Technology: �Our Fickle Friend

A guide to good practices with technology for groups of transient people

What’s your number?

• 1120-X�
• 443�
• 3.14159…�
• 525,600�
• 7:11

Why are we talking about this?

• People move through their lives like water down a river.
• Don’t let them carry all of �your leaves downstream with them. �
• Technology can be a wild horse. Let’s tame it.
• Grab your saddle and reigns. You can do this!�

** Disclaimer: this is not about legal ownership or intellectual property. I’m not a lawyer. Ask your lawyer friend!

You need:

• Central ownership & management
• The foundation for a good Digital Legacy
• To be better than you were yesterday™
• I’m not perfect.
• You’re probably not perfect.
• Let’s just be better, together.

Overview

1. Websites
2. Video + Conferencing
3. Storage / Document Management
4. Identity Management
5. Security

Websites

• How much should you pay?
• Who should be “in charge?”
• What are good techniques?

Websites

• How much should you pay?
• $200 / year
• SquareSpace, Weebly, Wix
• Broken? ---> “Someone else’s problem”
• $2000 / year
• Custom, home-grown website
• Broken? ---> “Your problem.”

Websites

• Who should be in charge?
1. The District Admin
• Let’s talk about a bottleneck.
2. The Gov
• Great website! Until next year...
3. A Committee
• Chairperson is a student; you are de facto
• Multiple people manage topics/areas of the site

Websites

• What are good techniques?
• Remember your audience.
• Who is using it? Who needs to use it?
• Don’t forget about it! (!!!!!!!!!)
• Keep things current.
• Add new content, but don’t waste your time.

Video + Conferencing

• How much should you pay?
• Meh?
• Zoom is free — but it’s 40 minutes per meeting.
• Google is free — but it requires Google accounts.
• Skype? It’s still around. People like it!�...
• WebEx, GoToMeeting, more

Video + Conferencing

• Why do online meetings smell weird?
• The Internet is Fickle.
• Use wired internet when appropriate.
• Wi-Fi — it’s everywhere, but nobody said it was always good…
• Would you rather stay at a hotel with no Wi-Fi or SUPER crappy Wi-Fi…?
• That’s what I thought...

Video + Conferencing

• Good practices:
• Mute yourself when you aren’t talking.
• Agendas are important.
• Include everyone — especially in hybrid meetings.
• Check-in on the quiet ones.
• Get yourself a checklist

Storage / Doc Management

• Leaves are your files, Water is your people.
• Use a central repository
• This is a tough one…
• How do you manage accounts?
• Do you already use certain services?
• Keep track of what is important nevertheless

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Storage / Doc Management

• Agreed-upon Naming Conventions
• Searching for things is great.
• No need to remember where you put that thing.
• Agreed-upon Folder Structures
• You know where it’s at, but not what’s called.

Use Both!

Identity Management

• What is… that?
• Who are people? What are accounts?
• What permissions / access do they have?
• What happens when they leave your group?
• What happens when YOU leave your group?
• If you are irreplaceable, you’re doing it wrong.

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Security

Security

• Why?
• People have weaknesses.
• Technologies have weaknesses.

Example 1

Example 2

Security

• Foundation: Identity Management (woo!)
• Awareness.
• Best-effort.

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Security

• Good practices
• Strong passwords: 16 characters +
• Don’t panic—it’s 3 five-letter words with spaces
• Checks & Balances
• Requests involving critical information should be double checked.
• Don’t store your passwords in public.

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Thanks!

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Questions?

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