For information on how to join the NYS EMTA, please visit our membership page.
Save the date! The Spring Conference will take place March 19-21, 2018
Organizational History
NYS EMTA
The EMTA was originally established in 1971 by the New York State Board of Regents as the BOCES Educational Communications Directors Council. (BOCES stands for Board of Cooperative Educational Services. It is a regional public education agency which provides shared educational programs and services to member school districts.) In 1993, our name changed to New York State BOCES Media/Technology Association, and in 2007 it changed again to New York State Educational Media/Technology Association. Our organization originally began as a group of Educational Communications Directors from across the state, who ran the “film libraries” housing 16mm film, ¾ inch videocassettes, reel-to-reel audio tapes, etc. They were often referred to as the “AV guys”. The main charges for this group were to provide staff development for themselves, networking and group purchasing to increase buying power.
As the years went on, many of the original group retired and the BOCES shifted responsibilities for the Ed. Comm. Centers. We opened membership to New York State's Big 5 districts. The name of the organization and the media formats changed, but the main charges remained the same: to provide staff development for members, and to provide quality media products to New York State students.
This organization has been a very active and viable group over the years. It provides opportunities for staff of the BOCES media libraries that are not available elsewhere because of the unique nature of our job responsibilities. The organization is always looking for new ways to collaborate with each other and other outside organizations. Sharing and helping each other is what keeps us together!
More than ever, it is imperative to work together, supporting each other and providing opportunities to share ideas and expertise. We are stronger for the effort both as BOCES regional media centers and as an association. Our vendor partners are full organizational members and often attend our conference keynotes and professional development sessions. This has resulted in stronger products designed for the needs of our students. Our "strength" is directly related to the commitment of our various members. The EMTA is unique across this country. We have created an organization that has provided training, staff development, expertise, ideas and change agents for our members, and our corporate partners are full voting members. We share and help each other. This is our unique strength as an organization.
