Future ICTE Conferences

ICTE is currently planning for Conferences through 2005.  We frequently are asked if we would consider holding an ICTE Conference at a particular location or institution.  ICTE welcomes proposals to host an ICTE Conference from interested organizations.  

If your institution would like to propose a location for a future ICTE Conference, we suggest that you read the following information and guidelines for ICTE Conferences.  If you believe that your organization can meet the requirements, and is interested in making the commitments required, we encourage you to prepare a brief summary and forward it to ICTE at the following address:

If you send your summary by mail, send it to:

International Conference on Technology and Education
Post Office Box 540579
Grand Prairie, Texas  75054-0579
USA

If you send your summary by courier, send it to:

International Conference on Technology and Education
c/o Dr. Lynn Peterson
University of Texas at Arlington
Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering
416 Yates, 300 Nedderman Hall
Arlington, Texas  76019
USA

If you have questions prior to sending in a summary, please contact ICTE at (972) 641-0504, or by e-mail at ictewdg@onramp.net, or by fax at 1(972) 651-0792.  

General Guidelines

Those interested in proposing a future site for an ICTE Conference should keep in mind that ICTE is a non-profit, tax exempt corporation.  Our primary objective with each ICTE Conference is to bring educators together from many nations to share information, experiences, and ideas for using technology effectively in improving education.  In addition, ICTE is not organized around a trade show with vendor exhibits, as are many large educational conferences.  Our focus instead is on prepared presentations that address the various themes of the Conference as set out in the Call for Papers and the Conference Program for each event.

The preferred location for an ICTE Conference is at an academic institution, on a University campus or in a comparable academic setting.

The primary requirement is that the proposing institution be interested in hosting a international technology conference such as ICTE, and be willing to make a commitment to assisting in the organization and management of the event.

The hosting institution will be asked to provide individuals for the Executive Committee, and for the Organizing Committee, and may also be asked to assist in reviewing abstracts following distribution of the Call for Papers.  The hosting institution will also be asked to provide one person for a Conference Co-Chair, and to provide one or two persons to serve as Editors for the ICTE Conference Proceedings, which published following each Conference.

ICTE is not generally receptive to working with commercial for-profit companies who specialize in organizing and running conferences.  We have found that such arrangements make it difficult to keep ICTE registration prices within the range we believe is appropriate for educators.

In addition, some universities have in recent years set up internal groups or divisions whose objective is to rent university facilities and generate revenue from these.  As with commercial conference managers, we find that such arrangements are expensive and not appropriate for ICTE events.  In fact, in the past two years, we have found that several of these on-campus arrangements would be considerably more expensive than regular conference centers.  We urge that interested organizations not propose such arrangements, as they are very unlikely to be acceptable.

Required Facilities

Conference Centers are generally not acceptable due to costs.  In addition, most Conference Centers are oriented around exhibit areas for vendor exhibits.  While most ICTE conferences do include small exhibits, the major facilities requirement for an ICTE Conference is as follows:

1. Ten or more presentation or break-out rooms with combined seating sufficient to accommodate typical ICTE attendance numbers of up to 1,200 persons. The rooms must include electrical outlets and (for larger rooms) appropriate sound and amplification systems.  Smaller rooms can accommodate as few as 35 or 40 persons; we will schedule presentations in smaller and larger rooms according to interest and projected attendance.
   

2. One or two auditoriums for Plenary sessions.  Ideally, a single auditorium should be large enough to seat the ICTE attendance; however on several occasions we have used two smaller auditoriums, splitting the attendance between the two, and with a large screen television monitor in one auditorium and a closed circuit TV camera link between the two auditoriums.  The one or two auditoriums can serve as presentation rooms for more popular presentations as well.
   

3. The proposing institution must agree to providing the facilities described in (1) and (2) to ICTE for the for the three days of the Conference, and for the afternoon and evening of the day before the Conference opening.  The proposing institution must agree to provide these without charge to ICTE except for appropriate cleaning and preparation charges, to be agreed on in advance.  

4. A space for exhibits is desirable, but not always essential.
   

Equipment

Equipment such as computers, monitors, and related audio visual equipment must available and provided by the hosting institution for the three days of the Conference.  If the institution has some equipment available, but not enough computers to provide one for each presentation room, for instance, ICTE may arrange for a limited amount of equipment rental for some of the needed systems if a reasonable priced source is available. However, typical equipment rental rates are expensive and are generally not acceptable. 

Location

Reasonable access by air, and -- particularly in Europe -- by rail, is an important consideration. If there is no local airport, access to a nearby city to where the Conference is actually held can be acceptable.  A recent example is the ICTE Conference in Santa Fe, in New Mexico.  The airport in Albuquerque -- about 65 miles South of Santa Fe -- was satisfactory, since very reasonable coach connections were available between the Albuquerque airport and the Santa Fe conference site.

Adequate hotel facilities must be available, and the time of year set for the Conference should avoid times of the year when hotel s may be busy for other events.

If on a university campus, it is of benefit if student residences are available to conference attendees.  This is not a requirement; however the availability of modestly priced are often a factor in many educators' decisions to attend a Conference.  ICTE is flexible on scheduling ICTE events; frequently we have planned for dates that allow use of student residences for conference attendees between semesters or during holiday breaks.    

Time of Year

ICTE Conferences have usually been held in the Spring each year, in late March or early April.  However, very successful ICTE Conferences have also been held in October (ICTE Tampa 1999) and in August (ICTE Oslo 1997).

ICTE is receptive to considering dates other than our typical schedule.

One important consideration, however, is the need to fix locations and times more than 18 months in advance of any ICTE Conference; shorter lead times make it difficult or impossible to do the necessary planning, preparation of announcements and Call for Papers, and to proceed with the mailings and notifications to insure adequate attendance and participation.

Costs and Expenses

ICTE is responsible for all promotion, printing, mailing, and related costs necessary to announce, plan, and conduct an ICTE Conference, with the exception of facilities at a hosting institution, as discussed previously.  ICTE makes these commitments with printers and other suppliers, and ICTE enters into appropriate agreements directly with suppliers.  The hosting institution is not expected to make or participate in these commitments.  

Working with ICTE

If a proposal appears to meet the requirements of ICTE, one or more representatives of ICTE will arrange to meet with the proposing organization to see the facilities, and to discuss the possible arrangements.

If there is agreement by both parties, ICTE will provide our standard Agreement, to be signed by both ICTE and the hosting institution, in order to proceed with the event. 

Co-Chairs will be agreed on and announced very early in the planning process, and Conference Themes, as well as an overall Theme for the event, will be selected in cooperation with the hosting institution.

Mailings and related announcements will depend on the time of year that is selected for the Conference, but must be sufficiently in advance for preparation of Call for Papers, Registration Brochures, and related materials.  While ICTE is responsible for these, it is important that one or more individuals with the hosting institution be assigned and available to participate in appropriate decisions as to content, Themes, layout, etc.