Calendar

Oct
20
Tue
October Monthly Meeting
Oct 20 @ 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Session Summary:

Jeff Hayes presents “Agile Schmagile! Five Things To Do Now To Achieve Scrum’s Promised Results”

So you’ve ‘mastered agile’ and/or ‘mastered scrum’ and still no magic sauce at your company?  This interactive seminar addresses several key findings about the effective use of agile in companies today, and provides ideas that can be implemented immediately in your own company.  The focus is helping individuals and teams in various roles.

Speaker:

Jeff Hayes is an enterprise agile coach, trainer and speaker, who works alongside product teams and senior management alike to help bring about the greater value expected by organizations that adopt agile.  Jeff has deep experience in delivering enterprise-scale software products, consulting for changes in culture, product, process and technology, primarily in the industries of finance, manufacturing and healthcare.  He is PMI certified and holds certifications from Scrum.org, LeSS.works, Scrum Alliance, and the Project Management Institute.  Jeff is a native Midwesterner who considers the Fox River Valley his true home after 17 years of residency, and thoroughly enjoys sailing, music, and travel (eight countries and counting!).  Find Jeff online at aligntechsolutions.com/blog and at linkedin.com/in/jeffhayes.

Schedule of Events:

4:00pm: Chapter News and Intros
4:10pm: Jeff Hayes’ presentation with Q&A
5:00pm: Closing Comments
5:05pm: Virtual Happy Hour

Cost:
Free to all interested!

**SIGN UP REQUIRED on chapter’s Eventbrite page to ensure Zoom meeting link can be sent to participant.

CLICK HERE to sign-up and register.

Nov
17
Tue
November Monthly Meeting
Nov 17 @ 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

Session Summary:

Erin Draheim presents “Meet Girls Who Code!”

Girls Who Code is a national non-profit organization working to close the gender gap in technology. GWC programs educate, equip, and inspire girls with the computing skills they’ll need to pursue 21st century opportunities.

Hear from a GWC volunteer to learn about the Girls Who Code program, why this is an important program and the impact it has on the girls involved.  You’ll hear directly from a few girls involved in the program and how GWC has impacted their lives.

Speaker:

Erin Draheim is a software developer with 20+ years’ experience in all aspects of software development. She discovered a passion for programming in high school and never looked back. With a degree in Computer Science, Erin has worked in a variety of industries, with a variety of technologies and teams of all sizes. She is currently a Senior Software Engineer with Skyline Technologies.

Erin’s passion for technology opened a world of opportunities for her, and she wants to make sure others have that same chance. She has been volunteering her time to bring a love of technology to other young people.  As a founding member of WIT Wisconsin, Erin helped develop the Wit4Girls curriculum. When Hortonville High School was looking for an instructor for a new GWC club, Erin jumped right in to build that program.  She also volunteers with Microsoft’s TEALS program and has been teaching AP Computer Science at the high school level for the last 4 years.

Schedule of Events:

4:00pm: Chapter News and Intros
4:10pm: Erin Draheim’s presentation with Q&A
5:00pm: Closing Comments
5:05pm: Virtual Happy Hour

Cost:
Free to all interested!

**SIGN UP REQUIRED on chapter’s Eventbrite page to ensure Zoom meeting link can be sent to participant. Registration closes at 3:30pm on Nov 17, so sign up early!

CLICK HERE to sign-up and register

Jan
19
Tue
January Monthly Meeting
Jan 19 @ 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Gina will share techniques and relevant, relatable ideas to move Conversations into true, meaningful and ongoing Connections!

About this Event

Gina Glover presents …

“From Conversations to Connections”

Business professionals in all fields and industries would agree that communication is a skill that is one of the most critical for both our personal and professional growth. Some form of this skill is likely listed as a dot under the heading “Essential Job Functions” on your job description. And yet, when there is a need to simply foster a good conversation – even when it’s with someone you disagree with (actually, especially then) – do you have the skills you need? And are you actively building on these skills? I would offer that this year, more than any other year, it has been brought to our attention that THIS is the priority for each and every one of us.

This session will focus on the five elements for a more effective conversation. It will provide techniques you can use in the office, at industry events, community gatherings, and even at your own dining tables. Attendees will walk away from this session with relevant, realistic, and relatable ideas they can use immediately for moving their conversations into true, meaningful, and ongoing connections.

