ITS:Division Meeting Notes from Monday, November 2, 2015

Posted on November 7, 2015 by Linda

Thanks once again to Dave Armstrong for taking notes at Monday’s division meeting!

And now, the notes:

Vish led the meeting.

  1. Campus Safety Update – Maggie Santos, new Director of Campus Safety spoke
    1. Thanks to Eric for his tech support thus far.
    2. Thanks for getting the camera systems – have helped to solve 3-5 crimes/month.
    3. She would appreciate it if we let her know what other technology options or services we can provide her.
    4. If we see something that needs Campus Safety’s attention – let her know.
    5. Goal is emergency preparedness.
    6. Will arrange some table-top programs this year to prepare for active shooter incident.
    7.  Will need someone from ITS: to be involved in that.
    8. Will also conduct some ‘active shooter’ response training for students and staff before end of 2015.
    9. Very open to suggestions!
  2. Vish welcomed Angie and Veneesh as new staff members.
  3. Kudos to:
    1. Sean from Danna and from Dan Wiencek.
    2. Dave Z. and Dan Raney from Randy for help with Crestron/network interfacing.
    3. Chad and Linda from Brian for many positive stories about ITS: in the Catalyst.
    4. Joe from Jim Schulz for Mac help.
    5. Gerald from Brian for passing the Apple Certification.
  4. Dave Ziemba updated us on the status of the network upgrade.
    1. Bore under I-25/railroad is completed.
    2. Techs from Front Range Gigapop will be connecting our cable to the main fiber within the next few weeks.
    3. Spoke of “raspberry pies” – small devices that are stand-ins for a student computers and can measure connectivity quality more accurately than others we have available.
  5. The Discussion Topic: “What Do You Want/Need from Division Meetings, Linda Petro?”  was not discussed due to the absense of …Linda Petro.
    1. Brian gave us the assignment to think about this for our next meeting.
    2. All ran for the exits.

Submitted by
David Armstrong

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

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Intro to AV

Posted on November 2, 2015 by Linda

Over this most recent block break, Sean taught an “Intro to AV” course for several folks within ITS:.  His hope is to do a broader invite and offer both “Intro” and “Advanced” classes for those who may need or want cross-training in the future.  Great news!

Adjusted pic - Sean Teaching - 10-2015

Thanks, Sean, for putting these important training sessions together (and thanks, Randy, for the photo!)!

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

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Bringing the hammer down, but in a really helpful way

Posted on October 30, 2015 by Linda

Manuel came up with a great idea recently…to alleviate any confusion as to who on the Banner team of Enterprise Technology is using Banadmin (an access that is shared across team members), he procured a small replica of Mjolnir (Thor’s Hammer) and labeled it the “Banner Hammer.”  The hammer will hang from the door of the person who is currently using the access.  Other members of the team can then get the hammer when they need access, and there is never any confusion as to who is using it.  Brilliant!

Adjusted pic - Banner Hammer 1 - 10-2015

Adjusted pic - Banner Hammer 2 - 10-2015

Great idea, Manuel (and thanks for the pictures!)!

Makes me wonder what other superhero “tools” we can make use of in ITS:?!

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

 

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Great minds wear argyle

Posted on October 28, 2015 by Linda

Adjusted pic - Angie and Linda in argyle - 10-28-15

And that’s all I have to say about that.

Thanks, Dave, for capturing this photo-worthy (or not!) moment!

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

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Our first “TED O’clock”!

Posted on October 23, 2015 by Linda

Thanks to all of you who came to today’s “TED O’clock” TED talk discussion!  What a great turnout we had for our first event!

Adjusted pic - First TED O'clock - 10-23-15

Thanks, Matt, for the great picture!

For our first gathering, we watched Margaret Heffernan discuss “Why It’s Time to Forget the Pecking Order at Work.”  A few of the thoughts shared and discussed afterward were:

1) There was much conversation about “super chickens” and what defined a “super chicken.”  Is it an expert in a field or something more (or less)?  Could we define a “super chicken” as someone who perhaps is unwilling to share their knowledge with others?  Did it have more to do with attitude versus what the person knows?

2) It is easier to want to help others when you know a little bit more about them.  You learn more about others when given the opportunity to interact with them on more than just a work level (this is why it is important to try and connect with others during events [like TED O’clocks!]).

3) “Bringing out the best in others is how they found the best in themselves.”

4) Everybody matters and everybody has value.

5) Setting a standard of “the best imaginable” is great.  Or perhaps we should set this standard of “the best imaginable” for certain things only (as we can’t be “the best imaginable” in everything).

6) Group diversity is important in finding the best solutions to issues.

Did you attend TED O’clock?  What ideas did I miss in the notes above?  If you didn’t attend and watched the video afterward, what were your thoughts and impressions?  Let’s keep the dialogue going in the comments section!

Our next TED O’clock will be on Friday, November 20.  I will work to find a bit larger location (as we were jammed in the conference room!) and as always, we’ll have a little sustenance available, too.

Do you have a TED talk that you love?  Please share it with me so we can potentially add it to the growing list of talks we’ll be watching in the future.  If you have ideas on how to improve the concept of TED O’clock, please be sure to share those as well.

Thanks to Chad who helped create a logo for TED O’clock…we are all official now!

