The 2022 Michigan IT Symposium was held November 16 and 17, co-chaired by Dush Fernando, director of Support Services, LSA, and Asmat Noori, assistant director, ITS, with a total of 592 members of the Michigan IT community participating over both days.
Day 1 of the symposium kicked off with 359 people joining virtually to watch a leadership presentation by Ravi Pendse, vice president for information technology and chief information officer, and a keynote address entitled, “Transforming Relationships in Physical and Digital Spaces” by Dr. Tazin Daniels. The day wrapped up with a poster session with 13 poster presenters.
Day 2 was a full-day event in a hybrid format that allowed attendees to gather in-person at the Michigan League or virtually via Zoom. There were 163 attendees in-person and 310 on-line who participated in 20 breakout sessions. A few session topics were, “The New Normal – Pandemic Changed the Expectations” panel discussion; “Straight Talk: Using Strategic Communication for High Impact Results;” and “Preparing for a Crisis: An Introduction to Business Continuity and IT Disaster Recovery.” The Spotlight speaker, Bhargav Sri Prakash, presented virtually from India. He is an U-M alum and founder & CEO of FriendsLearn, and talked about “Digital Vaccines: Can an AI enabled metaverse save us from ourselves?”
Returning to an in-person experience was a goal for the planning committee while taking advantage of the benefits of what was learned virtually the previous two years. Providing a hybrid format required more coordination and resources but was very much appreciated by participants. Challenges aside, it allowed the flexibility needed to participate in the symposium, either in person, virtually, or both.
Using Fourwaves, a new SaaS platform, allowed presenters and attendees new ways to experience all aspects of the symposium. As an all-in-one tool, it allowed presenters and participants to submit, register, and attend from a common interface. Many aspects proved to be worthwhile and the planning committee appreciates everyone’s patience and flexibility in trying it out this year.
The Michigan IT Steering Committee thanks presenters and attendees for taking the time to participate in the annual Michigan IT Symposium. Sharing innovative topics and ideas and taking time out of your busy schedules to meet, learn and grow as a community is worthwhile for building a stronger Michigan IT – together.
Videos of most sessions have been posted to the 2022 Michigan IT Symposium website. Unfortunately recordings for sessions in the Vandenberg Room on November 17 were not captured properly and are unavailable for posting. The symposium planning committee apologizes for the inconvenience of this issue.
