How'm I Doin'?

Ed Koch was famous for that line, uttered whenever he would meet someone as Mayor of New York.

How am I doing? I have given it a lot of thought, recently.

How are we doing, at providing training? Maybe even moving beyond that, slightly. Are we getting you to think? Are we sparking a little inspiration now and again? Have you been moved to Google this or that as a response to something you have read here or heard in a workshop? How about that face-to-face training? As Dr.Phil would say, "How's that workin' for ya?" Man, invoking two bald Americans in quotes before the first 100 words? This week ought to be good!

Where do you think we are coming up short? Would you be interested in an hour devoted to a discussion of fonts? Or would you sit through an hour of em-units, percentages and pixels? If there is something you would like to know more about, the odds are pretty good someone else would like to know more about it, too. Maybe you have heard about a new product and would like to see what all of the noise is about. Or maybe you have never quite gotten around to something that's been around a while? Garage Band? RSS? Keynote? Skype? Those freebie Office Suite knockoffs?

Probably we should not take anything for granted here. How about training locations? Are those convenient enough? Some people have asked if we couldn't do something now and again at the Student Union. They have small and large meeting rooms as well as a nice auditorium, there. And of course, there is always support for training (at the dairy store) on East Campus.

We have limited our training to daytime hours, so far. Is that okay? Would you come in for a breakfast workshop? Would you stay late for an After-School Special? Most of the workshops we do now are an hour or two hours long. Would you prefer half-hour hit-the-highlights discussions? Could you maintain focus for a whole morning, or a whole day? We have tried to offer workshops in the mornings and in the afternoons, on Mondays and Wednesdays as well as on Tuesdays and Thursdays, to accommodate the many various schedules we all keep.

I know that when Leona teaches Photoshop and when Ranelle teaches Microsoft Office, they have the application open as they demonstrate the various features. When I teach Dreamweaver, I am almost always the only one in the room that doesn't have it running on my computer. When you see it, whatever "it" is, you see it right in front of you in my workshops. One benefit of doing things my way is that you can always go back to the training site and click on a link or re-read something that confused you at first. I have heard from about half a dozen students that they really enjoy being able to go back for quick refresher looks at various pages. Would it help if I had Dreamweaver open on one screen as well, to show where something is as well as talking about how to find it, instead of pointing at it?

What about personal training? I love it when people stop by after shopping next door for a new computer or software and ask a question or two. I have shown a lot of people how this or that works, in person. Would it be valuable to you to have someone come directly to your office or cubicle for training?

Do you think we need more training? More up-to-date training? More topics? Fewer? Would you be willing to pay more, to receive one-on-one training or a book to take back with you?

We have tried so far to keep Friday's free. Would it be worthwhile for you if we held a Friday afternoon HTML HelpDesk? You could drop by the New Media Center with a URL or some screenshots, or bring in your laptop and have your questions answered?

Are you happy with the lighting, the sound and the weather in the classroom? We currently give out Wintergreen LifeSaver™ candies before class. Would you prefer another flavor?

In short: How are we doing?