Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Tom Hopcroft heads Mass TLC; Plotkin steps aside

By Mass High Tech staff

The Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council has appointed executive director Tom Hopcroft to the positions of president and CEO of the association. Joyce Plotkin, who held a 22-year streak serving as president of the council and of its predecessor Massachusetts Software Council, has been named president emerita.

Hopcroft founded the New England Business and Technology Association (NEBATA) in 1998. In 2005, NEBATA merged with the Council, bringing Hopcroft onboard in the executive ranks. He has been responsible for increasing the organization’s clusters from three to 10 groups.

Before forming NEBATA, Hopcroft worked on the American Bar Association’s Information Security Committee.

Plotkin will continue, as president emerita, to work part-time on Council industry ad education initiatives, including the STEMTech Alliance, which focuses on increasing awareness of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education in middle schools.

The MassTLC was founded in 1985. The organization claims more than 400 corporate members.

Mass TLC took steps last year to introduce new initiatives, including October’s “unConference,” which gave technology leaders a flexible agenda to discuss innovation and technology business; additional video gaming cluster groups; a report touting statewide robotics success; and the organization’s headquarters move to Burlington.