Alex and Amy are joined by NASCIO's director of experience and engagement, Emily Lane. Emily gives us an over view of conference programming and all we have to look forward to in Minneapolis!
Find a transcript of the episode here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/704052/13667370
Alex and Amy are joined by NASCIO's director of experience and engagement, Emily Lane. Emily gives us an over view of conference programming and all we have to look forward to in Minneapolis!
Find a transcript of the episode here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/704052/13667370
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
year, sessions, cio, state, conference, emily, talk, topics, awards, annual conference, attend, great, members, lounges, awards dinner, cartwheels, panels, survey, attendees, voices
SPEAKERS
Emily Lane, Alex Whitaker, Amy Glasscock
Amy Glasscock 00:05
Hi, and welcome to NASCIO voices where we talk all things state IT. I'm Amy Glasscock, in Lexington, Kentucky.
Alex Whitaker 00:11
And I'm Alex Whitaker in Washington DC. Fall must be in the air because our own NASCIO, director of experience and engagement Emily Lane is back again to talk to us about the NASCIO Annual Conference coming up in just a week and a half.
Amy Glasscock 00:23
It's always great to talk to Emily to find out what we can expect at conference. And today we're going to do just that. Emily, welcome back to NASCIO voices, and thanks so much for joining us.
Emily Lane 00:32
Thank you. It's nice to be here.
Amy Glasscock 00:34
Yes. All right. Well, let's start with the basics. As usual, when and where is the NASCIO 2023 annual conference and who can attend?
Emily Lane 00:44
The annual conference, we'll be in Minneapolis, October 8 through the 11th. At the Hyatt Regency downtown. This was going to be the location of our 2020 conference. But of course, those plans were postponed. To attend the conference, you must be an employee of a NASCIO member entity. So either a company or a state, nonprofit or academic institution. There are limits and approval processes for attending. Depending on which type of member you are. So the best thing to do would be to contact the primary liaison with NASCIO. And if you're not sure who that is, you can always contact us and we can point you in the right direction. And I should note that Online Registration closes Monday, October 2, and there is no on site registration.
Amy Glasscock 01:39
All right, great. Yep. That's something we changed a couple of years ago. So you always want to make sure people don't show up not registered. All right. So let's just kind of talk about the different types of sessions that we're going to have. Let's start with the keynote sessions. I know that's something that our attendees always look forward to. Who do we have on deck for the keynote sessions for this event.
Emily Lane 02:01
The opening keynote on Monday morning is Annie Griffiths, who is a National Geographic photographer. Her talk draws on her extensive experience kind of traveling the world and working with people from many different cultures. And it's about how to connect to anyone, anywhere. The closing keynote Tuesday afternoon is Lital Marom. She is a thought leader on innovation and digital transformation. So she'll discuss how technologies like AI have changed and are changing our world and the way we do business. But rather than focusing on the technologies and their use cases, her focus is really on the mindset and moving away from a traditional linear thinking pattern to one that is exponential and results in new meaningful value. So there'll be lots of things to chew on kind of post conference from her talk.
Amy Glasscock 03:01
Great.
Alex Whitaker 03:02
Yeah, sounds exciting, really looking forward to it. What can we expect from the general sessions?
Emily Lane 03:08
So after the keynote on Monday, we'll have a fireside chat of thoughts about the future role of the state CIO organization. So Dennis Goulet, Laura Clark and Greg Hoffman will share their perspectives and kind of pontificate on what the future could hold for the role and for the organization. So Monday afternoon will be the outcome of this year's presidential initiative on creating a citizen centric digital experience. Stephanie Dedmon, our NASCIO president will lead and moderate that panel along with Katrina Flory, Mark Raymond and Alan Fuller. And then Tuesday morning, we will highlight and discuss the insights gathered during the 2023 state CIO survey. So as you all know, this is an annual report that NASCIO puts out and it provides kind of a peek behind the curtain into what CIOs are thinking and feeling. So our very own Doug Robinson will moderate that session along with Trina Zanow, Brian Tardif. And Jonathan Askins.
