Please plan to join CIO members and invited guests at the April 17 meeting of the Mid-Atlantic CIO Forum. The topic for this meeting is "IT Organizational Issues". IT organizations are evolving and embracing change at more advanced rates as companies grow and react to a more complex, competitive, global market place. In this environment, CIOs are faced with organizational challenges including the changing role of the CIO, the evolution of IT, effective use of mobile workforces, new leadership styles and competencies, effective IT team building techniques, staffing issues, changes in work force skills, generational attitude differences from the effect of baby boomers retiring to the impact of expectations of today's young professionals joining the workforce, outsourcing, crowdsourcing and more. What is effective in enabling communication, overcoming cultural, global and legal challenges, providing sufficient tools, eliminating the gap between management expectations and employee expectations? The IT executive has to examine all these factors and issues in managing an effective, versatile service organization. What does the CIO need to succeed?

To begin the roundtable, a panel of IT resource professionals will share insights on IT organizational and workforce challenges and trends and discuss strategies each sees in the workplace today on these IT organizational issues. The panel includes Cindy A. Sachse, SPHR, Director, Human Relations, McCormick & Co., Inc., John Eckenrode, President and Founder of CPSI, Drew Elburn, Vice President, Business Development, The ACI Group, and Karen Rubenstrunk, Senior Client Partner, in Korn/Ferry International's Information Technology center. The panel will then join into a full roundtable discussion with the meeting participants on further discussion of IT organizational issues, trends and best practices.

In the course of the roundtable discussion, a key focus will examine what colleges and technical institutes are doing to prepare students to successfully meet IT technical skills requirements in the workplace. Dr. Shiva Azadegan, Professor of Computer Science and Acting Chairperson of the Department of Computer and Information Sciences, Towson University; Dr. Chao Lu, Acting Dean of the College of Graduate Studies and Research, Associate Vice President for Research, Towson University; Dr. David A. Vanko, Acting Dean, Fisher College of Science and Mathematics; Dr. Michael O'Leary, Director of the Center for Applied Information Technology at Towson University; Michael S. Schroder, Director, Extended Education and On-Line Learning (EEOL) at Towson University will participate and guide this part of the meeting.

This meeting is a Roundtable Plus meeting. Only CIO members, guest CIOs and guests invited by CIO members for this roundtable will be attending. It is recommended that CIO members invite HR executives from their respective organizations to participate in this roundtable plus meeting. Vendor members do not participate in this type of meeting. The roundtable format will be used and all participants will have signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Staff members who are guests of our CIO members are bound by the NDA signed by the CIO member.

Please join our members at the meeting! The meeting starts at 8:00 AM and ends by 1PM. Brunch and lunch are provided. Pre-registration is required. Meeting logistics including agenda, directions to the meeting place and parking information will be emailed to you after you register. For registration for this meeting, please contact: Bonnie Lawson at blawson@towson.edu or 410-704-4252.

To make inquiries about this meeting or about membership in the Mid-Atlantic CIO Forum, please contact: