Words of Welcome From Gene Longo

Welcome to Academy Conference 2008 and the next decade of the Cisco Networking Academy!

The year ahead promises to be even more exciting for our students and graduates. This past year we launched innovative new curriculum including CCNA Discovery 1-4, CCNA Exploration 1-4, a new version of IT Essentials PC Hardware and Software and CCNP. These courses have been specifically designed to help students be more successful whether they plan to be an IT professional or just seek more knowledge for understanding IT. All of our new courses align to industry certification, and we launched a new entry level networking certification Cisco Certified Entry Level Technician (CCENT). CCENT will be a great entry level certification for employers, and helps us meet the new Carl Perkins Funding requirements.

Are you ready to “Educate the Architects of the Networked Economy” by leveraging these exciting new courses?

Whether you’re already teaching the new curricula or preparing to teach in the fall, Academy Conference 2008 will provide you with valuable technical information, program updates and direct input from industry professionals who will speak to the growing gap between the demand for a skilled IT workforce and the available pool of talent. There will also be opportunities to hear from instructors already teaching the new curricula and to leverage their experiences and share best practices.

The conference registration fee is $275.00, which has been subsidized by a generous grant from the Cisco Learning Institute, with additional funding from Cisco. This fee does not include your travel or hotel expenses.

And of course, once again, we will have opportunities to have some fun in all three destination locations!

Please plan to join us for Academy Conference 2008 and be part of our Human Network! Looking forward to seeing you.

Best regards,

Gene Longo
Senior Manager, U.S. Field Operations
Cisco Networking Academy