NEWS RELEASES  >  SEPTEMBER 19, 2016

Follett President a Panelist at EdNET Conference Session Exploring Educator-Education Provider Relationship


MCHENRY, IL – Nader Qaimari, President of Follett’s PreK-12 business, Follett School Solutions, is one of five panelists selected to explore the relationship between educators and education providers at the 2016 EdNET Conference later this month in Dallas. The “Striving for Partnership: How Educators and Providers Can Address Issues of Trust and Risk” panel is scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday, Sept. 26 during the annual conference’s second day at The Fairmont Dallas.

Follett will be joined by other education providers, Giuseppe “Seppy” Basili, chief revenue officer, BrightBytes; Christine Willig, president, McGraw-Hill Education’s PreK-12 group; John Murray, executive chairman, AdvancePath Academics, Inc.; and moderator Dr. Gregory Firn, senior vice president of strategic initiatives for RoboKind.

Participating in the dialogue from the educational administrator side will be superintendents Dr. Wanda Bamberg, Aldine (Texas) Independent School District; Dr. Alberto Carvalho, Miami-Dade County (Florida) Public Schools; Dr. Michael Hinojosa, Dallas (Texas) Independent School District; and Dr. Thomas Woods- Tucker, Princeton City (Ohio) Schools, and AASA 2016 National Superintendent of the Year.

According to Vicki Smith Bigham, EdNET conference manager, the panel is designed to serve as a “candid conversation about the state of the business relationship.” She explained how these educators will address compliance, transparency, proof, and measurement and also how those issues contribute to risk-aversion and what can become an earned lack of trust by districts. The education providers will discuss districts’ resistance to partnering and how to stand out in a crowded marketplace with an overwhelming number of companies, business models, and products.

The EdNET Conference, a B2B event hosted by MDR, provides senior executives from PreK-12 organizations with the latest information on market trends, business partnering opportunities, funding sources, new technologies, and activities of key market players.

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