Alex Whitaker 04:16
Great. Well, having seen a few iterations of that CEO survey, I know I'm looking forward to a conversation about it. So I know we're having learning lounges, which are kind of a breakout session format. What will those be like this time around? And what are the topics?
Emily Lane 04:31
Yeah, so we've sort of shaken up the breakout sessions a little this year, we will have one set of learning lounges and those will be Tuesday afternoon. As a reminder for folks that have attended before those are the 30 minute sessions that are held twice. The sessions will be on recently released publications or about to be released publications in which NASCIO was a partner. So those three topics are about using AI in the procurement process, changing the conversation around cloud services, and preparing for future shocks. So making individuals and organizations more resilient. So the change up to the breakouts occurs on Monday morning, where we've replaced learning lounges with workshops. So the purpose of these is to get into the nitty gritty, a little more than the learning lounges often do. So there will be a leader to provide context and expertise around the topic. And then we'll be highly encouraging participation in conversation. So those three workshops all relate to governance around a topic that's explored in the CIO survey, and will really dig into how to structure programs. So how to get them started, keep them moving, grow them, make them successful. And those topics are whole of state initiative, generative AI and data management. And those workshops are 45 minutes in length and will not be repeated.
Amy Glasscock 06:02
Great. Well look forward to try not this new format. It's always interesting to see, you know, some new programming and how it all works out. So the past few conferences have featured sessions where attendees can meet with states and learn about their priorities. Is there something similar happening at annual
Emily Lane 06:20
Yes, Monday afternoon, we will hold state CIO panels. There are two rounds of five concurrent sessions. So a total of 10 sessions that you can choose from, and they segment out state CIOs by region. So those panels will then have a casual discussion on what their priorities have been for the year and how they've progressed. They'll also provide their insights on a few topics explored. In the CIO survey. Clearly that is kind of the through line to a lot of our sessions this year is relating it back to the CIO survey. These discussions are kind of a part two of the virtual state CIO panels that happened earlier this year. And in those sessions, the CIOs shared their priorities for the upcoming year and the projects that they were most focused on. If anyone would like to go back and review those kind of in preparation for the part two, all of those recordings are housed in the NASCIO community and are available for NASCIO members. We're also doing something new this year. There is a segment on the agenda Tuesday morning for the awards showcase. So this is the 35th anniversary of the state IT recognition awards. And to celebrate that milestone, the awards showcase will be a time for attendees to learn more about the recipient projects. So each winning state will be available to have kind of casual conversations about their projects, and what it took to bring them to fruition, sort of a poster session style, if you will. This is also a great time just for some general networking among attendees.
Amy Glasscock 08:03
Very cool. Look forward to all of that as well. So one of the biggest differences between the programming at Midyear and the Annual Conference is that we have an awards dinner at Annual so what can we expect from the awards dinner this year?
Emily Lane 08:17
Yeah, I love the awards dinner. And I will acknowledge that I'm a little biased because I also oversee the awards program. But I think there's just a wonderful sort of energy and camaraderie to that evening. So during the dinner, we will honor NASCIO corporate members that have reached a milestone in their membership with the Association. We also award and honor a few individuals that have been outstanding leaders in the field of it. And then the largest part of the evening is to present the state it recognition awards and honor those recipients. And as I mentioned, this is the 35th anniversary of that program. So very exciting. I think there's a myth that the dinner is only for state members. And I want to make sure everyone knows that that is not the case. anyone attending the conference is welcome to attend the awards and recognition dinner.
Alex Whitaker 09:12
Yeah, that sounds great. And I also I went to my first one of these last year and I just want to say I know a lot of times we have in our heads sort of a picture of a stuffy awards dinner. That's not a lot of fun and not good food. That is not the case here. It's a fun thing. You get to really see some cool work and the food is excellent so strongly encourage everyone to go. We always love to hear about the GiveBack partner to tell us what organization working with this year to give back.
