Ignite Your Career webcast series

The Back to School season started yesterday with two big events in my family. My son had his annual case of back to school jitters... He's going into 2nd grade, new class, new teacher and reconnecting with his network of friends after being apart for most of the summer. The second event was introducing my twin girls to their Jr. Kindergarden teacher and classroom in preparation for their "integration" into the public school system. All around the schoolyard there were tonnes of kids, even more parents - everyone was dealing with a range of emotions and adapting to the start of the school year. When the day was over and the evening was winding down, I enjoyed hearing my kids stories about what was new, what was scary and what they liked the most / least as I was putting them down for bed last night. It reminded me that no matter what our age is or what we're facing, we are continuously building and using skills that we started to acquire from an early age.

We are challenged to continuously adapt to our changing environment in order to succeed.
We rely on our network of support and community to help us along the way.
We need to be in a position where we continue to learn from others and grow our skills.

It doesn't matter if it is the start of the school year or your day to day job at work. These skills, your community and your willingness to learn will equip you to better succeed as you go forward. This is something that the team I work with at Microsoft is committed to supporting you along your journey. Over the next couple of days I want to share with you some of the activities we're planning this year for both you as an IT Manager and activities for your staff which will help you succeed in your careers and grow your skills. They range from in person technical events, online webcasts, social media activities to connect with others and peer networking activities to expand your support network.

One event I want to kick off with today is a one stop shop for a webcast series we ran last year that was very successful. We're bringing back "Ignite Your Career" and expanding it to include a wider audience then before. This time around it will be a monthly series following multiple streams of interest, including one for IT Managers, Architects and Software Development Shops. You can find the landing page here for more information about the series, upcoming topics and also a complete schedule. Click on the "Manage" tab for complete details on the IT Manager track and information on how to register.

I'm particularly excited about the IT Manager component which I am hosting this time around. I'm following the "radio talk show" format from last year of Q&A with industry experts and peer IT managers talking about topics that are very much top of mind with IT Managers today. Join me and my guests on ~~September 9th~~ September 23rd when we will be talking about "Attracting and Retaining Talent to your Organization". It is sure to be a lively conversation. Future episodes coming out once a month will include "Adapting to the Upcoming Generation of Digital Native Employees", "Tips on selecting partners to ensure successful projects" and "Project Management for the IT Manager - when to bring in help".

As I mentioned - we have a lot of activities planned for the upcoming year. Each one is designed to support you and your team along your path to success. Stay tuned for more information on what's coming down the pipe.