2009 eGovernance Workshop Blog

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

2009-09-22T05:10:00.000-07:00

WOW! Thank you once again for a fantastic conference. Even though I was late arriving on Thursday and missed some of the good stuff :( I had a fantastic time! Not only was the conference awesome, as usual, but the Stein Erickson (Whoa)!!! I felt like a queen.

I am so excited about Live Oak that I can hardly wait until implementation. Having been a subscriber for 6+ years, I thought I had seen BoardDocs go as far as it could go. I thought, what else can they do for us? Well, obviously, they can do a lot for us! I sincerely thank all of the BoardDocs family for their hard work and dedication to making my life, as a Clerk, so much easier. You not only follow through with our suggestions and ideas, but you anticipate them as well. As I have said in the past, I don't know of any other company that does what you do to make their customers feel so special and to meet their service needs.

I know I'm rambling, but I also want to thank all of my fellow clerks -- some that I have just met and some that I see every year. It is such a great networking opportunity to meet, greet and share with one another. I look forward to seeing everyone again next year in Atlanta!

P.S. BoardDocs folks -- get some rest -- you deserve it!!!!

Just Let Go

2009-09-22T04:53:00.000-07:00

Well, back home now, I am reflecting on the time spent in Park City. Many of you knew that I had family traveling with me. My mom and my aunt joined me on this trip. While I was at the conference they were enjoying all that Park City had to offer. As they waited for the shuttle, they came across many of you coming and going as well. When asked if they were at the conference, they proudly stated, “We belong to Leigh.” I just had to chuckle. :o)

On Saturday, after many if not all of you had already gone, we spent time together perusing shops, taking pictures and just having fun. We ended up at Utah Olympic Park. As we toured the facility, the EXTREME zip line caught our attention. So, once we were finished learning about the park, we made a B-Line for the Zip-Line. It is the steepest in the world – and we just HAD to do it. So, my mom, aunt and I paid for our tickets and proceeded up the mountain on the lift. When we made it to the top, I was in awe of the vision before me. Indeed, we were at a high elevation. I felt so insignificant compared to the view. As we suited up my anticipation grew. Up until this point, I had been relatively calm. But now, in the harness, waiting for the door to open, I was extremely STOKED. Once all of us were ready to go, the door opened, and I just let go.

I was AMAZED.

October 28^th, you will be too. ;)

2009-09-20T22:05:00.000-07:00

Well, here it is Sunday night, I've had a couple days with my daughter, a chance to relax a little and I've even unpacked my suitcase, something that usually doesn't happen for a least a week after I get home. I'm up and working, because there's server maintenance to be done, minor routine stuff, but it's all part of the job.

I'm not fighting that typical Sunday night 'the weekend is over' blues though, and I think it's because of the Workshop. I'm actually looking forward to tomorrow morning. I'm wondering who is going to call first. I'm excited that there's a chance I'll have just met whoever calls. I hoping a good chunk of our subscribers will remember having met me, and be just a little bit more likely let me help with a problem even though I'm not Leigh or Andrea.

But mostly, I'm excited because Live Oak is now a 'thing' instead of just being a 'idea.' We've seen huge parts of it work, we've heard more about what it will do for our subscribers, we've witnessed it in action, and we've been amazed. When I tell someone "well, right now you can only have ONE current meeting, but we're going to make sure that's not the case in the next version" I'll know there's a good chance the person I'm talking to has seen it work, or has heard about it from someone else, or will have a chance to see it soon in a web presentation. It's a reality now, and I think that's... well... neat.

And, yea, it'll be exciting to hear from all the amazing people I've met. I'm already looking forward to next year when I have a chance to hear about everything Live Oak has done for our subscribers.

BoardDocs Reflections

2009-09-20T17:38:00.000-07:00

St. Louis is a 2 1/2 hour flight from Salt Lake City. As I rode back home yesterday, I couldn't help but replay the past few days in my mind. We shared many things together in Park City at the beautiful Stein Lodge. We watched and smiled as Ari gave a preview of what is to come in the New BoardDocs. We listened and even shed a tear as Kevin Carroll shared his struggles when he was young. He was such a inspiration to listen to and learn from.

