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2007 Conference Highlights
47th Annual IACIS International Conference IACIS
2007 Conference Program (.pdf
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Comments from Past Participants
2007 Conference Keynote Speakers
47th Annual IACIS International Conference Review by Jean A. Pratt
The IACIS 2007 Conference was held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The conference was a great success, as evidenced by verbal and written feedback commending the quality of keynote addresses, participant presentations and networking interactions. This review summarizes activities of the conference, including awards presented, highlights of the program and a summary of participant perceptions.
Conference Highlights and Awards The 47th Annual IACIS International Conference was held at the Renaissance® Vancouver Hotel Harbourside in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Vancouver is always a favorite of IACIS conference participants. The weakening value of the dollar and increased travel security did little to deter conference participants. The conference was attended by 173 IACIS members. We had two excellent keynote speakers, two panel presentations to launch mini-tracks, four very interactive round-table discussions, and 121 paper presentations (most of which fell neatly into one of the following mini-tracks):
Other papers represented the following areas of research:
Complete, double-blind reviewed, accepted papers for the Conference were published in Issues in Information Systems ( IIS ), which is an official IACIS publication. IIS is a serial publication of the Association that is registered with the US Library of Congress and listed in the Eighth Edition of Cabell's Directory of Publishing Opportunities in Management. All submissions underwent a rigorous double-blind refereed process for inclusion in the Conference program and publication in IIS, Volume VIII, Issues 1 and 2. Each year the Association sponsors awards that are made at the annual Conference. Awards are made for the Computer Educator of the Year, the Ben Bauman Award for Excellence, the Best Conference Research Paper, the Best Conference Pedagogy Paper, the Best Conference Technology Paper and the Top Monkey Award. The Computer Educator of the Year is the highest award presented by the Association and recognizes an individual who shows exceptional research and teaching skills, has made significant contributions to the information systems profession and education, and enjoys a national or international reputation for outstanding work throughout the information systems community. The Ben Bauman Award for Excellence recognizes either a senior faculty member with significant service to the profession, university, and community, or a junior faculty member showing outstanding scholarship, service and great promise. This year's Ben Bauman Award recognized a junior faculty member. The Best Research Paper Award is made for the best paper reporting original research; the Best Pedagogy Paper Award is for the best paper regarding pedagogical issues; the Best Technology Award is for the best integration and application of information technology. The Best Paper awards are made from those submitted for inclusion in the Conference program. The Conference Program Chair made this selection using recommendations from the double-blind refereeing process and the IACIS Executive Board. The IACIS reviewers nominated six papers for each of the three award categories, which is the most nominations ever. Two papers in the Best Pedagogy Award category were very close, so an Honorable Mention award was given in that category. The Top Monkey Award recognizes the institution with the most Conference participants.
Recipients of these prestigious awards from the Association for 2007 are as follows: Computer Educator of the Year
Professor Kohun is also a prolific researcher and writer, publishing more than 70 manuscripts in referred journals, and has presented his research at almost 100 academic conferences, a testament to his active and ongoing scholarship. His reach becomes global with his work as Associate Editor of two scholarly journals, and his service on editorial boards, active consulting experiences, and selection for Beta Sigma Delta. Dr. Kohun also served as Visiting Professor at a several educational institutions. In nominating Dr. Kohun for Computer Educator of the Year, Professor Gary DeLorenzo states that “Fred is truly a remarkable person, someone who has influenced me both professionally and personally, in ways that will last a lifetime. He is responsible for my love of teaching, and my career change into university life.” Professor Robert Skovira, in his nomination, points out that “Fred has been a leader for many years at Robert Morris University, makes significant research contributions through publishing in scholarly journals and conference presentations, and has an abiding concern for students.”
Ben Bauman Award for Excellence
Professor Raymond Frost, MIS Chair, describes Sean as “an outstanding member of their faculty and a cornerstone of the department.” Faculty colleagues describe Dr. McGann as “outstanding in providing excellent professional services to the MIS community,” and “one of the hardest working faculty members I have ever seen.” In the brief time Dr. McGann has been a member of the Ohio University faculty he has a remarkable record of scholarship, service and commitment to students and the MIS program and profession. He is clearly on track for an outstanding academic career, and we congratulate him on being selected to receive the 2007 IACIS Ben Bauman Award for Excellence.
