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TED O’clock – What I learned from 100 days of rejection – January 26, 2018

Posted on January 29, 2018 by Lucie

The ITS: Team gathered on Friday to watch Jia Jiang’s journey through 100 days of rejection. His “What I learned from 100 days of rejection” talk was interesting and thought-provoking, and resulted in a discussion of our own attempts at conquering rejection and fighting through preconceived notions and assumptions.

“Jia Jiang adventures boldly into a territory so many of us fear: rejection. By seeking out rejection for 100 days — from asking a stranger to borrow $100 to requesting a “burger refill” at a restaurant — Jiang desensitized himself to the pain and shame that rejection often brings and, in the process, discovered that simply asking for what you want can open up possibilities where you expect to find dead ends.”

 

Thanks to all in attendance! I am looking forward to the next one.

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TED O’clock – This is what happens when you reply to spam email – January 12, 2018

Posted on January 18, 2018 by Lucie

“Suspicious emails: unclaimed insurance bonds, diamond-encrusted safe deposit boxes, close friends marooned in a foreign country. They pop up in our inboxes, and standard procedure is to delete on sight. But what happens when you reply?”

On January 12, 2018, the team shared hot breakfast, laughs, and personal experiences while watching James Veitch describe his encounter with email spammers in his “This is what happens when you reply to spam email” TED talk from 2016. The talk generated discussion about safety and how dangerously far these scammers are willing to go in their quest for money or retaliation.

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Notes from the Thursday, December 14, 2017 ITS: Division Meeting

Posted on December 20, 2017 by Lucie

Ian Johnson, the Director of Sustainability, discussed the direction of sustainability at CC. The topics included LED lighting, DocuSign implementation, and work/life balance, among other topics.

Chad gave an update on eSports and its popularity among college students nation-wide. Chad announced the launch of eSport teams by the end of Block 5.

Katharina shared her team’s ideas on increasing the new CC app’s number of downloads and overall traffic.

The future team will start testing charging stations in the Tutt library. The team discussed the need for the stations as well as the benefits.

Satisfaction Survey Update – The discussion of the survey results has been postponed until January due to lack of time.

Katharina and her search committee are scheduling in-person interviews for Mobile App Developer for January.

Matt and his search committee will be conducting phone interviews for the Instructional Technologist position the week before Winter Break.

Linda officially welcomed Nick Smith, Technical Events Specialist, to the ITS: team.

David Ziemba asked for the division’s input on a cost saving measure that also carries a potentially significant risk.

The following men and women of the ITS: division earned Amazon gift cards for receiving the most Golden Tickets/Coins: Drew Harper, Jeff Montoya, Lucie Tennis, Keith Conger, Katharina Groves, Ian Knapp, Chad Schonewill, Andrew Watson, Tulio Wolford, and Angie Bardsley

Minutes submitted by: Lucie Tennis

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TED O’clock – The world needs all kinds of minds – December 1, 2017

Posted on December 1, 2017 by Lucie

On December 1, 2017, the team enjoyed hot breakfast while watching Temple Grandin’s talk “The world needs all kinds of minds.”  Temple talked about different types of thinking and the need to have various types of minds in the world; labels and societal need and desire to ‘fit in’ should not define one’s abilities and success. She discussed the need to support and motivate children with autism to help them become the next Teslas and Einsteins.

“Temple Grandin, diagnosed with autism as a child, talks about how her mind works — sharing her ability to “think in pictures,” which helps her solve problems that neurotypical brains might miss. She makes the case that the world needs people on the autism spectrum: visual thinkers, pattern thinkers, verbal thinkers, and all kinds of smart geeky kids.”

The TED talk generated a nice discussion about introverts, labels, and the beauty of diversity.

Thank you for coming! I am always happy to see my co-workers.

