2009 Information Management Conference
Raising the Bar...
Seeking Innovative Solutions for Tomorrow's Challenges

The 2009 Information Management Conference held March 2-6 at the Sheraton New Orleans, Louisiana was a huge success. A total of 1,157 people registered for the conference including 363 University Outreach and Career Fair attendees and 31 High School Outreach attendees.  This represents our highest attendance levels ever with 400 more conference attendees and 200 more University Outreach attendees then our 2008 IMC. 

The conference theme was "Raising the Bar... Seeking Innovative Solutions for Tomorrow's Challenges" and the focus was on sustaining strong IT management solutions, seeking new strategies for future challenges and raising the bar of excellence within the Department of Energy.  The conference included innovative town hall presentations, training and professional development sessions and was a unique opportunity to bring together the DOE community to share ideas, compare notes, and make plans for the future.  The conference hosted many distinguished guest speakers, including C. Ray Nagin, Mayor of New Orleans; M. Harrison Boyd, Chief Technology Officer, New Orleans; and Veronica Taylor, Chief Operating Officer of the Make It Right Foundation. 
 
In conjunction with the IMC DOE sponsored a Career Fair & University Outreach Event on March 2-3 to provide employment and internship opportunities for students and others in the New Orleans area. This year DOE invited other federal agencies located in or around New Orleans to participate including: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigations, US Department of Agriculture and Department of Homeland Security.

In addition, this year DOE held a High School Outreach Program which was an exciting event for High School students to learn how to pursue and obtain employment, internship, and research fellowship opportunities at DOE facilities and national laboratories and at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).  The high school that was selected, New Orleans Charter Science and Mathematics High School, sent over 30 of their top 11th and 12th grade students to participate in the program.  This program provided students with the opportunity to meet and interact with fellow interns and professionals in the field, and was highlighted by a keynote speech by Linda Cureton, Chief Information Officer of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.  Mrs. Cureton spoke about up and coming math and science career options.  

The Information Management Conference Committee would like to thank everyone who attended and helped to make this years 2009 IMC a success.