Wishful Thinking: Comments

Comment on "Risky Connections"

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 14:09:54 -0500

I think the problem with social media is that first word: social. ;D Everything about social is risky. We have to talk to new people, and put ourselves out there and, honestly, we risk being judged. We risk not fitting in. We risk not being found interesting, or not pretty enough, or too loud (!! who said that??!?) No risk means we can stay safe--but no risk also means no rewards. No new awesome people to get new awesome ideas from. No community. No inspiration. And while your words are very kind, I confess that I continually get distracted and bogged down with work and meetings and whatnot (like that email I keep forgetting to sent out, dammit!) and have to remember to get back out there and say hi to my community, and blow the dust off my half dozen drafts of blog posts, and restart the process. Again. So thanks for the kick in the pants. I'll get back to blogging -- and hi yourself! *waves* Keep on keeping on!

- rb smail

Comment on "Blood Sweat and Tears"

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:18:33 -0500

As the IT director with oversight for the Penn Stater, I would like to apologize for the sub-par performance of the wireless network at the Penn Stater during the recent Web Conference. I also would like to provide some insight into what happened and how the issues are being addressed to ensure better experiences as future meetings.

The new wireless guest network was just recently installed this spring and up until the Web Conference we have had very positive reactions from guests. The new network has tripled the number of access points in the facility over the old network. That being said, the Web Conference presented capacity challenges to the network that we unfortunately did not anticipate.

Two problems were evident.

The IP subnet that AT&T had assigned to the network ran out of address space. This was preventing conferees from connecting. We have since quadrupled the amount of space, so this should not occur again.

We also believe the AT&T commodity circuit was being overwhelmed with traffic causing the reported slowness. The guest network shares the same Penn State Visitor network circuit serving the entire University. This circuit was scheduled for an upgrade this spring (in anticipation of the hotel upgrade), but unfortunately that upgrade did not occur before the web conference. The circuit is being upgraded later this week and the capacity will be greatly expanded.

One other compounding issue was that the new PSU Wireless 2.0, which was planned to be part of the network, is still awaiting some design work to ensure that AT&T can manage the network for the hotels, while at the same time ensuring that Penn State credentials are securely maintained. I am hopeful that this solution will be in palce and we'll have Wireless 2.0 running by the end of July or early August.

I believe the infrastrucure that we recently invested in at the Penn Stater will provide for great guest and meeting experiences going forward. It is unfortunate that the Web Conference had to endure these growing pains with Hospitality Services as we worked out kinks with the new serivce.

Joel Weidner
Director, Information Systems
Auxiliary & Business Services

- Joel Weidner

Comment on "Blood Sweat and Tears"

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 11:37:34 -0500

This was my first year attending the Penn State Web Conference, and I was completely awed by the quality of the presenters. The fact that I followed the social media track meant that the technical issues were not as distressing to me. But I am confident that the team that worked so hard to pull the event together will have these issues resolved before next year. I can't wait to learn even more next year. Thanks for all you did to make it a great event.

- Trish Hummer

Comment on "Blood Sweat and Tears"

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 11:30:57 -0500

It would have been nice to have 802.1X service out there... I am not a big fan of VPN..

Eric

- ERIC AITALA

Comment on "Interactive Scheduling"

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 12:53:02 -0500

If all goes well, registration should open sometime in the first week of May.

- PATTI FANTASKE

Comment on "Interactive Scheduling"

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 12:36:25 -0500

When will conference registration be open?

- CATHY BENSCOTER

Comment on "From "An Event Apart" in the Big Easy"

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 10:25:51 -0500

Wow...Breakfast with Jeffrey Zeldman! How cool is that? I wonder who will join you for breakfast at this year's An Event Apart.

- FARLEY MICHAEL HILL

Comment on "Back in the saddle"

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 13:24:07 -0500

I hope this proves to be a fruitful experiment! I look forward to your postings re: the Web Conference.

- Robin