Ellen Bialo
President
Interactive Educational Systems Design, Inc.

Speed Networking
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
3:00 –5:00 p.m.

Ellen Bialo is President of Interactive Educational Systems Design (IESD), Inc.--recognized in the educational technology and publishing communities as a leader in research and analysis, instructional design consulting, and materials development. IESD conducts research on educational programs and products (both technology- and print-based) and provides a variety of consulting services related to their development, evaluation, implementation, and marketing. IESD's clients include education market publishers, technology hardware manufacturers, government agencies, non-profit institutions, and school districts.

Research services include both quantitative and qualitative analyses. Recently, IESD launched a new service - EDRoom - a private, web-based conference center that offers deep discussions and meaningful interaction with educators. Additional research services include focus groups, surveys, in-depth interviews, classroom observations, user testing, competitive landscape analysis, and analysis of demographic and financial data.

Ellen has over 25 years experience in education and research. She has served the publishing community as a member of AEP's Educational Publishing Summit program committee, an industry awards judge for EdNET, a member of the SchoolTech Exposition & Conference advisory board, and chair of the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) Education Section Board of Directors. She has coauthored numerous reports and articles on educational technology. Ms. Bialo received her graduate degree from Teachers College, Columbia University. Earlier in her career, she taught mathematics and served as the chairperson of a high school math department.

C. Sidney Burrus
Senior Strategist of the Connexions Project and
Research Professor at Rice University

Innovative Digital Distribution
Thursday, June 5, 2008
3:45 - 5:00 p.m.

C. Sidney Burrus is Senior Strategist of the Connexions Project and Research Professor at Rice University in Houston, Texas.  Over the last 40 years, he has been Dean of Engineering, Electrical Engineering Department Chair, and Research Institute Director at Rice. He has authored 5 books and over 200 articles on Digital Signal Processing, received several teaching awards from Rice and research awards from the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) and others.

The Connexions Project started in 1999 at Rice University to apply
modern technology and theory to education.  It has grown to be one of the most used Open Educational Resources (OER) in the world.  Sidney has been on its board and closely involved with it since its founding and has lectured widely on it.

Sidney received his PhD from Stanford and has held visiting positions at MIT and at the University of Erlangen in Germany.  He was on the founding committee for the new private university in Bremen, Germany, International University Bremen (Now named Jacobs University).

Joe Caruso
Author
The Power of Losing Control

The Education Transformation
Friday, June 6, 2008
3:30 - 4:30 p.m.

Joe Caruso is one of the country’s most in-demand speakers and leading experts on the subject of individual and organizational transformation. Author of the best-selling book, The Power of Losing Control, and host of his own Public Television Special, Joe is also a consultant with a who’s who client list including: The US Navy, American Express, Thinkronize, The BLE Group, Atomic Learning, Academic Benchmarks, and many other world-class organizations.

In addition to his client experience in education, Joe is passionate about education and has also taught in the K-12 classroom. He resides in Grosse Ile, MI, with his wife, Carol, a retired school teacher. More can be learned about Joe via his website www.carusoleadership.com.

Dick Casabonne
CEO
Casabonne Associates Inc.

The Roadmap to the Digital Future
Thursday, June 5, 2008
10:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

Casabonne has spent his entire career in education and trade publishing and is now CEO of Casabonne Associates Inc. Previously, he was Principal and Senior Consultant at MarketingWorks, a full service consulting firm, where he headed up research activities and strategic planning for many different educational publishing houses, distributors, and non-profits providing services to education. Prior to his appointment at MarketingWorks, Casabonne was President, Educational and Training Group, LeapFrog Enterprises where his responsibilities included leveraging the highly acclaimed LeapFrog platforms into education. Before LeapFrog, he served as Senior Vice President of Planning and Business Development for Harcourt, Inc, and educational publishing company comprised of over 20 divisions that covered a range of educational needs. While at Harcourt, he was active in acquiring the NEC Companies, which included Steck Vaughn, a leading publisher of supplementary education materials for kindergarten through adult education, where he served as President and CEO. Earlier, Casabonne held senior management positions at Grolier, Inc., McGraw-Hill Educational Resources, Random House School Division, and consulted with myriad educational and trade publishers. He also consulted for Apple Computer's education initiatives for eight years. He serves on numerous Boards for both companies and institutions. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown University and a master of education degree in instructional technology from Boston University.

Kevin Casey
President
The Exceptional Company

Eavesdrop On The Experts Series - Session 1:
Solutions and Strategies for Supplemental Materials Marketers in Today's Challenging Time of Change (Moderator)
Thursday, June 5, 2008
3:45 - 5:00 p.m.

Kevin Casey is a 30+ year veteran of the educational industry. During his career, he has held positions of influence in sales, marketing, product development, and management in the supplemental materialsfield. Most recently Kevin was Vice President Sales and Marketing for Educational Insights. After that 13-year employment, Kevin went out on his own to start-up The Exceptional Company®, a publisher/distributor of supplemental teaching products for struggling students, English Language Learners, and those with learning disabilities. In addition, Kevin has been consulting with several companies in the education industry in the areas of direct marketing, dealer channel development, and strategic planning. Kevin lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Frank Catalano
Senior Vice President Marketing
Pearson

The AEP Great American Education Forum (Moderator)
Friday, June 6, 2008
8:45 - 10:30 a.m.

Frank Catalano provides counsel and direction on branding, marketing strategy and tactics for Pearson's U.S. K-12 education businesses. Before joining Pearson in 2004, Frank was principal of Catalano Consulting for a dozen years, holding long-term interim marketing executive assignments as well as advising many companies in education, publishing and computing, among them Apple and McGraw-Hill. He also has served on the SIIA Education Board of Directors.

As moderator for the Summit's Great American Education Forum, Frank adds his skills as a former award-winning broadcast journalist and print columnist. Frank has had more than a decade of experience in news, including at stations KING Seattle (NBC) and KCPQ-TV Seattle (Fox) and as a regular contributor to the NBC Radio Network and the Associated Press. As a news director, anchor, reporter, commentator and talk show host, he's interviewed everyone from astronauts to the Monkees.

Jeanne Century
Director of Science Education and the Director of Research and Evaluation
University of Chicago's Center for Elementary Mathematics and Science Education (CEMSE)

The AEP Great American Education Forum
Friday, June 6, 2008
8:45 - 10:30 a.m.

Jeanne Century is the Director of Science Education and the Director of Research and Evaluation at the University of Chicago's Center for Elementary Mathematics and Science Education (CEMSE). At the U of C, Century directs several research and evaluation efforts and leads CEMSE's other science education work. Before coming to the University of Chicago, Century was a Senior Project Director in the Center for Science Education at Education Development Center (EDC), Inc. in Newton, MA. Century has spent the majority of her 20-year career working in, and with urban schools and large urban school districts across the country to help them improve their science education programs. She has developed instructional materials for elementary and middle-school teachers as well as materials for informal settings. She has also conducted a range of professional development for teachers and school and district administrators across the country and provided technical assistance and strategic planning support to the leadership of comprehensive, systemic improvement efforts. Her research and evaluation efforts have focused on effective science education, the impact of inquiry science instruction, strategies for improving utilization of research and evaluation, sustainability of reform efforts, and fidelity of implementation. Century holds a K-8 teaching certificate and an undergraduate degree in general science from Brandeis University, and a masters and doctorate in Science Education Curriculum and Teaching from Boston University.

