Heroes Do Happen Here

I was so excited to be involved in the Heroes Happen Here event that took place February 27, 2008 at the Direct Energy Building in downtown Toronto.

Microsoft puts on a great event – and this particular launch of the Server 2008 products was no different.

I volunteered at the event in the User Group area. It was the official launch not only of Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008, but also the debut of the new IT Pro Toronto community group! This event was my third time connecting with the IT Pro community in the User Group area, and I would do it again without hesitating.

Joining me at the booth were Russell – who I spent the majority of the day with, and Simone and Dom. Russell and I were so busy speaking to both the IT Pro and Developer attendees that we didn't have a chance to attend the breakout sessions we wanted, but I've been assured that I will have access to the content at some time down the road! It's a good thing too because I know I missed some fantastic discussions.

The first meeting for the Hip New user group is Tuesday March 18 – from 6pm to 9pm. You can get details (eventually) at www.itprotoronto.ca. The topic is Virtualization.

To those who stopped to chat with us we appreciate your time, and we really do want to see you out at the IT Pro event in March. If you were not able to attend the event, I will post links to the content when I receive them.

ABOUT THE COMMUNITY

I am a real advocate for the IT Pro community, and I was very excited to be involved in a discussion on Tuesday night at a community event prior to the launch focusing on the future of the IT Pro's career. I was honoured to be asked to facilitate one of the many discussion corners.

My group had an open floor discussion on why IT Pros are leaving their careers, what needs to be done to assist IT Pros in retaining their careers, and what we can do to help the future IT Pros decide on a course of action and career in IT and actually go for it!

There was lots of chatter about potential changes to the education system, how technology focused companies could donate their technologies to educational facilities like colleges and universities so that students can learn on what is new and upcoming rather than what is old, outdated and soon to be put to rest. Other conversation focused on the need for sponsorship, cooperative opportunities and mentoring not only for the new kids on the block, but also for those fossils that have for one reason or another been pigeonholed into working with a technology that eventually will not be of value to either them or their employers.

In all my years (4) of working with IT Professionals in a group environment, I have NEVER seen so much communication and discussion – which continued even after the breakout sessions were over! It was wonderful.

Now I'm off to type up my notes on the event and pass them along to the TechNet team to share the ideas and comments generated during the sessions.

When the tour comes to your community – get involved – have your say – get heard!

Time for a New Phone!

Can you sense the excitement? It's time to look at a new phone.

My Blackberry has suffered many abuses. I've dropped it OVER and OVER again from varying heights. I've spilled yogurt on it, and it fell into my peanut butter toast and it's been subjected to hand sanitizer to stop the spread of my (and other people's) cold viruses.

It has served me well and I love it, the problem is, the keys stick when I type messages, and I swear it is having a mental health day today because it has reset itself FOUR – yes F-O-U-R times.

The reset process is a long and frustrating one, because all you see on the screen is a rotating hourglass. Oh Joy! There it goes again – and no my problems are not related to any RIM outages! It is hardware related.

And of course, I want to lower my bills from the horrific $90.00 a month to something a little more manageable – since I am no longer using the device for it's original intended purpose (work) I think I should look at reducing my data plan while I'm at it (currently unlimited no longer offered by my carrier).

So I have the happy task of researching and testing phones.

My friend Connie has a new phone. She's had it for almost a week now and I'm not really sure if she loves it or not, but it certainly is a lovely little Windows Mobile 6 device (complete with pocket office!!!!). Her phone is the HTC Touch. It is a touch screen and has all the cool features a phone should have without being classed as a SmartPhone.

Did you know that as soon as a device is classed as a SmartPhone, telecom companies can charge an increased fee for data services (mostly because of the push email feature)?

I recently found out that my friend Barnaby Jeans also has one and he likes it.

My problem is I am so used to the QWERTY keypad setup on my blackberry, I'm not sure I want to go back to the touch pad, use a steno to draw my letters like I did when I owned my palm pilot (which by the way people stopped using only a couple months after I bought mine!).

So I'm also looking at the HTC Touch 6800. It has a slide out keypad in the QWERTY style – but because it does, it is classed as a SmartPhone and therefore is automatically going to cost me a minimum of $25 a month for data plus my phone pack.

I'll keep you posted on my new phone adventures.

Microsoft’s Goal – Interoperability

I just read a press release regarding the impending changes to Microsoft's technology and business practices as it relates to developers, partners, customers and competitors.

