Time is running out! You have one more week before the end of early registration for the SIGUCCS 2015 Conference in St. Petersburg, Florida from November 9th to 13th! Special early registration pricing ends on Monday, October 12th.

Register Now for SIGUCCS 2015

There are many reasons that you won’t want to miss this year’s SIGUCCS conference including provocative plenary speakers, presentations by your peers on current topics, networking with your colleagues, and much, muchmore! Not to mention that we will be in sunny St. Petersburg in November! 

The countdown to SIGUCCS continues — with ten weeks until the conference, November 9-13, 2015, aside from the beautiful weather, here is your list of top ten reasons to visit St. Petersburg, Florida in November! Register now to join us and Make Your Sun Shine! 

Top Ten Reasons to Visit St. Petersburg, FL in November:

10. TGIF – Stay after the plenary and celebrate on Friday the 13th!

• Ribfest– BBQ & live music; Fri, Nov 13
• Tarpon Springs Seafood festival: (free!) arts & crafts, live music, fresh seafood; Fri, Nov 13

9. Special events that happen while we are there!

• First Friday: downtown St. Petersburg block party, Nov 7 5:30-10pm
• St. Pete Folkfest– music, art; Sat/Sun, Nov 7-8
• Tampa Bay Home Show: Sun, Nov 8, Tropicana Field
• Clearwater Triathlon: Sun, Nov 8

8. Plenty of outdoor activities to enjoy the sun!

• Vinoy Golf Club
• Yoga at The Dali: Sun, Nov 15 noon-1:30pm
• Remi’s Segway Tours: go for a ride on the beach!
• St. Pete Segway Tours: go for a ride downtown!

7. A variety of interesting markets to explore!

• Locale Gourmet Market: 20,000 sq ft; dine in or take home
• St. Petersburg Indie Market: promotes local arts and culture; Sat, Nov 7
• Grand Central flea market: antiques and collectables market; Sat,  Nov 7
• SaturdayMorning Market: food, crafts, music; 9am-2pm, Al Lang Field (1 block from hotel)

6. Catch a game with your favorite Tampa sports team! (in Tampa; 30 minutes from hotel)

• Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs NY Giants;  Sun, Nov 8 at Raymond James Stadium
• Tampa Bay Lightning hockey games on Nov 10, 12, 14 at Amalie Arena

5. Opportunities to attend theaters and live music!

• American Stage Theatre Company: “The 39 Steps” opening Nov 2015
• Mahaffey Theatre
• Jannus Live: concert venue; 3 blocks from hotel

4. Lots of ways to unplug and get back to nature!

• Boyd Hill Nature Preserve: marsh and woodland trails, tram tours
• Sunken gardens: garden tours and horticulture programs
• Weeland Island Preserve: boardwalks and nature trails, natural history center
• Sawgrass Lake Park: boardwalks and nature trails

3. Many museums to explore, including the SIGUCCS Gala happening at The Dali!

• The Dali: Dali film series, Saturdays 1pm; “Dali Revealed”
• Morean Arts Center: Chihuly blown artisan glass exhibit
• Museum of Fine Arts: “Marks Made: Prints by American Women Artists” & “50 Artworks for 50 years” exhibits; 5 blocks from hotel
• FL Holocaust Museum: open daily 10am–5pm; 8 blocks from hotel
• St. Petersburg Museum of History: 10 blocks from hotel
• Ted Williams Museum and Hitters Hall of Fame: Tropicana Field, 2 mi from hotel

2. Being at the Beach in November!

• Bayfront “Beachfront” (no swimming): near St. Pete’s Pier, 2nd Ave NE
• St. Pete Beach: 11 miles from hotel
• Tampa Speed Boat Adventures: opportunities to see dolphins, manatee, etc.
• Suncoast Watersports: parasailing and waverunner rentals
• Island Boat Adventures: boat and waverunner trips, snorkeling

1. And the best reason of all …. SIGUCCS 2015!

• Visit TripAdvisor for a list of top rated restaurants in St. Pete’s
• Uber for convenient and affordable rides around town

Register now to attend SIGUCCS 2015 and join us in St. Petersburg to Make Your Sun Shine!

