Professional Development
A complete record of professional development events, academic residencies, industry conferences, and technical training — 2015 through present.
Professional development isn’t a checkbox — it’s a compounding investment. This page documents my complete record of conferences, academic residencies, chapter meetings, and training events. I believe showing up in person matters. These entries represent real time, real travel, and real learning.
🏟️ Major Conferences & Summits
Smeal AI Day
Q1 2026 — Penn State University
Active preparation and presentation. Clarke is participating in Smeal’s AI Day as part of his eDBA program engagement.
☸️ KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America
November 10–13, 2025 — Atlanta, GA
The CNCF’s flagship annual conference covering Kubernetes and the broader cloud-native ecosystem. Clarke attended in Atlanta and is an advocate for this conference as the highest-signal event in cloud-native infrastructure.
Full write-up on the Industry Conferences page → | VCP-AM Certification →
HPE Conference
March 6–10, 2023 — Houston, TX
Hewlett Packard Enterprise conference covering infrastructure, HPC, and enterprise solutions.
🖥️ VMworld 2021 (Americas)
October 5, 2021 — Virtual
30 Hours CPE. Attended the virtual Americas edition during the private cloud era of DCGS operations.
🖥️ VMworld 2020
2020 — Virtual
20 Hours CPE. Virtual edition during the pandemic year.
🌍 International Conference (BCD Travel)
January 18–22, 2020 — Dublin, Ireland
International conference travel via BCD Travel. Dublin, Ireland.
🎓 Academic Residencies — Penn State Smeal College of Business
Clarke is pursuing a Doctor of Business Administration (eDBA) at Penn State’s Smeal College of Business. The program includes in-person residencies in State College, PA — intensive multi-day sessions combining coursework, research, and executive peer engagement.
Spisak Endowed Lecture Series
March 26–27, 2026
Nittany Lion Inn, State College, PA
Smeal DBA Residency #7
August 16–20, 2025
State College, PA
Smeal DBA Residency #6
May 15–18, 2025
State College, PA
Smeal DBA Residency #5
January 9–12, 2025
State College, PA
Spisak Executive Speaker Event
November 7, 2024
Nittany Lion Inn, State College, PA
Smeal DBA Residency #4
August 17–21, 2024
State College, PA
Smeal DBA Residency #3
May 9–12, 2024
State College, PA
Smeal DBA Residency #2
January 10–15, 2024
State College, PA
Smeal DBA Residency #1
August 12–20, 2023
State College, PA
Smeal DBA Orientation
July 10, 2023
State College, PA
Clarke’s academic background → see the PSU Smeal eDBA section on the Resume page.
🤝 Professional Chapter Meetings
Clarke has been an active participant in IEEE, PMI, and NCMS chapter events. These aren’t passive attendances — several include presenting, volunteering, and executive committee roles.
🔒 NCMS (National Classification Management Society) — Pikes Peak & Sky Islands Chapters
- March 10, 20221st Quarter 2022 Meeting — Hybrid
- December 9, 20214th Quarter 2021 Meeting — Virtual
- February 4, 20211st Quarter 2021 Meeting — Virtual
- December 3, 20204th Quarter 2020 Meeting — Virtual
- Oct 29 & Nov 17, 2020NCMS Training Workshops: Insider Threat & Legal Risks — Virtual
- September 22, 20203rd Quarter 2020 Meeting — Virtual
- June 20, 2019Sky Islands Chapter Meeting — Sierra Vista, AZ
⚡ IEEE — Fort Huachuca / Sierra Vista Section
- April 23, 2019Talk: LinkedIn: Effective Use for Professionals — Sierra Vista, AZ
- March 26, 2019Technical Lecture: Zero Trust Networking — Sierra Vista, AZ
- February 26, 2019Technical Lecture: The Front Lines of Computer Networking — Sierra Vista, AZ
- January 23, 2019Technical Lecture: Intro to PNT and Mitigating GPS Vulnerabilities — Sierra Vista, AZ
- Aug 7, 17; Oct 2, 2015Section Meetings (Executive & STEM) — Sierra Vista, AZ
📊 PMI (Project Management Institute)
- October 15, 2015Agile/Scrum Overview — Sierra Vista, AZ | PMP Guide | SAFe SPC Guide
🔧 Technical Training
Formal training courses and workshops — separate from certification exams.
SCYIHA Concessions Stand Training
January 14, 2026 · State College, PA
Clarke volunteers with youth hockey in State College.
Microsoft: 70-410 Installing & Configuring Windows Server 2012
March 26, 2015
This training directly preceded Clarke’s MCP certification.
Cisco: CCENT (Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician)
March 25, 2015
Cisco: Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices Part 1 (ICND1)
March 25, 2015