Our Speaker:

Her business is aptly named Gina Connects LLC because connecting is at her very core. Gina Glover’s greatest gift is her ability to foster connections. She does this with people at companies and professional organizations across the Fox Valley and beyond.

Gina is a career coach, a speaker, and a workshop facilitator, and, most importantly, a connector. Some of you may already know Gina from the presentation “Navigating SHIFT Creek” which she shared with the NEW Chapter back in September 2019.

We encourage you to find and connect with her on your favorite social media platform – okay, not Snapchat or Tik Tok (she’s not on those!)

Let’s welcome Gina to share with us insights on how we can move From Conversations to Connections.

Schedule of Events:

3:30pm: Chapter News and Intros

3:40pm: Gina Glover’s presentation with Q&A

4:30pm: Closing Comments

4:35pm: Virtual Happy Hour

Prices:

FREE to all interested!

**SIGN UP REQUIRED on the chapter’s Eventbrite page to ensure Zoom meeting link can be sent to participants. Registration closes at 3:00pm on Jan 19, so sign up early!

Feb
16
Tue
February Monthly Meeting
Feb 16 @ 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

Session Summary:

Mark Swiderski will lead a discussion on “Reduce meeting time! Understanding 3 Facilitation Skill Principles and a Meeting Purpose Statement”

Overview and Learning Objectives

Quick, think about the worst meeting that you have ever been a part of. What does it look like? Common problems are; no meeting purpose, no one in charge, too many in charge, lots of talk but no decisions, and nothing written down. Another hour of my life I will never get back. Stop it! For most people, improving facilitation skills leads to a 5-20% productivity increase.

If you are attending these types of “no value/low value” meetings, use these principles to make things better, or consider not going. If you are leading these types of meetings, it’s time for a change. This discussion will give you a new perspective on meeting efficiency and productivity. It starts with the meeting preparation and a good purpose statement. We will help you to understand what a good purpose statement achieves and why all meetings need to be driven by the purpose statement. Paraphrasing Patrick Henry, “give us productivity or kill the meeting”!

Learning Objectives:

1. To be able to discuss the three core facilitation skill principles

2. To be able to demonstrate how to write a meeting purpose statement

3. To be able to discuss personal areas for growth and improvement in facilitation skills

Speaker:

Mark Swiderski is the founder of Praxilient.  His company assists organizations from $10m to $77B improve their speed to market, streamline operations, gain measured improvements, reduce risk, and gain clear aligned organizational performance by improving operations and project performance.

 Mark has 35+ years business experience, with 25+ years of helping companies achieve their goals through the skills of people, improved methods, and helps individuals grow their capabilities at all levels.  He is a global expert, author, and lecturer in the deployment of improved project management and operations performance.  Mark is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).   He received his M.B.A. from DePaul University.

 Mark has worked for a wide variety of industries and functional areas from banking, utilities, manufacturing, and healthcare to professional sports.  He has participated or led teams that delivered more than $2B in project scope.  His organization has trained, coached, or developed more than 10,000 people from Functional Teams to Chief Executive Officers across the globe.

Schedule of Events:

4:00pm: Chapter News and Intros
4:10pm: Mark Swiderski’s presentation with Q&A
5:00pm: Closing Comments
5:05pm: Virtual Happy Hour

Cost:
Free to all interested!

**SIGN UP REQUIRED on chapter’s Eventbrite page to ensure Zoom meeting link can be sent to participant. Registration closes at 3:30pm on Feb 16, so sign up early!

CLICK HERE to sign-up and register

Mar
16
Tue
March Monthly Meeting
Mar 16 @ 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

Everything you need to know to get started with Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Session Summary:

Want to learn more about Robotic Process Automation (RPA)?  Want to make your customers happy faster and with more accuracy?  How about being able to get to those tasks you just don’t have time for today?  RPA can help free you from the mundane work that ties you down, it will improve accuracy, consistency, and get the work done with or without user intervention!

During this session we will explore Robotic Process Automation (RPA), explaining what it is, when to use it, types of RPA software, benefits, and strategy for implementation.   At a high level, RPA is a software that can automate anything that a person does on a computer (keyboard and mouse clicks), as long as any decision that needs to be made in the process are programmable.  It works best with repetitive processes such as data entry, financial processes, application processes, etc.  It can even work across applications!

