Recordings and Supporting Materials

ACE/NETC ver. 2.011 has adjourned. Hopefully the conference answered some of your questions, provided new ideas and inspired you to continue on your personal professional development path.

Session recordings obtained during the conference have been posted on the conference website, on eXtension Learn and in our ACE/NETC 2011 space in Lanyrd.com.

Presenters are encouraged to post their supporting materials in whatever location they find most convenient, and then link them to their presentation descriptions in Lanyrd. If you are uncomfortable working in that space, you may also send your links to the conference email address, acenetc2011 @ gmail.com and we will post them for you.

On behalf of the ACE/NETC 2011 Program Committee, I sincerely hope you found this conference to be a worthwhile professional experience.


Rhonda Conlon
ACE/NETC 2011 Program Chair

Getting to the Rockies Game

Tonight's Rockies game starts at 6:40 p.m. You are on your own for transportation. We recommend that you take the light rail to the game.

The Dry Creek light rail station is a short walk north on West Inverness Drive just outside the hotel grounds. If you're staying off-site, you might be closer to the County Line Station (I25 at Park Meadows Mall).

For the closest access, take the F line one stop past 16th/Stout to the 18th/Stout stop. This stop doesn’t show on the northbound route information, because it’s the first stop on the southbound return.

Cash is required for your light rail fare. The cost is $8 round-trip or $5 one-way. Experienced light railers recommend you bring the correct change, unless you want obtain change in the form of gold dollar coins.

Complete light rail information is available here:
http://www.rtd-denver.com/RockiesRide.shtml

ACE/NETC Shuttle Service

Because we have a large number of attendees staying at the two overflow hotels listed on the conference website, we have made arrangements for shuttle service to and from these hotels on June 10-13. You'll find the details at: http://acenetc.org/en/venue/

Denver Dining & Entertainment Options

So many restaurants, so little time. . . .It's hard to say what might be more painful: deciding between session options during ACE/NETC 2.011, or choosing where to enjoy dinner in Denver. If you have a car - you can go anywhere. If not, you can take a shuttle to Park Meadows, walk to nearby eateries, or find your way to the light rail station and head downtown.

• To simplify your choices, consider staying in the immediate area. Park Meadows - west of I-25, has. We've mapped some of them here.

• For those of you wishing to travel further and explore, consult Denver's weekly, Westword restaurant guide (you can do a search by neighborhood).
  

• You can also read restaurant reviews on Yelp.
  

• For those of you headed to the ball game, Denver's LoDo district, home to Coors Field, is well known for beer, wine and taverns.

If you're looking for more to do that just eat, check out Westword's calendar of events. You can filter by day, weekend, or neighborhood.

For those of you headed downtown, you can do a little pre-trip planning by visiting the RTD light rail website for rates, schedules and station locations.

See you in Denver later this week!

No travel budget this year? Attend virtually!

We are very pleased to be able to broadcast the ACE/NETC luncheon keynote presentations and select breakout sessions throughout the conference. We hope you will join us virtually if you're unable to attend the conference in person.

You'll find the live broadcast schedule with links to the session
details here: http://www.acenetc.org/en/virtual/

These and select other sessions will also be recorded and linked here after the conference.

We want to thank Iowa State University Extension for sponsoring the live
broadcasts and Ohio State University for providing Camtasia resources to
record the additional sessions.

Rhonda Conlon
ACE/NETC 2011 Program Chair

Twitter Basics Webinar Recording

Feeling left out? Want to get in the flow?

Social media applications like Twitter and related apps like Lanyrd can enrich your ACE/NETC experience. If you haven't started using Twitter yet, you might find yourself missing out on some great conversations. Even if you're not attending the conference, using these apps is a good way to pick up some key nuggets and connect with the presenters and attendees.

We've recorded a Twitter Basics webinar for folks just like you who for one reason or another haven't explored social media before now. The session includes creating an account and discusses posting and reading messages, applications to use, commonly used 'lingo,' and how to find and follow  the people you are interested in.

