Bill, The two conferences that I attend that deal with IT infrastructure, planning, and support issues are EDUCAUSE (http://www.educause.edu), which is geared toward higher education IT professionals, and NTEN (http://www.nten.org/), which is for general nonprofit IT managers.
EDUCAUSE offers a host of discussion forums, publications, and a huge resource library. NTEN started out as a meeting place for grassroots nonprofits and "circuit riders" (a cadre of grant-funded IT consultants who supported nonprofits regionally). But they seem to be broadening their focus to become a meeting place for the entire community of nonprofit CIOs, IT support staff, consultants, and vendors serving the sector. They offer regional and national conferences, and help convene the 501 Tech Clubs, which are informal happy hour gatherings for nonprofit techies: http://www.nten.org/501techclub Techsoup (http://www.techsoup.org) is also a great online resource for general IT management issues. They provide discussion forums, software discounts, and a variety of resources, including sample IT plans. There's also a listserve called the Information Systems Forum (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Information_Systems_Forum/) that's for nonprofit techies. Robert __________________________ Robert L. Weiner Consulting Providing Strategic Technology Consulting to Nonprofits and Education San Francisco, CA email: robert AT rlweiner DOT com 415/643-8955 www.rlweiner.com -----Original Message----- From: Weinstein, William [mailto:wweinst...@philamuseum.org] Sent: Tuesday, May 24, 2005 10:02 AM To: mcn-l@mcn.edu Subject: IT Sig: Where do you go for ... I am hoping to start a discussion. Over the last several weeks I have had interactions with colleagues attending various conferences. In all cases the discussions where about where IT professionals can go to share information and learn about the issues of technology management or as some have put it, how to keep the computers running and the data safe. MCN and other conferences are great (see MCN prelim program) at looking at the application of technology and the management of information. I have learned much over the years about data standards, intellectual property and how to repurpose my collections management data. But where do I go for information on network infrastructure decisions, help in developing a technology plan, help in designing and managing the installation of a new technology infrastructure in a new building, business software selection (yes we also use retail store and accounting software, a much different collections management issue)? Where do developers go to share code and discuss how that new interactive was created? Where do we go to talk about remote control of desktops, end user training, software deployment, etc. You get the point. The discussion I want to start is about this. Is MCN the place for museum technology professionals to meet and share information on these issues? Are these issues best left to other places or other specialized professional forums? I would hope MCN is the place for these discussions. Since IT is core to realizing an institution's goals discussing the management of technology along with those goals would seem more valuable that in a generic technology conference. I do see at many conference presentations though, the IT staff referenced in less than a collaborative role in many technology projects. It seems that in many places the staff responsible for keeping things working does not get involved in the process of developing these projects. I would also like to discuss whether this is something we should/can work to change. If MCN is not the place for these discussions where are my fellow IT professionals going to get this information? Is there a role for MCN to coordinate access to these other resources? So these are my questions. Please respond and expand as you all see fit. Bill --- You are currently subscribed to mcn_mcn-l as: rob...@rlweiner.com To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-mcn_mcn-l-12800...@listserver.americaneagle.com --- You are currently subscribed to mcn_mcn-l as: rlancefi...@mail.wesleyan.edu To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-mcn_mcn-l-12800...@listserver.americaneagle.com
