Chronicles of a Die Hard BDPA Member

I joined the Chicago Chapter of BDPA in May of 1990 and have been a die hard member ever since, One of my first volunteer assignments was for the Marketing Committee where I was given an opportunity to pursue my passion for making movies. Those were the days when I was affectionately called "Cecil B. DeMilt" because you could always find me at BDPA events with a video camera in tow, capturing raw footage for the BDPA archives.

Our first big production was the 1993 BDPA Chicago Chapter in Review Video. This was a collaborative effort with our chapter leaders, Ollie Morgan, Sheila McCaskill, Mike Davis and the Chicago Access Cable producer, Derek Grace that gave an up close and personal look at our students, our members and our corporate sponsors.

Several BDPA videos like this one have been gathering dust in my basement while I've been waiting for the consumerization of digital movie making technology to drive down editing, post-production and distribution costs. That time is now. The You Tube explosion in combination with the proliferation of Web 2.0 social networking tools like blogs and podcasts have made it to possible to share our rich BDPA legacy. Enjoy!!

About BDPA

Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA) is a non-profit professional association founded in 1975 in Philadelphia, PA. BDPA has grown into a national organization with over 4,000 members and 50 chapters chartered throughout the United States. BDPA is the premier organization for African Americans in IT. Organization membership is open to all with expressed interest in the Information Technology industry regardless of race, sex, religious beliefs or national origin. See http://www.bdpa.org/ for more information.

About BDPA Chicago Chapter

The Chicago Chapter of the National Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA) was chartered on March 15, 1986 as the 14th Chapter nationwide. The first monthly program meeting was held April 18, 1986. Since that time, the Chicago Chapter has consecutively sponsored a monthly program meeting, designed to assist membership in meeting their professional and personal goals. Since its inception, the Chicago Chapter has continued to deliver programs that are innovative, relevant and informative to its membership. See http://www.bdpa-chicago.org/ for more information.