You'll find it here: http://slms.delta.ncsu.edu/recordings.html


John Dorner
eXtension Network Literacy CoP Vice Chair and
Area Information Management Agent
NC Cooperative Extension / NC State University

Rhonda Conlon
ACE/NETC Program Chair and
Extension Information Technology Director
NC State University

Strategically Planning the Future of ACE

Those of you who were at the 2010 ACE meeting in St. Louis will recall the very productive discussion we had during the Future of ACE lunch session. All of the input that was collected during that session was used by the ACE Board during their  Fall meeting in Tucson, AZ to distill six basic issues which warranted further consideration. For each of these issues the Strategic Planning Committee then added proposed goals, strategies and suggestions for implementation. All of this work is now included in a report which we will review in Denver. There we will seek your feedback before determining implementation steps at this year's Fall Board meeting in Manhattan, KS.

Some of these steps will result in a radical shift in our operations, but we believe these changes are important to the survival of the organization. As a recent NPR story pointed out, associations like ours will have to totally reinvent themselves in order to avoid becoming obsolete.

We encourage you to read this report before coming to Denver. It is the result of the persistent efforts members over the past year by members of the Strategic Planning Committee and promises to reshape ACE in many ways. As committee member Janet Rodekohr aptly put it:

If they implement just half of our suggestions, it will be a new day for ACE. I'm very proud of the work we've accomplished here. It could be a turning point for ACE. Thank you to Jeff and Tom and Steve for your leadership and to the other committee members for some great teamwork!

You can find the report at: http://www.acenetc.org/runtime/ACE_Strategic_Plan_2011.pdf. Please read it carefully.

Robert Casler, ACE President

Coming to Denver? Don’t Forget Your Auction Item!

While you’re packing for ACE/NETC in Denver, don’t forget to bring something memorable for our annual ACE Auction!

We're coming back with not only a silent auction, but a return to our absolutely exhilarating live auction!

Remember, ACE’s silent auction is a great place to shop for gifts and to promote your home state, while supporting professional development. However, the auction is only possible through members' generosity in bringing items for sale.

Goods from across the United States and even from around the world will be available during the silent auction. Holly Young, Development Committee chair, encourages conference participants to bring items that represent their home states.

"Bring specialty items and an open wallet,” she said. "Bid early, bid often and get a head-start on your year's gift shopping, even if it’s for yourself.”

Here’s what you need to do. If you're attending the annual meeting in Denver, plan to bring items to tempt your fellow attendees. Chocolate is always welcome, although it’s been reported it doesn’t make it back home with the recipient. Some ideas from past auctions include

• Local artists' works from your city or state
• Regional crafts
• Regional foods
• Items produced by always-creative ACE members
• Frankie Gould’s original artwork (the ACE Development Fund Chair cherishes hers)
• Signature memorabilia from the institution at which you work

Auction contributions are limited only by your imagination and luggage capacity. If you aren't attending, please help your state's representatives by sending items for auction.

Robert Casler, ACE president, says he looks forward to the annual event and encourages all ACE/NETC attendees to join in the fun, and good cause, by taking a moment to stop by the silent auction and bidding on the many intriguing silent auction items.

In 13 years of supporting professional improvement, the ACE Development Fund has made grants of varying amounts to members. SIGs, committees, and individuals have benefited from a wide range of studies and activities. See you, and your auction item, in Denver!

Gary Hermance Speaker: Temple Grandin

On Sunday, June 12, ACE/NETC 2.011 welcomes Gary Hermance speaker, Dr. Temple Grandin. Grandin is an animal science professor at Colorado State University where she conducts ongoing research on animal handling systems and teaches courses on livestock handling and facility design.

Grandin is a strong advocate for more humane livestock handling, and has designed numerous innovations at such facilities that help to reduce stress in animals during their final minutes. She has devoted her career to improving conditions at the large processing plants that slaughter some of the 40 billion pounds of cattle and pigs for human consumption every year in the United States. In 2010 she was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential people.