It was so wonderful to see everyone. I feel a special connection to our subscribers. To echo Laura's comment earlier in our blog, we are the extended BoardDocs family!

As Laura, Ari and I travel to perform training on the New BoardDocs over 2010, I'll get the opportunity to work with a lot of you again! I can't wait to get started and I know you can't wait either. This was the best conference yet. It also was a wonderful opportunity to learn and grow; I learned something new.....

I learned to find MY Red Rubber Ball. What is it that energizes and inspires me? As I thought about this, for me, it's not just one thing, but a host of things that allows me greet each day excited and full of life.

I enjoy spending time with my family - It is a warm, safe, caring place and I'm loved unconditionally.
I get so much joy from watching my two new kittens, Basil and Sage explore the new world around them.
I love the wind in my face as I ride my bike on the Katy Trail
Driving my boat on the lake when the water is as smooth as glass
Enjoying a quiet house, while everyone else is peacefully sleeping. It's that special time for me every morning set aside to dream.
I get an enormous feeling of purpose, accomplishment and satisfaction when I complete an Implementation. I hear from so many of you about how much BoardDocs transforms your work, along with saving you so much time. And the board members? They just plain LOVE IT.

I hope all of you will find your Red Rubber Ball and learn to dream as well.

Welcome to the Future

2009-09-19T13:18:00.000-07:00

We have all been working hard for the last two years planning, designing, and programming for the future of BoardDocs. We told everyone prior to the workshop to “Prepare to be amazed.” Matt has been working overtime programming so that everyone at the workshop could get a good preview of the all-new BoardDocs. It paid off big time.

I was able to stand before over 100 of our subscribers and show them the future of BoardDocs. As a musician, I have been before much larger crowds, but never felt the energy and excitement that I felt when our subscribers finally realized what the future of BoardDocs is. WOW.

To everyone that was able to make the trip to Park City, thank you for your time. For everyone else, I am looking forward to giving you a peek at the all-new BoardDocs at one of our upcoming webinars where I will welcome you to the future.

Boarding call

2009-09-19T11:44:00.000-07:00

You know that feeling after a great work out? You are exhausted, but proud of a job well done. That's how I feel sitting in the airport, waiting to go home after the workshop. I'm worn out, but so pleased at the success of the past few days (not to mention all of the hard work building up to the workshop).

It is always great seeing our subscribers, old faces and new faces - hearing all of the little tricks that people learn from their peers - watching the excitement about new features - getting updates on kids and grand kids. Such a nice mix of business and personal. It really is like a big, extended family.

For now, it is time to go home to my family. I might not see you until next year, but I'm sure we'll be talking as we coordinate all of the upgrades to the all new BoardDocs. Until then...

Big Sigh....

2009-09-19T11:36:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in the airport with Andrea, waiting for our flight back to Atlanta. I'm enjoying a cup of coffee because I am flat out tired. Tired but happy. I feel like we had such a great workshop. There were a lot of things I loved:

I loved the Stein.
I loved the beds.
I loved the tubs.
I loved seeing all of our subscribers.
I loved seeing our subscribers meet and greet each other and form friendships.
I loved seeing the excitement on everyone's faces about the new BoardDocs.
I loved having people come over to me anxious to get their name on the list to host an area conversion training.
I loved having dinner with our round table presenters and enjoying them sharing information with each other over a fantastic meal.
I loved hiking on the mountain with Andrea, Leigh and Brian.
I loved hanging out with my BoardDocs colleagues.

While I am having a little spell of "dancer's remorse", I'd probably do it all again, just to get a few people out of their seats and energized.

The coming months are going to be busy as we bring new and current subscribers to the new BoardDocs. It is going to be a very exciting time.

I think we are all ready for the ride!

Laura V

Prepare to be Amazed?

