Anyway – FIVE WEEKS TO GO!!! Yep, it’s MAY (where does time go? Does it fade as we pass through it? Does it become mist? What actually happens to time? It does seem to travel quickly. . .) and June 18 is just around the corner! Have you registered yet? Only TWO WEEKS left to register. . . Two short weeks.

We’re doing well with registrations, but we’re still well short of our goal. And only 11 people want to go to the Brew Tour? Really? Strange. . .

=============

PDS Spotlight – this time it’s “Sticky, Brainy, & Brave: Improving your Professional Presentations”

“Whether we’re pitching a new initiative to our boss, sharing goals or lessons learned with a project team, teaching a workshop or class, or speaking to a large audience at an academic conference, the multimedia presentation has become our new lingua franca. Most of us have experienced, at least as audience members, a range of presentations from the polished and convincing “TED Talk” to the tedious or coma-inducing “Death by PowerPoint” (an unfortunate condition that’s already become a cliche). This workshop will provide concrete suggestions for improving the content, form, and performance of professional presentations and offer the chance to put those suggestions into practice. We will look at how to make our message “stickier” or more persuasive; how to be “brainier” in our use of media (especially multimedia slides) to take advantage of contemporary research about learning and cognition; and how to make performances “braver” even if we’re not naturally skilled performers. Participants will be asked to share and get feedback on their own slides from draft or actual presentations.”

===================

And a quick spotlight on our closing event. We are GOING TO DISNEYLAND! Oh yes.

Our closing dinner will be at the Grand Californian Hotel (it was going to be at Frontierland, but that got nixed) with some good food! (there’s peach cobbler for desert. . . and smores. . . SMORES!!! COBBLER!!!) and then entry into the park.

Ride the rides, watch the fireworks, have some fun!

Shoot, folks, people spend money JUST to come to Disneyland. . . and we’re getting you in for FREE!

So what are you waiting for?

Great collaboration; great presentations; great fun. What more could you ask???

Register now!!!

Listen, (or read?) we all know that managing us geeks (not meant perjoratively – I am proud to be a geek! ) is quite different than managing other “flavors” of employees. We tend to have different perspectives than the “norms” out there. Valerie has some insights:

It’s FRIDAY! Yes, our entry into the glorious time called the weekend (and the weekend of The Avengers, no less; definitely an auspicious day!) means it’s time for yet another spotlight on STC.
We have a great announcement and a spotlight on something else. Let’s jump to it, shall we? Yes, we shall.
===========
First, our announcement. We are pleased to announce the 2012 STC Keynote speaker: Mike Lang. Mike Lang was recently the CEO of Miramax during its revival from near nothing to a highly profitable company. Mike was at Fox where one of his significant accomplishments was the creation of Hulu.
We are very happy to have him on board for the keynote address! As part of his address, he will be answering questions!
===========
Next – EARLY BIRD REG ENDS TODAY (well, tonight) – registration goes up . . . so sign up now! The deadline is May 25. Get it done, my friends, get it done!
===========
Our weekly spotlight is a PDS about “Managing Technical Staff” – http://www.resnetsymposium.org/resnet2012/pds/#managing-tech-staff – taught by Valerie Polichar, Ph.D., from UC San Diego.
Listen, (or read?) we all know that managing us geeks (not meant perjoratively – I am proud to be a geek! ) is quite different than managing other “flavors” of employees. We tend to have different perspectives than the “norms” out there. Valerie has some insights:
“New to managing IT folks? Recently promoted techie? Come learn some survival skills such as successful delegation; why employees may not complete tasks & what to do about it; how to deliver good and bad news; understanding the IT “personality” and how to provide your employees with the style of management they need; basics of situational leadership; and how to stay technical while in management.”
==========
This one is brief – I’ll leave you to your Friday showings of Avengers (I have to wait until Sunday afternoon – NO SPOILERS!!! NONE!)
Please remember to register for the Student Technology Conference!
Here’s a final quote from a long-time ResNet’er:
““I see the Student Technology Conference as an accelerant for my university.  It gave us fuel to back the issues we already knew were important, ideas to accelerate the progress of our initiatives, and it shed a light on the possibilities that we couldn’t see before.  It is the greatest crowdsourcing opportunity currently available for student support.”
Andy VoelkerWestern Carolina University
==========
Have a great weekend

Only 7 weeks. . .seven short weeks. . . We can do this! Have you registered yet? NO??? Wha. . . .???? Come on – get with it! All the cool kids are doing it!!!

