get ourselves an update. Thanks to ITAAO member, eLIMBS, LLC, and their president and ITAAO Board Member Phil Coyner, ITAAO was able to get a completely new website. In addition to Phil we want to thank Phil’s staff, Mark Foley and Brian Honey, who designed and built the site.

Visit the site today to see our updates. www.itaao.net