Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Making Grinnell a "Hot" Spot

Well, OK....we already know that Grinnell College is a "hot" spot!!! I'm talking WIFI "hot spot" though!!!

This week, the third of five outdoor WIFI antennas has been installed. The campus is now lit up ("hot") from 6th Avenue through the athletic facilities north of 10th Avenue. Areas south of 6th Avenue are planned for outdoor WIFI antenna installation over the next month!!

I know that this announcement is a relief to those of you who wish to sit in the football stadium stands over the winter months as you relax reading your favorite online book. For the rest of you, your wireless devices should work well as you traverse the campus green (soon to be white...) or sit in the stands of the Natatorium as you watch others work out.

I'll end now...I'm getting a little carried away...


Ray

ITS Open House

What a great time we had with our friends at the ITS Open House last Thursday! Eighty attendees experienced the Grand Opening of the new ITS Services Desk in the South Forum. Thank you for coming!!!

Our pupose in the Open House? Simple:
  • Publically express our gratitude for the new space. It is space that allows us to bring together the members of the Services Desk team into one physical location. This helps a lot!!
  • Describe the Services Desk team to those that participated. Thanks, John Hammond for doing that!
  • Demonstrate a few cool tools:
    • Remote access: a demonstration of how we can remote into a user's computer while they watch our work from their screen
    • Bradford: our new network access system (going live January 9)
    • Entering a ticket: how we use the Kbox system as our management tool to resolve your technical topics
    • Lynda: a subscription that we have on campus that any user can use, allowing for you to view demonstration videos on 1,000's of "how do I..." topics, from using PowerPoint to learning Project Management skills
  • Communicate our new centralized phone number x-4901...for all services
  • Listen to our constituents needs
I'd like to express our deep gratitude to several people who helped make the South Lounge project work:
  • John Kalkbrenner: thank you for your moral support...and your support in acquiring the space and your support budgetarily
  • Paula Smith: thank you for your help with approvals
  • Christi Baker: thank you for all of your help with lots and lots of project related specifics. You miss nothing!!!
  • Mark Godar, Rick Whitney, Les Ollinger: your department always knocks it out of the park. This was a very short timeframe project and it was done so well. Your department is about service...everytime I turn around I see it.
  • Dave Dale: as project manager, a great job...as always! Thank you Dave.
A few pics to enjoy (below)!


Ray