Karen Coe
President
Key Curriculum Press

Jumping on the Digital Bandwagon - Where's the ROI?
Friday, June 6, 2008
2:00 - 3:15 p.m.

Karen Coe is President of Key Curriculum Press. Key is a leading mathematics publisher of inquiry-based textbooks, dynamic mathematics software and supplementary materials for grades 4 to 12. Key’s award-winning educational software includes The Geometer’s Sketchpad®, the leading mathematics software in grades 6 to 12, and two data analysis programs, Fathom™ Dynamic Data for students in grade 8 to college and TinkerPlots™ Dynamic Data Exploration for students in grades 4 to 8.

Karen joined Key as a Sales and Marketing Analyst in 1996, and was most recently Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing before taking on her current role. Karen has a degree in Marketing and Education from Saint John’s College in York, England. She began her career in publishing at Burlington Books in Athens, Greece, where she became Director of Operations. She moved to California in 1996 and later earned an MBA from Saint Mary’s College of California.

Rachelle Cracchiolo
CEO/President
Teacher Created Materials

Education To Go: 24-Hour Content
Thursday, June 5, 2008
2:00 - 3:15 p.m.

Rachelle Cracchiolo is founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Teacher Created Materials, Inc., a California-based educational publishing company with worldwide distribution. As a leader in providing supplementary materials to the education market, Teacher Created Materials has a long-standing tradition of developing high quality products and professional development trainings that are research and standards based. In 1977, Rachelle launched the company’s first book for teachers, Quick Fun Art. Since then, Teacher Created Materials has published thousands of supplemental resources for use in the classroom.

Teacher Created Materials’ many lines of products have won such prestigious honors as the Distinguished Achievement and Golden Lamp Awards from the Association of Educational Publishers. Other awards include the Teacher’s Choice Award from Learning Magazine, Best Product Award from Instructor Magazine, the Outstanding Curriculum Award from the National Association for Gifted Children, the Program of Excellence Award from the Middle States Council for the Social Studies, and the Program of Excellence Award from the New York State Council for the Social Studies.

Currently, Rachelle serves as President of the Board of Directors of the Association of Education Publishers. She is a member of the Advancement Board for the College of Education at California State University, Fullerton. This year, 2008, Rachelle is honored to be one of California State University, Fullerton’s 50 Prominent Alumni. In 2006, she received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the university’s Vision & Visionaries Alumni Association. In 2004, she was awarded Contractor of the Year for 2003–2004 by the Community Rehabilitation Industry, Long Beach, California. Serving on the Ed Tech Committee and Manufacturers Council from 1998–2001, she received the Leadership and Distinguished Service Award by the National School Supply and Equipment Association.

Rachelle earned her B.A. degree in Psychology from California State University, Fullerton where she also received a Masters of Science in Elementary Curriculum and Instruction. She has two daughters, who work alongside her at Teacher Created Materials, and four grandchildren.

Damon Crumb
Director - Business Operations
New Territories Incorporated

Digital Bootcamp 101
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
12:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Damon Crumb is the Director - Business Operations for New Territories (www.newterritories.net), a project management group focused on supplemental education publishers, delivering operational services. In this capacity Damon helps clients to understand how to simplify their content delivery business models, helps design alternatives and oversees their implementation. The three primary service areas the New Territories team works with clients on are product design and manufacturing, warehousing and fulfillment, and e-commerce, all linked together with NT's proprietary NTSmartCart™ and nt360™ sales and reporting tools.

Prior to joining New Territories, Damon worked for over 30 years as an International Business Development and Operations Executive for Modus Media, IBM and RR Donnelley Global Services. In these roles he developed content delivery business plans for their clients. These delivery methods and business models have evolved over time, from offset print and media replication, to digital print and media duplication, to now embracing electronic delivery, both on-line and downloadable, to a computer or even an iPod. With all of these options available, Damon helps content publishers to clearly understand their value proposition, how best to reach their audience and what various delivery methods can achieve, not only in margin to their business, but as useful and accessible content to their customers.

Kevin Davies
President
TecKnoQuest, Inc.

Digital Bootcamp 101 (Moderator)
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
12:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Kevin Davies is the President of TecKnoQuest, Inc. TecKnoQuest (www.tecknoquest.com) is an innovative leader in the field of digital and physical product distribution. TecKnoQuest offers publishers and resellers the opportunity to generate revenue from the sale of eBooks and other digital products through a variety of solutions. One of these solutions, the TecKnoQuest Online Warehouse, offers publishers the confidence and security to pursue new distribution relationships with retailers worldwide secure in the knowledge that the publisher will retain complete control over their electronic files. Kevin Davies used technology in instructional and administrative areas throughout his twelve year teaching and school administration career. During his ten years as President of TecKnoQuest, Kevin has been involved with designing, developing, implementing and promoting a variety of digital and physical distribution strategies. Kevin's association with publishers worldwide has motivated him to push the growth of sales of educational eBooks and other digital products through a variety of channels.

Dr. Sara Davis
Manager of Education Resource Development
USA TODAY

The AEP Great American Education Forum
Friday, June 6, 2008
8:45 - 10:30 a.m.

Dr. Sara K. Davis, Manager of Education Resource Development at USA TODAY, is committed to supporting teachers and professors by developing high-impact resources that foster critical thinking, self reflection and civic engagement.

Dr. Davis has a decade of instructional experience, teaching middle school language arts, high school American literature, college courses in American literature, British literature, composition, analytical writing and advanced research writing, and she has taught ESOL to adult learners. She has worked in public and private secondary schools and universities, in rural, urban, suburban settings, teaching students with a diversity of backgrounds. In all her teaching and curriculum development, she relies on a pedagogy in which students are at the center of true learning experiences.

Dr. Davis earned her undergraduate degree in Language Arts Secondary Education at Bethel University, her Masters in Literature at East Carolina University, and her Ph.D. in English at The George Washington University.

Bill Evans
CEO
Evan-Moor Educational Publishers

Education To Go: 24-Hour Content
Thursday, June 5, 2008
2:00 - 3:15 p.m.

Bill Evans is one of the three founding partners and serves as CEO for Evan-Moor Educational Publishers, a company that has been “Helping Children Learn” for over 25 years. In 1979, Bill Evans, his sister Joy Evans, and their good friend Jo Ellen Moore began publishing titles on a part-time basis in a small two-car garage in North Hollywood, California. They had six titles. Their goal was to create high quality products for PreK-6 educators and parents.

Through the years, Evan-Moor has grown to be a very successful company with more than 450 titles, a 40,000 square foot office and warehouse space, and more than 65 employees. Headquartered in Monterey, California, Evan-Moor’s products are carried in over 1,500 retail stores in the USA. Evan-Moor titles are distributed or licensed in 35 countries worldwide.

