Welcome to day three of classes at Schooldude University. Today's schedule of classes really includes some nice sessions. I'm going to try to attend 3-4 classes today. A few that I have my eye on are "Implementing Software Asset Management Best Practices," "Integrating Schooldude Applications with BAS," and "FS Direct Training- Invoicing." Hope to see you there...
Well this just goes to prove that you can come to SchoolDude University every year, but still try something new! As an "old school" member of the Dude team, this is my sixth year (woo hoo...perfect attendance). But in all my years, I had never taught a class...until today that is!
Today I had the honor of teaching the class "A Wealth of Health", which offers easy tips for healthy living that anyone can try. Class was pretty full, so I hope each person who attended took away at least one idea or tip on how they can increase their personal well being - and hopefully they'll share that with their friends and co-workers!
If you want to learn more, just catch me in the hall or drop by my class on Wednesday! This is a great place to share and learn, and I hope everyone is having a great educational experience!
SchoolDude 2008 is absolutely fantastic. In the classes the interaction is wonderful. So many new people learning about the PM Direct program and how to make their schools better. The questions are fantastic. Things that I did not even think about that people are using the PM Direct program for; Seasonal equipment, Vehicle maintenance, Custodial check sheets for daily and weekly cleaning. This presents more opportunites to get the documentation without having to burdon the facility managers. I am very impressed with all that is being accomplished. I continue to learn from everyone I come in contact with at this FANTASTIC gathering of dedicated individuals who work to make or schools, universities and centers of learning safer and better for everyone.
For the staff at SchoolDude.com you all have made this a wonderful time for all and have again been there to make it all happen, just like you do everyday with a smile and a pleasent voice ready to help. Thank You so very, Very, VERY much for all that you do.
Charlie
Well Day 1 classes have just came to an end! We have had a great day of classes with excellent feedback. I was able to introduce Kent Hudson and Brent Hair to their class and then conducted "What is FSDirect" and "What is CommunityUse". Classes were very well attended and glad to help our clients better implement the SchoolDude.com solutions.
The importance of our scheduling tools are at an all time high with all the budget cuts, locks and layoffs. The impact of invoicing outside groups is an average of $15 per student in cost recovery!!! Please come by the lab to learn more about these solutions.
Pat
Dude U has come and gone but certain sessions leave you motivated and ready to come back. Although I may be biased, being the account manager in New Mexico, I have to say the New Mexico FIMS Implementation session was great!
We were joined by groups from Colorado, Missouri, Arizona, Lousiana, and Texas. Along with a strong contingency from New Mexico, Les Martinez, Maintenance Specialist for the New Mexcio Public Schools Facility Authority (PSFA), laid out the New Mexico Statewide implementation plan for three SchoolDude solutions. He shared why the state chose SchoolDude, their progress to date and the challenges they faced on a statewide level. With 81 of 89 districts now using SchoolDude in the state, the PSFA is now starting to compile data to take to the legislature and help districts get the resources they need.
I heard several good comments on Les' presentation, especially from the "out of towners." Once again kudos to Les on a great job and we're very proud of the work they and we are doing in New Mexico.
It's always worth forgetting your tired and making an effort to cram in a few more classes on the last morning of Dude U, so today I headed in to join some of our Private School clients for one of our final roundtable sessions.
It was a smaller class today because many people have begun to head home, but these attendees had so much to discuss that our 45-minute class extended itself an extra hour! Many hot topics were up for discussion, ranging from managing new construction to the many benefits of attending SchoolDude University.
But the issue that seemed to be top of mind today was school security, which is increasingly important as schools focus on improving accountability and strive to guarantee the safety and security of their students.
It was discussed that initially, security increases can be difficult to manage as many people are initially resistant to the changes and want the school to feel open and friendly. However, after overcoming initial hurdles of adding security, such as card access and camera systems, these improvements are well received - and people usually want to see it further enhanced!
Bob Meals from The Shipley School in PA shared with the group that his schools use card access, as well as a security camera system. He cautioned the group that all cameras should be recorded for accountability purposes (not just live surveilance), and that there must be signs that indicate that there are cameras recording. His school currently uses 24 cameras, and they record onto DVD. His facilities team monitors the recordings, and building receptions areas also monitor the cameras.
We also had a quick discussion on crisis response, touching briefly on the need for emergency alarm buttons integrated with the 911 system, as well as lock down procedures. Bob also suggested that it is helpful to prepare emergency bags with items such as keys, flashlights, building layouts and student information, and have these on hand in case of an emergency.
Well...they're packing up the lab...so it's time to sign off. Hope everyone had a great Dude U!
