Effective Meetings

I have written previously about facilitating meetings.  Somewhat akin to that post would be the “effective” meeting I was in today.  My boss had asked me about a month ago to attend in her absence in which I of course said yes.  In doing so, I missed a team meeting of which I am the co-chair.  But hey, when your boss asks you to do something, you make arrangements to do it.  Since I was going in her place, I also was sure to wear a tie.  For those of you who know me, you know that’s serious.  Whenever I go to one of these high-powered meetings as a proxy I am sure to send notes to my boss.  Below is a slightly altered version of what I sent her today:

Meeting began with attendees discussing whether we had an agenda or facilitator.  After about 5 minutes of small talk it was determined that we had neither.  Mary asked Jake about H1N1 cases on campus.  Jake said we have had approximately 60 cumulative cases in which about 35 are active.  Meeting adjourned.

Please Note: H1N1 cases on campus has nothing to do with the purpose of this committee. 

Jim Borgman: The Blackberry/iPhone epidemic

Every once in a while Jim Borgman posts an editorial cartoon that I can't help but "repost" on here. This was a recent offering of his. I can't help but smirk every time someone says they want a blackberry. This is what it does to you. Can anyone else relate to this cartoon? Can I get a witness?

A True Paradigm Shift

So today I started looking at my new laptop. It's an Apple MacBook Pro. I have learned from the few minutes I have given to it that I am getting old. I can feel my brain working double time to relearn the Mac OS. The last time I worked on a Mac was over ten years ago. The operating system seems to have a completely different approach from the windows environments I've worked in since then. When I switched to Firefox a while back, it took me a while to learn how to use it well and unlearn Internet Explorer. I highly recommend the switch though. I suspect learning this operating system and it's applications will be similar but to a much higher degree. Unfortunately, just trying to adjust reminds me of my age. I never understood why old people didn't like change. Now that I am one (WINK!), I understand. I hope the smoke coming out of my ears won't set off the fire alarms....it's quite the tax.

(Oh, and I'm doing this in small doses. I posted this on my Microsoft Machine)

Rus Hardin, PMP!

Well, folk(s), I passed!

That thing is hard and if it's something you want to look into doing, then I highly suggest you STUDY big time for it. I took a class solely to prepare me for the exam. It was still tough enough for me to wonder while the computer was tallying the results whether I stood a chance of passing. Apparently I did. And now it's over!

Training is over and tomorrow is the big day!

Well, I went through three days of intensive training. Eight hours during the day and an additional 3-5 hours of homework at night. My "final exam" that the trainers give (Not PMI) went frightenly well. Perhaps it's premature to recommend the training organization, but props go out to Velociteach. I think I'm prepared, but there is only one way of knowing and that doesn't happen until tomorrow morning.

Another thing that I need to add here is this: My wife is awesome! While away, she took care of everything around the house and even had the added bonus of two sick children. My youngest had a cold and was out of school early in the week and then my oldest got sick on Thursday night. So, while taking care of runny noses and 101 degree temps, she had no support from me since I was away. She even had the energy to give me encouragement over the phone when I called in the evening. What's more, on Thursday, I started feeling dreadful myself, so now she's taking care of me as I continue to try to study while being sick. Thanks Tina! I love you!