I am the social chair. As social chair, I come up with different networking and social events so that participants can get to know one another and enjoy the conference beyond the sessions.
This will be my 3rd conference.
Continue reading SIGUCCS 2018 Volunteer Introductions – Winnie Ling Luper
What is your volunteer position for 2018?Registration Chair
25! Between Fall Conferences, Management Symposium and combined conferences.
First by writing and presenting, but my first committee position was as the program chair for the 2001 Fall Conference in Portland, OR.
Traveling! I have lived in Japan, led a student overseas program to Vietnam, went on a student program to Costa Rica & Guatemala and just, in general, love to travel. One of my happy places is eating guacamole on a beach in Mexico.
Reading for pleasure, running, cuddling with my kitty Rufus!
SIGUCCS 2018 Orlando … who is your favorite Disney character?Tough question. I would say it is a toss up between Winnie the Pooh and Happy.
Following up on College (Un)bound, Jeffrey Selingo explores ways a young professional can jumpstart their career in There is Life after College. A job after graduation is no longer a given. Many college students struggle to succeed upon graduation. His research takes him to various parts of the country where he talks with recent and soon-to-be college graduates about what helped and hurt their employment prospects.
While his advice and recommendations take many forms, his chapter entitled “What the Economy Needs, What Employers Want” is especially insightful. In this chapter, he provides a list of five pieces of advice for young college professionals:
This leads us to his keynote address at SIGUCCS – how can we in higher education information technology help the students at our universities and colleges gain valuable experiences that will help and support their future employment prospects? How can we provide our students with the opportunities to learn the lessons listed above and gain valuable insights into what future employers want?
Join us at the Opening Plenary for SIGUCCS 2018 on Monday, October 8 at 9:00am. For more information, visit the SIGUCCS 2018 Plenary & General Session web page.
I am this year’s Hospitality Room Coordinator. Essentially, it’s my job to ensure that there’s a room or two in which folks can relax after a long conference day; where they can socialize, play games, sing songs, and get to know another side of their fellow SIGUCCSians.
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I’ve attended and presented enough times, it was about time that I volunteered. Plus, Eric Handler sort of volunteered me to take over from him.
On the work front, it has to be establishing the Drop-Off Center, a repair service for our students, which is staffed and managed by a select group of our own student staff. It started with just me, then a couple of my students helped out, then it was six student staff, then we added a student manager…<<FFW>> Now, it’s 10 student staff: a manager who handles hiring and other administrative tasks, 2 lead techs (Mac & Windows), and 7 “Drop-Off Consultants”. In it’s 13th year, the service is now pretty much entirely student run, with professional staff operating in a consultative role.
Whisky, mostly single-malt Scotch. I love the variety available in something with only three ingredients, and the passion that whisky makers themselves have for their art. I’m a regular at WhiskyFest Chicago, whisky tastings, and have about 20 distillery visits under my belt. I’ll happily have a dram and talk about it with anyone.
Board games, role-playing games, and movie night, all with family & friends. Build lego & other things with my daughter. Sample whiskies with friends. Stare at a clear, night sky for hours.
SIGUCCS 2018 Orlando … who is your favorite Disney character?The Genie. <sniff>
This year I’m coordinating volunteers. I’m going to be making sure that the front desk has friendly faces answering questions and helping point people in the right direction. Additionally, I’ll be scheduling all of the session chairs, a volunteer position that helps introduce our colleagues before they present and assists in making sure every session goes well.
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I like board games a lot and found myself spending time in the hospitality suite at my first SIGUCCS. I kept recommending games that we should have in the library and then the next thing I knew, someone suggested I should run the suite the next year.
I’ve done 2 charity bike rides of over 70 miles to raise money for charity
Board Games. I have more information than I care to admit in my brain about board games. Did you play a board game once, describe it to me and I can probably tell you who designed it and the name if you forgot.
Pokemon Go, Board Games, Tennis, Bar Quiz/Trivia
SIGUCCS 2018 Orlando … who is your favorite Disney character?Genie
I am the Poster Track Chair. I didn’t know what this meant until I started doing it, and love it so far. For conference participants who have Poster Presentations in 2018, I am helping coordinate and complete readings of their required papers, getting them ready for publication, and then will help assist with the long-distance coordination and assembly of actual posters for the conference.
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I helped chair sessions in 2016, looking for a way to engage myself in sessions I might not otherwise attend. During 2017 a last-minute volunteer coordinator was needed. One of my colleagues knew I’d done similar work in my swing-dance pursuits, and volunteered me!
We just implemented mandatory two-factor authentication on campus and had an aggressive deadline and goal – have 80% of our student population voluntarily enrolled by the date we said we’d require 2FA. With just over a month for publicity, events, and outreach (spanning our spring break) we hit our goal just in time!
Lindy Hop (swing dancing) – it’s a hobby and passion that has taken me across the country and around the world!
Board Gaming, Traveling, Swing dancing, Curling, Knitting & Crocheting, Random DIY Home Improvement, Occasional woodworking, Handbell choir ringing – and whatever new adventures lie ahead!
SIGUCCS 2018 Orlando … who is your favorite Disney character?MOANA!!!
Would you like to attend the SIGUCCS Conference this year, but lack financial support from your institution? You may be eligible to apply for partial suppport in the form of a Conference Attendance Grant.
Applications are accepted through July 31, 2018. Details: http://siguccs.org/grants.
The purpose of the SIGUCCS Grant program is to provide partial support for individuals in institutions of higher education to participate in the annual SIGUCCS Conference. This support is funded by SIGUCCS and consists of a full registration to either the Management Symposium or the Service and Support Conference; hotel room accommodations; and registration for one half-day workshop or executive seminar. (“Business Behind the Magic” is not included as a pre-conference workshop option.)
