The day started off with Mayor Mark Begich welcoming one and all to IT Expo. Mark admits he's not the most technical guy in the world, but he hit on the projects and initiatives that the Municipality of Anchorage is under taking, such as a total revamping of its website to incorporate a true E-Government functionality. His Chief Information Officer, Fred Carpenter, was there as well, probably to explain some of the new gadgets and services available to us geeks! (I think us geeks scare Mayor Begich!)

Produced by Gonzalez Marketing, IT Expo is THE premier IT event in the great state of Alaska. With over 80 exhibitors and 33 educational sessions, it's not only the place to see what's hot in our industry, but also to see the friends we've made over the years. Educational seminars ranged from Security, Infrastructure, Storage, Programming, Document Management, Presentation to a full series on Microsoft technology.

Alaska is a unique market. With a few exceptions, we don't have a lot of vendors ingrained into our community. Most have to travel up from Seattle or Portland to support the territory. Over the years, and sometimes over multiple jobs, we gain true friendships from our relationships with our vendors. Jon Winthrop, Vice President of Dibon Solutions, Inc. shares "I've been supporting the Alaska Market for about 8 years now. I've gained a lot of close friendships from my travels up here. In fact, just a year ago or so, after being an 'outsider' I decided to purchase property here in Alaska. Though I don't live here fulltime, I truly feel a part of the Alaskan community, and look forward to each and every trip up from Dallas".

A team of dedicated volunteers worked hard to ensure that the sessions offered were top notch! That team consisted of two groups, the management team as well as the conference committee. Members of the Management Team included: Jim Henry, Chair, Dick Jablonowski, Mark Mathis and John Tibor of the Network Users Group of Anchorage. From initial numbers, it looks as if AITP Anchorage will net about $9,500 from this event. Last year, the chapter forwarded the funds earned from the IT Expo to the Stephen D. Gregg Memorial Scholarship Fund. For more information on IT Expo, see http://www.itexpoalaska.com/.

Sponsors for IT Expo 2007 were:

Presenting Sponsor - GCI (General Communications, Inc)

Gold Sponsors:
Structured
World Wide Technology, Inc.
Right! Systems Inc

Silver Sponsors:
The Chariot Group, Inc.
Applied Microsystems, Inc
TEKMATE, Inc.

Patron Sponsors:
The Association of Information Technology Professionals (Anchorage Chapter)
Network Users Group of Anchorage