Welcome to Bring a Friend night at LANTech Training here in beautiful Indianapolis Indiana.

Ken opened this event with not only some great questions, but also some great interaction from the folks there.   At Bring a Friend night at LANTech Training, there were a number of people who were new to IT to balance the people who already have careers in Technology.   The passion and interest of people looking to take up a career in the IT sector was exhilarating further emphasized by the conversations I had with people really looking to make a change.

While we show an interested group learning all about Windows 7, the real shot came when Ken Rosen provided his insight and perspective on the value of certification when the economy is unstable as well as to help improve and ensure stability in your career.

Everyone loves the Are You Certifiable game and typically walks away from it not only excited about technology, but also learning quite a bit.

Smiles all around as Chris Rue keeps the excitement in motion while playing AYC!

The line advances while people grab “I’m a PC” pins, Career Express T-Shirts, Certification Vouchers, Are you Certifiable stickers and MCITP Upgrade path fliers.

I had an excellent opportunity to talk with a fellow there who had an awakening hoisted upon him, an ultimatum of sorts, told that he needs to look at a job in Technology by several others.

Events like this one held at LANTech Training, User Groups, and the types of events we’ve been engaging in while traveling on the Career Express speak directly to that conundrum.    Brian Prince said it best with, “Your employer is in control of your job, but you are in control of your career.”   Think about that.  Is your career going where you want it to be?  If you make a change now can you get it on track to how you want it to progress?   Have you met your goals you’ve set for yourself over the years (There is no better time than the present to set goals if you haven’t already)   The time is here, and this is the place to take control of your career, and leave your job up to your employers.

Welcome to MAX Technical Training (Training to the Max?)   They had a cool layout, and the whole event was a special Technical Luau!   Our greeters welcomed with open arms and offerings of Lei’s and community (Oh, and food, a whole tent of food!)

Resident photographer Ashley tended to taking pictures for the event (which she swears I’ll get a copy of them!)  While I catch Ken walking with purpose out of the building

Great shot of Chris Rue here having an animated conversation with one of the hosts, while hula hooping was fairly active on this beautiful sunny day

This was a great event hosted by an absolutely great team!   I got the opportunity to meet a bunch of excellent people who are working hard fulfilling their own educational goals, networking opportunities and driving the envelope in this down economy.

If ever there was a time to find an organization to get to know, the folks at MAX Technical are the ones.  Their involvement in the community doesn’t start with this Learning Luau, but it is only one symbol of their interaction and drive within the technical space   They’ve been known to be a constant lead and driver of education, hosting of events, and taking things to the MAX!

Check them out, and attend their events and you’ll have a relationship which won’t let you down and will leave you learning and yearning for years to come!

No trip to Philly is a real trip without stopping and getting some Water Ice!

Okay, let the record show: Before I got on this bus, I had never been to Philadelphia, and I also had never heard of Water Ice.   This was entirely a foreign concept to me.   An explanation of it provided me with a great number of Midwestern solutions which were very much not named Water Ice, but it was a great stop, a great visit and a great lemon water ice to be had!

If you know the level of coordination and organization which went into concealing Liberty’s birthday from her, well she doesn’t know but it was pretty significant in order to make everything work out in the ways we had needed to, and an organic plan it was as we cannot predict Liberty’s behavior :)  Oh, and Happy Birthday Liberty! :)

And last but not least! Welcome Brian on to the bus! He joined us a little after midnight and will be a fixture on the bus for a bit of our journey!  I’m sure you’ll hear more about Brian as the days progress, but that is it for the extra-curriculars of Day 4!

This was an excellent follow-up after having visited the other school we visited that morning.

We we’re welcomed and greeted here as we arrived at Edward W. Bok Technical High School

Bok Tech is is a pretty cool Technical School focused on training, educating and more.   One particular cool fact about this place, is the building is 8 stories tall (Whoa! 8 stories!) and has approximately 1000 students who attend here, (roughly half girls, half boys – How’s that for a school focused on providing an education with Technical education!)

They built this lab for hardware repair through donations, grants and ingenuity in order to provide an environment for education.  (Hey, if you want to donate to help their education and cause, let me know and I can get you in touch with them :))

One of the cool things about this particular technical high school is the fact that it not only is a Microsoft Information Technology Academy, with all the benefits which come with that; but these students are also able to leverage the DreamSpark program in order to further their education and provide access to certification that they otherwise would be challenged to do.    ITA’s like this tend to have an aim towards getting students Certified at around the same time they graduate HS.

One of the notable moments of this particular story, was how Elise shared her story of how she came to work with Technology as well as to work for Microsoft.   Her story was an inspirational one which spoke directly to women and girls of the world and the opportunities which await them.   It shared a deep insight into not only her character but also into the lives of others and how it’s important for you to take advantage of opportunities which present themselves but to also be cognizant of others and be supportive of their own efforts and pursuits.   

Take a page out of Elise’s book and be supportive of your peers, your sisters, your brothers and most importantly of yourself.    There are opportunities out there waiting and available for you to take advantage of, all it takes is for you to take the initiative to invest in yourself and especially to invest in your future.

What do you get when you combine 5th graders, Tablet PC’s and Microsoft Information Technology Academy?   …

You get an amazing success story of student Technologists at Antonia Pantoja Charter School in Philadelphia, PA!

This was a great opportunity to get out in front of these young minds of the future, to not only see what they are doing today, but also to ensure they’re aware of the opportunities available to them through their Microsoft IT Academy.    There are ITA’s all across America, and it’s one thing to be a part of an ITA, and it is another thing entirely to leverage the resources available to you.    Take advantage of the ITA’s in your community and ensure your children are set for the future.