5. Thank you to the advisory committee
• Andrew Smith, Open University
• Gerard Craughwell, Senior College Dun Laoghaire
• Richard Cotton, Cornwall College
• Ian Green, Liverpool Community College
• Terry Salt, Barnfield College
• Kirk Redhead, ITEC Learning Technologies
• Stuart Philip, Highlands College
• Ken Lamb, Milton Keynes College
• Robin Brown, Telford College of Arts & Technology
• Fiona Baxter, Warrington Collegiate
8. A Couple of Reminders...
Use #EMEA10 if you tweet during the
EMEA Member Conference.
Set your ringer to vibrate
9. The User Advocate
Or, How to Gain Power, Glory and Money in the IT Industry
with Relatively Little Effort
Mike Meyers, Total Seminars, LLC
10. Techs are Reactive, not Proactive
We see a problem and react to it
The classic “Break/Fix”
Reactive attitudes lead to stagnation
“I know what I need to know”
There’s a better way to think…
11. The User Advocate
Recognizes the processes, the Zen, of the
organization and actively works in an
advocacy role to promote the benefits of IT
and to aggressively implement IT solutions
to that organization.
12. The User Advocate’s Policy
User Advocates are proactive
User Advocates are “part of the team”
Break/Fix “with a twist”
Respects, but does not rely on channels,
chains of commands or established policies
14. Manifesting the User Advocate
Defining your organization
Searching for IT shortcomings
Personal training to create solutions
User training
Development a support spy ring
15. Defining your Organization
Pick your organization!
– You don’t have to take on the entire system!
– A section, a physical plant, department
“We” – not “Them”
What do we do?
How is IT manifested?
19. Personal Training to Create Solutions
Learning the applications
User Advocates can write code!
– Macros
– Scripts
– “Real” Code
Learn the hardware
Certification!
20. Certification
No such thing as a terminal certification
Learning is a life-long process
Certifications are the de facto CEUs of the IT
industry
“It’s what we do!”
23. Developing a Support “Spy Ring”
Every organization is filled with nerdy
“wannabies” – help them!
Adhoc support training
Level 0 Techs
24. User Advocacy Is Hard!
You have to love IT - “CIC”
Long hours
You'll be loved – and hated
The more successful your program, the
less fun you'll have -The “M” word!