Thanks for the discussion about IL CTO membership and participation. Right now the group's membership is mainly focused in DuPage, Kane, Lake, and Cook counties, with other members peppered across the state. The individuals - Guy Ballard, Jim Flanagan, Jim Gerry, Connie Hodson, Pete Knopf, Jeff Romani and me -- who wrote the organization's goals, formed the original corporation, and gained 501 (c)(3) status work in these counties. We met to address professional development needs of our peer CTOs. In our jobs we are asked to provide professional development for many groups in our districts, but it seemed as though nobody was interested in our professional growth. In meeting we promoted the group with our geographic peers. From early in the organizational meetings we knew addressing the professional development of all Illinois K-12 CTOs would be difficult. There is a large potential group across the state. We've tried a variety of means of bringing in CTOs who are not from the area.
In those early discussions, several of the founders were at or nearing retirement, but we thought that we could anchor the start-up of the organization and hand it off to the next group of CTOs for growth and stability. Only three of the founders are left on the current board of directors as this handoff occurs. Jim Flanagan encouraged Jim Peterson to run for the board. Jim P is the president-elect and will serve his term starting in 2011. Keith Gillette, the current president, has several goals, including improving member services on the web site, expanding membership, and providing consistent electronic connections to the on-site meeting. The first step is immediately outside the membership area - that means the northwestern part of the state and north central; so the proposed meetings at Starved rock and Bloomington. On April 15, 2011, the group, through Jim Peterson's guidance, will be meeting at Heartland Community College as an outreach to potential members. Sure, that's far from Belleville, but not much farther than a drive from Waukegan. We have members in the Chicago area who have never attended a meeting, but they think that membership is important. Proximity has nothing to do with participation. Do you want to be part of a group that is about CTO professional development? Personally, I belong to several professional organizations, volunteer on their committees, and participate through the Internet and the telephone, but I do not attend their conferences. We've had discussions about having remote sites where members can collect to network with peers and participate in the meeting. It takes somebody at a location to reserve the room, order lunch, set up a projector and connect their computer to the Internet and the meeting. We have one open board slot in 2011. Several have written about their motivation, interest, and issues of resistance on this list about joining the group. Jim Peterson, as the coordinator of the slate for board elections, may be calling you to run for that position. To be a board member, you have to be a member of IL CTO. Your first step to bring meetings farther south is to be a member. Join today! -=- Jeff Jeffrey L. Hunt, Ed.D. Director, E-Learning Treasurer, Illinois Chief Technology Officers, NFP
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