2009-09-19T09:20:00.000-07:00

Who wrote that? Well, I guess I did, with maybe a bit of inspiration from my peers. “Prepare to be Amazed” became sort of our internal mantra for the Conference. Ari used it for his opening slide; it’s a featured headline in our latest ad touting the introduction of Live Oak (see ASBJ, October issue); and, second perhaps to “Holy Toledo” (apologies to our friends from Toledo), the phrase was remarkably popular among the BoardDocs staffers while here. So, like everyone else, I came here preparing to…be amazed. Admittedly, I had a sneak preview of Live Oak a week or so ago, so that cat, as they say, was out of the bag.

Well, I’m still kinda new around here so I was intent on experiencing my first eGovernance Conference to its fullest. From Kevin Carroll, our featured speaker (amazing, by the way), to the “reveal” of Live Oak, to Ari’s closing remarks; I was prepared. What I wasn’t prepared for, however, was over 100 of the most incredible, friendly and sincere people I have ever met - our subscribers. As much “buzz” as there was among Conference attendees about Live Oak, let me assure you that the buzz among the BoardDocs staff was nothing short of how “amazing” our subscribers are – and how very, very fortunate we are to serve you.

So, as the new kid on the block, I look forward to future eGovernance conferences with great anticipation. Whether or not we will introduce new products as exciting as the all new BoardDocs remains to be seen. What I am certain of, is that as I continue to meet more and more of you, I can count on experiences that one could only describe as “amazing.”

Thanks to all of you, for all you do, and helping make BoardDocs such a great place to work.

Michael

Live Oak Well Received ... No Surprise Here

2009-09-17T12:56:00.000-07:00

I've worked in the software industry for nearly a decade and a half, and in that time I've seen more than a dozen all-new, innovative, rewritten versions of products deployed to all types of industries and customers. I've seen warm welcomes for bugs finally fixed, seen excitement at new features, even heard a bit of applause here and there. I have, however, never seen the type of enthusiastic reception for a new and improved version of a product that I saw today. Quite simply, I've never seen a developer get a hug from a customer, and I've never felt the level of excitement I felt in the room today.

See, I've worked for years on the support side of a product, the people that listen to the customers, the people that work with the customers through problems and sometimes get the unfortunate job of telling the customer "no, I'm sorry, there's no good way to do that." We, in support, know better than most in the company what our subscribers want, what our subscribers need, and, in most cases, what frustrates our subscribers the most. Historically, though, I've fought a disconnect, a difference of goals between the support organization and the development staff. To varying degrees, in attempting to advocate the subscriber, I've always run into a simple feeling from developers that they know better than I do what needs to be done to make the people who do the work happy.

Imagine my surprise at coming to BoardDocs some 18 months ago and finding an environment with a simply amazing focus on the subscriber, the CUSTOMER, you... Every facet of management, every bit of decision making is made with the subscriber in mind. At least on the support side of the house. As we rolled further into the development cycle and features started getting finalized, decisions started being locked in, I continued to be amazed at the attention paid to the subscriber. Ari has solicited feedback from everyone that works with subscribers, not at intervals, or at decision points, but nearly constantly. We have an open channel to talk to the people that make the decisions regarding what will be done, what will be included, and how it will work, and, not only do we FLOOD that channel with suggestions, but we know they get considered, seriously, every time.

So, you'll forgive my lack of surprise today at the response. Subscribers spoke, we listened, and when we advocated for them, we were listened to. Well, maybe I'm a little surprised. Like I said, developers don't get hugs very often.

Kevin Carroll Blew Us Away!!!

2009-09-17T10:10:00.000-07:00

Wow ... Kevin Carroll just finished his speech and boy are we inspired and ready to PLAY and DREAM!

Amazingly enough, Kevin is the person who, in a sense, started the whole rubber-band bracelet phenomenom (you know, LIVESTRONG, DREAM, etc.). He told the story (and you can read more about his background here).

Kevin is a truly inspiring guy. He asked us the question: What inspires you? For him, as a kid, it was playing with a red rubber ball.