Best Research Paper Paul J. Ambrose, from the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater, for the authorship of "Metacognition and Software Developer Competency: Construct Development and Empirical Validation"
Best Pedagogy Paper Joseph Rene Corbeil and Maria Elena Valdes-Corbeil, both from University of Texas at Brownville, for the authorship of "Globalizing Professional Development: The Evaluation of a Collaborative Computer-mediated Professional Development Program"
Honorable Mention for a Pedagogy Paper Mark C. Springer, Steven C. Ross, and Nate Humann, all from Western Washington University, for the authorship of "Integrating ERP Across the Curriculum: A Phased, Three-tiered Approach"
Best Technical Paper Karl Kurbel and Denny Schreber, both from the European University Viadrina, for the authorship of "Agent-based Diagnostics in Supply Networks"
Top Monkey Award Robert Morris University
Conference Evaluation Each year the Board administers a post-conference survey (below) and conducts a post-conference debrief meeting in an attempt to continually improve the conference. Use of laptops and projectors for all presentations was one of the results of previous input from conference participants. Sixty-seven attendees (~ 39%) completed the survey; approximately 30 attendees attended the post-conference debrief. Overall, the verbal and survey responses indicated that the participants were again very satisfied with the Conference. The first three post-conference survey questions addressed participant satisfaction with the conference, the program and schedule, and the planning, coordination and arrangements for the conference. 87% of the respondents reported being very satisfied with conference, the program and the planning; 13% were slightly satisfied; no respondents were dissatisfied. Supporting comments at the bottom of the survey indicated that the program, the keynote speakers, and the many opportunities for networking were some of the best features of the conference. The next two questions addressed participant satisfaction with the hotel accommodations and food and beverage. Thirty-nine percent of the participants were very satisfied; 30% were split between slightly and very satisfied; 22% were slightly satisfied; 9% were dissatisfied to very dissatisfied. The weakened value of the dollar may have contributed to some of the dissatisfaction, as evidenced by some "nice, but too expensive" comments on the survey. However, the majority of the participants were satisfied with holding the conference at the Vancouver Renaissance. The Fun Night networking/socializing activity also met with mixed reviews both on the surveys and via verbal feedback. We are continually improving the online submission and review process, and 73% of respondents indicated they were very satisfied with that process. However, we know we have more improvements to make, as 21% were either slightly satisfied or split between slightly and very satisfied; 6% were dissatisfied with the current process. Attending the IACIS annual conference and publishing one's research in Issues in Information Systems remain a valuable tool for 96% of the conference participants to fulfill career objectives; 55% indicated publishing in IIS and networking were their primary reasons for attending the conference. Networking alone was listed by 85% of the respondents as their primary reason for attending the conference; it also showed up in 24% of the comments at the end of the survey. Clearly, the conference is accomplishing one of its major objectives of providing a venue to communicate about collaborative research ventures and getting feedback on original research ideas. Issues in Information Systems was published on CD-ROM format this year, in addition to being available online at http://www.iis-online.org. When given a choice between CD or online version, 28% didn't care and 46% preferred a CD version of IIS over web-only version. Only 9% preferred a web-only version of IIS. The listing of IIS in Cabell's Directory of Publishing Opportunities in Management and registration with the US Library of Congress was important to 94% of the respondents. Additional feedback was elicited from participants as open-ended questions. These comments provide some corroborating evidence of participants’ satisfaction with the Conference. Here are several comments:
Attendees listed the following "best features" of the conference:
Post-conference Survey
Conclusion The 2007 Conference was very successful based on the number of attendees, the program participation, and the attendee perceptions. The 48th Annual IACIS International Conference will be held in Savannah, Georgia, USA, on October 1-4, 2008. The theme of the 2008 Conference, “Synchronizing your Knowledge" challenges each of us to move beyond managing data, information and knowledge to sharing and synchronizing knowledge (both explicit and implicit) at all levels within and among departments and organizations. Plan now to contribute to another successful IACIS conference:
For additional information on the 48th Annual IACIS International Conference to be held October 1-4, 2008, please email Jean Pratt, the 2008 Conference Program Chair at prattja@uwec.edu.
What Have Past Participants Said about this Conference?
Come join us and see for yourself the value of participating in an IACIS international conference!
We at IACIS are fortunate to have Thom Luce, an excellent photographer, willing and able to "capture the moment" in film for us. As a memento for you, Thom provided the following photographs.
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Professor Frederick Kohun has been a faculty member at Robert Morris for the past 31 years, where he has assembled a remarkable record of scholarship, teaching and service. He has designed, developed and implemented three undergraduate and four graduate degree programs, built a well respected IS program, and co-designed a nationally recognized communications skills program. He has also demonstrated academic leadership as a Department Head and Associate Dean. Specific accomplishments also include developing numerous industrial partnerships to provide faculty and students with IS projects focused on real business needs and situations.
Dr. Sean McGann began his business career with Anderson Consulting, and after a number of years with Anderson he left to form his own eBusiness startup. All of these experiences were put to good use when he accepted a teaching position in the College of Business at Ohio University. In his short time at the University he has spearheaded MIS curriculum reforms aimed at aligning the curriculum and industry, authored more than a dozen research manuscripts published in journals and conference proceedings, and served on a number of College and University committees. He also serves as the advisor to the student AITP Chapter and as Assistant Director of the Ohio University Integrated MBA Program.