"Specifically, Microsoft is implementing four new interoperability principles and corresponding actions across its high-volume business products: (1) ensuring open connections; (2) promoting data portability; (3) enhancing support for industry standards; and (4) fostering more open engagement with customers and the industry, including open source communities."

This stems from the European judgement passed in September 2007.

Take a look at the Microsoft Interoperability Site.

New IT Pro Group Meet and Greet at HHH Launch

It's official!

I will be assisting with the newly "reformed" IT Pro group getting together for the Mississauga-Toronto (GTA) users.

My first official duty will be to meet and greet and spread the word about the Toronto IT Pro group and encourage people to sign up for the monthly meeting announcements.

Our first venue is the Heroes Happen Here event in Toronto on Wednesday February 27, 2008. We will be wearing our community shirts so please feel free to introduce yourself and chat with me, Mitch Garvis and many of the other people volunteering their time and expertise to assist in getting the IT Pro group up and running smoothly.

We look forward to seeing you at the event.

It’s Spring When…

It is a sure sign of spring when the crocuses bloom…and my crocus is a lovely deep purple.

Spring? You ask, checking the calendar no doubt to confirm that it is in fact still February.

Crocuses blooming? You ponder as you look outside and realize the ground is still frozen and covered in snow.

That's right – I always know it is getting close to the spring season because fundraising for all my favourite charities begins in spring…ok well they begin in February, but it makes me feel as though spring is not far away.

The beauty of seeing something wonderful growing in a sunny window on the coldest day in February makes me feel as though there really is light at the end of this very weird-weather-tunnel as known as "winter". I feel a sense of anticipation and hope that the snow will soon stop, the dirt and grime of winter washed away in the spring showers.

This all leads me to a brief discussion of my favourite charities.

I am currently registered as a walker and team member of Hutch's Heroes. This is the second year that we are participating in the MS Super Cities Walk, a world wide fund raiser for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada. (If you would like to donate to this walk we would appreciate it. You can check out my pledge page, see a story about how MS is affecting my life and access a link to my team site from here. For my friends and family that have joined our team and have supported us – we THANK YOU!)

I also support the CNIB with their fundraising of crocuses, and I always buy daffodils and donate to the Canadian Cancer Society and the Weekend to End Breast Cancer as well as the JDRF- Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund.

All of these events happen in and around the same time – the end of winter through spring.

I watched the first of my CNIB crocus bulbs flower today – it truly is an amazing sight to watch it grow and I feel as though every hour I can look up and see it has grown a little more, spread it's petals a little wider and the purple colour becomes just a little more rich.

I'm also filled with a small sense of satisfaction that I have done even a little (my crocus plants cost me $10.00 – not a lot really I gave up two lattes to help fund research for the visually impaired – really I don't need the lattes anyway!)

So with thoughts turning to spring, I hope you will think about supporting a cause or charity that affects you or someone you know. It's a big scary world, but we really can make a difference!

 

When Templates Will Do

I have a need for something very specific for a project I am working on. I've been trying to figure out how to create the "form" I need, determine which program would be best suited to my need and then decide exactly what I need to put into my selected document to capture the maximum amount of information in the most efficient way but also so that I am able to use the captured information EASILY at a later date.

Am I really asking too much of myself…to be able to analyze my needs and create that form?

I didn't think so until I actually sat down to do the work.

It was then that I realized I want too much – and when I want, I feel that sense of need and then of course, not unlike most people who feel a strong need, I bordered on a sense of entitlement. The item I had in mind had to have a breakdown for the Phases of the projected I am working on. It also needed to be a bit of a project manager where I could keep track of estimated completion dates, tasks and assignments. To top it all off, it had to be one page and have a yearly calendar on it. AND I just HAD to have all the features I was looking for without using Microsoft Project.

While I admit to being a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my forms, documents and template, I also recognize that I do, upon occasion, lack motivation to do things for myself when there is no immediate sense of gratification. (read that as "I won't get as much out of it as the hours I put in" just in case you needed a Jac translation)

I decided that instead of putting in a lot of work for this I'd check out the templates and see what I could come up with to use for this particular problem.

Well – wasn't I surprised to find that in Microsoft Word 2007 (go figure!) there is a fantastic template that completely met my needs – the Event Schedule Planner included all the elements I wanted with the exception of the task list. Taking a look at the screen shot (my first try here with this so I hope it turns out ok) I replaced the Project Phase section on the right (not colourful fields) and added the task list there. So now I have everything I need!

