Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1386104
July/August/September 2021 I 5 From the President, Todd W. Taylor, RCDD, OSP, NTS The BICSI staff and I have been eagerly awaiting to say in person, "Hello and welcome everyone to the BICSI 2021 Fall Hybrid Conference." We are finally getting that chance on August 22 to the 26 in Las Vegas. It is hard to believe that a year and a half has passed since we could meet in person at a BICSI event, and we are excited about getting back together face-to-face. Additionally, it is an excellent opportunity to network, learn about new technologies, reconnect with friends and make new ones. When the pandemic struck, we wondered how we were going to continue providing the valuable BICSI services to our vast membership. BICSI rose to the occasion and has since provided a wide variety of virtual classes, webinars, ICT Forums, conferences, and committee meetings with the quality of content that our BICSI members have come to expect. It took the hard work of BICSI staff and BICSI member volun- teers to continue providing standards development and the virtual opportunities for gaining valuable industry knowledge, as well as maintaining the Continuing Education Credit (CEC) program. BICSI's next opportunity is to maintain the flexibility in learning while easing back into the face-to-face meetings and conferences. The BICSI member volun- teers, staff, and Board of Directors have been hard at work behind the scenes bringing this first-ever BICSI event to you. We are calling the 2021 Fall conference a 'hybrid' event because it is just that, part of the same virtual meeting convenience mixed with an in-person experience. BICSI is blending these two delivery methods while maintaining quality of content and BICSI'S FIRST HYBRID CONFERENCE providing as many of the conference experiences and networking opportunities as possible. Technology has not stopped and this endeavor gives us a chance to use some of the latest hybrid and remote advance- ments conveyed in ICT Today articles and in our BICSI standards and best practices manuals. The Sands Expo and Convention Center, located in The Venetian Resort, has its own set of restrictions for BICSI to follow, which may make the event look a little different than before. Having more separation in seating, networking areas, and vendor floor spacing and layout are few of the requirements incorporated. Even with the protocols that may be in place, I am personally looking forward to the in-person networking and interactions everyone enjoys, experiencing once again the excitement that comes with BICSI confer- ences. Whether attending the virtual portion or arriving in person, this event helps all of us to ease back together into life as we knew it before the pandemic. When I stated in my initial presidential speech that we were going to turn BICSI inside out and upside down to prepare it to excel as the preeminent ICT resource for the connected world, I never imagined it would include a pandemic as part of that prepa- ration. I cannot thank enough our BICSI members, volunteers, company sponsors, ICT Today contributing authors, and the entire BICSI staff for hanging in there as we again move ahead in leading the future for the connected world! Be Safe. Be Strong. Be Strategic.