Emily Lane 09:36
Yeah, the programs committee selected American OIC as the GiveBack partner. Their mission is to empower American Indians who want to pursue career opportunities. And they help in that journey by providing education training and human services within a culturally rich environment. So to give back funds will support their Takota Institute which offers cost-free vocational IT training for high demand skill sets. Their team will be on site to talk to folks during the conference. We'll have the GiveBack Coffee Bar, some other fun tie-ins, prizes for donors, lots of fun stuff around the GiveBack program. If you're interested in learning a little more, or making a donation, you can do that on our website or through the conference app. Once that is launched next week, I believe.
Alex Whitaker 10:38
Awesome. Sounds like a really great opportunity to give back. And StateScoop did a feature on NASCIO conference fashion for Midyear so no pressure, but what should folks pack for annual?
Emily Lane 10:50
Well, I'm not sure that this is a very fashion forward answer. But my recommendation would be comfortable shoes and layers. One ballroom will be sweltering and then the next breakout room will be freezing. So pack layers.
Alex Whitaker 11:03
Got it. Thanks.
Amy Glasscock 11:05
Yeah, absolutely. All right, Emily. Well, I don't know how many.....(thunder sound effect).... Lightning Rounds you've been through with us so far. But I bet our listeners know more about you at this point than any other guests. So let's keep it going. Are you ready?
Emily Lane 11:20
I am.
Amy Glasscock 11:21
All right. Question one. Since we're talking about jobs, what was your first job?
Emily Lane 11:26
I was a professional gift rapper at the local mall during a holiday seasons. Amazing and I have wrapped gifts side by side with you before and yours are always better than everyone else says.
Alex Whitaker 11:40
You can always tell which gifts I wrap at the holidays because they're a mess. So I'm impressed. What's something that you're secretly good at?
Emily Lane 11:49
Other than gift wrapping. I was recently playing with my seven year old neice and realized that I can still do some mean cartwheels. So that was kind of a secret to myself. I haven't done a cartwheel in a long time.
Amy Glasscock 12:04
Since I have an eight year old, I too have done some adult cartwheels and they stretch differently than they used to.
Emily Lane 12:09
That is very true.
Amy Glasscock 12:11
All right. Last question. What's something you've tried in the last few years that you didn't think you would like but you actually did.
Emily Lane 12:18
This is a toughy this thing that immediately comes to mind is food related. So I was recently in Paris with some friends and we did a food tour, where you sort of walked along picking up different items. And then we did a tasting at the end of the tour. And there was a duck liver pate with gherkin pickles. I do not like duck. I do not like liver and I do not like pickles. But somehow this combination was amazing. It could have been the wine pairing, or it could have just been that all of these individually disgusting flavors came together amazingly.
Amy Glasscock 12:58
Or just the overall glow of Paris.
Alex Whitaker 13:04
Emily, thanks so much for your time today, we are definitely looking forward to being all together again in Minneapolis.
Amy Glasscock 13:09
And Emily, I just want to say that NASCIO is so lucky to have you and year after year you come up with new ideas and innovations to keep our events fresh, and they somehow just get better and better. So thank you for all that you do.
Emily Lane 13:22
Well, thank you guys. I appreciate that. It's fun. It's great to see all the work come to fruition in person and connect with all of our members. We have a really great group from the NASCIO team, to all of the state CIOs and corporate members and just a big fun family.
Amy Glasscock 13:38
It is we're looking forward to the event. Thanks, Emily.
Emily Lane 13:42
Thank you all.
Alex Whitaker 13:44
Thanks again for listening to NASCIO Voices. NASCIO Voices is a production of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers or NASCIO.
Amy Glasscock 13:51
We hope to see you in Minneapolis. And in fact, Alex and I will be recording in person. So if you'd like to be on NASCIO Voices stop by and see us during the breaks and answer a few of our onsite question.
Alex Whitaker 14:02
Yes, please do and we'll be back in two weeks with NASCIO executive director Doug Robinson talking all about the 2023 state CIO survey.