Members are encouraged to serve on one of three Council committees. Committee members agree to a one-year commitment to service and meet once a month for a planning session over lunch. Committee membership offers outstanding networking opportunities and an inside look into the operations of the Technology Council. Interested members should contact the Council's office for more details. Our three committees are: Networking & Promotion, Technology Focused Advocacy, and Tech-Smart Pipeline.

Are you gellin? We'll we are. We are proud to announce the new websites for all four partner organizations at region2000.org. Combining the sites into one domain and location will allow our members to quickly find partner services, helping you find the information you need much easier and faster. Special thanks to our newest Tech Council sponsor Blair Marketing for the redesign of our website - great job!

Mining for Money, What You Don't Know Can Hurt You!

Join us for lunch on March 15th as Daniel Markham, President of the Bedford Technology Group will be our guest speaker. Speaking from his experience in management and IT consulting for several Fortune 500 companies, Mr. Markham will share his insight about what makes teams so hard to manage, how businesses quickly grow into situations with “yes men” at the top, and how to get everyone on the same page and working together. Identifying and treating risk is something that any organization with over ten people can benefit from, and Mr. Markham will give out take home tips and tricks to help your teams run better. Effective communication is another critical factor in running any business, and any organization with project teams and a mish-mash of standards, opinions, and protocols will benefit from this presentation.

The Regional Science Fair will be held March 24-25 at CVCC Merritt Hall. Friday March 24 from 7-9 p.m. judges will view the projects without students. On Saturday March 25th from 12:15-3:00 p.m. the judges will talk with students starting at 12:30 and continue until 2:30. The winners will be announced after 2:30 p.m. If you are interested in judging the competition please contact Cheryl Lindeman at 239-4140. This year’s categories include behavioral science, physics, engineering and microbiology.

Untangling the Wires

Join us on April 4, 2006 at Liberty University for Broadband 101, Untangling the Wires. Brought to you by Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology and the Tech Council, this interactive, hands-on workshop will help you understand the jargon, acronyms, benefits and misconceptions about telecommunication technologies commonly known as “broadband.” If you are an individual, IT manager, or business owner that has ever asked the question “How could broadband benefit me?” then this is the workshop for you.

On Friday May 12, CVCC will host its annual Technology Fair on the CVCC campus. This event brings together over 300 technology students from regional high schools in a series of projects and competitions in the area of design and drafting. Projects focus on applications from architectural, civil and mechanical design. As part of this event, we are inviting regional industries to participate by hosting a display and/or demonstration of your company’s work. This display would be from 9:00 – 11:00 AM the morning of May 12. To get your company involved, please contact Bob Bailey at 832-7764.

Mark your calendars now for the Council's 4'th annual Technology Awards Banquet, May 25'th 2006. This year's Keynote speaker will be Aneesh Chopra, Virginia's Secretary of Technology. The event will be held at the Kirkley Hotel from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

During the week of August 7-11, 2006, the Region 2000 Technology Council will team up with CVCC to once again offer a series of career academies for the region’s middle school students. These academies are high-quality career exploration events designed to expose middle school students to a variety of technology careers. This summer the following technology areas will be offered: