Despite 2008 being a tough year for many businesses across the U.S., the tribal technology industry came together in full force at the 9th annual TribalNet conference. The targeted focus is a value that keeps IT leaders and technology vendors coming together year after year for this annual event. "The annual conference has always been about bringing together people uniquely tied to one another who can share common goals, strategies, success stories, challenges and more and by doing so, move forward as an industry," states Shannon Bouschor Director/Coordinator of TribalNet.

There were many highlights from the conference week held September 29, 2008 - October 2, 2008. Mike Day, Founder of TribalNet and Chairman of the Advisory Boards welcomed attendees Tuesday morning with his inspiring opening presentation. "Take something away from this conference," he states. "Don't go back and keep doing the same things you've been doing, take something away, rather it be from the sessions, or meeting with your peers. That's why you're here, to learn from each other and impact your organizations." The tone was set and attendees did just that during the week. Chuck Dougherty, CIO of the Chickasaw Nation comments, "This was a good opportunity to meet with my peers to discuss issues which may affect us all, I can see a real benefit from this conference for everyone."

The two keynote speakers were amongst the choice sessions. Mark Sunday, CIO of industry giant Oracle delivered a message that tribal IT leaders could take back to their organizations. Director Chris Cummiskey, CIO for the State of Arizona shared his involvement in the award winning technology initiatives for the State. Both leaders provided a model of best practices that could be applied to influence tribal organizations. There were several breakout sessions and roundtables that attendees participated in, including topics related to: health, casino and general IT. A unique offering that attendees had the opportunity to take advantage of this year were the IT tours offered by the Native American host site. Jim Flowers, Director of IT for the Fort McDowell Enterprises, opened his doors to the inner workings of his IT shop to TribalNet 9 attendees. One attendee states, "TribalNet is an excellent forum for tribes to share experience in an open and honest environment. The tours by the host site of their IT operations was great! Very open and informative."

The IT environment wouldn't be complete without technology vendors that provide the products and services needed in the industry. Attendees had the chance to meet one on one with over 60 technology vendors during the two day trade show. Vendors equally found the value of the annual conference. "Microsoft has been a member of TribalNet for about 2 years and has found the investments we make in membership and at the annual TribalNet trade show to be the best use of our Marketing budget in reaching out to the tribal government and tribal gaming community," Don Lionetti - Account Manager - Tribal Government and Gaming - Microsoft. "We belong to other tribal trade organizations and find that the key thing that differentiates TribalNet is that the organization and trade show are IT specific. Other tribal shows don't have the IT focus and therefore the quality of TribalNet contacts and conversations are of higher value in terms of reaching the tribal IT decision makers." Several other participating vendors echoed the comment.

"As an industry we all are looking forward to what the year ahead brings," comments Bouschor. "We will be taking all of the feedback received at the conference to make the 10th anniversary for TribalNet another event that reaches out and makes a difference at tribal organizations nationwide. We are always enthused to see the strides tribes are making in technology and are happy to continuously be a part of it."

Year round webinars, newsletters, membership services and more are available online at www.tribalnetonline.com. TribalNet 10 will be held October 5, 2009- October 8, 2009 at the Suncoast Casino & Hotel in Las Vegas, NV. Contact TribalNet for more information.

Agenda and Events for TribalNet 9

Monday 9/29/08 12-4:00 Pre-registration for all attendees, exhibitors and sponsors 4-7:00 TribalNet 9 meet and greet event TribalNet Casino Night Network with your peers and win some great prizes at "TribalNet Casino Night" meet and greet event sponsored by Rimrock Technologies and CDW-G    Prizes for the exclusive casino night will be provided on behalf of Avatier Don't miss your chance to see old friends and make new connections at the TribalNet Meet & Greet Event "The largest benefit from TribalNet is the interaction among former and new friends as we discuss common goals, issues and resolutions to those issues. Technology may come and go but the friendships and collaboration last a lifetime" -Dan Garrow, CIO - Oneida Nation Enterprises and TribalNet Advisory Board Member

Tuesday 9/30/08 7:45-8:45 Registration for attendees, exhibitors and sponsors 7:45-8:45 Breakfast sponsored by Aristocrat included for all attendees & all-access pass sponsors & exhibitors 8:45-10:00 Keynote Presentation: Building for the next generation- technology, service & environmental strategies Presenter: Mark Sunday - CIO of Oracle 10-10:15 Break sponsored by APC 10:15-11:10 Managing Application Software Implementation Presenter: John Goetz, High Desert Consulting Useful tools, best practices and materials to share with your IT team for your next successful application software implementation project. Server Based Gaming in the Tribal Gaming Environment Presenters: Bruce Rowe - Bally Technologies, Jamal Azzam - Aristocrat , Javier Saenz - IGT, Tribal IT Leader Listen in to industry leaders as they discuss what lies ahead for server based gaming. A must for casino IT leaders Data Sharing 101 and Beyond for IT Leaders In Tribal Health Presenters: Dr. Howard Hays - I.H.S. and Michael Belgarde - Navajo Area Indian Health Service (NAIHS) How to navigate the data sharing maze. Listen in for best practices and successes. 11:15-12:15 Power Cooling Trends and Directions Presenter: Dr. Roger Schmidt - IBM The impact of IT equipment in customer's data centers and how to deploy best practices in the data center in providing the most energy efficient operation will be outlined with a few examples provided. RFID in Tribal Casinos Presenters: Rolland Steil - Progressive Gaming Answers to questions such as, who's successfully using RFID and what do tribal IT leaders need to know to be prepared for RFID in their casinos? A Paperless Tribal Government Presenters: Eugene Shawano - Forest County Potawatomi, James Pearce - Tallgrass Technologies, Don Lugafet - Business Imaging Systems, Bart Lamers - One Prospect Technologies Imagine a tribal government with no paper! A must attend session for tribal government IT leaders. 12:15-1:15 Lunch sponsored by Insight included for all attendees & all-access pass sponsors & exhibitors 1:15-2:15 Automated Identity Management - Efficiency and Compliance can Co-exist Presenters: Nelson Cicchitto - Avatier, and Peter Broughton - Eldorado Casino Hotel Discover what controls your IT department should have in place to protect your most critical assets. Investing in the Future of Your Slot Floor Infrastructure - new construction AND existing casinos Presenters: John Kenefick - Pechanga Resort & Casino, Jim Flowers - Fort McDowell Enterprises, Josh Carley - Sycuan Casino See what issues other IT leaders in your industry are facing with this important decision and how it can change the way casinos do business. Best Practices for Managing, Protecting & Sharing Data in the Tribal Public Safety & Judicial Divisions Presenters: Wayne Wilkinson - Justice Systems, Chuck Wilson - Sleuth, Ada Melton - American Indian Development Associates (AIDA) An important session for tribal IT leaders that are seeing an increase in involvement with these divisions of their tribe. 2-3:30 TribalNet 9 Media Event 2:15-2:30 Break sponsored by Intransa 2:30-3:30 VOIP and Networking Presenters: Patrick Foley - Rimrock Technologies, Jabe Herring Cheyenne - Arapaho Tribe, Mari Sahmaunt - Comanche Nation Hear first hand from Tribal IT leaders on how they've benefited from deploying VoIP at their tribal organizations. Common Sense Approaches to Consulting Services - what you should consider before hiring a consultant Presenter: Gina Gough Is your tribal organizations IT structure optimized? Do you have an effective strategic plan in place? Are you considering a new or replacement system? Are you considering obtaining consulting services? Attend this session for a no-nonsense, straight forward look at what you should consider before signing on the dotted line. RPMS and EHR - is there an ROI on investing outside of RPMS? Presenters: Dr. Howard Hays - I.H.S. and Steve Noll - QSI/NextGen, moderated by Ben Standifer- CIO, Tohono O'odhman Nation Get an update on what I.H.S. is really doing for the future of your industry & what IT leaders who purchase "out of the network" are experiencing. 3:30-7:30 TribalNet 9 Trade Show and Hospitality Event sponsored by IBM See who's exhibiting at TribalNet 9 "The vendor trade shows are always a great help. You can visit in depth with vendors and check out their products first hand. We've made a lot of contacts and used several from the show. " -Sharon Postoak, Cache System Administrator, - Chickasaw Nation

Wednesday 10/1/08 8-9:00 Breakfast sponsored by Agilysys included for all attendees & all-access pass sponsors & exhibitors 9-10:00 Keynote Presentation Presenter: Chris Cummiskey - State CIO of Arizona 10-10:15 Break sponsored by Lenovo 10:15-11:10 PPM Processes: Keep the People In and the Complexity Out Presenter: Audrey Apfel, Gartner Analyst The challenges of executing successful projects in the midst of changing expectations, elusive business value and the uncertain ROI from PMO functions remain daunting. Gartner describes the PPM Activity Cycle- where you need to do more, where you need to do less and where innovation counts. The Tribal PC Home Use Program- a triangle partnership benefits tribal Nations Presenters: Jeramey James - Consult Tribe, Inc., Don Lionetti - Microsoft, Mary Chapman - Lenovo, Stephen Balmforth - CDW-G This session is a must for IT Directors at tribal organizations that are trying to break the digital divide and additionally acquire PC's for tribal members at a beneficial rate. 11:15-12:15 Organizing Your Data Center - virtualization and consolidation: the greening effect Presenter: Dave Forbes - Cache Creek Casino, Steve Kaplan - INX, inc. How to leverage Virtual Architecture to allow for large goals of implementing centralized management of servers while easily deploying virtual machines. Dave Forbes, IT Operations Manager of Cache Creek Casino joins with Steve Kaplan of INX, inc. to showcase how your tribe too can see the benefits that they are seeing in this virtual environment. Tribal Health Security - Are we really done with HIPAA? Presenters: Jim Cramer - VP & CIO, Scottsdale Healthcare HIPAA has come into the mainstream of tribal heath and its initiatives leaving some uncertainties. Now that the April 2005 HIPAA Security Rule compliance deadline has passed, many covered entities seem to believe they have conquered the final frontier. HIPAA is not an event or a target date, but rather a process. So how do we move on? 12:15-1:15 Lunch sponsored by Cisco included for all attendees & all-access pass sponsors & exhibitors Announcements during lunch for afternoon roundtable topics - attendees choice! 1:15-2:15 Casino Roundtable: Business Intelligence - long term goals Moderators: TribalNet Casino Advisory Board This roundtable creates an open forum to discuss with your peers what your goals are for Business Intelligence. Don't have much experience with this topic? No worries, this is your chance to listen in to what others are doing in the industry. Government Roundtable - How to Budget and Strategically Plan in a Tribal Environment & Overall Weak U.S. Economy Moderators: TribalNet Governmental Advisory Board Budgeting and planning in a weak U.S. economy is demanding enough for IT leaders in any industry, but leading in a tribal environment brings a whole other challenge to the table. Attend this roundtable to see how your peers overcome these challenges and share your stories of success with other tribal IT leaders. **NEW: Native American Solutions Series Session The "Native American Solutions Series" is designed for smaller groups & devoted to educating attendees about key solutions that are available specifically for tribal organizations! 1:15-1:45 Presenter: Howard Finck - Intransa For as little as one DVR, Intransa IP storage can increase retention, improve reliability and reduce administration without complexity and yet scale to support thousands of devices. 1:45-2:15 Presenter: Mike Hall - APC From Green to Gold in IT Spaces: Designing High Efficiency, High Density, with Cost Savings 2:15-2:30 Break sponsored by Wireless Ronin 2:30-3:30 Roundtables: Attendee's Choice Moderators: TribalNet Government and Casino Advisory Board This is every attendee's chance to get the answers that are specific to their tribe and unique needs. Attend these roundtable sessions to find out what other IT leaders are doing to solve some of the same issues that you may be facing. Share your successes and challenges with your peers and make contacts and relationships that can last well beyond the conference. Attendees will be asked at registration to submit their preferred topic. Selected topics will be announced at lunch on Wednesday for the attendee's choice roundtables! "I find that discussing issues and attending roundtable sessions is the most valuable part of TribalNet" -Thomas Stokkeland, IT Coordinator - Seneca Nation of Indians 3:30-6:00 TribalNet 9 Trade Show and Hospitality Event sponsored by Pillar Data Systems Participate Tues-Wed in the ever-popular "TribalNet Bingo Run" during the exhibit for your chance to win the grand prize drawing! Grand Prize Drawing for Attendees - $1,000! sponsored by Symantec and The Upgrade Group

Thursday 10/2/08 8:30-10:30 Breakfast sponsored by Western Money included for all attendees & all-access pass sponsors & exhibitors 8:30-10:30 TribalNet 9 wrap-up What's ahead in the tribal IT industry for 2009? Monday 9/29/08 9-4:00 Value-added certification program for the Casino/Hospitality Track AS/400 certification program hosted by IBM Linda Morrison, IBM Trainer Take advantage of this FREE full day educational opportunity; Basic & Advanced Topics for Operations of IBM System i (AS/400) for the Gaming Environment. Certificates will be offered to those that complete the course and pass the competency test on the materials. Lunch is included for course attendees. Value-added training course is included FREE for all TribalNet 9 attendees - To register contact John Ambler - jaambler@us.ibm.com Thursday 10/2/08 9-1:00 Microsoft SharePoint condensed training class Andrew Norris & Ben Peters, Planet Technologies, Certified Microsoft Partner and Trainers The condensed version of the SharePoint certification program has something for everyone: MOSS Platform Overview- Understanding Core Components. Solution Design and Planning- Where to Start, Crawl, Walk, Run. MOSS in Action and generous/priceless time devoted to Q&A Value-added training course is included FREE for all TribalNet 9 attendees: No need to register separate for this great addition to the agenda. 2009 will bring the 10th anniversary for the annual TribalNet conference! We hope to see you back for TribalNet 10 - 2009!

TribalNet 9 (2008) Speakers