AVP and CTO Update, July 13, 2020

I finally succumbed to the hype and signed up for the Disney Plus streaming service so I could watch Hamilton, the Musical. It is a LONG show! And riveting. If you haven’t yet seen it, I recommend it. And while it isn’t free, it is much cheaper than a ticket to the live show! There is also an accompanying show called “Hamilton, History Has Its Eyes On You” where they interview the creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda and some of the actors and they discuss  Hamilton in the context of 2020 and its current relevance, along with its juxtaposition to the history the musical depicts. Truly compelling viewing! And now I can save myself hundreds of dollars should musicals ever hit the live stage again!  By the way, if you want a taste, there is a great YouTube that shows Lin-Manuel singing the theme song to the Obamas back in 2009 when this was all still just a concept.
 
Following on that, I want to applaud the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion committee which delivered their second Film Festival and conversation on Friday afternoon. There was a great turn out and some compelling conversation from both Debra Christmas, my Executive Partner from Gartner, and Dr. Arig al Shaibah. There were a few quotes I scribbled down – from Debra: ‘My curiousity outweighs my indignance” in reference to how she engages people in those hard conversations, and from Arig: “Intention without action is complacency”. I am sure that others who participated made note of other items that were discussed, as well. There is a Teams channel (join code VZ89D72) for the EDIFF so head there and strike up a conversation.. Thank you to the dedicated individuals who are bringing us these opportunities to come together to discuss these important and timely topics – this session was led by Asma and Zee, and Carmalita. Well done!
 
A few other announcements of note as you start your week.

Starting tomorrow, there will be a requirement for individuals coming to campus to wear masks. While we do anticipate that most people have their own masks, there will also be booths starting tomorrow in JHE and MUSC from 8-3 PM daily to hand out masks.

I am also kicking off our Tech Talk Tuesdays tomorrow and running every other Tuesday through the rest of the summer. Please join me and others for an hour to chat about our tech initiatives and to ask questions, and hopefully take us into any other channel of conversation you like!

And finally, I want to add in another welcome to a number of new individuals who have joined our McMaster IT community and will continue to do so through the summer. Welcome! We are glad you are here! I found this article on how to start a new job remotely which may be of value. May I suggest that the ideas and principles outlined here will work for all of us (other than declaring we are new)! Let’s keep connecting and refreshing our relationships using the tools we have available.

Have a wonderful week! That’s how I see IT for this week.

 gg's blog

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