Adjusted pic - TED O'clock Logo

See you all at the next TED O’clock!

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

 

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Just a simple explanation

Posted on October 16, 2015 by Linda

Check out this explanation of how the Saturn V rocket works that uses only the 1,000 most common words.  It’s great in its simplicity, which is a good thing, but it does lack the detail about what makes this rocket such a brilliant design, so you lose a little in translation.  No matter how you feel about the complexity of the language, it will make you laugh (at least a little).

If you’re interested to know where I found this, it was on Seth Godin’s blog post for today, “Does vocabulary matter?”  It’s a great reminder about using the right word at the right time.

Enjoy!

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

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When boring is exciting

Posted on September 23, 2015 by Linda

Thanks, Dave Armstrong, for these pictures of the bore under I-25 and the railroad to connect us to Internet2, as well as the clever title for the post!

One lane is blocked for the equipment.

One lane is blocked for the equipment and workers.

Adjusted pic - lane closure

Not much to look at, but what it does is very exciting!

Not much to look at, but what it will do for CC is very exciting!

Adjusted pic - line out of the ground 2

ITS:Always fun, never boring (unless we’re boring under I-25!)
Respectfully submitted,
Linda Petro

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ITS:Division Meeting Notes from Monday, September 14, 2015

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Linda

A big thanks to Dave Armstrong for taking notes at last week’s division meeting!  By the way, Dave, I hope no one was rowdy enough to get thrown out of the meeting…I’d hate for your turn as “Sargent-at-Arms” to be marred with such complications!  🙂

And now, the notes:

Joseph lead the meeting.
1)      Kudos

a) Joseph – Big thanks to all who helped begin the year successfully!
b) Thanks to those involved in the network upgrade – a lot great work all summer.
c) Thanks to Sean, Don, others for work on Armstrong Theater.  It looks better and functions better.  A great look for NSO.
d) Liz offered kudos to Sue Huntington for her ‘Banner Magic’.  Sue solved a tricky Banner problem recently, so Liz created a new award – the Sue Doo award – for her.  It will be passed among those who do Banner Magic.

2)      Update on hires/searches

a) Vish updated us on various searches in Enterprise
i.      Vineesh Konda is expected to be on board 9/21/15, Spencer 263.
ii.    The data warehouse position will require an extended search – not so many good candidates at this point; may ask vendor partners for suggestions.
iii.      ISO search continues; have 7-8 applicants so far, but want more.
b) Administrative Assistant position status; offer has been extended, waiting to hear back; more very soon.
c) The search for the AV Events Tech position successfully brought us Bob Smalley!
d) Relative to hires, Joseph noted that the positions included the ‘$917K’ were still viable.  Beyond that there was no talk about the budget.

3)      Budget update: Brian will do that at another time

4)      Network upgrade update

a) Project is on track in terms of work and funding.
b) Both are at 44%, as expected.
c) Phase 2 ($1.1M) has begun.
d) Large portion of Phase 2 will be network defense; a choice between Palo Alto and Check Point will occur soon; the switch over from Juniper is set for October.
e) The bore beneath 1-25 and the railroad should be completed by October 1 (2015, that is…).

5)      Changes to the on-call phone operation

a) Joseph invited any and all to join the on-call phone rotation.
b) He noted that those already in the rotation can drop out.
c) Leadership may join rotation.
d) More publication of the phone number has led to more calls, some more frivolous than others.
e) Joseph pointed us to the on-call phone policy at our website.

6)      At 9:30am, it was commented* that ‘with Brian, Linda, and Chad not here, we’re almost done!”

7)      At 9:35am, the meeting adjourned.

*not by me.

Submitted by
Dave Armstrong
Secretary, Sargent at Arms

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

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Teamwork

Posted on September 9, 2015 by Linda

I found this video on teamwork quite interesting.  It is a quick watch (about 3 minutes), but well worth the time.

Let me know what you all think!

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

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Thank you!

Posted on September 4, 2015 by Linda

A big thank you to everyone who participated in the NSO/Move-in days weekends on campus!  Several in this group met at Panino’s this past Wednesday to kick back, relax, and have some good food and beverages to celebrate the success.

Weston, Brian, Manuel, Vish, Liz, Matt, Jennifer, and Chad celebrate at Panino's.

Weston, Brian, Manuel, Vish, Liz, Matt, Jennifer, and Chad celebrate at Panino’s.

Here’s the full list of folks that helped out on those weekends:

Dave Armstrong
Jeff Black
Jason Brodsky
Danna Duncan
Alexander Fehsenfeld
Jennifer Golightly
Matt Gottfried
Jim Grey
Don Herbst
Janet Martino
Dave McCann
Gerald Mondragon
Vish Paradkar
Eric Raczkowski
Manuel Rendon
Sean Roberts
Liz Scherkenbach
Chad Schonewill
Jim Schulz
Joseph Sharman
Bob Smalley
Caitlin Taber
Weston Taylor
Andrew Watson
Quinn Webb
Dan Wiencek
Mollie Wodenshek
Tulio Wolford
Brian Young
Leo Zen-Ruffinen
David Ziemba

If I missed your name, please let me know and I’ll revise the list.

Thanks everyone for pitching in and making these weekends great experiences for our incoming freshmen, their parents and family, and our returning students!

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

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