March 2010 Archives

Leadership Conference and Gender Identity

By Stevie Rocco on March 30, 2010 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

So, for the first time, I attended the Penn State Women's Leadership Conference. I'd never been before, in part because I usually don't have time, and also in part because the notion of having a leadership conference "just" for women bothers me on some visceral level. This post is about that conflict, the conference, and responses to my attendance. I'm warning you--there's so much I want to say that I am torn between getting it all out at once and dividing it up between posts. However, knowing my propensity for procrastination, I'm going to get out what I can right now and then see if I still feel the need to write more. This post will deal with my concern with the idea of having a separate leadership conference for women, and with the general format of that conference.

I should also state that the opinions stated below are my own, a way for me to try to work out some of what I see as the issues in my mind. So don't be hatin' on anyone but me for what you read here. kthx.

Separate but Equal?

First, I want to take up the notion of our "need" to have a leadership conference just for women. Part of me wants seriously to believe that we no longer need one--that a general conference on leadership would be great for the entire institution, and that women are already fully fledged members of that institution--and already seen as leaders.

However, I also know that only 2 of our 11 Vice Presidents and Senior Vice Presidents are women, 15 of 58 Deans and Associate Deans are women, and 213 of 1,158 full professors are women (Report on the Status of Women at Penn State, 2007-2008). In addition, this same report notes continued salary inequities in many areas across the University.

So maybe a conference for women to encourage and develop leadership is needed here. Unfortunately, that was not the conference I attended yesterday.

Content of the Conference

So--if we need to encourage leadership for women at the institution, I would have expected to see current women leaders both present and presenting. But where were the 2 Vice Presidents? The 15 Deans/Associate Deans? The full professors--or even the directors managing groups? I did not see any of them at this event, and believe me--I would have loved to have interacted with them and heard their stories.

Instead, I would classify this conference as not a leadership conference, but as a personal development conference. Sessions on making lemonade out of lemons, celebrating what's right with the world, how to deal with aging parents while raising children were all interesting topics--but not what I would commonly classify as leadership essentials.

To be fair, there were sessions on domestic violence in the workplace and workplace dress style, but the remaining sessions focused largely on the personal. Personal finance, stress relief, accentuating the positive, and finding your star to chart your course through life.

This is all wrapped up, of course, in our generally gendered notions of leadership, in my opinion. A typical leadership conference would contain books on being effective, on budgeting, on time and project management, etc. And those would have been great topics for yesterday. What a typical conference would not have would be sessions on empowering employees, nurturing professional growth, and stress relief for leaders. See the difference? The second set of items tend to seem more "soft" and therefore not appropriate for a leadership conference--unless the conference is just for women.

But I think we could all benefit from all of the above topics. Both project management and stress relief. Budgeting and nurturing employees. So why don't we do a conference that supports both? That offers yoga and spa baskets as well as the latest Stephen Covey book and project management tools. Until we get some kind of balance, the "us vs. them" divide that I felt so keenly yesterday will only continue.

My Response to the Organizers

As someone who did not come away with what I'd hoped, I made sure to carefully fill out the evaluation form they sent me today. Here's what I said:

I am troubled by a lot about this conference, and I'll admit my feelings here are extremely complex. First, I think PSU would be better served by a Leadership conference without having one that segregates women specifically, even though I recognize that PSU has a way to go in achieving leadership equity across the institution.

That having been said, if a women's leadership conference is what is needed, I think the format of this conference was exactly the wrong way to inspire and encourage leadership in women across the institution. Instead of inspiring personal leadership, I think it encouraged a "women vs. men" mentality in a lot of ways, as well as not really offering sessions about leadership per se. Where were the leadership books by women? Where were the sessions on upgrading your portfolio, or even how to ask your supervisor to participate in Penn State Leader or Management Institute?

I don't know--as I said, I'm troubled on many levels. I know the planning committee works hard to do this event each year, but I left it thinking that it really wasn't for me, and that if the conference itself reflects the institution's notion of what leadership for women is, I had best find other outlets for my professional development.

In the end, I'm hoping the organizers will understand that I am not merely trying to be negative--I love this institution, and I want to see us do great things. Part of doing great things, however, includes speaking up when we perceive that something isn't working.