Meet our Speaker:

Angie Dahl has been in the IT profession for 26 years, working in all aspects of IT from second level support to infrastructure to continuous improvement for IT, to an IT business systems analyst.  Her passion lies in servicing her customers through automation and continuous improvement.  Angie was a continuous improvement analyst for about 5 years prior to starting to work on RPA implementations for the last 3 years.

Angie has experience as an IT business systems analyst for all functions and business units in both implementing and supporting RPA.  She has built up the processes, governance, and support for RPA in two different companies, one using Blue Prism and Automation Anywhere, the other using UiPath.

Angie leads a UiPath RPA user group for the Fox Valley and would welcome you to join the conversation.  The user group is very informal and hosts topics of interest for the user group.  Members of the group are part of a team at their company that supports UiPath from an implementation and governance perspective.  We meet virtually on a quarterly basis.  If you are interested in joining the group or presenting to the group, please contact Angie at angie.dahl@Plexus.com.

Schedule of Events:

4:00pm: Chapter News and Intros
4:10pm: Angie Dahl’s presentation with Q&A
5:00pm: Closing Comments
5:05pm: Virtual Happy Hour

Cost:
Free to all interested!

**SIGN UP REQUIRED on chapter’s Eventbrite page to ensure Zoom meeting link can be sent to participant. Registration will close at 3:30pm on March 16.  CLICK HERE to sign-up and register.

Apr
20
Tue
April Monthly Meeting
Apr 20 @ 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

Session Summary:

The presentation will focus on an overview of DevOps and the benefits that it can provide. Lewis will review a traditional app deployment with Ops and Development, and how they look within a DevOps environment. Discussion points will include elimination of siloes, determining how to secure management buy-in, development of automation to improve application deployments, release process and IAC as well. The goal of this session will be to create an uptick in DevOps practices, and hopefully open up a few more conversations within different enterprises in our community.

Meet our Speaker:

Lewis Prior is a DevOps Engineer for Thrivent Financial focusing on Release Orchestration, CICD Pipelines, and Automation with a variety of tools. Lewis is a UWO alum, and spends his free time as a Throws Coach at St. Norbert College.

Schedule of Events:

4:00pm: Chapter News and Intros
4:10pm: Lewis Prior’s presentation with Q&A
5:00pm: Closing Comments
5:05pm: Virtual Happy Hour

 Cost:
Free to all interested!

**SIGN UP REQUIRED on chapter’s Eventbrite page to ensure Zoom meeting link can be sent to participant. Registration will close at 3:15pm sharp on April 20.  CLICK HERE to sign-up and register.

May
18
Tue
May Monthly Meeting
May 18 @ 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

Session Summary:

A confidence continuum exists and we are all on it. In order to understand our confidence tendencies, it is important to take an honest self-evaluation. This will increase self-awareness.

Self-awareness is critical in leadership and is the first step in working through your confidence challenges. Self-assessments are safe pathways for you to take an honest look in the mirror. When it comes to confidence issues, labels are dangerous. Calling someone arrogant or insecure is a sure way to shut down a conversation. After thousands of coaching sessions around confidence challenges, I discovered all of the participants fell into one of six profiles. These profiles represent our confidence tendencies and help us understand how to best interact with others.

The 6 Confidence Profiles are Peace Keeper, Friend Maker, Inquisitor, Negotiator, Driver and Convincer. There is no right or wrong profile, as leadership is about progress not perfection. One of the greatest myths regarding confidence issues is that people are in a fixed state. People believe that some individuals are over confident and others are under confident in all areas of life. Some people fit in this category, but this is the exception, not the rule. We all have a bias toward over or under confidence, but this is not a fixed state; it is a tendency.

Whatever your profile, you will learn the ability to connect to the other profiles and elevate your level of influence. The Confidence Profiles were created to be used as a starting point for your career development, not the ending point.  Each of the profiles has a set of characteristics. You have a primary Confidence Profile at work that guides the way you view communication, conflict and change. It is essential to understand the aspects of your profile before understanding the profile of others.

