I attended my first CCUMC conference ten years ago, and I have been coming back ever since. Why attend the same conference every year you ask? For me, the answer is simple. CCUMC is at once diverse and focused. The CCUMC conferences bring in media collections specialists from academic libraries, A/V technicians from classroom support departments, IT directors, instructional designers, faculty, students, and everyone in between. At CCUMC, all of these diverse individuals are at once focused on one goal – finding ways to improve teaching and learning by focusing on the intersection of media and technology in education. I once described the CCUMC Annual Conference as a “family reunion with a purpose.”
I still believe that to be a great description. CCUMC brings colleagues and friends from the four corners of the continent to work together to find solutions and improve higher education at every level, from which connectors to use on video cables and how to deal with HDCP in the classroom, to what institutional policies can best support students and faculty, and what are the best ways to manage intellectual property and copyright issues. It really is an unbeatable experience.