At age two Grandin had no speech and showed signs of severe autism. Her mother defied the advice of the doctors and kept her out of an institution. Many hours of speech therapy and intensive teaching helped Grandin learn to talk. Despite a childhood of constant teasing, Grandin persevered. Her high school science teacher and experiences on her aunt’s Arizona ranch motivated Grandin to study and pursue a career as a scientist and livestock equipment designer.

Grandin has published several hundred industry publications, book chapters and technical papers on animal handling, 45 refereed journal articles, and seven books including New York Times best seller Animals in Translation. In 2010, HBO premiered a movie about Grandin’s early life and career with the livestock industry. The movie received seven Emmy awards including Best Actress in a Drama for Claire Danes.

No More Rooms? How Did That Happen?

As many of you have already learned, there is limited room availability at the Inverness Hotel and Conference Center, initially on the nights of June 9 and 13, and now for all nights. Fortunately there are two overflow hotels nearby, with similar -- or in some cases even better -- rates. [You can view overflow choices here: http://www.acenetc.org/en/venue/] But having been program chair for the Albuquerque meeting when many of us had to shuttle between two hotels, I understand everyone's frustration with this arrangement. For those of you wondering whether this is due to poor planning, I thought I would offer an explanation of what led to this situation.

First, when we requested hotel proposals over a year ago, we were following the model of the St. Louis meeting -- keeping the meeting short so people could get in and out in a few days. The restricted travel budgets for attendees played a primary role in planning for both a shorter meeting and for lower-than-normal attendance. By ending the meeting at noon the last day, participants would avoid an additional hotel night. Since then we have had proposals to add workshops and sessions, in part to meet the more diverse interests of a combined ACE/NETC audience, and also to again incorporate SIG and other meetings, based on feedback after last year's conference. In addition, people just seem interested in spending extra time in Denver.

Combined with that we have the Boycott Arizona factor. We had originally settled on a facility in Arizona where we would have run of the place, very reasonable networking and food rates, and large rooms for everyone. Shortly after we officially chose that hotel -- releasing the holds we had at other locations -- the Board began to hear complaints from a number of members. Consequently they voted to support the Arizona boycott in reaction to the governor's signing of the immigration bill SB 1070. An online poll of ACE members, combined with an informal poll of NETC attendees in Auburn, then determined Denver as our 2011 conference site. We had to negotiate with the Inverness to get us rooms at rates comparable to what they had originally offered. All they had available was over a weekend, since they are heavily used on weeknights.

Apart from the irritation factor, though, we expect everyone will be very pleased with this facility. Many of us have visited there over the past year and found everything to be excellent. It is in large part because of their high demand as a well run conference center that rooms have been in short supply.

Robert Casler
ACE President

"We should have seen that coming."

Those words might cross your mind when you and your college administrators are blindsided by unexpected criticism (or worse), or when you realize you missed a golden opportunity for your college.

Learn how never to utter those words again at the day-long symposium, "Issues Management for Land-grant Universities" at ACE/NETC in Denver.

The symposium, 8:15-11:30 a.m. and 2:30-4:15 p.m. on Monday, June 13, will share findings from a multi-state team that has examined Issues Management since 2008.

During this session you will:

• Get an overview of Issues Management and how it applies to land-grant universities.
• Learn best practices identified by the Issues Management team and how to put them to work.
• Talk with Tracy Irani at the University of Florida's Public Issues Education Center about how its work helps both the university and the state's agricultural industry.
• Discuss how a concerted effort in issues management can provide a stronger national voice for land-grant universities.
• Engage with a panel of communicators and administrators from Purdue, University of California, and Colorado State about how they've handled issues.

Special Invitation: If you work with administrators when issues arise — and you want to help them be more proactive — ask them to attend this session with you. ACE/NETC offers a one-day registration fee of $135. Attending the symposium together will make it easier to put recommendations into practice once you return home.