Would you like to attend the SIGUCCS Conference this year, but lack financial support from your institution?  You may be eligible to apply for partial suppport in the form of a Conference Attendance Grant.

Applications are still being accepted through July 31, 2015. That deadline is drawing near!

Details: http://siguccs.org/grants.shtml

The purpose of the SIGUCCS Grant program is to provide partial support for individuals in institutions of higher education to participate in the annual SIGUCCS Conference. This support is funded by SIGUCCS and consists of a full registration to either the Management Symposium or the Service and Support Conference; hotel room accommodations; and registration for one half-day workshop or executive seminar.

The Awards Committee hopes to hear from you!

The SIGUCCS 2015 Conference Committee recently announced Patrick Rhone as the opening speaker for the Service and Support Conference and David Rendall as the opening speaker for the Management Symposium and the closing speaker for Service and Support at the upcoming annual conference in St. Petersburg, Florida, November 9–13, 2015.

Prepare to be energized as we launch the conference with an inspiring opening plenary, “Care Enough to Change the World”  by Patrick Rhone, technical consultant, author, and creator of the Dash/Plus Productivity System, whose mission in writing is to make the world a better, friendlier, and stronger place.

Joining us for the Joint Plenary to kick-off the Management Symposium at the close of Service and Support is David Rendall, author of “The Freak Factor: Discovering Uniqueness by Flaunting Weaknesses.” David encourages us to embrace our uniqueness and actually leverage it as fuel to propel forward and reach for the sun to achieve our goals.  

Register now to attend SIGUCCS 2015! We look forward to seeing you in St. Pete!

Visit the SIGUCCS 2015 Conference website for more information including program details, pre-conference seminars, travel tips, accommodations, and more!

New this year, the SIGUCCS 2015 Conference schedule is powered by SCHED (siguccs2015.sched.org), an easy-to-use, lightning-fast application to help you organize and optimize your time at the conference.

This exciting application is designed with a simple, one-tier menu that combines color coding with powerful sort and search capabilities. Use SCHED to access session and speaker information, attendee , and create or edit a customized agenda to print or sync with your calendar.

With SCHED, data synchronizes automatically to the conference website; therefore, you have the flexibility to quickly access up-to-date information whether viewing via web browser or mobile device.

In addition, SCHED offers you flexibility to manage how much, if any, information you share with conference attendees. SIGUCCS is strongly focused on networking and to assist that you are encouraged to fill out your bio for stronger connections with your SIGUCCS colleagues!

If you are excited about a particular track(s), SCHED provides an easy way to filter by tracks.

Speakers, your presentations can be uploaded to your session page, plus a link to your paper or other resources!

Excited about a particular session? Share that excitement your Twitter followers or Facebook friends directly from session page. You are also able to view who attended that session for easier networking and relationship building.

Try it now! www.siguccs.org/Conference/2015/schedule.php

You can sign up with an email address  to create your SCHED account and password, or if you prefer, login using Facebook and synchronize to share information about the conference with your social media friends.

Learn more about the details and see SCHED in action! View a demo:  vimeo.com/75238313

Register now to attend SIGUCCS!  We look forward to seeing you in St. Pete!

We are pleased to announce the opening of registration for 2015 SIGUCCS Conference in Saint Petersburg, Florida, November 9–13, 2015. Join us for an exhilarating week in sunny Florida to recharge and reconnect with colleagues to Make Your Sun Shine in 2015!

http://www.siguccs.org/Conference/2015/registration.php

Our venue for the conference is the luxurious Hilton Saint Petersburg Bayfront. Located in the heart of the downtown waterfront district, it is five minutes from Northshore Park and beach with easy access to watersports and boat rentals, multiple art museums and antique shops, a planetarium and observatory, botanical garden, shopping and restaurants.