He said your dreams need to be high-reaching and audacious. Which got me thinking; what are my dreams and are they big and bold? Hmmm ... maybe I need to work on that!

One of the things that impressed me the most about Kevin is that it is obvious that he is a generous soul ... a sincere giver. I made a note to myself in my notebook - give!

Kevin said that missions are finite - dreams are endless. He says, to realize one's destiny is a person's only requirement. And if that doesn't get you thinking ...

He passed out red rubber balls to our Workshop attendees. As red balls were being tossed from Superintendents to Document Publishers to Executive Directors, it became very clear that we're all on the same team - a bunch of dreamers who want to make a difference! Here are Kevin's five "dream" ingredients:

* Dedication
* Responsibility
* Education
* Attitude
* Motivation

And according to Kevin, 'E' is the most important letter in the word 'dream'. There are teachable moments in every day.

Kevin Carroll dreams big, and he inspires others to dream big. I want to be on his team - don't you?

Twas the Night Before BoardDocs

2009-09-16T22:12:00.000-07:00

Twas the night before Live Oak, when all through the Lodge
Not a subscriber was stirring, not even Port-age (IN);

The mice were all hung by the computers with care,
In hopes that NEW BOARDDOCS soon would be there;

The DP's were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of board meetings danced in their heads;

And Ari in his boots and Matt in his cap,
Had just finished Live Oak Oh, just like that!

When out in the lobby arouse such a clatter,
Why it's Dawn, Laura and Andrea "OH! WHAT'S THE MATTER!"

Away to the mic, Ari flew like a flash
Good morning and welcome to our Annual Bash!

He thanked everyone, to his team gave a whistle
Live Oak's amazing, it's fast as a missle

We love our subscribers, but can't stay another night
A great year to all, and to all a great flight!

Sleep? What's That?

2009-09-14T05:33:00.000-07:00

I love to sleep. It's a time to rest your mind and body in preparation for another new day.

I've had a lot of trouble sleeping lately. I'm up early again this morning, enjoying the stillness of a home where everyone is sleeping peacefully but me. Oh, I'm not complaining. It's not what you think. It's like a child the night before their birthday...no matter how hard you try to relax and sleep, you just can't. I'm too excited. I can't get my mind to shut down because all I can think about is BoardDocs. You might think, come on Dawn, get a life!

My problem is I just can't wait to share all the cool things the new BoardDocs will do for everyone who uses it. We have several sessions planned to show you all the new cool things to come. I just hope we enough time to show you all the things it can do! Yeah, it's that AMAZING!

I have seen it and soon, very soon, you will too! Over the last few weeks a lot of work has been going on behind the scenes, all in preparation for your visit to the 2009 eGovernance Workshop. Be prepared to be blown away!

It's Amazing!
It's New!
It's Fast!
It's BoardDocs!

I can't wait to see everyone in Park City! Travel safe and sweet dreams!

Watching the Sunset

2009-09-11T16:32:00.001-07:00

I’m watching the sunset over the mountains of Park City and can’t wait for everyone to be here. The days are in the low 70’s and the nights in the low 40’s. The air is crisp and there is a slight golden hue in the countryside.

Park City is lovely this time of year. Folks say they visit for the winters but move here for the summers. Locals know the fall is the best time of the year. The summer tourist season is coming to an end and the skiers will not arrive until November. So we get the town to ourselves for a few weeks.

Chris just visited the workshop venue to take care of a few last minute details and assures me that this will be the best workshop ever. The entire staff has really stepped it up for this one. We have a great speaker, an all-new BoardDocs to show you, record attendance, the perfect setting and some surprises for you.

I can’t wait for everyone to arrive so we can all watch the sunset together.

See you next week!

Wow!

2009-09-10T20:30:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in my hotel room in Central Florida (Mickey Mouse and friends are a mere hour away). I just finished the last implementation I will do of BoardDocs as it exists today. Its an odd thing. I am even feeling a bit nostalgic as we stand on the brink of a whole new BoardDocs!

