Back to school 2007

Today was freshman arrival day -- 1300 new faces and new computers on the Emory campus. Our job is to get them onto both the wireless and wired networks, set up with Emory's software, and ready to begin their lives at Emory, one of the first tasks of which will be to register for classes using their computers. So, it's important that they work. And if we don't recognize that fact, their parents are sure to remind us! :-)

This is a weekend that reminds you, forcibly and completely, of where we work and what we're all about -- in a good way.

For Alan and me, the day began in the gym, where everyone goes to get their initial materials. The whole place is set up with tables with information on everything from majors, to the arts, to transportation, etc. Everyone has handouts and freebies. This year, our big ones were pens, mints, and retractable ethernet cables. You have to explain to the 18 year olds what they are because they've never seen them! The gym is exhausting -- six hours on your feet saying the same thing 64 million times (Did you get your computer on the network? No, okay, did you run the CD we sent?). But we had fun with Rhonda, the head of Net Comm, and Brett, Alan's new boss, who handled Back to School like a master.



While we were in the gym, 70 IT staff were in the residence halls, helping students to get their computers ready for Emory. This year went well. The network was great and the only major problems involved Vista authentication. Tomorrow should be okay.

At the close of the day, we enjoyed some beers back at the Jones room. Stories were shared, laughs exchanged, and we all reveled in our shared labor and enjoyment of an important job well done.