Until the next great meeting,

Lucie Tennis

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TED O’clock – How the worst moments in our lives make us who we are – October 27, 2017

Posted on November 6, 2017 by Lucie

On October 27, 2017, the team watched Andrew Solomon’s talk on “How The Worst Moments In Our Lives Make Us Who We Are.” Andrew Solomon discusses the challenges he and others have faced throughout their lives and  how those challenges shape all of us.

“Writer Andrew Solomon has spent his career telling stories of the hardships of others. Now he turns inward, bringing us into a childhood of adversity, while also spinning tales of the courageous people he’s met in the years since. In a moving, heartfelt and at times downright funny talk, Solomon gives a powerful call to action to forge meaning from our biggest struggles.” – www.ted.com

Thanks to all who were in attendance!

Lucie Tennis

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Notes from the Thursday, October 12, 2017, ITS: Division Meeting

Posted on November 2, 2017 by Lucie

Brian spoke about the creation of two horizontal teams with focus on mobility and the landscape of IT. He also thanked the groups participating in the budget exercise; the participants will share a report and presentation at the next divisional meeting. Brian gave a shout-out to the women and men of the Solution Center as they were recognized by the new chaplain, Alex, as the best IT support group he has interacted with in his career. Brian talked about the Tutt Library dedication ceremony and encouraged staff to participate in the faculty/staff giving campaign.

Manuel spoke about the new mobile app and stated that it will be entering the testing environment soon.

Karen shared that the Banner Team is in process of demonstrating Banner 9 to major user groups, as well as undergoing new technology training. The group is hoping for a roll-out next summer.

Andrew talked about testing thin client technology. He discussed how it is more cost and energy efficient and easier to maintain. This topic generated a valuable discussion, and Andrew invited everyone to try it as there are test models in the Tech Sandbox.

Jim spoke about ”DIRT,” the Data Integration Reporting Team. DIRT’s purpose is to come up with strategy to have better access to data and better reporting capability.

Linda talked about the annual ITS: survey coming out this week. The deadline for submission is November 3, 2017. Linda also shared some effective means of giving feedback, such as talking to each other, reviews and evaluations, the annual survey, the special ops team’s open door policy, and the college’s ombudsperson.

Linda, Katharina, Matt, and David shared updates about open positions and staffing needs.

 

Minutes submitted by: Lucie Tennis, Administrative Assistant, ITS:

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TED O’clock – The surprising habits of original thinkers – September 29, 2017

Posted on October 28, 2017 by Linda

On September 29, 2017, the team watched Adam Grant’s talk on “The Surprising Habits of Original Thinkers.”  Mr. Grant talks about those who are not only original thinkers, but those who champion their ideas and make them happen.  He noticed three main characteristics about them:

  1. They are late to the party; they are moderate procrastinators who need to know what the problem/project is first so then they can procrastinate about it for a while, allowing themselves to think and come up with the best idea to solve it.  You don’t have to be first with an idea, just different and better.
  2. They feel doubt that focuses on idea-doubt, not self-doubt, and a fear of failing, but are more afraid of not trying at all.
  3. They have lots of bad ideas; they come to their good ideas by generating a large amount of them.

So originals, as Mr. Grant calls them, are just like everyone in that they procrastinate and have lots of bad ideas, but what sets them apart is that they don’t stop trying because of those characteristics.

Thanks to everyone who attended!

ITS: Always fun, never boring
Respectfully submitted,
Linda Petro

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TED O’clock – 10 ways to have a better conversation – September 1, 2017

Posted on October 28, 2017 by Linda

In this edition of TED O’clock, those in attendance watched Celeste Headlee’s discussion of “10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation.”  Here is the summary of those 10 ways:

  1. Don’t multi-task; be present.
  2. Don’t pontificate; assume you have something to learn.
  3. Use open-ended questions; start questions with who, what, when, where, why, and how.
  4. Go with the flow.
  5. If you don’t know, then say you don’t know.
  6. Don’t equate your experience with theirs; all experiences are individual.
  7. Try not to repeat yourself; it can sound condescending when you do.
  8. Stay out of the weeds; no one cares about the details; people care more about people than the details.
  9. Listen; listen to understand, not to reply.
  10. Be brief.