 

Meet our Speaker:

Ben Fauske is invested in serving leaders so that great teams thrive. He is a confidence researcher and discovered a pattern followed by world-class influencers. This pattern has allowed him to help thousands of leaders find their own confidence transformations.

Ben is a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst and is sought after for executive coaching, workshops and keynotes. He released his book Authentic Confidence: The Secret to Loving Your Work and Leading an Unstoppable Career in May of 2020.

 

Schedule of Events:

4:00pm: Chapter News and Intros
4:10pm: Ben Fauske’s presentation with Q&A
5:00pm: Closing Comments
5:05pm: Virtual Happy Hour

 

Cost:
FREE to all interested!  CLICK HERE to sign-up and register.

**SIGN UP REQUIRED on chapter’s Eventbrite page to ensure Zoom meeting and Confidence Profile Assessment links can be sent to participant.

Once registered you will receive an email to complete your Confidence Profile Assessment.  Complete assessment ASAP to ensure your results can be processed and returned to you prior to Ben’s presentation.

Please Note: Registrations on or after May 16 may not receive personal assessment results before the presentation.

Jul
21
Wed
2021 Sherry Anklam Memorial Golf Outing (July 21) @ Mid Vallee Golf Course
Jul 21 @ 8:00 am – 3:30 pm

Join us on July 21 for NEW AITP’s 44th Annual Sherry Anklam Memorial Golf Outing!

Enjoy 18 holes of golf at Mid Vallee Golf Course, in a scramble format, with proceeds benefiting our local Information Technology students and school initiatives through the Sherry Anklam Memorial Award.  Bring your boss, co-workers, clients and friends for a wonderful day of golf at one of Northeastern Wisconsin’s finest golf courses.

Through this Award and your support of this event, the NEW AITP Chapter has awarded $11,000 to IT Students in Northeast Wisconsin in the last 5 years!

Your registration includes:

  • 18 holes of golf with power cart
  • Box lunch from FVTC’s Culinary Arts program
  • Dinner in the clubhouse after your round
  • Hole contests throughout the day
  • Hole-In-One Contests
  • Raffles and Door Prizes

 

Schedule of Events:

8:00 am Registration Opens. Check in and pick up Raffle tickets and Mulligan cards.

9:15 am Golfers meet at carts for Announcements and selection of 50/50 winner.

9:30 am Shotgun Start (all golfers tee off from their assigned hole on the course)

2:30 pm Scorecards returned in Clubhouse, Happy Hour begins

3:00 pm Dinner Buffet

3:15 pm Event Prizes, Awards, Raffles & Door Prizes handed out

 

Golf Pricing:

$260 – Foursome Special (May 22 – June 15)  SPECIAL OFFER only available for foursomes!

$300 – Early Bird (June 16– June 30)

$340 – Regular rate (July 1 – July 21)

Single to Trio Pricing (per golfer):

$75 – Early Bird (May 22 – June 30)

$85 – Regular rate (July 1 – July 21)

Golfers can also sign up at the course on the day of the event, if space is available.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

 

NEW for 2021! (Early purchase options available)

Raffle Tickets: 

Use your tickets to bid on wonderful prizes provided by Outing Sponsors and the NEW AITP Chapter. Limit: Unlimited

Mulligan Cards: 

Each Mulligan Card will provide one (1) player with three (3) additional shots for use during their round to replace a shot which was less than stellar. Player will follow an “on your honor” policy on mulligan use. Limit: One Card per Player

 

Golfers can purchase Raffle Tickets and Mulligan Cards early to save a few bucks, shorten their time at the registration table, and increase their fun factor during the round!  Just add to your cart during online registration.

 

SPONSORSHIPS:

MANY OPTIONS to choose from in 2021!  Significant discounts available by bundling Golf sponsorships with an AITP Chapter sponsorship (save 20% or more!).

Contact Chris Nimmer (sponsorship@newaitp.org) to get signed up today!

 

Sep
21
Tue
September Monthly Meeting @ Liberty Hall
Sep 21 @ 5:00 pm – 7:45 pm

Session Summary:

“What place does DevOps have in Operationalizing AI?”

Given the acceleration of AI adoption in the business world, how does an organization prevent AI lifecycles from resembling the wild west?  Now that you’ve invested in emerging technology, DevOps can play a critical role in implementing trustworthy AI.  Join us as we discuss techniques to operationalize AI for your organization to support scalable solutions and ensure solid governance.

