Meeting Old Friends and Making New Ones in Madison

The highlight of my trip to Madison was making several new friends and getting to spend some time with some friends from several campuses in the UT system. One of the first people from UT I saw at the conference was Dr. Darcy Hardy, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Director of the UT TeleCampus. I introduced myself to Darcy that morning, then watched her receive the Wedemeyer Award for Outstanding Practioner in Distance Education. ( Charles Wedemeyer was a professor at UW-Madison and one of the pioneers in using technology in distance education. You can learn more about him at: http://www.ajde.com/Contents/vol13_3.htm#editorial. Darcy Hardy is still a young woman, yet she has already accomplished more than most of us could accomplish in three lifetimes.

Four people from Missouri Southern State University and I rode the hotel van together from the airport to our hotel. We had lots of common interests and instantly became friends. We had breakfast together each morning at the conference. I intend to keep in touch with Al and Betty and Kimberle and Robin.

My old and very good friend Dr. Carolyn Awalt, Assistant Professor of Instructional Technology at the University of Texas- El Paso( was at the conference. Coco Kishi, Senior Systems Analyst in the Technology Implementation Group, UT-Austin and Dr. Douglas Hale, Director REACH Program Center and Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Texas-Permian Basin were also there. Friday morning Carolyn and Coco and Doug and I had lunch together at the close of the conference. I look forward to seeing old friends and making new ones a the next conference I attend.