Bill graduated from the University of Southern California in 1972 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications on a full debate scholarship. In 1979, he received his Doctor of Juris Prudence from Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles, California. He continues to be an active leader, as the CEO of Evan-Moor Educational Publishers, as an industry expert, and as a good citizen, in his local community of Monterey, California.

Anthony Fisher
Vice President, Chief Operations Officer
Brown Publishing Network

Product Development in a Digital Marketplace
Thursday, June 5, 2008
3:45 - 5:00 p.m.

For over twenty-five years, Tony Fisher has been serving publishers with production and management expertise. His broad experience in design, production, management, and marketing makes him an effective leader in managing all of Brown’s operations.

In the early 1970s, Tony worked as a production specialist and designer in the magazine field and then became a graphic specialist for Ginn and Company. In 1984, he joined the production staff at D.C. Heath as the Senior Production Coordinator, where he managed every aspect of the production of K–8 basal programs. Tony moved into the sales/service arena in the late 1980s and worked for six years as an account executive for Color Associates, Inc. Just prior to joining Brown as Director of Production, in 1995, Tony held the position of National Sales and Marketing Manager of Interactive Composition Corporation in California.

As Vice President of Brown, Tony’s top priority is providing our clients with a balanced set of services across all departments, supported by sound communication strategies and state-of-the-art equipment.

Emily Garner
Marketing and Creative Services Manager
Quality Education Data

Eavesdrop On The Experts Series - Session 1:
Solutions and Strategies for Supplemental Materials Marketers in Today's Challenging Time of Change
Thursday, June 5, 2008
3:45 - 5:00 p.m.

Emily Garner is the Marketing and Creative Services Manager for Quality Education Data, a division of Scholastic Inc., the global children’s publisher. In this role Emily directs the marketing activities of QED; manages QED’s two well respected conferences, QED’s Education Marketers’ Forum and EdNET; and in 2006 launched the Creative Services department, an advertising and marketing agency for QED clients that provides marketing consultation, graphic design, copywriting, web services, printing, and mailing.

Emily has worked in marketing and advertising throughout her career, starting as a copywriter at several advertising agencies. Prior to joining QED Emily founded and managed an advertising and marketing firm specializing in library and education marketing.

Emily recently had an article published in the Expert's Guide to the K-12 School Market. Emily holds a Masters of Library and Information Science from Emporia State University and a Bachelor of Science from Appalachian State University.

Steve Gatland
Leader of Major Accounts
Market Data Retrieval

Eavesdrop On The Experts Series - Session 1:
Solutions and Strategies for Supplemental Materials Marketers in Today's Challenging Time of Change
Thursday, June 5, 2008
3:45 - 5:00 p.m.

Steve Gatland, MDR Leader of Major Accounts, leads a team of account executives that manage MDR’s largest and most sophisticated customers. During his 14 years of leadership at MDR, Steve has worked hand-in-hand with leading school marketers to improve sales and marketing performance and is an expert at helping our largest customers maximize solutions to drive strategy. Steve is a leading voice of MDR product innovation, regularly linking industry dynamics to MDR’s product development process. Prior to joining MDR, Steve held sales and marketing positions within the ed-tech and educational non-profit segments.

Richard Gay
Purchasing Manager with the Division of Fiscal Services
Baltimore County Public Schools

School Purchasing in a Virtual World
Thursday, June 5, 2008
2:00 - 3:15 p.m.

Richard L. “Rick” Gay joined Baltimore County Public Schools in September of 2001 as the Purchasing Manager with the Division of Fiscal Services in the Business Services Department. Prior to coming to Baltimore County Public Schools he worked for the Plano Independent School District near Dallas, Texas, and the Clear Creek Independent School District south of Houston, Texas. He has over 30 years of experience in increasingly responsible administrative management and staff positions with the military, federal and state government, academia, corporate business, and public education.

Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) is the 24th largest school system in the country with over 163 campus locations sitting on over 600 square miles serving 109,000 students and 17,000 administrators, faculty, and staff. The Purchasing Department strives to offer a fair and equitable bidding environment and to encourage minority and small business participation in all contracts for a $1.4 billion budget. Since September 2001 he has moved BCPS aggressively in the development of an on-line electronic catalog purchasing system. In the past six years they have processed over 34,800 electronic purchase orders valued at $13.8 million, with 38 catalogs and over 450,000 line items offered by 210 vendors. Since implementing their eProcurement Platform, BCPS has dramatically reduced the number of purchase orders from a high of 31,189 in 2000 to 8,400 in FY 2007, a reduction of over 75 percent. They estimate that this has allowed the school system to reallocate back to the classroom in excess of $500K per year. At the same time they have generated over $900,000 in revenues from vendor rebates.

Under Mr. Gay’s leadership the Office of Purchasing has been awarded The National Purchasing Institute’s Achievement of Excellence in Procurement award in 2005, 2006, and 2007. This prestigious award is earned by those organizations that demonstrate excellence in innovation, professionalism, productivity, e-procurement, and leadership attributes of the procurement organization. During 2006-2007 he served as the President of the Association of School Business Officials for Maryland and the District of Columbia. He retired from the United States Army Reserve after 28 years in 2006 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Mr. Gay has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Administration. He earned his Master’s Degree in Public Administration in 1991 and his MBA in 1997.

Charlene Gaynor
CEO
The Association of Educational Publishers

International Sales—Marketing U.S. Educational Materials in the Middle East
Friday, June 6, 2008
2:00 - 3:15 p.m.

Charlene F. Gaynor is CEO of the Association of Educational Publishers. AEP safeguards the professional and business interests of the country's leading print and digital supplemental publishers. Supported by over 500 members of all media and sizes, AEP provides the information, training, and outreach necessary to the development of quality K-12 publications, software and instructional materials. It facilitates communication between key interest groups such as educators, policy makers, foundations, associations, business and the media. AEP also seeks to increase public awareness of the importance of a wide range of learning resources to successful teaching and learning.

Charlene is a graduate of Marquette University. She came to AEP from Learning, a national magazine for elementary teachers, where she was publisher. Charlene has over 20 years experience in startups and turnarounds. She is an alumna of the Stanford Professional Publishing Course and the Center for Creative Leadership. She has served on the advisory boards of the Bicentennial Commission of the United States, the Learning Center of Philadelphia, and the Rowan University School of Communications.

Daniel Ginsberg
Vice President of Product Management
SchoolNet, Inc.

Jumping on the Digital Bandwagon - Where's the ROI?
Friday, June 6, 2008
2:00 - 3:15 p.m.

Daniel Ginsberg is currently the Vice President of Product Management at SchoolNet, Inc., an education technology company that markets data-rich instructional management solutions to school districts.  For the past six years, Daniel has built and launched a variety of products and features spanning reporting dashboards, curriculum management systems, assessment engines and collaboration portals. Prior to working at SchoolNet, he worked at Centerseat, Inc., a digital media company, building rich-media asset management solutions.  Daniel was also a middle school science teacher at the Elias Howe Middle School (PS 51) in Manhattan.

Neal Goff
President
Weekly Reader Publishing Group

The AEP Great American Education Forum
Friday, June 6, 2008
8:45 - 10:30 a.m.