Hello from SchoolDude University 2007!!! I was assigned the task of putting together a Roundtable session for our College and University attendees. I was a little worried that it would be a quiet group with it being so early in the morning, but every seat in the room was full and the ideas and best practices were flowing. The class was scheduled to last 45 minutes, and after an hour, the conversation was still going. I'm very happy to be part of such a successful event, and I hope to see all of you at SchoolDude University '08!
Until then,
Brad
Um, should I give a definition? Would you prefer I use it in a sentence? Well, I'll do even better than that....I'll leave it to the professionals.
While taking a stroll in the hotel yesterday, I stumbled upon the "What is ITAMDirect" class. That got me thinking....What IS this product all about? Released in August, not everyone knows the power that this IT asset management tool holds. Thanks to Darlene Nyce and Andrew Blue, more people are starting to find out....
Here's a recap of their class: ITAMDirect offers many benefits to its users, including added security and automatic updates. There's no external access to the network, and the data is encrypted. The client agent returns information regarding hardware, software and even software usage. Surprising to some, bandwidth isn't an issue. ITAMDirect uses 60-70kb for the first audit, and then only 1-2kb for subsequent audits. With ITAMDirect, users can trigger alerts to help with situations such as students putting unauthorized software on school computers. Users can also choose to be alerted if a computer exceeds a user-specified amount of file space. With the knowledge gained, users can then better plan for future budgets and upgrades.
I haven't even touched on the bonus features of ITAMDirect integrating with ITDirect to provide asset history for incident resolution. But, you'll probably agree that this post is long enough already. So, if you want more details, just look for any member of the applications or sales teams. They'll be glad to fill you in!
Yesterday, I went to a class taught by Ron Medlin titled “Personal and Professional Well-Being.” If you are not familiar with Ron, he is the program director at The Institute of Life and Health, specializing in alleviating a number of ailments through nutrition and diet (as opposed to conventional medicine). He explained how poor nutrition and other synthetic chemicals in our diets cause a lot of today’s health problems, ranging from low energy to cancer. Ron also talked about common vitamins and nutrients that can be used to correct these problems.
At one point in the class, Ron demonstrated how sugar is toxic to the body. He had a member of the audience stand in front and stretch out their arm. He then tried to push down on their arm while the member tried to keep their arm straight. The member’s arm moved a little, but stayed straight for the most part. Next, Ron had the member hold some sugar in their opposite hand while repeating the test. The member held their arm out straight and when Ron pushed down on the arm, it went down completely with little effort! He explained that this could be done with most things to tell if they are harmful for your body (for example, you can hold a wheat cracker in place of the sugar to tell if you are allergic to wheat).
He went on to give a few guidelines for general well-being, and fielded questions from members of the audience. After the class, there was a line to the door of people waiting to talk with Ron. He performed a test on people where he held his hand over various parts of their body while trying to push down their arm (similar to the sugar test). By doing this, he could determine if you had a heart condition or may have low adrenals (low energy). He would then recommend vitamins you could take to treat the problem.
If you get a chance to attend his class, I would recommend it. Ron Medlin is both an intelligent and entertaining speaker!
Despite the fact that they came from different size districts across the nation, those attending Monday's Public K12 Schools roundtable found they had many common challenges to discuss.
The first topic up for discussion was the challenges versus the benefits of MaintenanceDirect clients having their maintenance technicians manage their work online. There was an overwhelming consensus that technicians were surprised how easy the training was and loved being able to enter labor and parts online. Many noted improved accountability and productivity, and others added that having technicians use MDWireless on their Blackberry was an even better improvement!
This discussion then evolved into a healthy debate about the pros and cons of teachers submitting work orders online. The majority of class attendees did not, but they were interested to hear from those who have made it work successfully. They were surprised to hear that it didn't result in a huge influx of requests.
The next topic of discussion revolved around school security. Some attendees had huge security budgets with onsite security officers. Others had student id badge systems and stringent background checks for employees. Regarding key and lock security, one attendee recommended replacing old locks and doors together as part of a capital improvement project so funding didn't have to come from the general maintenance budget.
Finally, Kyle Bordelon from Lafayette Parish, LA shared how his district dealt with the huge influx of students following Hurricane Katrina. The district had 2,400 - 2,500 new students following the disaster, and 500-600 of those students are still attending at the district now. To handle the influx, district officials moved quickly to lease 10 modular buildings with help from state agencies. Two of these buildings are still in use now.
This 45-minute session flew by, and there was much more to be addressed in the second session of this class on Wednesday!
