My spring 2024 conference season wrapped up with IU’s Statewide IT Conference, which is a conference I’ve looked forward to every year since I started working full-time for IT Training in 2015. I enjoy the opportunity to connect with my colleagues in IT at IU from across campus and across the state and learn more about what everyone’s been working on through all the presentations offered.
This year’s conference had a heavy focus on AI – which isn’t a surprise, given how rapidly things are growing in the AI world. The opening keynote, delivered by Dr. Jessica Barker, gave us all a closer look at the use of AI in cyber crimes, including how deepfake videos are created and how sophisticated some of these scams can be. (I’ll admit, with the amount of videos I’ve narrated for IT Training, I’m a little nervous about the possibilities of what bad actors could do involving audio generated to sound like me!) Many of the breakout sessions also focused on AI, and I attended a workshop that focused on using AI and large-language models like Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT in education that gave me some ideas on how to use Microsoft Copilot to help me with some parts of the course development process at IT Training. (I may write more about that in a future post here.)
It was also good to hear about the state of IT at IU during the closing keynote. With me spending most of my time working in my little corner of IT Training, I don’t often hear about what other areas of UITS are doing unless it comes up in conversation with friends in other departments, so hearing more about what’s going on in the bigger picture of IT at IU is always helpful.
My favorite part of the conference, though, had to be the game room set up in the Distinguished Alumni Room, which was full of games and puzzles supplied by The Toy Chest in Nashville, IN.
I had fun assembling a puzzle there on Tuesday afternoon, and it was a nice quiet spot to sit in on Wednesday morning when I needed a chance to rest and recharge my introvert batteries. 😊
All in all, I think Statewide 2024 turned out really well, and I’m already looking forward to next year’s conference! (Although I sincerely hope there’s more than a week between Statewide and SIGUCCS next year – two conferences in three weeks is exhausting!)