Neal Goff has spent most of the last two decades in the publishing industry, much of that time involved in children's and educational publishing. From 1982 to 1993, Neal worked at Time Inc., where he held senior positions at Time-Life Books and Book-of-the-Month Club. While there, he led the start-up of Children's Book-of-the-Month Club and managed the club through its initial launch to profitability. Neal later became President of Prentice Hall Direct, which at the time was the direct-marketing division of Simon & Schuster, and President of Scholastic Library (formerly Grolier) Publishing.

He joined Weekly Reader in February of 2004, when it was a division of WRC Media. (WRC's owner, Ripplewood Holdings, acquired The Reader's Digest Association in March of 2007, at which time Weekly Reader became part of RDA.) Neal was named President of Weekly Reader in October of 2005. In the fall of 2006, he became President of the Weekly Reader School Publishing Group, with managerial responsibility for Weekly Reader magazines and books, Gareth Stevens Publishing, and World Almanac Education Library Services.

Neal graduated from Trinity College in Hartford, CT, and has an MBA from the Columbia Graduate School of Business. He is a former Board member of the Association of American Publishers, the Book Industry Study Group, and of AuthorHouse, the leading self-publishing company based in Bloomington, IN.

Michael Gold
Principal
West Gold Editorial

Tune Up Your Web Site
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
12:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Susan West and Michael Gold are principals of West Gold Editorial, a San Francisco-based consulting firm that specializes in launching and improving publications and Web sites. They have worked with such prominent Web publishers as Time Inc./AOL, Consumer Reports, WebMd, the George Lucas Educational Foundation, BabyCenter, Discovery Communications, British Medical Journal Publishing, and Berkleemusic (the online Extension School of Berklee College of Music). In the realm of print publishing, Susan and Michael helped launch Dwell, UCLA, and University Business magazinesand have advised Reader's Digest, PCWorld, Inc., Cooking Light, FamilyFun, Avalon Publishing Group's Moon Travel books, the AARP Bulletin,and Heifer International, among others.

Before establishing their consultancy in 1994, Susan and Michael were founding editors of Hippocrates magazine, now the Time Inc. title Health, which won four National Magazine Awards during their tenure. Michael was Managing Editor and Executive Editor at Health. Susan served as Senior Editor as well as a developmental editor for Time Inc. Ventures, creating editorial plans for several new magazine ideas. Susan also is a former Executive Editor of Smithsonian magazine.

Jim Grant
Founder and Executive Director
Staff Development for Education

The Death of Common Sense in the Classroom
Thursday, June 5, 2008
9:00 - 10:15 a.m.

Edu-Trends
Thursday, June 5, 2008
2:00 - 3:15 p.m.

Jim Grant is an internationally renowned educator and popular author. Fellow educators regard him as one of America’s most passionate advocates for children. He is the founder and executive director of Staff Development for Educators, the nation’s leading provider of professional development training for educators. Jim’s mission began more than three decades ago when he served as both a principal and a classroom teacher in New Hampshire. It was then that his life goal became STOP SCHOOL FAILURE. His unique style and energy have made Jim Grant one of the country’s most sought-after education speakers. A former New Hampshire governor has referred to Jim as “a cross between Buffalo Bill and Mother Teresa.”

Charles Halpin
Director of Market Development for Bowker’s Supply Chain Group
R.R. Bowker

School Purchasing in a Virtual World
Thursday, June 5, 2008
2:00 - 3:15 p.m.

Charles Halpin is the Director of Market Development for Bowker’s Supply Chain Group. Charles has more than 20 years of book publishing experience with companies including McGraw-Hill, Macmillan, Berlitz and Reed Elsevier. He has served on the boards of the AAP (Association of American Publishers), the BISG (Book Industry Study Group) and the Executive Committee of the PSP (Professional and Scholarly Publishers) in the United States, in addition to serving as treasurer and board member of the DPA (Directory and Database Publishers Association) in the UK and directors panel of the International ISBN Agency in Berlin.

Charles has focused on book industry supply chain issues since 1999, first as the chairman of Pubnet and subsequently as general manager of the Bowker Supply Chain businesses in 2003 when Bowker purchased Pubnet, the book industry EDI system, and PubEasy, a book community ordering and information tool now used by all major trade publishers in the US and UK markets.

Charles has an MBA degree from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France, and a BA from Hobart College in Geneva, New York.

Namir Hanna
Managing Director
Rearden Educational

International Sales—Marketing U.S. Educational Materials in the Middle East
Friday, June 6, 2008
2:00 - 3:15 p.m.

Namir Hanna is Managing Director of Rearden Educational. He started his career working in schools in France and Lebanon, moving up from the archive room all the way to Principal. He launched Rearden Educational in 1991 as a company supplying textbooks to schools in Lebanon and, subsequently, to other neighboring countries. In 1997, Rearden became an agent for French and British publishers and in 2003 opened its first regional office in Dubai, UAE. Rearden Educational has become a unique company in the Middle East through the basket of services it offers to schools and publishers, namely: Educational Marketing, Publisher Consulting, School Consulting, Teacher Recruitment, Teacher Training, and Conferencing. Through the wealth of knowledge it has on the Middle East market, Rearden began publishing The Middle East Educator, the only magazine on education in the Middle East and Arab World. In the pride and joy department, Rearden runs its concept children's bookstore Kidshop and Mustard.

Namir holds a BS in Mathematics from Bowling Green State University. He has only taught one period of Mathematics in his entire career in schooling. He claims that it was a very good period.

Andrés Henríquez
Program Officer and Manager, Adolescent Literacy Project
Carnegie Corporation

Beacon Luncheon Speaker
Friday, June 6, 2008
12:30 –1:45 p.m.

Andrés Henríquez is Program Officer and Manager, Adolescent Literacy Project in Carnegie Corporation of New York's national program where he oversees the Corporation's Advancing Literacy initiative. Prior to joining the Corporation, Henríquez served as the Assistant Director for Strategic Planning, Center for Children and Technology (CCT) at the New York offices of the Education Development Center, Inc. He has also worked at the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Washington, D.C. as an Associate Program Director, responsible for monitoring the Network Infrastructure for Education and assisted with the Research in Education Policy and Practice program. He has served as a Research Coordinator at the Children's Television Workshop and as a senior research analyst at MTV Networks. Henríquez is also a certified teacher and taught for five years at a public elementary school in East Harlem.

Henríquez received his undergraduate degree from Hamilton College and a master degree from Teachers College, Columbia University. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the City University of New York Graduate Center.

Phyllis Hsiao Hillwig
Chief Operating Officer
Words & Numbers

Product Development in a Digital Marketplace
Thursday, June 5, 2008
3:45 - 5:00 p.m.

Phyllis leads the senior management team for Words & Numbers. Under her leadership, she has transformed a small editorial department to one of the largest and most respected content creation companies in the publishing industry. She leads the company’s vision into the digital age with hybrid outsourcing models, automation, and strategic content design.

Phyllis has been sought after by many in and out of the educational publishing. She has been invited to speak at NCTM, EdNet, AEP, and SIIA. She has been cited in industry articles on topics such as outsourcing, the role of training in publishers, and the demand in China for English language products. Phyllis’ mathematics, engineering, and education background has been attractive for government and defense corporations concerned with the lack of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) majors. Currently she is the VP of Education on the Workforce Development board of NDIA (National Defense Industry Association) and a speaker for the Department of Homeland Security University Programs Summit.

