The OETC CIO Summit
Summit is a one-of-a-kind event — small in scope, enormous in possibility.
We look forward to hosting and connecting with you — as an OETC Member and guest, your food, lodging and fees are all on us; we invite you to stay through the weekend and continue enjoying the community.View the Summit 2022 interest form.
New to Summit? Learn how it works.
Attendee questions? Get the details here.
“There are many technical conferences, but the CIO Summit is about bringing leadership together for specific, relevant topics beyond just how to keep things running.”
— Don Wolff, CTO of Portland Public Schools
The educational technology world is now forever changed — but how do we keep moving forward while supporting teams that have already done the impossible?
We’re welcoming two incredible speakers:
Cassandra WorthyCassandra Worthy is a global thought leader in creating transformative results through an innovative approach that includes mindset, language, and an instantly effective toolkit on thriving through change. Her
client base spans the Fortune 500 and the world including Procter & Gamble, Allstate, Jones Lang LaSalle, Centene Corporation, ConferenceDirect and WeWork.
More about Cassandra
Mark HorstmanMark Horstman, bestselling author of The Effective Manager and co-founder of the highly-regarded Manager Tools will facilitate workshops on effective leadership, giving attendees the chance to collaborate, exchange ideas and try out new tools. His clients include Apple, General Motors, Microsoft, Salesforce and 95% of Fortune 500 companies.
What is Summit?
Peers + Conversation
OETC’s Summit is a retreat tailor-made for top-level technology leaders working in the education space. Bringing peers together to foster meaningful connections and conversation, Summit is the unique chance to discuss challenges and opportunities with your fellow CIOs.Location + Hospitality
Every year, OETC selects a beautiful lodge or resort, then handles all lodging and meals during the event for our members. Let us pick up the tab for lodging, food, and programming; join us for receptions, lawn games and more, then stay through the weekend to socialize and enjoy the view.Partners + Product
Each year, OETC curates a select group of sponsors. Drawing on more than 30 years of experience, we choose just one partner in each space — one that has not just the best technology, but also a proven track record with our members. It’s a unique opportunity to get one-on-one time and see the latest.What do people say about Summit?
What do people say about Summit?
“There are many technical conferences, but the CIO Summit is about bringing leadership together for specific, relevant topics beyond just how to keep things running. It’s about getting together with colleagues in similar positions to talk planning, vision, execution and how to be a good leader. It’s seeing people I’ve known for years, and fostering the long-term connections that make the difference.”
Don Wolff
Chief Technology Officer Portland Public Schools
“It is a unique conference in that it’s all CIO/CTO level folks that are there, and everyone there is your organizational peer. They have an understanding of your issues and challenges that a more broad audience might not; you can start in the middle of a conversation with these folks. There’s nothing else like Summit.”
It’s great to be able to connect with your peers and get a sense of what’s going on, what are you concerned about, what are you working on and what do you see coming down the pike? There’s not enough opportunities to do that, and OETC does a great job of getting that together with Summit.
There’s also the opportunity to connect with vendors who have been selected based on what my interests are — either what I’ve identified as my department’s next steps, or perhaps just something I haven’t seen firsthand but I’ve heard others talking about.”
Allen Miedema
Executive Director for Technology Northshore School District
Our Partners
We’re honored to work with organizations and companies representing everything from Chromebooks to network security; Summit attendees also get the opportunity for one-on-one meetings with partners.
Past Attendees
- Anchorage School District
- Arlington School District
- Ashland School District
- Beaverton School District
- Bonneville Joint School District
- Bozeman Public Schools
- Camas School District
- Centennial School District
- Central Oregon Community College
- Clackamas ESD
- Coeur D’Alene Public Schools
- Corvallis School District
- Crook County Unit School District
- Deer Park School District
- Eastern Washington University
- Everett Public Schools
- Evergreen Public Schools
- Federal Way Public Schools
- Gresham-Barlow School District
- Helena Public Schools
- Highline School District
- Hillsboro School District
- Idaho Digital Learning
- Idaho Falls School District 91
- Intermountain ESD
- Kellog School District
- Kennewick School District
- Linn-Benton-Lincoln ESD
- McMinnville School District
- Mead School District
- Medford School District
- Methow Valley School District
- Newberg School District
- North Clackamas School District
- Northshore School District
- NW Regional ESD
- Oregon City School District 62
- Pasco School District
- Portland State University
- Redmond School District
- Reynolds School District
- Richland School District
- Salem-Keizer School District
- University of Idaho
Past Summits
2019 – Skamania Lodge, WA
With a return to Skamania Lodge, 2019’s event was the largest and most involved yet. Taking place over a packed 36 hours, Summit 2019 drew dozens of CIOs and IT Directors to talk leadership, check out new technology, foster connection and exchange ideas.
The event kicked off with PDX Women in Tech founder Megan Bigelow discussing how to actively foster female leadership in technology departments. Keynote speaker Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place to Work, delved into into how to create an environment where every employee — regardless of background, demographics or rank — can truly feel integrated and thrive. PSU CIO Kirk Kelly led an interactive workshop on helping employees lean into their autonomy and develop mastery, while Know Your Team CEO Claire Lew talked strategies to integrate every employee into the decision making process.
2018 – Coeur d’Alene, ID
With a theme of security — both physical and digital — our third Summit was the best-attended yet.
Anchored by a keynote from Major General Brett T. Williams, attendees also heard from Dr. Wayne Machuca of Mount Hood Community College on staffing fort the cybersecurity void, while Leslie Golden ran a workshop on developing security priorities.
This year, we went a bit further afield to the beautiful Coeur D’Alene Resort, located right on the lake of the same name. Many attendees stayed the weekend to network further — and golf, kayak, boat, hike, fish …
Special thanks to our partners: Acer, HPE/Aruba, Securly, Freshworks, Pacific Office Automation, JAMF, Epson, Insight (IFS), Illuminate Education, SMART Technologies, GuideK12, and Classlink.
2017 – Skamania Lodge, WA
Our first Summit tackled a challenge central to every CIO: change leadership.
People — and institutions — are inherently averse to change; how can you effectively lead, communicate and empower staff and students to embrace newness?
Keynote speaker Sara El-Amine, who worked as President Obama’s national organizing director, shared 10 tips for change, while Leslie Golden spoke about TKTK and Beaverton Public Schools chaired a panel on their large-scale 1:1 Chromebook rollout — and how attendees can do the same.
Everyone gathered at Skamania Lodge, nestled in the heart of the Columbia River Gorge, and many stayed to keep talking … or go on a hike.
Special thanks to our partners: Insight (IFS), GuideK12, Epson, Pacific Office Automation, Classlink, Nimble Storage, Illuminate Education, LocknCharge and Acer.