You. . .must. . .join. . .us! http://www.resnetsymposium.org/resnet2012/registration-information/

=============

PDS Spotlight - Imaging and Deploying Mac OS X.
http://www.resnetsymposium.org/resnet2012/pds/#mac-imaging

Mac Imaging and Deployment has long been a mystery to those of us who are
steeped in the Windows world (although why anyone would stick us in a bag
and dip us in hot water is beyond me. . . get it? steeping? sigh. . .) so Paul
Sosbee from UC Santa Cruz is going to walk us through using Apple tools to get
this job done. 

=============

Networking/Free-Day Activity spotlight - The Beach!
http://www.resnetsymposium.org/resnet2012/conference-schedule/free-day-
activities/

Did you know that Southern California has beaches? BEACHES??? Yes - we
have them, and many are really wonderful places. Some are pretty much. .
.weird (Venice) and some are really nice, laid back, great places to go see and
hang out. We're taking a bus to go to one. Balboa Beach, nestled right off
Newport and Corona Del Mar (a really nice beach itself), Balboa has a very nice
quiet little community with shops, parks, GREAT photo ops (a favorite place of
photo-meetups) . . . This trip will head down there, and will come back right
after sunset. If you want to come on your own, that's absolutely fine as well!
This beach can handle everyone!  

==============

Special note: Have you heard of Zipcar? (www.zipcar.com)  I hadn't until a
short time ago. Evidently it's a GREAT way to do short-term car rental. . . and
The Claremont Colleges has a bunch of Zipcar stations, so you can come to the
Student Technology Conference without having to rent a car for the week -
just grab a Zipcar! http://www.zipcar.com/pomona/

==============

That's it for now - I'm off for some desperately needed caffeine! Could you tell?
No? Well, that's nice of you to say. . .still. . .

Have a great week and I'll have another quick update and spotlight for you
later!

Sign up! Register! Come to STC! DO IT! NOW! (to heck with subliminal. . .)
http://www.resnetsymposium.org/resnet2012/registration-information/

Eight weeks to go! TWO MONTHS. We’re seeing good springtime weather here, finally. Temps in the 80s, brilliantly clear blue skies. . . oh yeah. Feel jealous, people, feel jealous!

So, what to spotlight today. Quandries, puzzles, enigmas. . .

-----

We have a de-facto standard in image manipulation and that's Photoshop. Most
of us either have to or want to use it in some way or another. Not many of us
know HOW to use the bloody thing! Dang it's got a ton of tools, and layers, and
. . . things. Well, Pomona College's Melanie Sisneros actually KNOWS how it
works and is willing to share her knowledge! She will be teaching two sessions -
a beginning and an advanced session of Photoshop Fundamentals:

"This course will explore the fundamentals of Adobe Photoshop CS 5, the “swiss
army knife” of digital graphic applications. You’ll learn basic power-topics
through instruction and hands-on activities, including an overview of digital
graphics, working with the Photoshop CS interface, selecting and masks,
layers, type, plus basic photo editing, filters and effects, and drawing/painting."
(http://www.resnetsymposium.org/resnet2012/pds/#photoshop-beg)

and 

"Picking up where Photoshop Fundamentals – Introductory Session leaves off,
this class will put it all together in a hands-on workshop.  Building on the basic
Photoshop techniques, students will assemble a project that will use different
elements – drawing/painting, photo editing and retouching, masking, type,
layers, importing images and graphic design.  Students will also learn how to
use Photoshop as part of the Adobe Creative Suite."
(http://www.resnetsymposium.org/resnet2012/pds/#photoshop-adv)

They're inexpensive, and she's good! Sign up for it!

-----

Our Free-Day / Networking Activity spotlight shines on the beautiful foothills of
the San Gabriel Mountains
(http://www.resnetsymposium.org/resnet2012/conference-schedule/free-day-
activities/). Believe it or not, Claremont is about 15 minutes away from 10,000
feet (Mt. Baldy, or Mt. San Antonio - we just call it Baldy, 10,068 feet). He
looms over us every day. Sorry, there won't be any snow on his mighty
shoulders in June. . . In any case, we have a wealth of hiking trails and Matt
Walker is going to take a bunch of people up the Icehouse Saddle trail. This
trail starts at about 5000 feet, just above Mt Baldy Village, and winds its way
alongside a little creek for several miles. 