After completing four years as a Charles A. Dana Scholar at Lafayette College, Phyllis became a Minority Group Scholar and an Andrew Mellon Fellow at Columbia University. There she received her master's and doctoral degrees in mathematics education.

Rick Hunt
Vice President, Marketing
SharedBook Inc.

Digital Strategies
Friday, June 6, 2008
11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

Rick Hunt joined SharedBook as Vice President, Marketing in November, 2005. SharedBook is a New York-based technology company that offers a collaborative on-demand Reverse Publishing Platform, enabling any business or consumer to become a publisher. SharedBook works with traditional publishers, Web sites and other types of companies to maximize the long tail potential for existing materials.

Rick brings over 20 years of consumer marketing experience to the company from roles of increasing responsibility in Packaged Goods, Publishing, Advertising, Entertainment, and Online Retailing. Most recently, Rick was Vice President, Account Director, with McCann Relationship Marketing/Princeton. Previously, he held positions with Time Warner, Sony, Universal Music, and Kraft Foods. He is also an Adjunct Professor at New York University in the Masters Program in Publishing.

Rick holds an MBA from Yale University and an AB from Harvard College.

Kathy Hurley
Senior Vice President, Strategic Partnerships
Pearson

Surviving Mergers and Acquisitions
Friday, June 6, 2008
11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

Kathy Hurley, Senior Vice President, Strategic Partnerships, for Pearson School Companies, is a 35-year veteran of the education industry. Prior to joining Pearson, Hurley served as Vice President, Education for PLATO Learning. Hurley has also served as the Senior Vice President for NetSchools (prior to its acquisition by PLATO Learning) where her responsibilities included overseeing the Sales, Marketing and Business Development departments of the company.

Hurley's tenure in the education industry also includes her time as Senior Vice President of Education Marketing for The Learning Company and Senior Vice President of Skillsbank Corporation. In addition, Hurley held important positions with IBM, Mindscape, Grolier and DLM.

She currently serves on several key industry and education advisory boards, including, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21), the National School Boards Foundation (NSBF), of which she is Chairman, the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA), Education Industry Association (EIA) and the Foundation for Education Investment (FEI). She is also the former President of the Association of Educational Publishers.

In addition, Hurley has received various awards for her service in the industry. In 2001, Hurley was named the CoSN's first ever Outstanding Private Sector Achievement Award. More recently, in December of 2003, Hurley was inducted into the Association of Educational Publishers' Hall of Fame for her achievements and service to the education technology industry.

Hurley began her career in education working with learning disabled students after receiving her Masters degree at Jersey City State College. To this day she continues to support her undergraduate institution, the University of Dayton by serving on the Advisory Board for the School of Education.

Ginny Hutt
Manager of Research and Evaluation
MMS Education

Break Through the Marketing Clutter
Thursday, June 5, 2008
2:00 - 3:15 p.m.

Ginny Hutt is the Manager of Research and Evaluation for MMS Education in Newtown, PA. Ginny manages all market research projects utilizing online surveys, print questionnaires, focus groups, in-depth interviews and pilot testing as well as data and market analysis. She began her career with MMS in 1992 and has served as the project manager for numerous projects including the Bridges Project, a two-year market research endeavor with PBS stations to evaluate training and prototype resources in elementary schools; the school outreach program for the PBS series, Scientific American Frontiers; the GTE GIFT Program, a grant program for math and science teachers; website development projects; competitive product evaluations; and many others.

A magna cum laude graduate from Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA, Ginny earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Michael Jay
President
Educational Systemics, Inc.

Jumping on the Digital Bandwagon - Where's the ROI?
Friday, June 6, 2008
2:00 - 3:15 p.m.

As founder of Educational Systemics Inc., Michael and his associates create lasting change in how we learn and educate through their work with corporations and educational institutions. Their clients have benefited through increased efficiency, improved understanding of the K-12 market, improved ability to identify and reach their core customers, and the development of innovative yet sustainable solutions. Their diverse expertise representing educational and corporate leadership, market analysis, development, instructional design, and tested knowledge of all facets of K-12 education are married with a vision that generates success for their clients while advancing their vision for education.

A long time educator, Michael taught Science in San Jose, California where he also worked in developing the first set of Technology in the Curriculum materials for the State of California. He left the classroom in 1986 to join Apple Computer's Classroom of Tomorrow (ACOT) research and development project, serve as Apple’s Education Competitive Analyst, and lead major curriculum related marketing initiatives. During his tenure at Apple, he remained a contributor to science education through many projects including being one of the authors of California's Science Framework of 1990.

Michael left Apple Computer to pursue the development of a technology of his design that dynamically indicates the relationship between curriculum, curriculum standards, and instructional resources for which he received patents in 1998. As founder of Mediaseek Technologies, Inc. he laid the groundwork for many of the innovations in standards implementation and instructional resource integration that followed. He continued the development of tools for children and educators as Director of Education Business Development at N2H2 and VP and GM of Brainium Technologies in the following years where he worked on challenges associated with sustainable 1:1 computing in schools.

Michael remains active in the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) of which he was an Education Board member for eight years – co-chair for three and he has helped guide the development of the Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF) Association as he is in his ninth year on its executive board. Michael also has an appointment at Western Washington University as a Research Associate in Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education.

Lisa Graham Keegan
Principal
The Keegan Company

The AEP Great American Education Forum
Friday, June 6, 2008
8:45 - 10:30 a.m.

Lisa Graham Keegan is one of the nation's most passionate - and outspoken - education reform advocates. She is currently Principal Partner at the Keegan Company, where she consults with the education industry in areas of emerging markets, and also writes and speaks on critical issues in American education. Keegan's policy expertise, combined with her history of successfully implementing state-level and national education reforms, has made her a sought after education reform expert who frequently addresses the U.S. Congress, state legislative bodies, business groups, and education organizations.

Mrs. Keegan recently spent from September of 2006 to May of 2008 working with Maricopa County, first as an education and communications consultant, then as Assistant County Manager where she oversaw several departments and managed communications for the Board of Supervisors and County Manager. She left that work in order to devote more time as a volunteer education advisor to the McCain 2008 Campaign for President.

Mrs. Keegan was Chief Executive Officer of Education Leaders Council (ELC) in Washington DC from May 2001 until October 2004. Keegan was a founding member of ELC in 1995 along with five other state school officials, all of whom embraced the advent of market based and accountability reforms in public education. The organization developed a legacy of incubating leading reform projects focused on conquering the realities of implementation over simply espousing ideas. Their largest implementation project, Following the Leaders, involved hundreds of schools in a dozen states who were using the first available technical resources for supporting teachers as they brought standards-based curriculum to the classroom. ELC was on the front lines of education reform at the federal, state, and local levels.