This annual conference is organized into two components – the Service and Support Conference and the Management Symposium. Attend the entire week to participate in the many collaborative opportunities and breakout sessions, attend presentations, and engage with colleagues to share insights as well as build long-lasting professional relationships. Take advantage of the professional development seminars to enhance your management, leadership, and technical skills.  Attend SIGUCCS 2015 to turn up the heat and recharge your career! Make Your Sun Shine in 2015!

Registration is open!  Don’t wait!  Register now for early bird discount rates!

In just six short months, we will be making our way to sunny St. Petersburg to gather for SIGUCCS 2015. As a northerner trying to stay warm on -12 degree mornings, I can’t wait to put away my snow boots and head outside in the sun!

The 2015 Committee will be publishing the schedule for the fall conference very soon, and it contains the first major change since 2011, when the Management Symposium and Service & Support Conferences initially combined into one fall conference.

SIGUCCS 2015 will kick off on Monday, November 9 with pre conference workshops and the  Welcome Reception that opens the Service & Support portion of the conference. The Management Symposium opens on Wednesday, with both conferences combining for the Poster Session and Vendor Fair and the Gala event! SIGUCCS 2015 ends on Friday afternoon.

This change is a result of examining attendee and member feedback from conference surveys over the past few years. The Board carefully considered comments and suggestions, and guided the SIGUCCS 2015 Committee in the creation of a fantastic schedule.

Stay tuned to the conference website at www.siguccs.org/Conference/2015/ and the Conference Twitter feed at @SIGUCCS_conf for additional information!

The Special Interest Group on University and College Computing Services (SIGUCCS) is an association of professionals dedicated to the support and management of diverse aspects of information technology services at higher education institutions.

We invite you to share your knowledge, experience, and insights this fall and join us as a presenter at the SIGUCCS 2015 conference in sunny St. Petersburg, Florida, from November 9 to 13.

The deadline to submit abstracts is February 15, 2015.

The annual conference is comprised of two components: the Service & Support Conference and the Management Symposium. This unique format enables IT professionals to attend not only the scheduled presentations targeted to specific project goals; but also to interface one-on-one with colleagues during a poster session, participate in informal “Birds of a Feather” (BoF) discussions, collaborate with managers and teams, and maintain a network of trusted colleagues and mentors.

Now is the time to think about how you can leverage this network of experienced professionals to infuse you with new strategies, solutions, and energy to obtain your project and personal development goals!

The Program Committee is available to assist you with questions or help you identify the best format to present your topic.

We hope you will take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to learn, grow professionally, and choose this year to  Make Your Sun Shine!

Visit http://www.siguccs.org/Conference/2015/ for complete details.

Presentations

New attendees and presenters are encouraged to participate. Visit the conference proposals website for a detailed explanation of presentation formats and submission guidelines or if you have a topic in mind, login here to submit your abstract now!

Presentations may take the form of a traditional lecture with presentation slides, panel discussion, or poster session. You may also collaborate with a vendor who provides services for your institution to host a joint presentation.

In addition, this year we are introducing Lightning Talks, a new form of group presentation pioneered at last year’s conference, whereby each member of a small group is allocated 7 minutes to present a concise, specific topic. This format is well suited for seasoned presenters who wish to share a tip as well as for first-time presenters ready to take the step forward and gain experience presenting for a professional conference.

Service and Support Conference

Papers and presentations will be grouped into four tracks. Presenters submit a 4-to-8 page paper that will be archived in the ACM Digital Library.

• Service Development and Management (E.g. Help Desk Management, Student Management, Incident Tracking)
• Leadership and Career Development (E.g. Moving From Staff to Management, Personal Development)

• Instructional Support and Class Technology (E.g. Implementing Technology within Pedagogy)

• Training, Documentation and Communication (E.g. How-to presentations)

Management Symposium

Presentations will be grouped into three tracks:

• Professional development, career advancement (e.g.How to move into management, Director, or CIO jobs; Things you wish you knew before moving up)

• Resource management (e.g. fiscal, personnel, services, technology implementations, etc.)

• Leadership, partnerships and strategic planning (e.g. Developing culture / buy-in; long term thinking and planning; Integration with university and college plans; Developing effective partnerships (campus, external, vendor, etc.); Defining and delivering new services