Land-grant deans have already been notified of the symposium at the annual APLU meeting (Association of Public and Land-grant Universities) earlier this year. Many expressed interest in attending or sending someone on their cabinet. Give them a nudge and ask them to join you.

It's past time to shift from constantly reacting — draining your time, money, energy and focus — and dealing proactively with issues that are plainly on the horizon. When handled properly, they can be win-wins for you, your administrators, and your institution.

“To be up on it, you have to be in on it”

During the last few years, I’ve had the good fortune to attend many remarkable events – at the state, regional and national levels relating to agriculture. As a speaker, exhibitor and communications adviser providing official updates for the American Seed Trade Association, and as an agricultural enthusiast, I’ve learned that we are in an ever-changing environment and we as communications and IT professionals always make the necessary adjustments. I’m borrowing the words of a friend who says, “To be up on it – You have to be in on it.”

As budgets continue to be on the chopping block for many universities and organizations, we are asked to do more, often times with less. No longer are we just a (fill in the blank), but we are writers, editors, photographers, videographers, designers, project managers, for print, web and mobile technologies. Once might ask, “How can we possibly overcome these challenges?”

This is where ACE/NETC 2011 can help. This conference brings professionals together with a common interest to discuss these challenges and share solutions. Some of the topics you’ll hear about in June include widgets, social media, new ways to present, writing without jargon, how learning is changing, managing multimedia projects and increasing funding through grassroots efforts.

I think most can agree that one of the best parts of this conference is the networking with colleagues who share similar challenges, issues and work environments across the country. ACE-NETC 2.011 allows us to collaborate on issues and identify new partnerships or opportunities. You’re sure to walk away with at least one thing you can take back and incorporate into your day-to-day job or management repertoire.

Why stop there? Why not give something back to your profession? Contribute a little bit of time, perspective and expertise to ACE and get involved in a special interest group (SIG) and ACE. Now’s your chance to “Get in on it and be up on it.”

Keynote speaker will address research, outreach using game design principles

On Monday, June 13, ACE/NETC keynote speaker Dr. Rosa Mikeal Martey will present "Game On! Applying game design principles to research, teaching and outreach strategies."

Dr. Martey is an assistant professor in the department of Journalism & Technical Communication at Colorado State University. Her research focuses on online information-seeking and social interaction through digital technologies with a focus on gender, identity, and social norms. Current research includes includes a study of perceptions of social norms and politics on Facebook, and research on game design and applying game principles in university instruction.

Dr. Marty is also currently examining identity and group dynamics in Second Life and World of Warcraft as part of a large federally funded research project.

Prior to her graduate work, Dr. Martey did corporate and community research in advertising and non-profit organizations, as well as strategic planning and website design. She teaches courses in computer-mediated communication, digital research methods and the social impact of digital technologies.

View news about Dr. Martey as well as her recent publications:

The Denver Post:
http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_17355091

New Media & Society:
http://nms.sagepub.com/content/11/6/1041.abstract

Information, Communication & Society:
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a927233035~tab=content~order=page

You’re Invited…Research You Can Use

Advocating for agriculture using Facebook.

The harsh reality of consumer perceptions of agricultural messages.

Agricultural stories through the eyes of a television journalist.

Career aspirations of agriculture students.

Sound interesting? These are just a few of the topics you can expect to hear about during the Research SIG research presentations at the ACE/NETC Version 2.011 Conference.

The ACE Research SIG invites you to attend the presentations of the winning papers from the faculty and graduate student research competition. Eight papers will be presented from 2:15 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Friday, June 10.

Attendees of the Research SIG presentations will receive a CD-ROM with copies of the presented research. In addition, attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and share feedback with presenters during a moderated discussion following the presentations of the last session.

Whether you are looking for best practices for social media or an understanding of how to respond in a crisis situation, you don’t wait to miss the latest and greatest research coming out of the Research SIG.

Looking forward to seeing you in Denver!

