SchoolDude University 2008 Blog

Fun times all around!

Wow, the past few days have been jam packed with opportunities to learn...while having a lot fun, of course!

I hear the roundtable sessions have been especially helpful. They provide chances to see how peers are implementing new processes and handling day-to-day activities.  Attendees can share their best practices and benchmark themselves to see if any efficiency improvements can be made.  Many would agree it's well worth an hour or two of your time.  If you haven't had the chance to attend one of the many roundtables, see if you can squeeze one into tomorrow's schedule.

If you've already checked a roundtable off your must-attend list, there are many other classes left!  No matter your title type, you can find something informative.  With basic and advanced classes available, the product training sessions have been very helpful to both newbies and veterans. Professional development classes always seem to provide some great take-aways.  And those are just a few examples.  With another half-day of classes, there's still time to take advantage of this face-to-face interaction.

Let's not forget the fun to be had tonight, though! The General Session pep rally is in less than 2 hours, and people are pumped! Tonight's the night we all join together for some food and fun.  Get ready to wrap up the conference with a night full of music, dancing and games.  Fooze ball, ping pong, arcade basketball...it's gonna be a blast! Hope to see you there!

All aboard for the General Session!

What a night! Known for being the exclamation point of the conference, this year's General Session didn't disappoint. Last night, all attendees of SchoolDude University were invited to come aboard the USS SchoolDude--conveniently docked in the Kensington ballroom--for a night of food, fellowship and fun. The ports-of-call theme offered a variety of foods and festivities. Each corner represented an exotic island with foods to match. Sales representatives in sailor hats greeted guests with leis, and photographers remained eager to capture "tourists" enjoying their trip. Crab races (yes, really!), a basket weaver and a caricature artist also added to the fun.

Steel drums echoed through the halls, luring folks to the party and setting the mood.  Once inside the ballroom--er, boat--Coco Loco captured everyone's attention with their live, upbeat performance of beach music and then tunes from most every other genre. There was a song for everyone--and plenty of opportunities to take to the dance floor. Julie, our cruise director for the night, taught folks how to shag, how to do the electric slide, and let's not forget the macarena. True to form, I couldn't resist the latter...uh, less graceful...dances. (My apologies if I stepped on any toes!)

Thanks to everyone for making it such a fun night. I can't wait until next year! (By then, I think I will have recuperated from all the dancing!)

March Madness reception!

What do you get when you mix "Game Cocks", "TARHEELS", "Tigers", "Wildcats", "Cardinals", "Wolverines", a "Wolfpack", "Huskys", some "Volunteers", a "Husky" and a "Cougar"? A great time!! We talked smack, discussed bragging rights and mixed that with great food supplied by Bob Meeks of Shelby County Schools. We several beach ball battles and lots of good fun! Monica Dorman, Heather Hudson and I would like to thank all our clients in Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina, Washington State and Tennessee for coming by and sharing some of their time with us.

And as you would expect a SchoolDude event to be, March Madness was scheduled from 6-8 PM, but we took it to Overtime!! Thank you all for making SchoolDude University!!

Getting into the swing of things

I hear golf at Arcadian Shores on Saturday afternoon proved to be a fun event, as always! What better way to take a break from the office and get to know your peers from around the world (and those SchoolDude employees confident enough to dust off their clubs)?! Luckily, the forecasted rain held off, and all groups were able to play through.

Ladies and gentlemen, the scores have been tallied, and the results are in!  Here is the breakdown:

Closest to the Pin (Hole #8): Dicky McCuen, Greenville County Schools, SC

Longest Drive (Hole #9): Don Conover, Gilbane i.management

Closest to the Pin (Hole #17): Rich Korzec, Worcester State College, MA

Most Accurate Drive (Hole #18): Brian Hurd, Sprint-Nextel

Lowest Team Score (57): Randy Smith, Gilbane i.management; Don Conover, Gilbane i.management; Loren Peterson, Coopersville Area Public Schools, MI; Paul Cooper, Coopersville Area Public Schools, MI

Congrats to all the winners! Even those who didn't claim prizes enjoyed the day--as captured by the two eager photographers who raced around in a golf-cart paparazzi-style. (Click here!) Thanks to the 90+ golfers who participated! I have a feeling that we'll top the century mark next year. Three-hundred-eighty-seven days and counting to practice your swing!