The portion of the trail that Matt is planning on covering is not overly
strenuous; has plenty of shade; places to stop and enjoy nature. We will have
a bus to get you up to the trailhead and back - the low cost of this activity
covers the Nat'l Park permit and the bus. You can go up there yourself, if you
wish, but you'll need to get a permit on your own (the Mt Baldy Village location
page is http://bit.ly/JdNbKJ ) and believe me, you want to be down off the trail
by sunset - it gets dark up there! 

It's a beautiful way to spend the afternoon with your peers, talking and
laughing. Highly recommended.

Well, according to the count-down timer, we have 9 weeks, 4 days until you are REQUIRED to come to Claremont for the 2012 Student Technology Conference (by ResNet). Required, you say?

Yes – that’s what I said. You MUST come!!! Okay, well, if you can, we’d really love to see you! I’m being honest, really!

We just had Carla Rounds over for a site visit, to figure out what session should
go where, and to tie up little loose ends and such. She also got to visit the
dorm rooms - she's already figured out she wants top floor, north side. . .
spectacular views of 10,000 foot tall mountains; maid service; 6'10" long beds
(okay, Carla didn't care about that, but I DO!!! ) 

Time for our PDS spotlight! Each week I'll spotlight a different Professional
Development Seminar - these seminars are 3 or 6 hours long and are far more
in-depth than you get with a "normal" session. 

This week, I spotlight a PDS that is becoming an STC tradition. One of the
most popular and technically rewarding seminars. Brandon Enright is returning
for "Advanced Windows Malware Detection and Removal."
http://www.resnetsymposium.org/resnet2012/pds/#malware-part1 -  I've gone
to this one (at Western Washington) and I can tell you that the amount of
resources you get from this is immense!

-----
"It’s 2012 and every year since about 2002 has seen malware morph and adapt
to infect better and stay on systems longer. You don’t need to check you
Mayan calender to know the malware apocalypse is upon us. With the nearly
ubiquitous presence of Windows 7 malware has adapted to disrupt systems as
little as possible and hide in your user’s accounts as best it can.

This session is going to tear Windows apart at the seams in an effort to locate
all of the places and ways malware hides so that you have the tools to detect
and remove it. As part of that, this session is going to look at:

Processes and threads and how to spot malicious and injected code into the
memory space of normally benign programs
The process tree, how Windows manages services, and malware likes to hide in
the more obscure areas of Windows
Services, drivers, and the portions of the OS that aren’t usually under the
user’s constant watchful eye
The tools you can use to dig into the various internals of Windows to figure out
what’s good and what’s bad (Process Explorer and other tools)
If you’ve been in my sessions in the past you’ll know how broken Windows can
get. This year will take a slightly different tack and focus on malware more
heavily and less on the aftermath of broken Windows. I anticipate this session
will be the most technical session I have ever given. It isn’t for the faint of
heart."
-----

Wow - the most technical ever? That just means you'll get even more!

Okay, next spotlight is a bit personal for me - it's the Free-Day Activity that
I'm sponsoring (http://www.resnetsymposium.org/resnet2012/conference-
schedule/free-day-activities/#brewery). Many of us love beer - I enjoy beer for
more than just drinking it. As many know, I brew my own and have been finding
different styles and visiting many breweries here in Southern California. I
decided to organize a trip to four breweries in our area, each with a different
style or focus. We will be taking a bus from Claremont, driving down to
Temecula to vist the famous Stone Brewery and get a private tour of the
facility! After that, the bus will take us to the Lost Abbey Brewery, just a few
miles away, to see how they brew beer in the Belgian style - big bodied and
often "chewy" beers. MMMMMM - my wife and I LOVE their Serpent Stout.
Then we hit the bus again and come back north to the Packinghouse; a fairly
new craft brewery that's one of my favorites. They have a pretty fresh style,
with a blackberry stout that's amazing; a blueberry wheat beer that's
refreshing and wonderful. Our last stop will be at Hangar 24 where we are
trying to organize a tour and a barbecue!

NOTE: There is a registration cost for this that ONLY covers transportation!
Bring dinero/lucre/money for actual beer or merchandise! Typically a few-ounce
taster is a buck; a pint is typically 5 bucks or so; Pint Glasses are typically $5-
8. Unfortunately, I am not able to "bundle" packages - we have to buy what
we want at each stop. So bring plastic or paper, but it needs to be money!