Amanda Ruth-McSwain

Chair, Research SIG

Another year, another ACE/NETC annual meeting!

I'm a veteran of at least 20 annual meetings, so I sometimes wonder why I keep going to them. It's expensive, takes a lot of time and I keep seeing the same people. How much could I possibly miss if I just skip this year?

A lot!

Consider this:

• It took four and a half centuries to advance from the invention of a practical printing press using movable type to the invention of the offset press.
• It was seven decades from development of the offset press until Al Gore invented the Internet.
• It took less than 20 years more for Internet usage to become widespread and the World Wide Web to be invented.

In just the past few years, the social media have exploded.

At the present rate of change, there is something new to learn every week. If I step out of the loop for one year, it would be awfully hard to catch up.

Sure, I could stay home and try to keep up to date through mass media and online resources. But I’d be missing out on the real value of the annual meetings—the opportunity to hear how my clever colleagues are applying exciting new technologies, communication strategies and management ideas in their work. It’s all about ideas and connections.

Even though I’m retired and working only part time now, you won’t catch me sitting home when I can be at an ACE meeting, learning new stuff and stealing great ideas from my friends!

I hope to see you in Denver doing the same.

Tom Knecht

ACE Retiree Director

Register Now!

Registration for ACE/NETC is now open! You will find all the fee details and registration form links at http://acenetc.org/en/registration/.

Start Running!

What better way to kick off the first day of ACE/NETC conference sessions than enjoying an early morning run or walk on the edge of one of Denver's most-loved state parks?

Of course, the only way to make that happen is to join the crew of spirited and fun-loving folks who registered to participate in the Joe Marks Memorial Fun Run and Walk. This event honors former ACE president Joe Marks, a long-time writer at the University of Missouri and a dedicated runner who excelled at having fun.

Our shuttle will leave from the hotel promptly at 6 a.m. on Saturday, June 11, for a short drive (less than 10 minutes) to Cherry Creek State Park. The course is a mostly flat, 2.5 mile trail on dirt and paved surfaces. We will return to the hotel no later than 7:30 a.m. so you have time to shower and eat before the first session begins at 8:15 a.m.

You can register for the Joe Marks Fun Run/Walk when you register for the ACE/NETC conference. This event is free.

Hope to see you out there!

Carol Busch
Colorado State University Extension

Diversity SIG Meeting at ACE/NETC 2.011

While you're in Denver (or if you want to log on to our online chat), join your colleagues from the ACE Diversity SIG for some lively discussion of why diversity is important to you, what you get from being a member of the ACE Diversity SIG (if you are a member -- or discover what you might be getting if you aren't a member), and why you think it's important for this SIG to grow in the years to come.

Is diversity still a relevant topic? Should we be focusing more energy on serving diverse populations? Where do we go from here? Those are just some of the topics that may come up if you join us for the Diversity SIG session from 4:15 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 11.

See you there ~

Ariel Ginsburg, ACE Diversity SIG Chair

The Rewards of Special Interest Groups (SIGs)

When I first joined ACE, I signed up for five or so Special Interest Groups (SIGs). SIGs are groups within ACE that focus on specific areas, such as publishing, writing, research or information technology. I’m a generalist and they all seemed applicable. However, I did not really bond with any of them and attended just one SIG meeting at an annual ACE conference.

Eight years later, I’ve learned a thing or two. After a few years of SIG-less interaction, I was lured into a meeting of the Publishing SIG. Not only did I attend the meeting, but I offered to help organize a conference workshop.

Suddenly I had new people to hang out with at the airport, great sources to debate style guides, and new contacts for emailing those picky communicator questions. I even had someone who wrote me a letter of recommendation for a nomination that resulted in an all-university award from my provost and president.

Along with being a source for specialized professional development, SIGs are a great way to network and enrich your contacts. Hope you’ll attend a SIG session in Denver, get involved and reap the fun rewards.

Looking forward to seeing my ACE Colleagues in June.

– Joy Landis, Publishing SIG chair