April 2023 Meeting – Virtual Team Building Scavenger Hunt

Register for the April 13 meeting.

Join ITKAN members for a fun, team-building exploration of Virbela’s big, beautiful campus as well as a brand-new avatar system! We’ll search for owls of wisdom and some special eggs hidden around the world. We’ll discover our new avatar selves with all kinds of new choices to customize.

Our next meeting is April 13th from 5:30-7PM CST in Virbela’s Open Campus for a fun team building exercise.

Go to the instructions on our website to learn how to join.

DATE AND TIME
Thu, April 13, 2023
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM CDT

LOCATION
ITKAN’s meeting space at the top of the Auditorium Building in Virbela’s Open Campus

March 2023 Meeting – Slido Engagement Tool

Register for the March 9 meeting.

Join us for an interactive introduction to an easy to deploy and highly engaging tool to drive more active participation from audiences at meetings and conferences, whether virtual, remote, in-person or hybrid!

Slido lets you gauge your audience’s attention and keep them more engaged, whether through polling, asking questions, or conducting a fun pop quiz, and get results in real-time in very digestible formats like pie charts, % charts, or even emojis! 😊 Slido is far more effective than relying on chat or other more cumbersome polling tools.

Go to the instructions on our website to learn how to join.

DATE AND TIME
Thu, March 9, 2023
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM CDT

LOCATION
ITKAN’s meeting space at the top of the Auditorium Building in Virbela’s Open Campus

February 2023 Meeting – Open Virtual Meeting and Dance Party

Register for the February 9 meeting.

Join ITKAN to dance away the winter blues! No need to feel awkward with your moves on Virbela’s campus…we all have great moves in the metaverse. This is a great way to meet others in ITKAN, get comfortable with getting around campus and managing simple commands.

Sarah Segrest, Virbela VIP of Community, will take the lead and will mix up our fun with synchronous dancing, line dancing, and freestyle dance! Modern film buffs might recognize one of our mix tapes from a popular film that has gained a cult following.

Please join us at this maiden 2023 open members meeting for a very fun team-building evening.

Go to the instructions on our website to learn how to join.

DATE AND TIME
Thu, February 9, 2023
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM CDT

LOCATION
ITKAN’s meeting space at the top of the Auditorium Building in Virbela’s Open Campus

January 2023 Meeting – How Technology Fosters Community

Register for the January 12 meeting.

Join ITKAN in 2023 as we explore the many ways that Technology of many forms fosters community! In 2022 we transitioned exclusively to a virtual community with the support of Virbela. Sarah Segrest, Virbela’s ViP of Community, will moderate an open discussion on virtual community building. 

This year we are committed to growing our virtual community while exploring how technology itself can be a vehicle for meaningful relationships, personal and professional growth.

From prosthetics clubs and virtual conferences to gaming, technology is evolving and enabling global connection in unique environments for all. We’ll explore an array of tech and tech platforms that are challenging how we perceive relationships, collaboration, and community.

Go to the instructions on our website to learn how to join.

DATE AND TIME
Thu, January 12, 2023
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM CDT

LOCATION
ITKAN’s meeting space at the top of the Auditorium Building in Virbela’s Open Campus

December 2022 Meeting – Virtual Guided Tour of Virbela’s Open Campus

Register for the December 8 meeting.

Join us on Thursday, December 8th at 6-7pm CST for a virtual guided tour of Virbela’s Open Campus with a wintery theme. It promises to be a fun way to get into the holiday spirit with friends old and new!

As we build our ITKAN community in the metaverse next year, we are building relationships and driving career opportunities for our members as well. Come and experience this VR world – no need for headgear – while supporting ITKAN to fulfill its mission of driving passion, knowledge, network and opportunity for members in the tech space.

Go to the instructions on our website to learn how to join.

DATE AND TIME
Thu, December 8, 2022
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM CDT

LOCATION
Virbela’s Open Campus – World Tours Start Here circle

Cruise – AV, ML, Ai and the disability experience

https://www.datastax.com/resources/podcast/the-not-so-scary-future-of-ai-and-automation-with-hussein-mehanna-of-cruise

ITKAN in the Metaverse!

We launched ITKAN, Information Technology Knowledge and Abilities Network, in early 2008 with the tagline of  “Fostering Knowledge, Network, and Opportunity”. Early members of the tech meetup that targets people with disabilities may recall our blue and white swirling, mirroring logo that reminded me of Boomerangs. Well, while we’ve updated our logo and tagline to our recognizable signature above, we’ve remained true to our mission. We continue to foster all of these while remaining on the leading or bleeding edge of tech.

