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Connect. Collaborate. Contribute.™
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with
Jim Ganthier Amber Gunst Julie Schell Jay Williams and more ZOOM 6:00pm Log In 6:15pm Presentation, Q&A 7:30pm Online Reception 
Thanks to Austin Public Library for their partnership.
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The world is increasingly connected, and it has become routine for most people to spend parts of their days online: often playing or shopping, but also working, learning, and more. Technologies have matured greatly for online collaboration and education, and many companies and organizations routinely use technologies to enable distributed employees and students to be productive.
However, for the vast majority of people, working and learning online has been at most a supplement to traditional in-person meetings, conferences, classes, workshops, etc.—and most people experience some annoying or even performance-limiting issues with these occasionally-used videoconferencing and other online collaboration tools. We are now experiencing a global COVID-19 pandemic that has been declared an emergency/disaster situation at national, state and local levels, and we are seeing an unprecedented level of requirements and requests for people to work entirely from home, move all learning to online tools, and practice social distancing in general. Working and learning and life in general cannot stop, but many human activities are suddenly moving to online-only efforts as we protect ourselves and those around us in an attempt to stay healthy, prevent spreading, and not overwhelm the healthcare systems. Thus, the time for using technologies as optional or supplemental in many workplaces, educational institutions, and our daily lives is over: it is, suddenly, the new normal. Adapting society to execute so many of its functions online presents many challenges. While some organizations are experienced in using online technologies, many are not. Worse, some do not have the expertise to assess and evaluate best options for their needs, and do not have the experience to develop policies and organizational norms for using them most effectively. Such organizations and people are getting a crash course in not only technologies but in human behaviors and productivity with those technologies—and for many, it’s a crash course with no teacher, and a requirement to get it right quickly or risk financial loss, failing grades, or worse. This special Austin Forum event will be about how to use technologies most effectively for remote working, learning, and more. It will be about technologies and solutions but also about practices. Our speakers/panelists will share information about the most effective technology solutions, and also about the human considerations for making them effective. They will share successes, lessons, suggestions, examples, and more. They will then take questions online from the audience, and we will use the Austin Forum Slack workspace to follow up on some questions after the event as well. Want to be more effective online? Join us online on April 7! In support of the health and safety of our community and in keeping with the theme for the evening, our April 7 event will be online only, via Zoom (via a web browser or a free client download for all popular computers, tablets, and smartphones). As usual, the ‘doors will open' at 6:00PM, but this means the Zoom meeting will ‘open’ so that people can begin testing their devices and settings, asking us for help via email or the Slack channel, etc. We will start the presentation event as usual at 6:15PM, and the main presentation—on how to rapidly and effectively become effective with online technologies for work, education and more—will begin. We look forward to ’seeing’ you online on April 7! We will resume in-person meetings when it is safe in conjunction with online meetings. We welcome your participation! Please email us with your questions, answers and prognostications in advance.
Admission to the Austin Forum is always free. The Austin Forum accepts donations of used smart phones and tablets at all our events. All devices will have a factory reset and be set up as new by the team at Austin Pathways’ nationally-recognized “Unlocking the Connection” initiative, which will connect every public housing resident with a digital device, digital literacy, and a free or very low-cost internet connection. Your donated phone can change lives and help close Austin’s digital divide, thanks to Austin Pathways. |
speaker
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Jim Ganthier is a global technology executive with more than 20 years of experience delivering business results in multi-national technology, products, and solution companies. At Dell, Jim is the SVP for Customer Solutions Strategy and Advocacy. Reporting directly to Dell’s Chief Customer Officer, he has global responsibility for our Pan Dell Technologies “Ease of Doing Business” initiatives targeted at removing the friction, operational barriers, improving customer engagement and unlocking the full potential of Dell Technologies for our customers. Additionally, he is responsible for translating customer and field feedback into actionable insights that enhance both customer experience and our differentiated “Better Together” solution offers to enable and accelerate our customers’ digital transformation journeys.
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Amber Gunst became ATC’s Interim CEO after a 20-year career in sales and business development. A Michigan native, Amber was Allied Waste’s national commercial sales/retention leader before moving to Austin in 2009. Amber is an expert in member association sales and services and spent 4 years at the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, where she was the top sales and retention leader in the State of Texas and ranked in the Top 7 nationally in sales of chambers with revenue over $1.5. Prior to her ATC role, she worked for a global staffing firm where she was responsible for client development and management as well as consulting staff management, which gives her a strong understanding of the talent and staffing needs of our region’s tech companies. Amber joined ATC in the role of Head of Sales and Membership Services and during her time at the company worked as a member of the leadership team to craft a new vision for member engagement and growth which has resulted in the doubling of membership in less than a year and increasing by 18%. In addition to her role at ATC, she serves as a mentor for the Founder Institute’s global accelerator program, and has served on the board of C2 Change. Amber studied English and Creative Writing at Grand Valley State University.
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Julie Schell
University of Texas at Austin |
Dr. Julie Schell is the Assistant Dean for Instructional Continuity and Innovation and Assistant Professor of Practice in the College of Fine Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. She is a prominent expert in college teaching and learning and has held posts at the nation’s top research universities, including Harvard, Columbia, Yale, and Stanford. Dr. Schell teaches graduate courses on the topics of technology and innovation in higher education, problems of college teaching and learning, design pedagogy, and design thinking. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship in pedagogical innovation at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University and her doctoral studies at Teachers College, Columbia University.
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Jay Williams has been a Chief Technology Officer and consultant to many companies in the Fortune 500. As a consultant, he has developed a highly refined process for managing a company’s technology infrastructure, including applications, security, and network assets.
Mr. Williams is a highly sought-after enterprise systems architect and problem solver. He has advised a number of high profile technology companies on their products and is known for a rare combination of deep technology expertise, expert problem solving ability and business acumen. He is widely respected by peers and has influenced many pivotal technology consortia and industry steering groups. Mr. Williams regularly consults with senior technology and business executives and is frequently consulted by venture and capital investors for analyses of new technology strategies. |
