First ARKnet Technical Symposium, November 7, 2003

ARKnet is announcing the first of a new series of Technical Symposiums. These are meant to be informal sessions during which technical support staff at our member institutions can gather to discuss pertinent issues that affect us all. We want the atmosphere to be relaxed so that we can exchange information and ideas about common problems and solutions at our institutions. There will generally be an announced topic, and may not necessarily include a prepared presentation.

The first symposium will be about security on the campus network, especially as relates to the recent virus and worm outbreaks. We want to hear about how your campus has dealt with Welchia and Blaster and similar worms. How are you protecting your campus from the next Sobig or Klez? What strategies are you employing to make users keep their desktop and laptop computers patched and up-to-date? How are you handling students in residence halls? What special problems are you having with wireless users? We think that discussion about what we're doing that is working and what is not working will be beneficial to all participants.

This first symposium will be held on Friday, November 7, 2003, 10:30am - 1:30pm, at the University of Arkansas Systems Office, 2404 North University Avenue, Little Rock. Here are the directions. Take the North University Avenue exit off Interstate-630, travel north for 2.0 miles (you will pass through major intersections with Markham and Cantrell) to the intersection of N. University and Hawthorne Rd. The entrance to the campus is to the left. Enter through the front gates and stay left at the Y intersection to go to the main office building, which is the first building on the left. This is where the symposium will be held. Parking is available either adjacent to the building or across the street. [MapQuest map...]

ARKnet will provide box lunches for those attending, but we need a head count IN ADVANCE so that we can notify the caterer. Please RSVP by sending email to David Merrifield, dlm@uark.edu. The deadline for the RSVP is November 5.

We would really like to have participation from your campus in this symposium. Although our focus will be on local campus issues, we are inviting representatives from DIS and the state security office who can benefit from hearing about what our issues are. We can also benefit from hearing about special problems that they are having at the state network level.

We hope to see you in Little Rock on November 7th.