Prior to ELC, Mrs. Keegan spent a decade serving as an Arizona state official, where she led that state's education reform movement. She was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives in 1990 and served two terms. During her tenure, she served as Vice-Chairman and Chairman of the House Education Committee and authored much of Arizona's education reform legislation in the early 1990's. In 1994, she ran for state Superintendent of Public Instruction on a platform of rigorous academic standards, annual testing, stronger accountability, and school choice. She won handily and was reelected in 1998 without formal opposition.

As Arizona Superintendent, Mrs. Keegan advanced teacher-driven academic standards - standards that were nationally praised for their clarity and rigor, fought successfully for the implementation of school choice, including Arizona's landmark charter school and tuition tax credit laws, which together led to Arizona's number one rating in the Manhattan Institute's annual Education Freedom Index. She also led efforts to revise the state's school finance formulas to reflect a commitment to equal access…a job she considers unfinished.

Mrs. Keegan's leadership in Arizona earned her a national reputation as a strong advocate for student-based education policies. In March of 1999, Ms. Keegan was presented with the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation Award for Leadership in Educational Choice. She was honored in the same year by the Republican Women Leaders Forum as Educator of the Year. In 2000, she was education advisor to the John McCain Campaign for President, and was later interviewed by President-Elect Bush for the job of US Secretary of Education. Her work has appeared or been cited in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, Forbes Magazine, Education Week, and Phoenix Magazine.

Mrs. Keegan graduated from Stanford University in 1981 with a Bachelor of Arts in human language. She earned a Masters Degree in communications disorders from Arizona State University (ASU) in 1983. Keegan lives with her husband, the former mayor of Peoria, Arizona and now Justice of the Peace, John Keegan. They have five children and one grandson.

Matt Keller
President
Capstone Press

Digital Bootcamp 101
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
12:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Matt Keller’s career has been entirely in educational publishing. He started out as a college sales representative for Prentice-Hall. Matt then went to work in marketing for special needs students at AGS Publishing. He began as a product manager, eventually becoming vice president of marketing. From there Matt moved into the school library publishing market as vice president of marketing for Capstone Publishers and is now president of Capstone Press.

Scott Kirkpatrick
President
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) Learning Technology

The Roadmap to the Digital Future
Thursday, June 5, 2008
10:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

Scott is the President of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) Learning Technology, one of the divisions of HMH Publishing Company. HMH Learning Technology offers a rich portfolio of curriculum-based technology solutions and services for all subject areas. The division represents the coming together of Riverdeep with the technology divisions of Houghton Mifflin (i.e. Earobics, SkillsTutor) and Harcourt (i.e. Classroom Connect). Scott was named President upon inception of the division in March of 2007. Scott joined Houghton Mifflin in 2006 as Vice President of Operations Strategy. At Houghton Mifflin, he led a number of strategic initiatives, most notably the due diligence and integration of Houghton Mifflin and Riverdeep. Prior to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Scott was a strategy consultant at both The Callidon Group and The Parthenon Group, where he focused on advising clients in the information and publishing industries. Mr. Kirkpatrick was also a United States Coast Guard officer, where he served as a division manager aboard a Coast Guard Cutter, a financial officer at Coast Guard Headquarters, and an aide to the President of the United States. Scott holds an M.B.A. from MIT’s Sloan School of Management with High Honors and a B.S. in Economics & Management from the United States Coast Guard Academy, where he was Valedictorian.

Kim Kleeman
President
Shakespeare Squared

Product Development in a Digital Marketplace
Thursday, June 5, 2008
3:45 - 5:00 p.m.

Kim Kleeman is president of Shakespeare Squared, the innovative, full-service educational development company that provides editorial services to both textbook and trade book publishers. As “the educated choice,” Shakespeare Squared meets its clients’ individual needs.
 
Kleeman graduated from Loyola University of Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in English and a 6–12 teaching certificate. Before co-founding Shakespeare Squared, she spent five years instructing elementary and secondary school students.
 
Inc. magazine identified Shakespeare Squared as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the United States. Working Mother Media also recognized it as one of the 25 Best Small Companies for working parents.

Kleeman continues to develop unique ways to support education. She recently founded UpGrade Education, a publisher of multimedia educational products, and the Shakespeare Squared Foundation, a not-for-profit that offers student teaching scholarships. For these reasons and more, Kleeman is an agent of change in education and in educational publishing.

Martin Knott
CEO
Moodlerooms

Pricing 2.0
Thursday, June 5, 2008
3:45 - 5:00 p.m.

Martin is a respected Baltimore business owner and entrepreneur and has founded and funded numerous start-ups. He brings to Moodlerooms 30 years of senior-level experience within a multitude of industries. Most recently, he established The Shepherd Group, a retained executive search firm, after serving as Managing Director of three global search firms. Prior to entering the search business, he was owner/CEO of an engineering and construction company serving the Mid-Atlantic region and Chairman of a major real estate holding company.

Wendy La Duke
President and Group Publisher, Education Technology Group
1105 Media

Surviving Mergers and Acquisitions
Friday, June 6, 2008
11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

Ms. La Duke has been involved in education technology publishing for more than 20 years, holding positions in sales, operations, and management at T.H.E. Journal, the oldest, continuously published magazine covering the education technology market. Ms. La Duke joined 101communications in April 2005, broadening her responsibilities at that time to include Campus Technology and all of 101’s ancillary education technology products. During her career, in addition to managing the print operations, content, and circulation for T.H.E Journal, Ms. La Duke has overseen the development and expansion of numerous online properties and creation of T.H.E. Institute, which provides professional development and consulting services for the education technology market.

Ms. La Duke holds a BA in Economics from California State University, Long Beach. She is an active member of the Consortium for School Networking, International Society for Technology in Education, Centers for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, and State Educational Technology Directors Association.

Janet Rhodes Lathan
Teacher
Archbishop Carroll, Washington, DC

Teacher Login
Friday, June 6, 2008
11:00 a.m.- 12:15 p.m.

Janet Rhodes Lathan has a Masters in Math and Computer Science and has worked with students from age two through Senior citizens. Currently she is focusing on closing the Math and Digital divides by promoting Robotics and IT instruction, K-12. As a FIRST Senior mentor for the Washington, DC Metro area, Ms. Lathan facilatates and supports robotics teams for ages 6 through high school. As IT instructor and curriculum developer at Archbishop Carroll HS in Washington, DC, Ms. Lathan develops and teaches hands-on courses based on ELO's, Essential Learning Objectives.

Margery Mayer
President of Scholastic Education and Executive Vice President
Scholastic Inc.

The AEP Great American Education Forum
Friday, June 6, 2008
8:45 - 10:30 a.m.

Margery Mayer is President of Scholastic Education and Executive Vice President of Scholastic Inc. Ms. Mayer oversees the product development, marketing and sales for the Scholastic Education division which includes Intervention, Education Technology, Curriculum Publishing and Professional Development, all of which serve school districts, teachers and children with high quality educational materials.

Ms. Mayer’s work addresses the more than six million middle and high school students who are at risk of failing or dropping out of school because they have not learned to read. In the mid-90’s, she spotted the trend of declining reading scores for middle and high school students and anticipated that traditional teaching methods utilizing textbooks alone would not adequately serve this growing population of struggling readers. She took a bold move and led Scholastic away from the textbook market and into the previously uncharted territory of educational technology for reading intervention, quickly establishing the company as a leader in the field.