I've been doing this for 6 years (Leigh's post got me thinking about time!) now and have implemented BoardDocs at so many different locations all over the country. I've been to big cities and small towns. I've worked with a school district with 850 students, and another with over 250,000 students. I have trained school boards, city governments, county governments and private school boards. I've been to Seattle, New York, Florida, San Diego and Peculiar, Missouri (to name a few places). I've had barbecue in the south, Chinese food in a restaurant where no one spoke English but me and George, Shoo Fly pie in Pennsylvania, KILLER hot pastrami on rye bread in New Jersey and crab cakes in Maryland. Ask Dawn and Ari, its all about the food.

I guess I could actually go back and count all the implementations I've done if I wanted to, but it is a safe bet that its somewhere between 120 and 140 I think.

Now we move on to the workshop and preparing to train new and old subscribers alike on using the amazing new BoardDocs! You are going to love it. I promise.

Dawn and I are preparing our material for the workshop next week with an eye to showing you the new BoardDocs AND answering questions AND giving you helpful tips. Its a tall order, but we're up to the task.

Andrea and I will be arriving in Utah a little early on Tuesday and hope to go for a long hike once we get to the hotel. I'm really looking forward to it, and plan on skipping joyfully through the mountains singing songs from The Sound of Music... "The hills are alive, with the sound of music..." Think Julie Andrews.

This picture is from our workshop in Park City 2 years ago. I can't wait! I hope everyone can at least take a little time to do some walking, if not hiking, in the great outdoors while you are in Park City. It is really a beautiful place, and early fall is wonderful there.

I love our subscribers!

2009-09-08T07:56:00.000-07:00

I am extremely excited to see you all next week! We will have a wonderful crowd this year – and so many new faces!

I have been supporting BoardDocs since the beginning (2001 for those who aren’t sure when that was ;-). I have derived great satisfaction with being able to help you - in any way. As much as you like getting your questions answered, I enjoy being able to answer them. I love our subscribers – you are all truly, like family!

This conference marks an important year with the release of the all new BoardDocs. Your job just got a whole lot easier!

See you next week!

People Manager launches!

2009-09-07T09:34:00.000-07:00

The support team at BoardDocs is very excited about the launch of our People Manager application. Now, our document publishers can add, edit and delete their own BoardDocs user accounts! How great is that?

People Manager has a sleek look to it and the interface is so intuitive, it hardly needs a manual. By using Web 2.0 technology, our developers have delivered an amazingly easy, yet powerful tool for our subscribers.

What is Web 2.0 you ask? Well, I doubt you want a long technical lecture, so for now, all you have to know is that gives us the ability to provide you with services over the internet that work as well, and probably better, than applications loaded on your local machine. It allows us to offer a rich feature set like context-sensitve right-click menus and drag and drop. Web 2.0 also helps us involve our subscribers as an integral part of our web services.

One more thing that makes BoardDocs special? We love to talk to our subscribers and we really listen to what you have to say. Our whole team, from trainers to developers, are in sync with our users and the great services we provide are the proof.

What's the downside to all of our amazing new web services? They work so well, the support phone line doesn't ring as much anymore. So, occasionally, it's OK just to call and say "hello".

Enjoy People Manager! And I look forward to seeing many of you in Park City next week!

Counting Down

2009-09-05T06:19:00.000-07:00

I am counting down until we all arrive in Park City! I am also really excited to see what's new and to hear all the tips and tricks from BoardDocs users around the country. I hope that I have beneficial information to add.

Another district in Nevada joins BoardDocs!

2009-09-04T11:40:00.000-07:00

The third distict in Nevada has successfully begun using BoardDocs. Washoe County Schools recently trained their administration and board members in BoardDocs. The board members were most impressed with BoardDocs Metaseach feature.

Some of their comments were: "This is fantastic, just think of the possibilities we have now." "Before we were calling districts for information on hot education topics, now we have it at right within our meeting site."