Will I go to this conference again? I guess I have to say I really doubt it. And that's a shame, frankly, because I do still have so much to learn.

Community? Hell Yes, Community!

By Stevie Rocco on March 28, 2010 6:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

#reginaldgoldinghellyes!

Saturday's TLT Symposium was a fabulous gathering of educators across Penn State. Conversations were good, ideas were exchanged, and the entire enterprise made me proud to work where I work. Education is in good hands here, and folks are really thinking about how we can change and be more effective in what we do. During the day, everyone who took photos were invited to add them to a Flickr Pool; below are some of my favorites from the day.

Jeff Swain nailed the breakfast choices

I catch Anne doing one of her famous "candid" shots

Stickers!

Anne Petersen and I (with JoePa, of course!) i front of the waterfall at the Penn Stater.

Anne and the fabulous April Millet

Jeff Swain, Program Chair of the Symposium, relaxing and thinking a bit

Bryan Ollendyke waits for his hands-on Drupal session to begin. He is truly a legend. In his own mind, of course!

Hannah hanging out at the Symposium

Dean Blackstock and Jason Heffner, in practically matching ties!

Robin and Audrey mutual picture-taking society

Dave Stong Waxes Rhapsodic in the Break Area

The Estimable John Harwood tries out Wii Fit

My new "dock" on my Mac

Audrey being a Ninja in her Malabrigo

You can see the entire Photostream on Flickr. Highly recommend, as it was a most-excellent day!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

By Stevie Rocco on March 23, 2010 2:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Everyone sing with me--"It's the most, wonderful time, of the yeeeear!"

No, I'm not talking about the holidays, or even about back-to-school a la the old Staples commercial, but I am talking about the TLT Symposium, which will be held on Saturday at the Penn Stater Conference Center in University Park.

The TLT Symposium is an annual event here, where members of the Penn State community gather to talk about teaching, technology, and the integration of the two. This year's theme is Digital Scholarship and the Culture of Teaching and Learning. The keynote speaker is Michael Wesch, assistant professor of cultural anthropology at Kansas State University. His video, A Vision of Students Today (below), is an iconic glimpse into current student lives, and it makes it wholly clear that the teaching/learning enterprise must change to meet their needs.

As well as Professor Wesch, there will be brilliant Penn State folks there who will be talking about teaching and how technology, social media, and new tools are transforming and extending scholarship. I was privileged to be on the Program Committee this year, and let me tell you--these sessions are going to ROCK THE HOUSE. This is an exciting time, and I again look forward to earning another year's Symposium badge for my sash.

In addition to the sessions, this conference has an extremely active backchannel--so even if you're not there, following the hashtag #psutlt will get you a wealth of information about what's happening throughout the day. So join us--participate from where you are, and let's engage across higher education both inside and outside of Penn State to talk about improving education for our students!

Digital Hoarder

By Stevie Rocco on March 16, 2010 8:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Have you ever watched the show Hoarders on A&E? It's a show about people who compulsively save things, to the point of living wholly in a pile of trash. They are people who are constitutionally incapable of throwing anything away, even when there are serious consequences--loss of a spouse, children taken away, etc. They hoard for many reasons: lack of trust, fear of some kind of lack/loss, and even because something "might be valuable later."

Image courtesy of elgin.jessica

How is this related to education, technology, social media, or my work? Well, you see, yesterday, I was confronted with a horrific truth. I am a digital hoarder. The truth came to me as I sat down to clean out my e-mail In box. There were 6,940 messages in there. In my IN BOX. Not any of the other "organizing" mailboxes, but in the In box alone. It took me five hours total, but I managed to get it down to 35 messages, all of which have some kind of action attached to them, after which I'll file them. And you see, there's the key. I'll file them. I won't delete them. Classic Hoarder.

I save nearly everything that comes through digitally. It's sad, really. I do it for many reasons. And many of the reasons parallel what you hear from the hoarders on the television show. First, there's trust: "I keep it to CMA." "Well, I need to prove that I did it." There's also estimation of future value: "Well, this might be a good link later." "Oh, that e-mail was funny," or even "Geez, in a few years, when we're ready..." Thankfully, I have somewhat more control in my analog life.

