Great event, fine job!  Just can't wait until next year!

I particularly liked Greg's story.

Hi Ben,

I am glad you enjoyed this as much as I did. EnergizeIT is the best!

I spent some time with Greg a few weeks ago. He has some great stories including about their work with NASA. I hope he shares them here.

Lisa, their Development Director posted a comment in the IT Pro Blog so I'm hoping she'll provide an update here too. She talked about her son being "inspired" by the event. Lisa, do you hear me ... can you share more?

Cheers,
Stephen Ibaraki

Liked the event, bigger venue would be nice next year such as Canada Place. Good to see Neil Squire sponsored by MS. Right thing to do.

Hi Stephen;

We are so appreciative for the opportunity to have been involved with EnergizeIT this year.  Every time we are able to introduce more people to the incredible work of this organization, and watch them become inspired, it is truly heartwarming.  Every day I continue to be amazed at how the innovative use of technology is literally changing people's lives.

Yes, Adam, my 13 year old son was fortunate to be able to sit in on the session.  When I saw him intently taking notes, I knew he was headed for trouble!  ...a geek in training???

You'll be happy to hear that the geek t sales and donations raised $640.  As an example, this amount of money is the approximate cost of the assistive technology required to provide access to a computer for a person with a physical disability.  Thank you all for your generosity!

Lisa

A bigger venue would be nice ... great suggestion. I'm sure Microsoft is listening.

We are appreciative that Microsoft invited us to participate and give EnergizeIT a 5/5 rating! Like Microsoft, we are also strong supporters of Neil Squire ... I blogged about it earlier:
http://blogs.technet.com/cdnitmanagers/archive/2006/06/09/434386.aspx

Best regards,
Stephen Ibaraki
CIPS National Vice-President

Hi Lisa,

John Boufford, our CIPS National President, made a commitment to support Neil Squire at INFORMATICS 2006 and I’m glad that EnergizeIT was able to continue that support.

I really enjoyed my talk with Gary at the EnergizeIT event. I’m looking forward to the podcast with Gary that will appear here where he provides deep insights into your organization, and the projects Neil Squire is working on. I’m hoping that we can continue to generate support for Neil Squire.

I can see that your son is a budding computer guru and it’s great that EnergizeIT inspired more passion in him. Ok, Microsoft watch out!

That’s awesome, the monies raised; actually tops in the country when you look on a per-attendee basis. In talking with Gary, IT professionals can make tremendous contributions to the Neil Squire Society by getting involved. So this is a call to action for IT pros too!

Cheers,
Stephen Ibaraki

It's an interesting blog. They provide a very important and required service.

Our team went. First time for a Microsoft show. We will definitely go next year. The national IT society added something that wasn't just about Microsoft but about prof development. Nice touch Microsoft since working in computing is more than technology! Computing resources added/donated to public charity groups (Squire)--kudos again!

You had a booth for Squire, how about a booth for prof development too? We talked about this afterwards.

Overall, good job and keep it up. We hope you run this again but with more notice.

A little old history...Don't you love those mysterious invitations one receives? I got one in 1999 from...

Anne, they also contribute advisory services. For example, when a technology firm is working on new hardware or software, it's best to engage NSS early on rather than do a retrofit afterwards to address people with disabilities.

Cheers,
Stephen Ibaraki

Linn, I have worked with a lot of companies globally. I can say that MS is very responsive to your input.

The national group you refer to is CIPS or Canadian Information Processing Society. You can click on my name to find out more or go to www.cips.ca. I also welcome questions about the industry, career development, professional development, our society and more. Just send me an e-mail at any time or give me a call at 604.812.5717...

Cheers,
Stephen Ibaraki

Graham,

Thank you for the fine coordination you provided and acting as emcee for this "unconference." This new format is the wave for the future of this industry and you were a key factor in it Graham. I also enjoyed the collaboration with the other user group leaders who made many contributions to the event.

Cheers,
Stephen Ibaraki