Columbia College Chicago is delighted to announce the dates for SqueakFest ’05: Wednesday, August 10, through Saturday, August 13, 2005.

SqueakFest expands this year to include an additional day. Wednesday will be devoted entirely to hands-on workshops, while Thursday through mid-day Saturday will be dedicated to panels, presentations, and additional workshops. Participants will be able to register for all four days (including the Wednesday workshops) or for the main three-day conference.

Dr. Alan Kay will kick off the main conference with a keynote address Thursday morning, August 11. Kay will previously receive an honorary Doctorate of Letters at the Columbia College Chicago School of Media Arts Commencement on June 5, 2005.

In addition to the hands-on workshops, and panels and presentations about Squeak, Etoys, Tweak, Croquet, classroom experiences, and project-based curriculum development, there will be plenty of time to socialize, share, and engage in small-group discussions.

Details will follow soon about accommodations, on-line registration, and the tentative conference schedule. The home for SqueakFest ’05 will be the University Center, the site of last year’s conference.

Please feel free to circulate this announcement to interested parties, such as public school teachers, college teacher educators, programmers, and researchers. Professional development credits will again be available for K-12 educators

SqueakFest ’05 is sponsored by the Interactive Multimedia and Early Childhood Education Programs and Schools of Media Arts and Liberal Arts and Sciences at Columbia College Chicago, and by Viewpoints Research Institute.

Columbia College Chicago is an undergraduate and graduate college, with an enrollment of more than 10,000, which offers degrees in the visual, performing, media and communication arts. By mission, it is open-admissions at the undergraduate level, with a commitment to extending higher education to those with an affinity for the disciplines that the College encompasses. Columbia College Chicago is located in Chicago’s South Loop, across from Grant Park and on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Suggestions about workshops, panels, papers, and presentations are welcome as we begin to develop the schedule.

Wade Roberts Director, Interactive Multimedia Program Columbia College Chicago wroberts@colum.edu

Kim Rose Viewpoints Research Institute and HP Labs, the Hewlett Packard Company kim.rose@squeakland.org