Letter from the chair

With pleasure, I report that the ACM-SIGMIS CPR (Computer Personnel Research) 2008 Conference was a great success! This year's conference was held at the Omni Charlottesville Hotel in Charlottesville, Virginia USA, from April 3-5, 2008, http://www.sigmis.org/CPR_2008_Home_Page.htm. The conference theme was "Refilling the Pipeline: Meeting the Renewed Demand for Information Technology Workers." Please check the ACM Digital Library at: http://portal.acm.org/dl.cfm to find the SIGMIS CPR 2008 Conference Proceedings.

Please join me in extending a big thank you to the members of the 2008 CPR Conference Committee for all their hard work in making this conference a success:

• Conference Co-Chairs: Diane Lending, James Madison University Chelley Vician, Michigan Tech University

• Program Co-Chairs: Deb Armstrong, Florida State University Cindy Riemenschneider, University of Arkansas

• Local Arrangements: Thomas Dillon, James Madison University

• Doctoral Consortium K. D. Joshi, Washington State University

• Co-Chairs: Jo Ellen Moore, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

• Treasurer: Indira Guzman, Touro University International

• Publicity: Anne Powell, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

• Sandra Newton, Sonoma State University

I am pleased to announce the recipients of the fifth annual "Magid Igbaria Outstanding Conference Paper of the Year Award:" Eileen M. Trauth, Jeria L. Quesenberry, Haiyan Huang, and Stephen McKnight for their paper, "Linking Economic Development and Workforce Diversity through Action Research." Please join me in extending heartfelt congratulations to each of them for their research excellence!

The sixth annual SIGMIS Business Meeting was held at the close of the conference. Diane Lending, James Madison University, and Chelley Vician, Michigan Tech University, CPR 2008 Conference Co-Chairs, presented a Preliminary Outcome Report for the conference. Plans for next year's CPR 2009 Conference, to be held May 28-30, 2009 on the University of Limerick (UL) campus in Limerick, Ireland, are now underway. Please plan to submit a paper, join the program committee, participate in conference planning, attend the doctoral consortium, and, of course, attend the conference. Mark your calendar now! All are welcome! Encourage your colleagues to participate! For more information, please contact the Conference: Chair Norah Power, University of Limerick, [email protected].

In addition to submitting your research for presentation at the CPR 2009 Conference, please continue to submit your best work to Data Base. This publication is the primary vehicle of communication to the membership, presenting articles of practical research significance and relating experiences in the area of business uses of information systems. Data Base provides an accessible, flexible, and timely forum for information on both well-researched topics and those less common, perhaps leading-edge topics which may not yet have found their way into the literature. Controversial or untested research topics are welcome.

Thanks for your interest and support of SIGMIS. Please do contact any one of us with your ideas or suggestions to improve SIGMIS.

Have a great summer!