And it was as easy as a template. I spent less than three minutes looking for the template and another five or so minutes changing it to suite my needs. That was a huge savings in my eyes and actually made me more productive at work because I "cheated" and used an existing template to make my life a whole lot easier.

The good thing is that templates are available for so many more things than they used to be – and so many more people are sharing templates they create with the world at the Microsoft Office online site. Give it a try and see if you can save time – or if you have a great template, maybe you can help out another user and save them time.

 

The Passion to Blog

I love to blog.

I love to share my thoughts, ideas, feelings, tips and tricks with others – and I love to do it in writing.

I love to write. I enjoy it and hope that some of my readers enjoy it too.

Because of my passion for blogging, education and technology, I often come across items of interest that I believe would be great to share with others.

Last spring I purchased a book called Blog Schmog by Robert (Bob) Bly, a copy writer I enjoy reading when I have the time. His book is and excellent foray into the realm of blogging from a corporate perspective…do we really need a blog? In reading much of his stuff…I often wonder if he's so down on blogs, why does he have one, but I love his style and he really does have many thought-provoking things to say about all things writing, not just "blogging."

On another note: I'm going to try something new.

I'm evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they're letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.

It covers:

• The best blogging techniques.
• How to get traffic to your blog.
• How to turn your blog into money.

I'll let you know what I think once I've had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it's still free.

Follow the Leader

I have great admiration and respect for my friend and colleague Don Spencer who has a wonderful Blog that I highly recommend.

Because of a visit to his blog, I felt a little like I just MUST keep up with the Joneses…in this case Don.

He uses a tool called Snap Shots to put little pop up windows of screen shots associated with links he puts into his blogs. I thought this was just so cool – I had to do it to.

Here is an excerpt from the Snap Shots site that on what they are and how they work.

Remember – this is only a cool tool I thought might be handy to give my readers an idea of what a site looks like before deciding to follow my links. You may choose to use Snap Shots or not – below are the very user friendly instructions on working with Snap Shots on my site and any other site that uses this neat little tool.

Introducing Snap Shots from Snap.com

I just installed a nice little tool on this site called Snap Shots that enhances links with visual previews of the destination site, interactive excerpts of Wikipedia articles, MySpace profiles, IMDb profiles and Amazon products, display inline videos, RSS, MP3s, photos, stock charts and more.

Sometimes Snap Shots bring you the information you need, without your having to leave the site, while other times it lets you "look ahead," before deciding if you want to follow a link or not.

Should you decide this is not for you, just click the Options icon in the upper right corner of the Snap Shot and opt-out.

Study Groups Do Work!

I know that I wrote about the WWITPRO study groups previously, but I wanted to let you know that getting together, getting focused and sharing with others really can work to help successfully pass Microsoft certification exams.

I heard from Steve P., one of the participants of the MCDST study group that not only did he pass the first 70-271 exam last fall after the study group finished, but he also just passed the 70-272 exam.

Here is an excerpt from his email:

"A little preparation which included the excellent study group experience and all members of the group can do it. (pass)"

Steve also asked that I pass along a link to some excellent preparation materials from the Microsoft website.

He suggests taking the FREE Clinic 2263: Exam Preparation for the MCDST Certification and highly recommends the second shot offer that allows you some insurance just in case you don't successfully pass the first time.

Congratulations Steve! You are now a MCDST! I'm glad you participated and look forward to hearing how everyone else made out!

Movin' on Over

Those that visit will notice that I am starting to merge over the information from my Smarttechconsulting.com/blog site - with the closing of that chapter in my life, I wanted to retain the blogs and posts, and have them all in one location.

For ease of use I also decided to Close down my tipsfromatechchick blog...so I'll merge those over as well.

Enjoy catching up and discovering new things with me as I continue my journey of cramming as much education and information into my little brain!

Cheers all!

