WCET 2.0

The team at Sage Road Solutions has taken on a project that is near and dear to my heart. I am pleased to tell you that WICHE (the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education) signed a professional services agreement with my company, naming me as WCET’s new executive director. 

WCET is a membership cooperative of institutions and organizations dedicated to advancing access and excellence in higher education through the innovative use of technology. WCET has been in business for 21 years. We used to be the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications, from back in the days when we in the western US were trying to figure out things like how to cross a LATA line. Things have evolved since those early days. Now, as they say, WCET doesn't mean anything. 

Grrrrr. I KNOW that what people mean to say is that WCET is not an acronym. But it still really rubs me the wrong way to ever hear it said that WCET means nothing. Because it has mattered to me, in a variety of ways, for a very long time. 

Just how long, the chorus asks in unison??

Since my assistant professor days at the University of Northern Colorado. Back when I ran the new distance learning institute for UNC's college of continuing education. Again, after working at WCET as a visiting scholar and project director during my university sabbatical. When I left higher education it offered me a safe haven for staying plugged in to the needs and issues of educational technology practitioners. When I came back to WCET as a member of Macromedia's corporate marketing team I was welcomed anyway. That’s kind of a joke, but as many corporate members will affirm, higher education membership associations can be lonely places for their corporate members. But not so at WCET. They elected me to serve as a member of the Executive Council – and even gave me a lifetime achievement award, the Richard Jonsen Award, in 2008.

After all that, you really didn’t really think I could stay away, did you?

I am especially pleased that the terms of our engagement mean that my Sage Road business partner, Beth Davis, will also be participating in the “new” WCET as our business strategist. Many of my WCET colleagues don't come from the world of software so they may not understand what a really big deal this is. Until I mention Dreamweaver, the HTML tool that transformed the Web. Beth introduced Dreamweaver to the world. Dreamweaver was her first step on her way to being a general manager of the products business at Macromedia. Needless to say, but I will anyway - she is wicked smart about identifying, defining and capitalizing on new market opportunities. 

In the spirit of the new economy, we made a proposal to WICHE President David Longanecker that we focus on renewal, refocusing and re-engaging in the learning tech communities. We asked for a one year contract, designed for flexibility in a time of economic uncertainly. Sage Road will provide executive leadership oversight and management for the next calendar year on a renewable contract. We will be responsible for very specific deliverables that ensure WCET is positioned for success in the post-recession world of post-secondary services and support.

We will be bringing you a first look at WCET 2.0 next month, January 2010. We believe there is a unique place for a community of academic learning technology professionals and the vendors that serve them. Between now and them we have a lot of work to do to make sure that focus on  places where we maximize value and impact. 

Given the consequence of inaction, how could we do anything else?