MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas
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@JaredBusch said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
@scottalanmiller said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
@Dashrender said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
@scottalanmiller said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
@JaredBusch oh, offline I had proposed to the @Minion-Queen that the training hands on deep dives be a day earlier. Not overlapping sessions.
So, kinda like SW, SW training the day before the two day con.
Yes, like that. But for topical general IT... rather than for their specific helpdesk / network management product.
Not the day before. overlapping. for the entire conference.
I would easily take half a day (gods not A.M.) for a real in depth FreePBX setup training session.
Full on training on a product changes the purpose of the conference. Besides, you already said that considering our current size, If half the people were in the training, that only leaves about 20 in the panels.
Finding a good 'reason' for the conference I guess is what is missing for some. Is the conference a show case for vendors? Is it a place to meet fellow IT folk to expand our social circles with a primary goal of having more people to discuss IT issues/questions with? It is product training? Is it IT training - i.e. teaching those of use that are more technologists and less business how to be more aware of the business and it's needs, and our true roll in IT?
I think that last one will come from more some role playing exercises, as well as demonstrations on why specific technologies tend to be better for us going forward.
Using @JaredBusch's talk on FreePBX, from an IT perspective it gave two primary pieces of information (at least least to me). 1) information about another technological option 2) that it can potentially save a company a huge amount of money. A third item, while glossed over, but still important I think, it how awesome and EASY it can play into a DR solution (assuming you're not vendor tied to a location with your SIP trunks - but even then, you're still often probably in a better situation compared to PRI or POTS).
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@Dashrender said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
@JaredBusch said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
@scottalanmiller said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
@Dashrender said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
@scottalanmiller said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
@JaredBusch oh, offline I had proposed to the @Minion-Queen that the training hands on deep dives be a day earlier. Not overlapping sessions.
So, kinda like SW, SW training the day before the two day con.
Yes, like that. But for topical general IT... rather than for their specific helpdesk / network management product.
Not the day before. overlapping. for the entire conference.
I would easily take half a day (gods not A.M.) for a real in depth FreePBX setup training session.
Full on training on a product changes the purpose of the conference. Besides, you already said that considering our current size, If half the people were in the training, that only leaves about 20 in the panels.
And that is what a lot of people want. granted half a day is a bit extreme for an example, but it could easily be done.
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Depending on size of conference and number of training topics, etc, I could see something where you had traditional sessions in the morning then a couple of training options after lunch where you could choose one that you would find beneficial for you.
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@jt1001001 said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
Wifi? Maybe a demo on capacity planning with 802.11ac? Something I'm still trying to figure out myself.
I love the Linux track ideaThe Hotel's IT company should attend.
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@Texkonc said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
@jt1001001 said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
Wifi? Maybe a demo on capacity planning with 802.11ac? Something I'm still trying to figure out myself.
I love the Linux track ideaThe Hotel's IT company should attend.
That person was terminated, @Minion-Queen can explain further.
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@DustinB3403 said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
@Texkonc said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
@jt1001001 said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
Wifi? Maybe a demo on capacity planning with 802.11ac? Something I'm still trying to figure out myself.
I love the Linux track ideaThe Hotel's IT company should attend.
That person was terminated, @Minion-Queen can explain further.
Seriously? lol.
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@dafyre Yes.
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@DustinB3403 said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
@dafyre Yes.
ROFL. Wow. I almost feel bad for the guy... almost.
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@dafyre Yeah don't, the wireless was horrid.
As I understand it the guy essentially up and disappeared after agreeing to get things configured for the conference. And was a no call / no show during all attempts to reach him.
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@DustinB3403 said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
@dafyre Yeah don't, the wireless was horrid.
As I understand it the guy essentially up and disappeared after agreeing to get things configured for the conference. And was a no call / no show during all attempts to reach him.
In that case, I no longer almost feel bad for him... I pitty him... especially if he lives within range of the NTG hitman crew. May he never work in IT again. <manaical laugh here>.
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I think answering a couple of questions would help us decide what we should do for next year. How many more people would have attended if there would have been a training track outline that they could have taken to their boss to get approval for the conference? Where did this years attendees feel they got the most value out of the conference?