Speaker:

Brian Haydin is a Solutions Architect with more than 20 years of experience helping clients build software and products to move their businesses forward.

As a longtime consultant, Brian brings deep experience across many industry settings to his work with Concurrency clients.  He leads complex projects that facilitate digital transformation and innovation, making use of Azure cloud technologies and a wide range of coding languages and tools.  Brian is an active member of several professional user groups and is a frequent speaker on innovative technologies, including topics such as building serverless systems and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Location:

Liberty Hall, 800 Eisenhower Dr, Kimberly WI 54136

Schedule of Events:

5:00pm: Doors open, Social Hour, Registration
6:00pm: Dinner
6:30pm: Chapter News
6:45pm: Brian Haydin’s presentation with Q&A
7:45pm: Closing Comments

Cost (includes dinner!):
Member $15
Guest $25
Student $10

Dinner will include: Beef Tenderloin – Medallions, Vegetarian Lasagna, Parsley Buttered Baby Red Potatoes, Stuffing and Gravy, Seasonal Vegetable, Garden Pasta, Broccoli-Cauliflower, Hawaiian Tropical Fresh Fruit, Key Lime Pie , ‘Peanut Butter Cup’ Cheesecake

**In the event that our in-person meeting must be changed to a virtual experience, we will do our best to provide the presentation via Zoom.  Those who register early will be notified promptly of any change, provided the Zoom meeting link, and refunded fees paid during registration.

CLICK HERE to sign-up and register on our Eventbrite page.

Oct
19
Tue
October Monthly Meeting @ Liberty Hall
Oct 19 @ 5:00 pm – 7:45 pm

How to Attract, Recruit and Retain the Best Cybersecurity Talent for Your Business

Session Summary:

Businesses are in a constant state of competition. For cybersecurity talent, this means that hiring managers must be proactive in their recruitment and retention practices to stay ahead of the curve. There is an ever-growing demand for cybersecurity professionals, but the supply has yet to catch up. With cyberattacks on the rise and over 500,000 open cybersecurity positions nationwide, it’s more important than ever to have skilled individuals on your team who will help you protect your company, your customers, and your employees from hacks and breaches. Heather will share with you some strategies to attract, recruit, and retain top cybersecurity talent for your organization.

Meet our Speaker:

Heather Monthie, PhD, has always known that she wanted to work with and for people. She started her career in education as a flight instructor teaching adults how to fly and as an elementary school computer teacher teaching kids digital literacy and computer science. She quickly moved into adult education teaching in Information Technology, Information Security, and Software Engineering fields. Passionate about cybersecurity education, Heather became a full professor of IT & Cybersecurity in 2019.

Heather has also published the book, “Beginner’s Guide to Developing a High School Cybersecurity Program”. Heather currently serves on the Board of Directors for the AZ Cyber Initiative, a non-profit dedicated to high school cybersecurity education. Heather has also served on AZ Governor Ducey’s Arizona Cyber Team as a higher education representative, served as co-chair of the collegiate working group of the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE), and served on the Executive Council of CompTIA AITP. As part of her work in higher education, Heather was the recipient of the Gen Cyber grant to provide training to high school teachers on cybersecurity. In addition, she worked with Code.org to help train Arizona high school teachers in computer science. She also blogs and podcasts at www.HeatherMonthie.com Heather has earned a Ph.D. in Information Technology, a Master’s in Teaching, and a Bachelor’s in Computer Science.

She is certified in Drone Security Operations and is a Certified Cybersecurity Systems Architect. She is also an FAA Certificated Flight Instructor, Commercial Pilot with an Instrument rating, Advanced Ground Instructor, and Part 107 Unmanned Aircraft Pilot. She currently works at a Fortune 100 organization in cybersecurity and also consults on cybersecurity workforce development.

Schedule of Events:

4:00pm: Chapter News and Intros
4:10pm: Heather Monthie’s presentation with Q&A
5:00pm: Closing Comments
5:05pm: Virtual Happy Hour

Cost:
FREE to all interested!  CLICK HERE to sign-up and register.

**SIGN UP REQUIRED on chapter’s Eventbrite page to ensure Zoom meeting link can be sent to participant.