The Commerce Times

Connect IT: Connecting Today to Tomorrow

Celebrating its fifth anniversary, Connect IT has grown from a small campus event to one of Canada’s largest student-run Technology Management conferences. With primary goals to expose students to professionals in the fields of business technology management, the Connect IT 2010 conference did that and much more.

“Current students from various years and programs, as well as alumni, attended the conference to hear industrial specialists provide some insight about their respected fields with glimpses of what’s to come in the future. The conference started off with Dave Remmer, an architect advisor from Microsoft Canada who enlightened students of what is required of them in the coming years. Remmer, who is considered an industry veteran, discussed the issues he faced when he started working in the field of IT and prepared students for the future.

A unique session regarding Personal Branding was lectured by Michael Cayley, an entrepreneur and consultant, who helped various companies adopt web based applications. With social networks on the rise, Cayley advised students to keep their online identities rich and vivid. He also explained new trends in the hiring process businesses are adopting, as they now look at social networking websites to determine potential candidates and eventually employees.

“Understand the strategies that will help you maximize the benefits from participating in social networks while also discovering the inherit risks of this evolving space,” said Cayley

Leading to the afternoon was Mathew Milan, Partner and CEO of Normative, a Toronto based design and strategy studio. Being an entrepreneur and a designer, Milan discussed the necessity of strategy in a business. From showcasing his unique model and approach for new business frontiers to the significance of Post-It’s in an organization, the session was informative and lucrative.

The conference then progressed to Professor Kenneth A. Grant, the Director of the Information Technology Program who made an announcement in regards to the change of name of the business program.

The programs name is to change from  Information Technology Management (ITM) to Business Technology Management (BTM), with this year’s graduating class being the first to adopt the degree name. The sole purpose of this change is for the benefits of students pursuing their careers, as BTM helps identify and clarify the true purpose of the program.

The conference proved to be an asset for students and alumni alike. Although a formal event, the atmosphere and people present made it an ease to communicate with new faces. Listening to Professor Grant retell stories of former students and their successes, while sipping a martini, allowed participants to meet industry specialist on a more personal level.

The conference ended with keynote speaker, Don Tapscott.  If you’re wondering who Tapscott is and what he’s about, I encourage doing a quick search on Google. With more than a dozen books, authored or co-authored, and around half a dozen post-secondary degrees, masters and doctorates, Tapscott was more educational than any lecture could ever be (sorry Professors). Tapscott talked about the evolving educating system and how the digital media has changed the way students learn and conceptualize ideas. He also confirmed that as Information Communication Students and with the power of digital media, the future is always within our grasps.