GIPAW is seeking your participation at the 2011 GIPAW Annual Conference. At last year's conference, Information Processing professionals from many local governments and state agencies attended and more than 40 vendors participated.

The 2011 conference will be held May 18th, 19th, and 20th at the Chula Vista Resort in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. Vendor participation is being solicited for the Vendor Show scheduled for May 18th and 19th. The registration deadline is Monday, May 2nd.

Similar to past years, the vendor area will be available for booth setup beginning at 9:00 am Wednesday, May 18th and will open to conference attendees at 2:00 pm. The vendor area will close at 6:30 pm to allow the area to be secured just as the Casino area opens.

Vendors are invited to join GIPAW members for an evening of chance and an opportunity to continue earlier conversations at Casino and Dinner with the Vendors from 6:30 to 9:30 Wednesday evening. Poker, black jack, craps and roulette with play money will be the entertainment while many options for food can be enjoyed throughout the evening. This is an event you cannot miss! Vendors can also participate by donating prizes for the Casino Raffle.

On Thursday, May 19th, the vendor area will open at 8:00 am. The vendor area will be open throughout the morning with no conference sessions scheduled from 8:00 to 9:00 or from 11:15 to 12:30. The vendor area will close at 12:30. There will be an opportunity for vendors to hold drawings or award prizes just prior to the vendor area closing. Vendors are invited to join GIPAW members for lunch or can begin taking down their booths as soon as the vendor area closes. As a participating vendor, a short biography of your company and its products or services will be distributed to all attendees and posted on the GIPAW website.

The cost of the booth remains $400. This includes a table, chairs, standard electricity (120v/15a), wireless Internet access and meal tickets for one vendor attendee. Meal tickets for additional vendor attendees are available for $40 each and must be ordered at least a week prior to the conference. The vendor area will also include a cash bar and hors d’oeuvres on Wednesday evening compliments of the vendor fee. If your company is unable to attend the conference but would still like to participate, several break sponsorships are available for $100 each.

More details regarding the vendor show, including the vendor registration form, will be posted on the GIPAW website at: http://www.gipaw.org/ as they become available. If you are interested in participating in the vendor show, please complete a registration form making sure to include details of any pop-up booth you plan to use. Send your check payable to GIPAW Annual Conference to:

Dave Hayden

GIPAW Annual Conference

721 Oxford Avenue

Eau Claire, WI 54703

If you have any questions please feel free to contact Dave Hayden at (715) 839-4841 or via email at dave.hayden@co.eau-claire.wi.us.

Mike McGinnis will again be coordinating a GIPAW Golf Outing just prior to the opening of the annual conference. For golf outing reservations or sponsorships, contact Mike directly at (262) 335-4486 or via email at mike.mcginnis@co.washington.wi.us.

Thank you - Dave Hayden

GIPAW Conference Committee

Thanks to everyone that volunteered to present a vendor session at the GIPAW Annual Conference, your willingness to participate at that level adds to the already high value you provide to GIPAW members.

Many sessions were suggested covering a broad range of topics. As usual the number of sessions suggested exceeded the number of available slots. The sessions that were not selected to be presented at the annual conference will be considered for presentation at the September GIPAW meeting.

The GIPAW Board met on March 19 to select which vendor sessions would be presented at the annual conference. The attached file lists the sessions they selected and the time slots they were assigned. It also shows the description of each session as it will appear in the annual conference agenda. Please let me know right away if anything needs to be changed.

Again, thank you all for volunteering, we really do appreciate everything you do for GIPAW.

Thanks - Dave