My university has held an annual technology conference, Beyond Boundaries, for several years. Some of my past blog posts were generated from the perspective of a participant in this event. Working in a fast moving field such as educational technology from North Dakota is challenging. Internet access and all aside, it is hard to be a leader from the periphery. Hosting a conference of this type was a way to bring some folks here instead of us always going there. I liked the vision and the commitment this demonstrated.
Approximately a week ago as a registered attendee at this year’s conference, I received an email indicating that this year’s conference was canceled. The details were sketchy, but some mention was made of limited travel budgets. I was disappointed and upset by the short notice which I think really makes the university look bad (i.e., we might lose a little money on this so we are backing out), but it was kind of one of those things I just let go.
I have since changed my mind. If you believe in something, it is your duty to say something. Such is the responsibility of the participatory web
So ….
I apologize on behalf of my university, whether I have the authority or not, for this cancellation and for the late date on which it was issued. Sometimes you should do things because it is the kind of thing universities take responsibility for doing. Everything should not be about money and everything does not have to be run on a “charge back” model. Universities have tremendous resources (people, space, Internet access) that are available and paid for. While it would be nice to generate some income with these resources, the resources exist and the money is often spent whether the resources are applied to a purpose or not. If we can find millions of dollars to support moving our sports program to division I despite the reality that nearly every team will lose money, we should find a little money to support a conference we have made a commitment to host.
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