The document publisher is excited with online submission along with the ability to have key personnel approve or sign off on each agenda item prior to giving them to the board members. It makes the board's decision much easier if they can see that the agenda items have gone through the necessary steps of approval prior to the board considering them.

Their first meeting with BoardDocs is September 22, 2009. They cannot wait to use it!

I wish it was 6 weeks from now!

2009-09-04T11:15:00.000-07:00

Conference calls with our whole team are often crazy, and always entertaining. But, today's team conference call was nothing short of amazing! We got to see the all new, lemon-freshened BoardDocs; and I can't wait to start training our subscribers on it! Really!

Don't get me wrong - I love BoardDocs, new or old. Its an amazing service and showing our customers how to use it to create their agendas, policies and news items is such a fun job. What could be wrong with hanging out with really great people and showing them how to use something that will make their life so much easier? But I must say, the old BoardDocs just absolutely PALES in comparison to the new BoardDocs.

What do I think you'll love the most? Good grief, just everything! The look is sleek. Actions are intuitive. Our developers have taken all the things you loved about BoardDocs and made it even more amazing and easy to use. Plus they added the things you have been asking us to include, like calendars, timers, notes and accommodations for complex voting situations (not that you EVER have those crop up).

I am SO looking forward to showing this to everyone at the workshop. It will blow you away. Then, six short weeks from now, we train the very first NEW BoardDocs subscriber.

Just about the only thing that BoardDocs won't be able to do for you is get those pesky late submitters to get their stuff in on time! Hmmm...

:o)

IT LIVES! IT LIVES!

2009-09-04T10:12:00.000-07:00

Matt and I have been working long and hard on the all new BoardDocs. Today we got the first opportunity to share it to a group. Some staff members have seen some screen shots and everyone has read the Live Oak Development Outline, but only Matt and I have been able to put our hands on it.

This morning, EDS staff members got their first chance to see a working version of Live Oak. I could really feel the energy on the conference call. I think I can speak for all of us now in saying; we can’t wait to preview it to everyone at the workshop.

Prepared to be amazed!

Upcoming Workshop

2009-09-04T07:54:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I'm very excited about the upcoming eGovernance workshop in Park City. I'm anxious to see the new and improved BoardDocs. This trip is always one of the highlights of my year. See you soon!

Park City - Round Table

2009-09-04T06:44:00.001-07:00

Hi all - looking forward to the work shop in Park City. Last time I attended the topics covered were very informational. Interacting with the other users from across the country was invaluable. Great ideas were shared, new friends were made and any questions/suggestions that I had were discussed and answered. I will be hosting a round table on how my district uses the News Portion to share all the good happenings in our school district. Can't wait to see everyone.

Did You Say "BoardDocs Speed Dating"?

2009-08-31T06:26:00.000-07:00

Excellent Variety for this years Round Table Discussions

Many subscribers are using BoardDocs in interesting and innovative ways. The Round Table Presentations provide a quick, peer-to-peer learning experience that will allow subscribers to share information. Round Table presenters make short, informative presentations followed by brief question-and-answer periods. Think of it as "BoardDocs Speed Dating"! The format will provide participants with as much information as possible in a concise, upbeat format.

This year, ten different Round Table Presentations will be offered. Each round table will cover a different topic, consisting of a presenter and 9 participants. In most of these discussions, subscribers will learn tips that could be applied to either BoardDocs LT or BoardDocs. Stay tuned for summaries on Workshop Round Tables!

.
Table 1 - Using Pictures To Create A More Visually Appealing BoardDocs Web Site
Hosted by Della Wooddell and Jennifer Buckmaster of Park Hill School District, MO
Have you thought about embedding pictures of your board members - or other key staff - into your BoardDocs content? Pictures can enhance your content and they aren't hard to work with.