Ultimately, Ms. Headlee says we should all go out, talk to people, and prepare to be amazed.  If you do this, you will rarely be disappointed.

Thanks to everyone who came to today’s talk!

ITS: Always fun, never boring
Respectfully submitted,
Linda Petro

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Notes from the Thursday, September 14, 2017, ITS: Division Meeting

Posted on October 28, 2017 by Linda

Lyrae Williams, associate vice president for the office of institutional planning and effectiveness, provided updated information regarding the Fine Arts Center strategic plan and passed around packets for all to include in their college strategic plan booklets.

Brenda Soto, director of college events, provided information about the College Events Department and how ITS: can help them in their work.

Katharina will be providing a data loss prevention (DLP) update at the In the Loop next week.

Vish updated the group on the Modo Labs mobile app roll-out, stating that training sessions will be coming soon and that the group currently focused on the mobile app is working with Communications on making the app as useful as possible.  Other groups on campus have been encouraged to work with Modo Labs directly to see how their information can be included on the app.  Phase I will launch in mid-October with 10 out of 25 modules.  Student testing will begin next week.

Angie updated everyone regarding DocuSign.  Currently, Financial Aid, the Dean’s Office, and the Finance Office (which includes Facilities and Residential Life) are using the system, with more to come on-line soon.  Informational sessions will be held for those want to find out more about the system.

Tulio introduced Drew Harper (cloud support, specializing in Office 365) and Caitlin Taber (after-hours and deployment specialist) as new members of the Solutions Center.  Katharina stated that the mobile app position has been posted, so please share the posting with friends and colleagues who might have an interest.  Matt Gottfried thanked Danna Duncan for her work over the past two years and announced that she will be leaving the college as of mid-September.  This open instructional technologist position will be posted soon.  Linda announced that a new administrative assistant has been hired and will start at the end of September.

Brian stated that the faculty/staff giving campaign continues and encouraged everyone to participate.  The dollar amount of the donation doesn’t matter, only participation percentages are important as those impact US News & World Report rankings.

Matt Gottfried announced that GIS will be hosting a local institution celebration of GIS that will have guest speakers and roundtable discussions.  Look for the announcement of details to come soon.

Chris Bittner discussed a film contest he will be hosting during each block.  If anyone in ITS: would like to be a judge for the contests, please let him know.

ITS: Always fun, never boring
Respectfully submitted,
Linda Petro

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Notes from the Thursday, July 27, 2017, ITS: Division Meeting

Posted on October 28, 2017 by Linda

Brian stated that it will be important for ITS: to showcase for the campus the tools that are available to run on the improved network, including things like DocuSign, Four Winds, Modo Labs (new mobile application), Office 365, VOIP (once funding is approved), Banner 9, etc.

The ITS: Division will be conducting a budget exercise to determine how it could reduce its budget if an economic downturn occurred.  Various reduction scenarios will be considered, focusing on the operational side of the budget, not the people side.  If you are interested in participating with this exercise, please contact Brian.

Brian will be sending a note to the division soon to schedule one-on-ones again.  He will be discussing use of the library spaces and the ITS: organization.

Please remember to have a quarterly discussion with your supervisor about your evaluation goals to see if they need to be changed or updated, as well as to track progress on the goals that were originally set.

Updates regarding the open positions of administrative assistant, Office 365, and the Solutions Center extended hours were discussed.  Another position to focus on the mobile app will be opening soon as well.

The faculty/staff giving campaign was discussed.

Atrium is being considered to replace part of the CBORD system.  More information will be shared as it becomes available.

Linda will be working on the 2016-2017 ITS: annual report and reaching out for information from everyone soon.

ITS:Always fun, never boring
Respectfully submitted,
Linda Petro

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