CCUMC - where will you be in 108 years?
This year’s conference in San Antonio was equally as energetic and full of good, thought provoking content as last year, when I was a CCUMC first timer. It also included an historic world event that had not happened in 108 years …Go Cubs!! It was a tense and stressful night for those who stayed to the end.
I will always remember where I was when the Cubs won the World Series! I really appreciated the warm welcome that is always extended, and how easy it was to talk to everyone. It gave me a clear insight of current issues and challenges you are facing.
Using your brain
What really stuck me was the opening keynote address from Edwin J.Barea Rodriguez entitled ‘Using Brain Research on Learning to Help Engage the 21st Century Learner’, that even though we exist within the most technologically stimulated generation, one of the greatest challenges is how to engage faculty incorporating technology in the classroom. There are currently 5 generations within the workplace who have a range of experiences and expertise with technology. This has to be considered and understood in order to implement new technologies successfully.
How to deal with change
What I recall vividly from last year’s conference were the challenges of budget cuts (still very much present today) and the convergence of IT and AV departments and technologies. From the conversations I had I understood that there had been a lot of change and often convergence of departments over the last year. With the roadmap for AV changing, there were some really inspirational programs like Patrick Iglehart discussing the organizational tools that you may now need to help define your service and the levels of service you provide. I thought the photos at the end were a touch of genius to deflect from too many in-depth questions!!!
Advanced technology at a fraction of the cost
3D printing is now possible for a mere $800 using old projectors!!! It was really fascinating finding out about the origins of 3D printing and how it can be used in the classroom – Jim Spencer was a real expert in this field. Can’t wait to get a copy of this project when published. This has also left me wondering what else Notre Dame has hiding away for next year’s conference?
Data to support key decision making
Following on from last year’s conference, a theme that became more apparent was that good data really helps when you want to define service levels, duties and descriptions. This is especially relevant when services have merged, or where roles have been redefined. Of course, it also helps in everyday operations. It was interesting to witness several delegates receiving service level updates from their student workers. I know several of you mentioned that just taking a sneak peek at your service information to see that everything was under control, made you feel a great deal calmer and able to enjoy the conference more.
“I can look very quickly in my browser at the connect2 checkout dashboard and see instantly how the service is performing and what we are in for tomorrow…this really helps me sleep at night not having to worry about what my teams are facing today and tomorrow.”
Some answers from connect2
Connect2 is an equipment checkout software that is browser based and can be accessed from any device that is web enabled with a modern web browser. It is a dedicated software that is designed and developed to meet the specific needs for Higher Education equipment and resource service deliveries.
We have had some great input from all our US academic customers this year and they too are really focused on how data can help them manage service delivery day to day. I had a great comment from one of our customers recently which was “I know I shouldn’t do this when I am at home, I should really switch off from work. But I can look very quickly in my browser at the connect2 checkout dashboard and see instantly how the service is performing and what we are in for tomorrow…this really helps me sleep at night not having to worry about what my teams are facing today and tomorrow”
Connect2 is also now delivering service stats for equipment resources that you can visually reference in graph and table stats for up to five years’ worth of data.
Good to know that data is really useful and powerful when it’s easy to get hold of!
With thanks to the CCUMC team for organizing a great conference, and to my fellow delegates for the warm welcome. Looking forward already to Notre Dame next year.