In hopes of bringing more visibility into the field of Internet technology, the University is hosting e-summit@virginia Nov. 12 and 13 - a series of panel discussions and presentations which will feature alumni who now are Web business leaders.
U. Bertram Ellis, iXL Enterprises Chief Executive Officer and one of the featured speakers, said he wanted the University to be the site of the event "to highlight U.Va.'s presence in the Internet."
"We have better graduates and more of them have taken major roles in the Internet than have the [alumni] from many other schools," Ellis said.
Among the other speakers are Yahoo! CEO Timothy A. Koogle, iVillage Chief Operating Officer Allison Abraham, CNET CEO Halsey M. Minor, CNET Vice Chairman Shelby W. Bonnie, Lawton W. Fitt, Goldman, Sachs & Co. managing director, Citrix Systems, Inc. President Mark B. Templeton, Todd R. Wagner, CEO and vice chairman of Yahoo! Broadcast Services, and Jeffrey C. Walker, Chase Capital Partners managing partner.
Vice President for Development Robert D. Sweeney said the development office noted many of the speakers have not been on Grounds for a long time, and thought they could benefit the University by sharing their experiences.
"We felt that one of the ways to get [them] to come to the University was to get them to talk about Jeffersonian ideals" and how those ideals helped them in their careers, Sweeney said.
Ellis credited his leadership roles at the University with helping him in the business world.
"I just think the whole U.Va. style of education is conducive to the entrepreneurship of the Internet," Ellis said. "At U.Va. I got a lot of great opportunities to make my own decisions as a student in the Echols Scholar program and running the University Union was tantamount to running a business as well."
Darden School Dean Edward A. Snyder said students can take advantage of the e-summit in several ways.
"They will hear from the best alumni about how the Internet has changed society" and other issues such as "access to the Internet, exclusivity of information," as well as "insights into big issues," Snyder said.
The conference schedule Friday morning is comprised of opening remarks from University President John T. Casteen III, a panel with Koogle, Minor and Walker and a panel with Abraham, Ellis, Fitt and Templeton.
Friday afternoon will be filled with several different panel discussions on various topics. The panels are composed of the speakers, University faculty members and students.
Snyder said the Friday afternoon panels, which will be broadcasted on the Web at www.broadcast.com, were put together by the deans.
"The sessions in the afternoon will have an advantage because of the small groups. There will be opportunity for more interaction," he said.
In addition to the chance for speakers to interact with students, Sweeney said he hopes they will give back to the University financially as well.
"We hope that [the speakers] will come back, and the more they are involved here, the more philanthropy" they will provide to the University, he said.
Third-year College student Brandi S. Hughes, who is going to be part of the panel discussing "The Academical Village in the Internet Age," said her panel will talk about "how students with a humanities education were prepared for technology" and "how digital technology can be more available to students."
The summit is an opportunity for the University to display its resources, Sweeney said.
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