Here a Blog, There a Blog

I’ve been blogging for a number of years now, on various topics, for various reasons. I’ve used a number of different blog-ware and I have to admit that while I’ve been very happily using Microsoft Office Word 2007 since the Beta release, the one feature I didn’t use until just last week was the Blog feature.
When I instructed the Micro Applications Computer Business Applications (MACBA) certificate course at Conestoga College, the one thing I added to the introduction to technology and Internet sections was the ability to learn how to blog. We talked about what blogs were, how blogs have helped and hindered people and how businesses can use blogs to support and grow their customer base. Then all the students in my class started to blog. I had them blog every day even if there wasn't anything for them to say. (some loved it, others - not so much, but it's ok. It was a new experience and they all jumped right in!)
Last fall was the first inception of the new Office 2007 into our curriculum and I was very excited to be able to show the fantastic tools Office now allows. One feature I didn’t have enough time to discuss was the ability to use Microsoft Office Word 2007 to create blog entries with the Blog template and to have the entry uploaded automatically to the blog of your choosing!
Imagine how pleased I was that when I tried this feature, not only did I save myself time (I usually type my entries in Word and then paste them into Blogger), but everything was so easy! I didn’t even have to log in to Blogger to do any copy and paste.
So I’ve been wracking my brain trying to figure out what I can write about (since I type 102 words a minute) to fill a couple hours of my day – I figured why not write about something that really made me happy, saved me time and allows me the ease of use of tools I am already familiar with.
So how does it work?
I created a “blog” entry using the Blog template. The first time I accessed this template, I was prompted to fill in some details about my blog location, user name and password. I’m A-OK with putting that information into my system so I have no second thoughts about the security.
Once I entered in my details, I typed up my entry, choose Publish from the Blog Post Tab, Blog ribbon and I got a funky little information bar that told me the item had been posted to my blog and listed the time and date as well!
In just a few minutes I had my entry done, proofed and posted – and it only took the click of a button! I’m so glad this is so easy to use, yet one more reason I LOVE Microsoft Office 2007!!! Why doesn’t everyone just go out and get a copy?
If you are a student, and you have a valid email address to your institution such as your college or university, you can actually purchase Office 2007 Ultimate edition (which kicks major butt if I do say so myself!!!) for less then $100 Canadian. Check it out at http://www.theultimatesteal.ca/. This link takes you to a site that lets you, as a student, purchase the ULTIMATE –that means EVERYTHING in the Office suite including GROOVE – I SOOOO want to use Groove in a corporate environment! Check it out – you won’t be disappointed!

Exit Interviews and Training

Did you ever think that there could possibly be a co-relation between a client exit interview and training?

I can remember the last job I left that had an exit interview. The big question they asked was, why are you leaving…and all I could say was that when an employee knows more than their manager, does the manager's work and gets less than half the pay, it's time to move on and find employment with a company that values employees and recognizes the value those employees bring to the table. It only took two other employees and three weeks for the company to realize they were losing good workers because of one bad one.

Do we ask our clients the same thing when they decide to leave us to go to the competition? Good companies, companies that really value their clients will ask on a regular basis, what have we done right and what needs improvement.

Just like in sales, as trainers we can't get stuck in a rut and make assumptions that the material we are coving suits our client's needs. Does the training I'm developing meet the goal the company set when they made the decision to hire a corporate trainer? To find out I use an exit interview. In my case, the exit interview is the after class evaluation form. You know that silly form we take for granted when we ask all class participants to jot down their opinions on if we were prepared, if we were knowledgeable, if the room was too hot or too cold and if the class participants were bored to tears or do they really, truly, believe that the material covered in the session is going to help them do their job better.

Most times, I don't take much notice of the general responses unless there is one that was especially positive or negative. I do try to focus on the grouping of questions around the employee's perception of how the training session will help them do their job. If someone indicates, the material covered will not help with their job then I have to find out why. (If there are especially negative comments I ALWAYS address them – even if I don't want to. Never leave the negative comments untouched. You may find that the comment was made because the employee was grumpy, sick, tired, dealing with challenging personal issues, worried about work etc. and that it really isn't a reflection of you or your training.)

When I follow up after an evaluation I ask some tough questions.

Why did the employee:

1. Feel that the session won't help them
   
2. Choose this session – what research did they do into the course content
   
3. Waste their time coming to a session that wasn't for them
   
4. Take the spot away from someone else who would have benefited from the training
   
5. Waste company money to be in the training session
   

Speaking with the individuals who fill out the form helps me understand if my marketing materials need to be changed, if a different message needs to be included in the course offerings to the staff. In some cases it is just that we need to let the managers know who the training is designed for and when managers understand that each session is customized to a group within the organization, they better understand the need for their staff to attend the correct session thereby ensuring the employees receive instruction appropriate to their position and that they learn something they need to know.

Sometimes as trainers we are just lucky and the people attending our sessions REALLY want to be there (not often – but when that happens it sure makes our job all the more worthwhile doesn't it?).

So – exit interviews aren't just for those employees moving on to bigger and better things, or clients leaving for the competition. They are also a key factor in improving our own material and performance and getting the company a great return on the training investment.