Speaking of leading edge of tech, we recently debuted our first formal topic meeting in the metaverse! For the past eight months we’ve been working with a great team from Virbela, who brings people together to work, learn, meet and train in an immersive virtual world – from anywhere. Migrating to a virtual-first community negates challenges and enables growth opportunities for us. The disability community has always faced logistical and travel challenges – gone! Some members of our community also face socializing, face-to-face challenges which may be reduced in a virtual world.

The promise of the metaverse and Virbela’s Open Campus are what really excite us at ITKAN. Virbela staff and specifically Sarah Segrest, their VP of Community, is open, engaging, willing and excited to learn the challenges of disability, and most importantly very creative and forward-thinking. While they admit it’s early in creating an environment that can work for all of us, we couldn’t imagine a better partnership.

“We are so fortunate to have ITKAN as part of the Virbela Community in our open campus. Including the voices and perspectives of people and professionals with disabilities is important to us. ITKAN can help Virbela continue to broaden accessibility for all in the virtual worlds of the metaverse. We’re glad to have ITKAN as neighbors and friends in our community.” – Sarah Segrest, VP of Community for Virbela Open Campus

Virbela is poised as a global competitor in the field of Virtual Reality, and that creates opportunities for every organization in-world to become global as well. Look for our January 2023 meeting announcement and join us. While we target disability, we are an open meetup and members without disabilities are critical to our mission! In the interim learn how to register with Virbela and experience campus for yourself!

November 2022 Meeting – The State Of Data Science and Data Analytics

Register for the November 10 meeting.

Join us on November 10 for our first presentation in Virbela’s virtual campus. Adam Hecktman, Data Scientist / Philanthropy and Corporate Social Responsibility Professional / ITKAN Advisory Board Member, will discuss the state of data analytics and data science today. In this session, we will discuss the actionable issues within the data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence spaces. What are the demographic shifts in data science? What are the current job functions in the space? Which industries are using data analytics and data science and which are falling behind? We will also get into the practical side of the current state in data science. What do data professionals spend their time doing today? What are the top tools they are using? How is data being evaluated in the face of growing standards?

We will get together in our at our meeting space. Go to the instructions on our website to learn how to join us on Virbela.

DATE AND TIME
Thu, November 10, 2022
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM CDT

LOCATION
ITKAN’s meeting space at the top of the Auditorium Building in Virbela’s Open Campus

Adam Hecktman has been in the tech sector since 1988. Spending 30+ years at Microsoft, the last 10 of which have been in social impact roles, he has had the opportunity to work with private, public, and social sector partners. Adam is a Data Scientist with a passion for civic technology and tech for social good His desire is to help Corporate Social Responsibility organizations have an impact that is aligned to their strengths and mission, and to help non-profits gather and use their data to drive insights.

Virbela Honored with 2022 Remote Tech Breakthrough Award!

https://www.virbela.com/blog/virbela-wins-a-2022-remotetech-breakthrough-award-for-virtual-platforms

ITKAN’s 15th Anniversary Celebration

Join us as we celebrate 15 years of ITKAN in our new home in the metaverse! We have been engaging the Civic Tech and Disability communities since 2008! We are celebrating in the metaverse at our new virtual home community on Virbela’s Open Campus in the Speakeasy with a dance party, music, a slide show and some surprises!  

It’ll be a fun time for everyone…and simple. You can even wear your fuzzy slippers, and no one will know! 

1. Go to https://www.virbela.com/ on your PC or Mac and click on the Get Started button 
2. Register on Virbela (see below for helpful tips)
3. Download the app for your device 
4. Create your avatar  
5. Join us in the Speakeasy on Th., October 13^th from 6-7pm! 

Virbela Registration
When you register, choose ITKAN as the Organization. The Organization Size is 11-50.

Username and Avatar
Consider creating a username that is close to your real name. We will be interacting with other professionals in the environment. Have fun with your avatar, but if you veer far from a real work likeness and you use a non-recognizable username please greet people in world with your true identity.

Where is the Speakeasy?
Don’t worry. Virbela staff members are super friendly, engaging, and helpful. Once you appear in world, someone will be there to assist you. You can also join us Wednesdays from 5-5:30pm in world to get used to the controls.

Event Registration
We encourage you to also register on our Evenbrite page. Doing so will allow us to keep Virbela aware of how many people they can expect and will allow us to keep you informed.

REGISTER >

ITKAN is proud of our history of presenting lead edge technology in a fun environment to anyone with even a kernel of passion. We’ve partnered with so many great companies and organizations over the years, including Illinois Technology Foundation, Microsoft/MTC Chicago, SPR, Abilitylinks, Yolbe, 1871, Equal Access, Computerworld, Marriott Bridges, Virbela and many more. Thanks to all of them! 

We hope to see you at our 15^th Anniversary Virtual Party!