Tight security at JAM

Barbara had to get past two sales reps to get to the free pens.

And Dave was being watched because of the extra large backpack he was carrying.  What in the world could be in there?

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Thursday Recap

We need these at MSMC:

Look out Vanna White

On another note, Donna Adams gave back to back presentations to a packed rooms.  One session was about automating the graduation process with online application forms. The other was about creating rules for non-course pre-reqs.  Dave MacLean hosted a successful advanced session on creating dashboards. Dave and Donna actually have groupies - they are Jenzabar rock stars - really!

        Interesting quotes heard in the halls...

                "It was real crab cake because it had a shell in it."

                "A Jerry Garcia tie?"

                "You have a s@&!-load of space in your head"

                 "I don't know about you, but I am done for the day"

                 "My ideas are perfect until I share them with someone."

                 "I really wasn't looking for you"

       And my favorite:

                 " I need a drink and the potty.  Tell her to blog about that!"

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A few new things we found out about

The iTap app was recommended to me from a Jenzabar guy. According to him, it is the best app that allows access your office or home desktop/laptop from an iPad.  He is on the road three week every month, and says iTap is best.  

Lake Forest College showcased an online approval process for new course proposals. Their method will work for any type of document that needs a series of approvals. Sharon and Donna are all over it.  You'll hear about it when they get back. 

Jenzabar Social will be announced in June. (Subscription price not announced.) Basically, it connects Facebook and Jenzabar. It offers secure   Facebook pages that can be customized to a target audience (accepted student, deposit paid, alumni, student just looking, etc.)

Is today Thursday? Where should I be?

The Registrar from a college in Virginia recognized Donna from a past convention and joined us for breakfast. 

Astra staff are looking forward to coming to MSMC in June to train is on the new Astra. 

The NY rep wanted to give us a sales pitch on a document management system. He said he speaks to Brian Moore at least once a year. 

Time to "network"

Finally time to meet attendees from other colleges.  Jenzabar hosted a gathering with great food and beverages:

But within a half hour, it began to pour:

Yuck!  A ruined event:

Captain Jim Lovell, legend and Apollo 13 commander

Jim Lovell was a keynote speaker at JAM.  He told the story of his role in Apollo13, spoke of the importance of teamwork and solving problems quickly.  Talking about having a bad day...

Ok, so this is Tom Hanks:

This is really Walter Cronkite:

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Who is James A. Lovell?...

...and why is he speaking at JAM?  I'll keep you posted. 

Jam!

Every year Jenzabar staff run a few sessions of "Notepad Unleashed".  They cover the functionality and capabilities of notepad.  We always get a few new ideas to bring back to MSMC from this session.  

This year Jenzabar has quite a few sessions on their e-Learning module. E-learning is their answer to a learning management system. (Like MSMC's eClass/Moodle.)  They made major updates to their e-Learning module and are showing it off this year. We are going to catch a few different sessions related to e-Learning,so we will keep you posted. 

Blogging from mobile devices

This post is being created and sent from my phone. I am using the Blogger App. I can access photos on my phone or take a picture right from the Blogger App as I write the blog post. 

JAM is just days away.

JAM is where the Jenzabar community comes together to solve issues, develop powerful new ideas, and plan for the future.  We are excited to learn new strategies and connect with colleagues. 

This year, Sharon Mankiewicz and Barbara Winchell are hosting a session on the Financial Aid module: "Diving into Data".   Donna Adams is presenting two sessions titled "Do you RBU" and "Graduation". Dave MacLean is presenting an intermediate/advanced session about building dashboards for reporting.  Sharon, Donna and Dave present interesting topics at JAM just about every year. 

We have already mapped out the sessions we each will attend that address best practices and ideas for all of the  Jenzabar modules we use at MSMC. We are trying to cover as many sessions and topics as possible.

We will keep you posted as we find interesting information, tools, and solutions during our conference.