Melinda and I presented on the general topic of “future ready infrastructure” this week at the MACE pre-conference meeting for K12 tech directors. As I hoped, it was really more of a discussion than a presentation (read: informal and organic).

While our session was poorly attended, and the pre-conference meeting was about 1/3 to 1/2 of the expected participation, I gained additional insight onto our challenges growing membership in K12 space.

KanREN continues to be viewed as a vendor. Our position as a membership consortium and 501(c)(3) simply isn’t understood by the K12 community. Even the pre-conference organizer, who is a great KanREN proponent, referred to us as a vendor 3 times in as many hours. I believe that this is one of the most pervasive issues surrounding K12 growth for KanREN. But I’ve come to realize that it is an issue that we cannot solve alone; our members must clearly articulate what we are when they talk with their peers.