I’m in Granger again tonight. SharePoint training is done, and my brain is sufficiently fried, so tonight I’m just spending the evening relaxing (sort of) in the Red Roof Inn across the street from GCC.

On Thursday evening, Jason P. put together an impromptu Round Table session at Northwoods. Everyone that was at SharePoint training was invited to sit in. For some, this was their first RT experience. On Friday, we wrapped up training with some SharePoint Designer wisdom before packing things up and heading back East. Much thanks to Bill English for giving his time and his company’s materials to train us this week (and I do mean "giving" in the literal sense). Also, major props to Northwoods staff … this week’s training event was planned and executed very well, and it was evident.

I’m way tired, but I feel good. The training was excellent, and I definitely feel more equipped and ready to take on some new challenges. However, nothing compares to being able to talk to your peers in the ministry and benefit from the knowledge and experience that’s in the group. It’s truly a blessing to be a part of a team that, although we’re in different "organizations" per se, we have a very common goal tying us together.

If you’re someone doing IT in a church setting and you’re NOT connected with anyone … seriously, you need to be. It will stretch you, grow you, and make you better at what you do, and if nothing else, you will gain good relationships with people that are in the same ministry as you. If you’re looking a way to connect to the Church IT Roundtable, Justin Moore has put together a nice list of CITRT resources, which you can find here.

Time to get some sleep…

It’s Wednesday, and things are clicking right along in Peoria.  It’s a safe bet that I’m going to have a lot to discuss/ponder when I get back home.  SharePoint is definitely something that could help our organization once we’ve done the appropriate amount of planning and decision making.

As you might expect, I’ve had to remote in a couple times already to perform some minor fixes on users’ PCs.  Nothing major has come up, and that makes me feel pretty good.

Here’s our classroom.  Check out all the laptops…I’m glad I don’t have to manage that many.

With the domain rebuild finished up, I packed up a week’s worth of clothes and headed west for SharePoint training at Northwoods Community Church.

On Saturday I made the 5.5 hour drive to Granger, IN to meet up with Jason and Ed at GCC and head west from there. I got in around 6:00pm and set up for a night’s stay. In the morning I would experience a Sunday at Granger and then head out of town a couple hours later.

Today (Monday) has been a total whirlwind of activity. We checked in at Northwoods around 8:30 and jumped right in. What followed was the kind of training that makes your head hurt. SharePoint is definitely not something you just jump into on a whim. It requires plenty of forethought and planning. More details as the week progresses.

Mega props to the Northwoods staff for all the hospitality that was put forth today. You guys rock!