The Awards Committee hopes to hear from you!
As we head into our 2018 conference, which happens to be located at Walt Disney World, we reflect on the magical experience of Disney and how Disney takes the ordinary and makes it extraordinary.
Chas Grundy recently posted an article on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/magic-work-5-lessons-from-our-trip-disney-world-chas-grundy/) that talks about how he and his family went above and beyond the norm to turn a family vacation into a magical Disney experience. It was more than just a vacation to Disney, he found or made magic in the entire experience, from pre-planning to post vacation. From that vacation, Chas turned each element into a lesson that we can learn and use in other parts of our lives, including work.
If you have a moment, read his post and see how we can turn the ordinary into extraordinary in small, simple ways.
If you don’t have a moment, at least read his final takeaway:
A vacation, like a project, product, event, or any other work experience, can be both stressful and exciting. It carries promise and anticipation, challenges and frustrations, and opportunities for us to learn and grow. Long after the frustrations have faded and the promise has delivered (or not), we will carry the memories of how it made us feel. Our customers and users will carry those memories as well – but we are in the position to shape the experience for them. Take a lesson or two from Disney and Universal and make it a little bit magical.
Now, take a moment and think about how a trip to SIGUCCS at Disney can inspire and drive you to make magical changes and moments at your institution – registration opens soon!
~Lisa Brown
What’s up with all the different presentation formats at SIGUCCS? What’s the difference between a presentation and a poster? And what is a lightning talk?
SIGUCCS has an opportunity for a variety of session types and we are looking for people to present in all of them!
Are you doing something interesting at work? Something that might be of interest to others in higher ed IT? Have you found a unique way to manage help desk tickets? Do you have a great method for getting faculty to come to training? Have you created a web site or documentation that has made your service so much easier to support? All of these are great ideas to share at SIGUCCS.
One option is a standard presentation. This involves writing a short (4-8 page) paper that outlines your presentation prior to the conference. The cool part is that this paper gets published in the ACM digital library. This is an official publication source. At the conference, you have an hour long time slot in which to give your presentation and answer questions of your attendees. For information about the paper process, read The SIGUCCS Presentation Paper.
If you know people at other institutions are doing something similar, suggest a panel presentation. This is one where each school would present on their own methods and discuss similarities and differences in approaches. The audience benefits from multiple perspectives. Not sure how to find co-presenters? Use the SIGUCCS-L email list! If you are not a member, join today (http://www.siguccs.org/lists.shtml). A paper is optional for this type of presentation.
If you have a great process to share and it can be an interactive session, submit a proposal for a facilitated discussion. This type of session allows you to get attendees to work together, brainstorm, etc. You become the moderator/facilitator of the session. And everyone comes away learning something. A paper is also optional for this type of presentation.
Don’t want to present to a group? Submit a proposal for a poster. The poster session provides you an opportunity to discuss your topic/project one-on-one with other attendees. For more information about the poster session and how beneficial this can be to you and your career, see Present a poster at the SIGUCCS Annual Conference.
And what the heck is a lightning talk? Read more at Lightning Talks at the SIGUCCS Annual Conference
The 2018 SIGUCCS Annual Conference is accepting presentation proposals through February 16, 2018. Submit your proposal today!
~Lisa Brown
Did you know that the 2018 SIGUCCS Conference marks the five-year anniversary of the Lightning Talks format? During this period, attendees gave over forty bite-sized presentations, and these Lightning Talks have turned into one of the more popular sessions during conferences. For those who are curious about these mini-presentations, let’s answer some of the more common questions about these sessions.
During Lightning Talks sessions, there are typically about five presenters. Speaker have 7 minutes each to present, followed by 2-minute question-and-answer period (during the Q & A, the next speaker prepares for their talk). The talks and Q & A periods repeat until all speakers have presented. There is also a general Q & A forum at end of the session.
Lightning Talks offer an interesting take on traditional (longer) full-length presentations. They force speakers to distill their ideas into key points and encourage concise presentations. Instead of delving into the weeds, speakers focus on high-level ideas. Some presenters also use this format to work out nascent ideas which bloom into full-length presentations at a later time. For first-time conference attendees and those who are afraid of public speaking, Lightning Talks are a great gateway into giving presentations.
Lightning Talks offer opportunities for conference attendees to get involved. By having at least one session with Lightning Talks, attendees have the opportunity to be exposed to more presentations and ideas. Speakers have an option of giving shorter talks instead of (or in addition to) presenting a full-length session. Furthermore, other Special Interest Groups (SIGs) of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) have also incorporated Lightning Talks in their conferences.
First of all, submit your ideas to SIGUCCS 2018 Conference Call for Proposals (deadline is February 16). Once selected to present, arrange your ideas into a logical order with flow—you want your audience to fluidly follow your story. Slides are optional during these presentations, as are conference papers.
Fortunately that is not the case, but many attendees have been struck by inspiration and fresh ideas from these talks. We’ve seen the following memorable Lightning Talks during past SIGUCCS conferences, including:
Using Twitter API technology to create a wearable signage system
Becoming a better employee through travel experiences
Lessons learned from helpdesk redesign iterations
Five tips for beating procrastination
Making quick support videos using a smartphone
Overcoming doubts and fears to initiate career changes
Fortunately, this short presentation format is becoming widely adopted at various industries’ conferences and events. The American Library Association published best practices for Lightning Talks, and there are useful guides from the Software Sustainability Institute and Opensource.com. For SIGUCCS-specific Lightning Talks topics, the SIGUCCS Slack channel and email listserv are great places to ask question and share ideas.
– Mo Nishiyama