Table 2 - Integrating BoardDocs Content Into Your District Web Site
Hosted by Andrew Frink of Park City Schools, UT
Did you know that your BoardDocs Agendas and Policies can appear as an integrated part your district web site? Come see an example of how it looks. You might even learn a few "techie" buzz words to use with your local I.T. people when you get back home. (BoardDocs only)

Table 3 - BoardDocs News: It Isn't Just For The Board Anymore
Hosted by Kathy Cardona of Orange County Public Schools, FL
Have you thought about using BoardDocs to publish snip-its of news that happen around the school board office and the district? Come see and discuss some great examples of how the BoardDocs News section can be a "PR department" for your district. (BoardDocs only)

Table 4 - Navigating Policies
Hosted by Cheryl Lisieki of Fayetteville-Manlius Schools, NY
Getting hundreds of policies into BoardDocs can seem like a daunting task, but it doesn't have to be. Here's how one document publisher got it done in record time, including a fully linked navigation system. (BoardDocs only)

Table 5 - Recording Your Meetings And Placing Audio Files Into BoardDocs
Hosted by Pam Lipps of Richmond Community Schools, IN
Come learn how one district is recording their meetings, managing the sound files, and embedding them into the BoardDocs content areas.

Table 6 - On-line Submissions And Approvals Made Easy
Hosted by Debbie Abshear of Lawndale Elementary School District, CA
Whether you are from a large or small district, on-line submissions can be leveraged to make your publishing job easier. Come discuss best practices, time lines, templates, and adding approvals into the mix. (BoardDocs only)

Table 7 - Best Practices In BoardDocs LT - Creativity Is The Key
Hosted by Cecilia Montijo and Dr. Frank Davidson of Casa Grande Elementary School District, AZ
Many of our LT districts have been thinking "outside the box". Come share how you use the product and learn some new tricks too. (BoardDocs LT only)

Table 8 - Upgrading From LT To BoardDocs
Hosted by Robin Brown of Maize Unified School District, KS
Last year, Maize upgraded from LT to BoardDocs. What are the key differences between the 2 BoardDocs versions? And what reasons helped influence the districts decision to upgrade?

Table 9 - Perspectives From A District After 5 Years Of BoardDocs
Hosted by Jane Glover of MSD Warren Township Schools, IN
They say hind-sight is 20-20. Come discuss the challenges and successes from a district that has been using BoardDocs for over 5 years.

Table 10 - Mystery Topic Table
Hosted by Lisa Shelton of Excelsior Springs School District, MO
We'll have a fish bowl filled with mystery topics. Take turns pulling items from the bowl to discuss.

It's Growing

2009-08-27T17:09:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago, we planted a little acorn. BoardDocs staff members and subscribers have been caring for it ever since. Preparing the soil, watering, keeping the weeds back and watching it grow.

A select few of us are actually able to see the little sapling and we can tell, it is a Live Oak. It will grow big and strong, be green all year long and provide joy to a large group of people. I am talking about the next version of BoardDocs.

When BoardDocs users saw the new BoardDocs LT we released in January they started asking: “When do we get something like that?” Well, your time has almost come.

On September 17 attendees of the 7^th annual BoardDocs eGovernance Workshop will be among the first to preview the all New BoardDocs. All I can say is: Prepare to be amazed.

If you can’t attend the Workshop, simply follow this blog. As we preview the new BoardDocs to staff and users, you will be able to follow their comments and track their reaction.

Welcome to the BoardDocs eGovernance Workshop Blog!

2009-08-27T16:40:00.000-07:00

We are Team BoardDocs -- Welcome to our blog!

With the September 17 & 18 eGovernance Workshop just around the corner, we are dedicating this blogging series to our subscribers who would like to follow the Workshop as it unfolds!

Check back here often for new posts on Workshop activities, including information about the 2009 Guest Speaker and International Agent for Social Change, Kevin Carroll, as well as updates on our Round Table Discussions and news on the All New BoardDocs!

Over the next few weeks, Team BoardDocs will host a forum where our user community can post questions, short essays and responses aimed at broadening the eGovernance discussion. In addition, this Workshop-dedicated blog will feature posts by some of the top thought leaders in the field. Join the conversation today!