President's Message

The smell of chocolate will soon be in the air! Our 111 th EBEA Annual Convention will be held as part of the Pennsylvania Business Education Association convention November 20 - 21, 2008, at the Harrisburg-Hershey Holiday Inn.

In October 2007, our members gathered in Baltimore, Maryland, where they took part in numerous professional workshops including Effective Practices for Learning Enrichment, How to Use Custom Animation in Powerpoint, Incorporating Soft Skills into Your Business Curriculum, etc. NBEA Past President, Cynthia Greene, was our closing session speaker. She used humor to inspire and motivate our audience. In addition, John Olivo was recognized as the 2007 Collegiate Educator of the Year

We have a talented, hard-working team of professional educators gearing up to excite you with our 2008 convention. We will be working with the Pennsylvania Business Education Association to put together a convention that will leave you breathless! Hands on technology sessions, new ideas to use in your classrooms, ways of attracting more students into our programs are a mere portion of what you will find waiting for you in Hershey, PA. More details will be listed here during the coming weeks.

Your continued membership and involvement within our profession is key to the continued success and growth in our profession. Attending professional development conventions sponosred by our state associations, the EBEA convention, and the NBEA convention provide us with new ideas at strengthening our numbers, ideas for new coures, finding ideas, and allow us to update our technology skills while catching up with both old and new friends. While on the subject of membership, I would like to remind each of you to renew your membership each year before its expiration date. By doing so, you assure that EBEA receives a portion of your national dues to so that we may continue to offer you professional development opportunities at our annual conventions.

As we move forward with preparations for our 111 th EBEA Convention in Hershey, I urge you to encourage fellow colleagues to join NBEA, the premier organization for business education, and enjoy the many benefits NBEA membership offers. The theme for our 111th EBEA Annual Convention will be announced very soon. It will bring together the challenges associated with teaching business and career education while at the same time providing you with ideas that will both excite you and leave you ready to take a leadership role that will continue to help you to foster the continued growth of business education within your schools.

Our 2008 EBEA Convention will feature many excellent sessions as well as the time for enjoying Hershey, Pennsylvania. You will be minutes away from the Antique Automobile Club of America Museum, Hsrshey's Chocolate World, Hershey Gardens, Hershey Factory Outlets, the Hershey Museum, Hersheypark, the Governor's Mansion, and only a 35 mile drive from Amish Country. Yes, this opportunity truly will offer something of interest to everyone!

A tentative convention program, convention and hotel registration forms will be posted here soon as well as appearing in our May 2008 newsletter.

Our Spring 2008 EBEA Newsletter will be arriving in your schools in mid- May and will also be available as a downloadable link here on our website. I encourage you to take advantage of supersaver fares that airlines offer and book your flight accordingly. Make sure you book your room before you book your flight! The hotel will be offering a free shuttle from the Harrisburg airport as long as they are given a 24 hour notice of your need for their shuttle service from the hotel.

Join us! Let’s continue to expand our horizons and re-energize together and help re- strengthen EBEA! It is true that our nation's economy is currently suffering but we cannot afford to sit back and let the future of our profession be left in the hands of others. It is up to you as a professional business educator to stay involved in our professional associations (at the state, regional, and national levels). Take control of your own future and join us in Hershey. I guarantee you'll have a "sweet" time!

Please do not forget to visit our website www.ebea.info for forms, information and comprehensive updates as we move forward with our convention preparations. On behalf of the PBEA and EBEA Boards, convention program and support committees, I extend a sincere welcome to Hershey and invite you to take full advantage of the many opportunities the 111 th EBEA Convention will provide for you.

Jerry Hunter, President - EBEA