Personally, if I had been at my corporate job, I would have had to show a session track to get approval. Myself seeing the @JaredBusch PBX demo answered a lot of questions for me because I have never touched one. The AetherStore/Ware demo was cool too.
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@Mike-Davis said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
Myself seeing the @JaredBusch PBX demo answered a lot of questions for me because I have never touched one.
And I could have done a lot more with real demo time. But that is not what the main presentation stage should be for.
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@JaredBusch I think your presentation was about right. For those of us who had never set one up, we got a good idea of what was involved and you showed some of the caveats so we could see why we wouldn't want to bring in someone with experience for a production system.
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I am hoping to do a session on careers. Kind of a reboot of How to Get a Raise, but with more concentration on career development and advancement.
I was also considering a session on budgets and IT finance. I still believe many IT Pros have a hard time asking for money, and have a difficult time with budgets. Understanding that IT budgets are a huge waste of time and effort, but that many companies still require this approach leaves the IT pro in a sticky spot. Addressing how to handle budgeting and IT finance could potentially be an attractive subject.
Thoughts?
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@JaredBusch said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
@Dashrender said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
@JaredBusch said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
@scottalanmiller said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
@Dashrender said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
@scottalanmiller said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
@JaredBusch oh, offline I had proposed to the @Minion-Queen that the training hands on deep dives be a day earlier. Not overlapping sessions.
So, kinda like SW, SW training the day before the two day con.
Yes, like that. But for topical general IT... rather than for their specific helpdesk / network management product.
Not the day before. overlapping. for the entire conference.
I would easily take half a day (gods not A.M.) for a real in depth FreePBX setup training session.
Full on training on a product changes the purpose of the conference. Besides, you already said that considering our current size, If half the people were in the training, that only leaves about 20 in the panels.
And that is what a lot of people want. granted half a day is a bit extreme for an example, but it could easily be done.
I agree that they 'think' they want that.
So the next question is - how do you decide what classes to put on? What if I want to attend both a class and the panel someone puts on at the same time?
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@Dashrender said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
So the next question is - how do you decide what classes to put on? What if I want to attend both a class and the panel someone puts on at the same time?
You have to choose. This is normal. It is impossible to do all things. Or should be.
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@Mike-Davis said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
@JaredBusch I think your presentation was about right. For those of us who had never set one up, we got a good idea of what was involved and you showed some of the caveats so we could see why we wouldn't want to bring in someone with experience for a production system.
For an on stage presentation, I feel it was on target. I hope others did as well.
But for a full on demo, that is different, but also a useful thing.
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@Dashrender said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
So the next question is - how do you decide what classes to put on? What if I want to attend both a class and the panel someone puts on at the same time?
I think after the initial survey of what courses, we should do a survey of registered attendees to see if the courses line up and if there is a track they would want to follow.
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@pchiodo said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
I am hoping to do a session on careers. Kind of a reboot of How to Get a Raise, but with more concentration on career development and advancement.
I was also considering a session on budgets and IT finance. I still believe many IT Pros have a hard time asking for money, and have a difficult time with budgets. Understanding that IT budgets are a huge waste of time and effort, but that many companies still require this approach leaves the IT pro in a sticky spot. Addressing how to handle budgeting and IT finance could potentially be an attractive subject.
Thoughts?
This would be grea, as I happen to agree that this is a huge issue in the SMB.
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@JaredBusch said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
@pchiodo said in MangoCon 2017 Topic Ideas:
I am hoping to do a session on careers. Kind of a reboot of How to Get a Raise, but with more concentration on career development and advancement.
I was also considering a session on budgets and IT finance. I still believe many IT Pros have a hard time asking for money, and have a difficult time with budgets. Understanding that IT budgets are a huge waste of time and effort, but that many companies still require this approach leaves the IT pro in a sticky spot. Addressing how to handle budgeting and IT finance could potentially be an attractive subject.
Thoughts?
This would be grea, as I happen to agree that this is a huge issue in the SMB.
yep, this gets back into what @JaredBusch and @scottalanmiller both feel is the main job of IT.