And so I save it. And that's one reason that my computer, all 250 GB of it, is practically full. For those of you who have seen my music collection, seriously--that's only 50 GB of the total. That means that there are nearly 200 GB of stuff hanging out on my machine. If you count everything but the music, you can still see how that is a whole passel of stuff. Too much stuff. Because let's face it--word documents, and Excel spreadsheets, even HTML pages, aren't all that big. So I must have a whole boatload of them. Even if you count Flash projects and pictures, really, it's just too much stuff. 10 years worth, which is how long I've been working at my university.

And I drag it along. From computer to computer to computer. Because at this point it's just too much to face. Too much to go through. Too daunting. Just. Like. A. Hoarder.

It's not full from the work I'm doing, it's full from the work I did and the work I hope to do. It's saddled with both the past and the future, making me weighed down too much to be able to deal with the present. So I'm going to outline a few rules to try to curtail the chaos. These are not from any book, such as Getting Things Done, or anything, but just a small sanity check I'm giving myself. Some digital Feng Shui that's been long overdue.

Funny jokes aren't worth saving. If it's good enough, you can Google it later.
There's cya and CYA. Figure out the difference. If you sent something, that's enough of a CYA on the task. It's in your Out Box, for criminey's sake. Toss the request e-mail, already.
There is no later. File/action/delete it now, or don't read it until you're going to do something with it.
Use other tools besides e-mail to keep track of projects. Evernote, for example.
Flash projects from a job you had four years ago are obsolete. If they're not obsolete, someone currently working in that division has a copy of them. Delete them.
Any folder labeled with the name of any college you used to work for (but no longer do) should be burned to a DVD and then deleted from your machine. Ditto seven-year-old conference presentations, your master's paper, all the articles you downloaded in grad school, and that course you taught six years ago that's since been redesigned. DVD it all.
Nothing is worth saving if you only "think" you might need it. If you need it later, you can find it later. You won't remember you saved it anyway. Let it go.

Seven "rules." For now. Let's see if I can let a little air and space in to my digital life, and see if I feel lighter. More ready to tackle the present. Less saddled by both the past and the future. If I do, who knows? Maybe I'll figure out a way to expand my digital present.

Vacation and Foggia Beef Roll

By Stevie Rocco on March 8, 2010 6:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So this week I'm on vacation at my mom's house in The Villages. The Villages, honestly, warrants its own post, because it's sort of a combination of "college without the classes" meets Stepford. But I digress. I'll do the Villages post, but to meet my #teampie obligations I thought I'd post something else.

You see, yesterday I posted the following picture:

This is a Foggia Beef Roll.

My mom was making it for dinner, as she was having guests in honor of our visit. Foggia beef roll is also the meal that my former stepdad (now deceased) made for everyone the night of my rehearsal dinner for the marriage that just ended. It's a meal with memories, in other words.

Having a gazillion people to dinner? Foggia beef roll! Having a party? Beef roll! Having a wedding? Bring on the foggia! You get the picture. It was our go-to meal for all-things-needing Italianness. Serve it with some pasta, a salad, and garlic bread, and you were good to go.

I should also probably mention that this image, above, is only a half-recipe. A FULL recipe requires 5 pounds of meat, and is, quite frankly, Gi-Nor-Mous. Small party of 6-8-10 people? 1/2 recipe will do you. It's only when you get to the weddings that you need the full treatment.

Now, for honesty: While I "like" Foggia beef roll, I do not "love" foggia beef roll. Well, not in the way I love brozziole, for example. But that's not my decision. This meal has been present at so many family events, it is its own thing. And I bow to that. Ma Familia, you know.

So, in honor of the latest incarnation, here's the (full) recipe. Use with care. :) And NEVER serve with canned sauce. Instead, contact me and I'll teach you how to make an excellent marinara from scratch in about an hour.