Under Ms. Mayer’s leadership, Scholastic developed the premier reading intervention program READ 180®, which includes highly motivating computer instruction, audio/video components, small group teacher-led instruction, and high-interest books written at low reading levels. READ 180 is revolutionizing the way that educators and the education industry think about young people, particularly adolescents, who are struggling readers; the program is used in more than 12,000 classrooms in all 50 states.
Because of Ms. Mayer’s vision and foresight in recognizing the power of technology-based instruction to break the cycle of failure among struggling readers, today Scholastic is a leader in research-based reading intervention programs for children of all ages both across the country and around the world. In 2001, educational technology revenue at Scholastic was close to $20 million; under Ms. Mayer’s guidance, revenue for the division in fiscal year 2007 was over $160 million.

Ms. Mayer was instrumental in Scholastic’s acquisition of Tom Snyder Productions, marking the Company’s foray into supplemental math technology programs, such as FASTT Math. She also oversaw the development of WiggleWorks, a K-2 reading program available in English, Spanish and French and used by thousands of schools; ReadAbout:®, an education technology program helping students in grades 3-8 to master nonfiction reading skills and academic vocabulary; and Scholastic Zip Zoom English, which supports beginning English-Language Learners in Grades K–3 in developing critical language and reading skills. She also pioneered the solutions and services arm of Scholastic Education, which includes Scholastic Red®, an online and in-person professional development program, Scholastic Achievement Manager (SAM), a revolutionary system for managing reading achievement with data-driven instruction, and Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) the only reading achievement program to provide student Lexile measures for differentiated instruction.

Because of her well-known commitment to increasing adolescent literacy rates, in Spring 2007 Ms. Mayer was selected as a “Readers Favorite” on the Fast Company magazine annual “Fast 50” list of people doing extraordinary things. She is also one of Pink Magazine’s 2008 “Top 15 Women in Business: The Innovators.”

After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Middlebury College, Ms. Mayer received her Masters in Management from the Sloan School at MIT. Ms. Mayer is currently Chairman of the School Executive Committee of the American Association Publishers (AAP). She is married with two children.

Paula Maylahn
Industry Consultant

Search Engine Optimization
Friday, June 6, 2008
2:00 - 3:15 p.m.

Paula Maylahn is a publishing consultant specializing in sales and marketing strategy development, branding, information architecture, content management, and marketing communications. Prior to her consultancy work, Paula was Senior Vice President of Marketing for the Pearson School Companies, where she oversaw revenue-generating direct marketing, e-marketing, cross-company branding, strategic communications, and international marketing for school products and services. In fact, Paula is unusual in that she has deep and wide experience across the entire K-16 publishing spectrum. In addition to her K-12 work with Pearson, she previously held a variety of senior management roles in the Higher Education and Professional Group where, in addition to overseeing design and production activities for all in-house print and media projects, she helped formulate digital publishing standards in such problem-prone areas as advanced mathematics, chemical notation, molecular modeling, and complex technical illustration. Paula has served as an industry spokesperson for publishing associations and has served as a guest speaker at NYU's Masters in Publishing Program.

Joe McDonough
Director of Advertising Sales
HotChalk, Inc.

Pricing 2.0
Thursday, June 5, 2008
3:45 - 5:00 p.m.

As Director of Adverting Sales with HotChalk, Joseph McDonough is
responsible for all the marketing partnerships made with HotChalk and the HotChalk Network. HotChalk offers K-12 schools a robust and easy to use learning management system, career development, and content options from partners such as NBC News, PBS, National Geographic, and McGraw-Hill. The HotChalk Network is a network of over 50 education focused websites which gives publishers an opportunity to better monetize their sites by being part of one of the largest education properties online today.

For over eight years, Joe has worked in the publishing industry with a concentration on creating value for publishers online. Prior to working with HotChalk, he was with Technology & Learning working on many online initiatives and before that was the Director of Online Sales for CMP Media's Music Player Group. There he helped develop new online assets and programs that brought the group into new media for the first time. Joe's focus is making sure web properties are enjoyable and important for the end user while also providing a profit for publishers.

Susan Meell
CEO
MMS Education

Break Through the Marketing Clutter
Thursday, June 5, 2008
2:00 - 3:15 p.m.

Susan Keipper Meell is CEO of MMS Education (MMS), a full service education consulting, product development, marketing, sales and data services organization. Since its founding in 1977, MMS has helped companies and organizations bring their products and programs to the education market. With its experienced staff and national network of education specialists, MMS is well equipped to conceive, develop, research, market, sell and/or fulfill products and services on behalf of its clients.

Since Susan joined MMS in1986, she has worked with clients primarily in the areas of sales, sales training, direct marketing, product development and market research. MMS has been honored to work with a prestigious roster of clients, including The Walt Disney Company, Time Warner, Educational Testing Service, Prentice Hall, Evan-Moor, Pearson Learning, PBS, National Science Foundation and the Verizon Foundation.

Prior to joining MMS, Susan worked in publishing in Boston and then in marketing for Education Management Corporation, a national proprietary-education company. All together, she has been involved in the education industry for more than 25 years and is a liberal arts graduate of Miami University of Ohio.

Joel Packer
Director of Educational Policy and Practice (EPP)
NEA

The AEP Great American Education Forum
Friday, June 6, 2008
8:45 - 10:30 a.m.

Joel Packer currently serves as Director of Educational Policy and Practice (EPP) for the National Education Association. NEA represents 3.2 million public school teachers, educational support professionals, and higher education faculty. As director, Mr. Packer leads a staff of 20 and oversees NEA's primary policy center on elementary and secondary education issues. The Department has staff responsible for school readiness, standards/curriculum, testing/accountability, teaching and learning conditions, quality educator workforce, parent/family involvement, education funding, special education, high school reform, 21st century skills/STEM issues, English Language Learners, vouchers, and charters.

Mr. Packer also oversees NEA's policy work on the reauthorization of ESEA. In addition, EPP serves as NEA's lead liaison with the U.S. Department of Education.

In his 24 years at NEA he previously served as Manager for ESEA Policy and a federal lobbyist covering a variety of issues including class size reduction, school modernization, higher education, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Brady bill, school prayer, civil rights, judicial nominations, health care, pension and tax issues, environmental hazards in schools, and regulatory reform. He has testified numerous times before congressional committees and spoken before a broad range of organizations including the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Center on Education Policy, the National League of Cities, the Council of State Governments, and the National Association of State Boards of Education.

Mr. Packer has also served as President of the Committee for Education Funding, a coalition of some 100 national education organizations; co-chair of the National Strategy Committee of Citizens For Sensible Safeguards; chair of the lobbying task force of the Family and Medical Leave coalition; co-chair of the Leadership Conference for Civil Rights' lobby task force on the Civil Rights Restoration Act; and co-chair of the lobby task force of the coalition opposing the Supreme Court nomination of Robert Bork. He has worked on education policy issues for 32 years.

Prior to joining NEA in 1983, Mr. Packer was Assistant Director of Government Relations with the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges and Legislative Director of the United States Student Association.

