Testimonials

At the 2004 Conference, we asked attendees "What is the value of the Annual Conference?" The following are some of their responses.

"To continue to bring CTC's from around the world to a place where we can share and learn. For many of us this is the career development for the year."

"It provides a larger look at the field, and the opportunity to network with professionals from a wide range of backgrounds."

"The role of the conference is to bring people together to share experience and ideas involving community development. This is an area to share success stories as well as failures. The value is that we get to learn from each other in an environment that is non judgmental. We can feel free to express our fears, concerns, etc., because we are all to be working towards uplifting communities."

"It's an opportunity to share, learn, grow and connect to the current trends and progressive programs of the CTC's world wide."

"It is a powerful networking opportunity and offers a wide range of workshops to assist organizations at various levels."

"The role and value of the CTCNet conference is the coming together of persons and organizations doing community technology work. This happens through all the different activities and venues of the conference. Many CTCs and leaders benefit from the collegial nature of the conference. It provides important support and encouragement for their work as well helping them to see the bigger picture of community technology across the world."

"I appreciate the quality of relevant sessions, linking experts to program operators, and the ability to be among peers. The CTCNet Conference is among the top 3 events I attend as often as I can. I do not have to "pitch" or sell my program. People in attendance represent the CTC communities throughout the nation, and internationally. Impressive organization, satisfactory room accommodation, although session rooms could have been larger for some sessions I attended."

"An opportunity for the membership to see themselves as a movement and to coordinate as such."

"...Networking; idea-sharing; change-of-venue from dialy routine, exploring the same issues in a different environment with different people; putting a face to the people we communicate with all year; looking at old issues from a new perspective; learning new tricks; learning what the "new" issues are likely to be; enjoying myself while developing myself professionally."

"Since this was the first I've attended and we are still in the planning stage, this conference allowed me to get ideas and hope by listening to the experiences of others."

"Very important in the development of skills, program design and materials for our CTC program. Excellent."

"Extremely important professional development and networking opportunity for anyone engaged in community technology work."

"The CTCNet conference is a great opportunity to see what other centers have achieved and to share what we've done too. Their experiences get my creative ideas flowing and inspire me to draft new curriculums."

"The major role is to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. Although CTCs are practitioners of IT, and therefore information, it can get lonely out in the CTC. The conference provides the best opportunity to take in "the big picture", AND develop contacts and partnerships. The value of this is immense!"

"It is a wonderful chance to network and learn something new. This year one of my staff attended for the first time and he was impressed. I know that attending the conference gave him a better idea of the "whole picture" of community technology."

"By far the most amazing thing about every CTCNet annual conference is the people. All of those wonderful diverse and passionate people."

"CTCNet conferences can and will be a bridge for various national associations and it can launch leaders that will move the org forward."

"It's great to meet other folks in the 'struggle' to better our respective communities through technology. The networking is wonderful and with national technical assistance providers, the depth of information is overwhelming. The conference also allowed me to gauge where my CTC ranks relative to other CTCNet members, particularly around issues of sustainability, programming, partnerships, and overall depth of impact."

"To provide a cohesiveness, resources, and a sense of community to those who are out there trying to build community with a lot of challenges..."