Foggia Beef Roll
5 pounds top-round steak, ground
2 c. rolled dry bread crumbs
4 leaves fresh basil, chopped
1 T. chopped fresh Italian parsley
7 fresh eggs, beaten
1 c. coarsely grated Romano cheese
1 1/2 t. salt
1 t. freshly milled black pepper
1 T olive oil
4 four-inch-long Italian sweet sausages
4 hard-cooked eggs
4 slices Provolone cheese
4 c. basic tomato sauce (see note, above)
1 t sugar
1/4 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground oregano
1 lb. pasta of choice
butter
parmesan cheese

Blend together beef, bread crumbs, basil, parsley, beaten eggs, 1/2 c. of the Romano, salt, and pepper. Spread the tablespoon of oil onto the board or table where you will make the roll. Reserve 1 c. of the meat mixture for patching the roll later, which it may need. Place the rest of the meat mixture on the oiled board. Flatten (rolling pin helps, here) into a large round medallion 1/2 inch thick.

Broil the sausages. Place them whole on the flat meat; place hard-cooked (but peeled, guys, come on) eggs between, and surround with the slices of provolone. Sprinkle the remaining cup of grated Romano over everything; mill on more black pepper, sprinkle on more salt. Now carefully roll the meat until you have a firm, tubular roll. If there are holes or open places, patch with the cup of ground meat that you reserved. Slide the roll into an oiled open pan or casserole; bake at 400 degrees F. until it is firm and brown, about 45 minutes. Side note: My family always puts a bit of sauce on this before baking.

Meanwhile, heat the basic tomato sauce, thicken with 2 T drippings from meat pan, stir, and simmer. Lower oven heat to 300 degrees F. Cover the roll with the tomato sauce; lightly sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon, and oregano. Bake meat roll and sauce together for 30 minutes, spooning sauce over occasionally as it simmers. Then remove meat to a hot platter and let it set, to become firm and slightly cooled for easier slicing.

Serve with pasta al dente, cooked and served on a warm platter with butter and parmesan.

In Praise of the #hashtag

By Stevie Rocco on March 2, 2010 6:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Someone mentioned to me the other day the fact that I tend to hashtag a lot when I use Twitter. Not as much as @nealcross, but still... Hashtags are when you start with a pound sign (#)--the hash--and follow it with a tag, all one word, that can be searched on Twitter.

And I started thinking about that. And as I thought, I realized that there are a lot of rhetorical reasons to hashtag something. Yet these reasons are vastly different than each other.

Wherefore Hashtag?

1. Connection

To me, the first and most obvious reason for a hashtag is to connect tweets related to an event such as a conference, meeting, group, or informal meetup. Tags such as #tltsym, #knitpistols, and #educause09 exemplify such tags. The purpose of these is to connect participants in a live event or group. To help them to find each other, to extend the conversation about the event and the ideas contained in the event, and to formulate a community that surrounds the event.

These hashtags allow search, aggregation, and connection.

2. Identification

The second reason to use hashtags is to identify the item which was just tweeted. #quote when used after a quote, for example, creates a real-time index of quotations via Twitter. And a quick search reveals some interesting ones:

"The health of nations is more important than the wealth of nations. -Will Durant #quote
"Diligence is the mother of good fortune." - Miguel de Cervantes #quote
"Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it."~ Buddha #quote

Interesting stuff. If I'm looking for a quote on a topic these days, a Twitter search is now up there along with Google.

3. Comedic/Sarcastic

Finally, the third area I want to mention is the "pithy" type of hashtag. This hashtag is used when someone wants to say something snarky. And even though it's a group/event, I consider our use of #nerdthunderdome in this category. Some other fun hashtags here would include #ohnoyoudiint, #wentthere, #soundsdirtierthanitis, #facepalm, and the ever-famous #reginaldgoldinghellyes.

This is honestly my favorite use of the hashtag. To me, it signals something fun, and as long as too many hashtags aren't used together, it's perfectly acceptable. Just my opinion, I know, but still... The other thing the comedic/sarcastic hashtag does is to signal to me as a reader to read the hashtag differently in my head. So when I see the tweet, "Piece of Hershey's choc. cake for breakfast? Hell yes Hershey's choc. cake 4 breakfast #reginaldgoldinghellyes," then I know that the person is emphasizing what they're saying. Or muttering. Or something.

At any rate, that's all I've got on this (for now). But I'll be thinking more about the hashtag, and figuring out how it should/can be used in other contexts. Any ideas? #sendemalong

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