-----

So, there are a couple more spotlights! Stay tuned for next week's
update/alert/spotlight/blurb/whatever! 

Have a great weekend! 

AND REGISTER NOW!!! DO IT!

Anyway, the ol’ countdown on the website
(www.resnetsymposium.org/resnet2012) says 10 weeks, 5 days before the
2012 Student Technology Conference here at The Claremont Colleges. Time,
she’s a flyin’!

We’re working hard to provide you a beautiful venue and intriguing activities!
You’re going to hear from me periodically, so I figured I’d give you a spotlight
on something each time. . . First time, I’m going to spotlight a PDS Seminar
(which is recursive, bonus points for spotting it. . .):

From Santa Clara University, Wally Anderson is teaching a half-day seminar
called Leading in Turbulent Times: Setting Up Employees for Success.
With each passing year it seems that budgets and resources continue to
shrink, while the work required continues to increase. This poses a particular
challenge to the leader: Feeling overwhelmed and overworked, why would
someone follow you? Attend this highly interactive workshop to discover
strategies to lead and inspire your team through times of change.
http://www.resnetsymposium.org/resnet2012/pds/#leadership 

Sounds appropriate for today, yes? Sign up for it when you register for the STC
- www.resnetsymposium.org/resnet2012/registration-information/

What else have we got going?

Well, for those of you who have never been to one of the conferences, we
have a half-day where we do what I’m calling “Networking Activities” – an
opportunity for you to spend some good quality time with your peers, away
from sessions, away from pressures. . . Many people have said that this one
afternoon has been the highlight of their conference; that the people they met
and the conversations they had while on the ferry around the San Juan Islands
(during the 2010 conference) changed their perspective and gave them ideas
to solve issues they didn’t even realize they had! Just an example. . . Here’s
one of our organized activities this year (you can find all of them at
http://www.resnetsymposium.org/resnet2012/conference-schedule/free-day-
activities/) :

The Getty Museum is famous around the world for its art exhibits, its
architecture. . . A couple of our staff members who are very familiar with the
Getty are going to escort you via a bus to the museum and let you wander the
halls. I believe that there are exhibits featuring art works from the reigns of
Louis XIV, XV and XVI; “Portraits of Renown: Photography and the Cult of
Celebrity”; as well as others. We’re hiring a bus so you don’t have to worry
about traffic (and it lets us use the carpool lane! Always a bonus.) 

So there’s a couple of quick spotlights – one PDS (did you spot the recursive
piece yet?) and one Free-Day/Networking Activity. Next time, who knows what
we’ll spotlight! You’ll just need to stay tuned!

REGISTER NOW!!!

For registration link and costs, please see the link on the menu to the right, OR click here.

The 2012 Student Technology Conference is headed to Claremont – Not hosted by a single college, but instead by a community of colleges, the colleges of The Claremont Colleges (listed at right) will host the 2012 Resnet Student Technology Conference .

Building on our strengths and our teamwork, we each have a unique character and atmosphere. We believe that our unique nature as a cooperative collegiate network will provide a wonderful experience to attendees.

Our small college atmosphere will also provide an atmosphere that is close-knit and very enjoyable while fostering productive and creative discussion and collaboration.

Scheduled during the third week of June, 2012 (from Tuesday thru Friday) this will be the first non-weekend ResNet ever. We will be doing free activities that are customized for Southern California – trip to Hollywood; a brewery tour; hiking in the foothills; all sorts of things that are perfect in Southern California in June.

About ResNet and the Student Technology Conference:

Margaret Landsparger, Michigan Tech

The Student Technology Conference is an amazing opportunity and resources that you should not pass up.

ResNet is a national organization dedicated to the advancement and research of residential networking technologies and living-learning environments within academic institutions. Students, staff, and faculty from academic institutions around the world participate in the ResNet Listserv and attend the annual ResNet Symposium, a gathering of administrators and specialists who plan, purchase, implement and support residential information technologies in their respective academic institutions. The ResNet organization, conceived in 1992, is dedicated to the research and advancement of technologies and services that support living-learning residential environments at higher education institutions. ResNet also provides an international forum for discussion, collaboration, and professional growth via the organization’s many on-line resources and its Annual ResNet Symposium and Professional Development Seminar. In June 2008, ResNet became a not-for-profit corporation recognized by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. ResNetSymposium.org

Come and join us in collaboration and in fun!

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