Chris Palma
Strategic Partner Development
Google Book Search

Search Engine Optimization
Friday, June 6, 2008
2:00 - 3:15 p.m.

Chris Palma is a Strategic Partner Development Manager in the Content Acquisition group at Google, in support of Google Book Search. He is responsible for developing partnerships with book publishers of all types, in the Western U.S., Australia, and New Zealand.

Mr. Palma spent 15 years in scholarly publishing (Yale University Press, Harvard University Press) before joining Palo Alto-based ebrary, where he was Vice President of Content and Business Development for this leading provider of eBooks to the institutional library market.

He was a member of the American Association of Publishers eBook Steering Committee and has been a speaker and/or panelist at various industry events, including the PSP and AAUP annual meetings.

Mr. Palma holds a B.S. in Economics from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.

Steve Potash
President and CEO
OverDrive, Inc.

Digital Strategies
Friday, June 6, 2008
11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

Steve Potash is President and CEO of OverDrive, Inc., a company he founded in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1986. Under his leadership OverDrive has become the leading provider of digital book technologies and Digital Rights Management solutions for publishers, retailers, and libraries. OverDrive is a key technology supplier and distributor of eBook and download audio book for hundreds of US and foreign publishers, online retailers, and major public libraries. Current customers include Microsoft Corporation, Time Warner, Adobe Systems, HarperCollins, McGraw-Hill, and dozens of leading libraries coast-to-coast including Cleveland Public, New York Public, and King County Public Library (WA).

John Richards
President
Consulting Services for Education

Innovative Digital Distribution
Thursday, June 5, 2008
3:45 - 5:00 p.m.

John has been a leader in the educational technology industry for more than 25 years. Throughout his career, he has built partnerships with most major companies in education and has strong working relationships with leaders who respect his innovative approach to solving their specific problems.

John has held senior-level positions at several well-respected education and media companies including The JASON Foundation for Education; Turner Learning, the educational arm of Turner Broadcasting; and Educational Technologies at BBN Systems and Technologies. He has a history of designing and publishing award-winning, multi-disciplinary educational materials in mathematics, language arts, science, and social studies. Over the years John has raised more than $75 million in grants and awards. He has served on boards for a variety of education groups including NECC; Cable in the Classroom; Software Information Industry Association (SIIA), Education Market section; and Association of Educational Publishers (AEP). John's projects have won him numerous awards including two Golden Lamps and several CODIEs, as well as several EMMY nominations. He is an internationally recognized leader in merging media and technology with educational needs and has taught at M.I.T and the University of Georgia. He is a respected keynote speaker and is the author/editor of three books and over 60 articles. Currently, John is writing Log On Tune In: The Impact of Converging Media on Learning.

Roger Rosen
President
Rosen Publishing Group

Digital Bootcamp 101
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
12:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Roger Rosen is president of Rosen Publishing, an independent publisher that has provided supplemental educational books and materials to libraries and K-12 schools since 1950. Roger became president of the company in 1980, and has grown the annual publishing program from 65 books to more than 600 titles covering all curriculum areas.

In 2007, the company launched a new digital division, Rosen Online. This division’s first database, Teen Health and Wellness: Real Life, Real Answers, won Library Journal’s Best Reference Sources of 2007, was hailed as a "must have" product in School Library Journal's "2007 Top 10 Digital Resources", and was selected as winner of AEP's 2007 Distinguished Achievement Award in the category of Educational Websites for Specialized Instruction.

Sol Rosenberg
VP, Marketing, Publishing & Media Solutions
Value Chain International, Ltd.

Digital Strategies
Friday, June 6, 2008
11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

At the forefront of “publishing technology” for over a decade, Sol Rosenberg is the leading expert at digital publishing & marketing strategies for global publishers. Mr. Rosenberg leads the USA Publishing Solutions group for Value Chain International, Ltd. a global provider of Digital Publishing Solutions. He has worked to streamline operations and provide XML / electronic publishing solutions at major publishers such as McGraw-Hill, Thomson, Taylor & Francis, Pearson, Random House, John Wiley, Simon & Schuster, World Book, Encyclopaedia Britannica and many others.

This blending of communications and high-technology goes back to 1985, when Mr. Rosenberg began the first nationally syndicated radio show focusing on computers. He started Futurevision Multimedia, a software publishing Company, which was later acquired by The Learning Company. Mr. Rosenberg also served in executive management roles with The Learning Company, developing high-profile electronic reference properties with major publishers worldwide.

Michael Ross
Senior VP, Education General Manager
Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Roadmap to the Digital Future
Thursday, June 5, 2008
10:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

Digital Strategies
Friday, June 6, 2008
11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

Michael Ross is the Senior Vice President, Education General Manager, at Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., where he heads worldwide electronic and print publishing. Prior to joining Britannica in 2002, he was the Executive Vice President and Publisher of World Book, Inc., and has held executive positions at other publishing companies, including NTC Publishing Group. He began his publishing career as an editor for Time-Life Books and worked for three years in their Tokyo bureau.

His products and publications have won the highest industry awards, including the Distinguished Achievement and the Golden Lamp Awards from the Association of Educational Publishers; the GLI Award, presented at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair; Learning Magazine’s Teacher’s Choice Award; PC Magazine’s Editor’s Choice Award; Parent’s Choice Award; Family PC’s Top 100 Award; and the Software & Information Industry Association’s Codie Award.

Michael served on the executive committee and the board of directors of the Association of Educational Publishers, including a term as president from 2002 to 2003. He also serves on the board of Intellisophic, the world’s largest provider of taxonomic content. He is listed in Who’s Who in America and in October 2002 was inducted into Printmedia’s Production Executives’ Hall of Fame.

He has contributed to several industry publications, including the Experts’ Guide to the K-12 School Market. His first book, Publishing without Borders, was published in 2003. He is frequently invited to speak at international conferences on electronic publishing, strategic alliances, and licensing.

He has a B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of Minnesota, an M.A. from Brandeis University, and a certificate from Stanford University’s Advanced Management College.

Seth Russo
VP International Sales & Marketing
Scholastic Inc.

International Sales—Marketing U.S. Educational Materials in the Middle East
Friday, June 6, 2008
2:00 - 3:15 p.m.

Seth Russo is a graduate of SUNY-Albany, holding a degree in political science. He started his career in publishing in 1983 in the Marketing Department of Bantam Doubleday Dell, becoming Director of Asia Sales in 1987. In 1992, Seth accepted the position of Vice President of International Sales at Simon & Schuster, a position he held until 1997 when he joined Scholastic Inc., as Vice President of International Sales/Director of Marketing. He is responsible for Scholastic's international Trade and Education business and oversees an international sales team with members based in Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, and South America who help the company achieve its goal of bringing learning and literacy to children throughout the world.

Kathleen M. Sheehy
2008 Teacher of the Year – Washington DC

Teacher Login
Friday, June 6, 2008
11:00 a.m.- 12:15 p.m.

A first grade teacher at Anthony J. Hyde Elementary School, who has been teaching at Hyde for five years. She also serves as a Lead Teacher for the Teachers Institute Writing Project, an innovative professional development organization that works to develop best practices in the areas of reading and writing throughout the District of Columbia.

She is a 2001 gradua