Nov 16, 2010

Four States Regional Technical Conference 2010

21st Century Technology Showcase!


I attended the Four States Regional Technical Conference: 21st Century Technology Showcase on November 11-12, 2010. The event was held in Pittsburg State University's Kansas Technology Center in Pittsburg, Kansas. I crammed in as many conference sessions as I could muster! The more info the better!





I began my adventure on Thursday morning with the RoboRescue Competition from Pitsco, Inc. The presenters were Michael Neden and Tony Allen. They skillfully demonstrated their robot product for the audience and discussed how the robots will be used in competition at the SkillsUSA RoboRescue competition. RoboRescue involves a team of students collaborating to first build the robot and then modify it for their disaster scenario at the competition. These modifications may include adapting the robots to deliver medical supplies to trapped victims. It was great to have the opportunity to touch and explore these robots first hand.




My next stop was Photography- A Review Going Wild presented by Dr. Robert C. Wiseman of Eastern Illinois University. Dr. Wiseman discussed the need to know f/stop, aperture, and shutter speed. This session was a review of basic camera knowledge, more than it was a 21st century technology showcase. Yet, it was still very informative. I enjoyed the demonstration of the pinhole camera.




The next session I hit was Photography: Understanding and Respecting Copyrights. This session involved much more information than that which only pertains to photography. The presenter, Chauncey Huffman of Lasting Impressions Photography, did an excellent job of informing the audience what copyright is and how to protect yourself from infringement. I found this session to be GOLD!




After an excellent BBQ lunch catered by Calvin's Catering, I attended Social Media- Instruction on Emerging Tools to do Business presented by Wells Hall of Pittsburg State University. Hall discussed the need to incorporate social media into curriculum. With the use of some great media, he successfully demonstrated how business is changing due to social media.




Lastly, I enjoyed what I like to think of as the highlight of the conferences in the graphics and imaging area of expertise. SHOWCASE: Imp Escape 1.0 App- Game App Development Story. Cagatay Celebioglu, graphic design of Imp Escape, shared with the audience the entire process of creating an app for iPhone. Cagatay shared his entire experience from conception to launch. He answered questions skillfully as well as shared with us what his team discovered through trial and error! This session was very personal. My favorite part was when he passed around the game for the audience to play with (personally I found this little game quite addictive)!

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