A taste of what's to come

Last night's Welcome Reception definitely lived up to its name. All attendees were invited to a pool-side reception to officially kick off the conference. What a fun atmosphere to be welcomed by the SchoolDude crew and mingle with peers! Good food was a given--the buffet was great, and there was plenty to go around. Jim Vicar, who retired from facility management at Beaufort County Schools in SC and is now VP of The V Group, LLC, presented us with a plaque in recognition of SchoolDude’s service to educational operations. Thank you for the kind words, Jim!

Johnty Cresto, from Gallup-McKinley County Schools in NM, has a similar perspective of SchoolDude. Last night, he admitted that he had attended many conferences but that SchoolDude’s is his favorite due to the extra effort of the Dudes who don the light blue shirts. He said, "You people are great hosts. It's very refreshing to see people with a passion." Our pleasure, Johnty!

Fun was the name of the game at Sunday night’s Welcome Reception. There was a variety of entertainment to enjoy: music from our DJ, Larry, from Music on the Strand…dancing…and even a solid Tim McGraw impersonation of "I Like It, I Love It" by SchoolDude’s own Tim Hair!

Look for Tuesday night’s General Session to be equally as fun! More food, more dancing and a live performance by Coco Loco! We can’t wait!

Tonight, we leave the creativity up to you—put together a fun-filled evening that’s special to you. If you’re looking for ideas, perhaps you could follow the lead of SchoolDude’s Tim Mundy. He pulled off a beachside proposal to his girlfriend, Anita, on Sunday morning.

…Oh yeah, she said “yes”!

The First Couple of Days of SDU '07

I'm going to start out with a disclaimer that I'm new at this whole web-blog craze, but really looking forward to sharing my experiences with my avid readers (Yes You!)

I didn't think it'd be possible to top last year's conference, but it's only day two at Dude U '07 and I gotta tell you we're well on our way to having the best conference yet.  I'll start out talkin' about how lucky we were to have such great weather out at Arcadian Golf Club Saturday afternoon and how lucky I was to be grouped together with three Ringers on my team.  Tom Knox, with CommLogix, our ace in the hole, took the pressure right off of our shoulders as everything he hit was dead center down every fairway and every iron shot, right at the hole. With no pressure on us, Tom Bracciano and John Giest from Lawrence Public Schools in Kansas, hit some shots that would even make PGA pros say Whoa.  It's hard to believe with a team like this we only finished 13 under. (Sarcasm I promise.) Overall, it was an amazing day filled with  many laughs and instant memories.

This Blog is getting long, so Thanks for takin' your time to read up about SDU '07, and be looking out for more posts to come. 

What a great beginning!

SchoolDude University 2007 has started with a bang!  Last night a big crowd of us went to a fabulous dinner at The Crabhouse and to see the Alabama Theater "One" Show.  It was a night of great food, awesome entertainment, and lots of laughs.  Just check in with Cecil Sheppard from the University of South Carolina and he will be glad to fill you in. 

We had a great beginning to today with a devotion.  It was nice to begin the conference with a worship service.  It was really well-attended...the music was nice and Matt had a inspirational message. 

This year's University is off to a magnificent start....I can't wait to see what the rest of the week will hold.

Golf Outing

I had the pleasure of playing golf with Alex James of South Carolina, Joe Sides of North Carolina, Dave Dumpurt of Washington State! There are not many events where the diversity of locations can be found like SchoolDude University!

Joe made several 40 foot putts and we all had a great time! Of course, we paid not attention to the rules and never used our THROWS!!! What a great time and beautiful day!

Alabama Theater

About 80-90 of us caught the bus and went to Alabama Theater on Saturday night.  We had dinner at the Crabhouse at Barefoot Landing and then went to the show next to the restaurant.  The group had a great time.   We saw a great musical performance with country, rock, gospel, R&B, and a host of others.  One of the highlights was the stand up comedy act performed by what was seemingly one of the backstage hands.  I sat next to Bob Bittner from Wake County Public Schools, NC and I thought Bob was going to fall out of his seat laughing at the stand up comdey act.