Follow the Gold Team's Updates!
Participating in the conversation is also a Pit Crew Challenge and worth points for your team!
WE WON!
Wow.
Can you believe that we are actually at a loss for words. But don’t worry, it won’t last.
First and foremost, thank you to each and every member of the Gold Team. If it wasn’t for your incredible work in the online challenges we would NOT have won. Every post, every exam, every subscription updated, every virtual business card viewed, every team member recruited was critical to our success. The fact that we swept the online challenges is just amazing!
We really cannot thank you enough for your help!
This race has been just an incredible experience for us in so many ways. In the beginning it was just so cool to read the Gold Team roll (not role) call and find all these team members from around the world who we had never met supporting us. Then hearing about your success with exams made our day. Your support for IDE was very touching and really meant a lot to us, because we really do believe in IDE and the work they do.
The ground challenges were tense at times, but also unbelievably rewarding. Having the opportunity to work with underprivileged people, to think that maybe you could play a small part in them taking the next step. To help an overworked IT staff cope with all their challenges so that their organization, the Audubon Society, can focus on their mission. Great experiences all of them.
The foot race on Friday was exhausting. I don’t think the pictures do justice to how tired and sweaty we were at the end of that race. We did not plan on running 3-4 miles with backpacks around the city of New Orleans in 90 degree weather, 100% humidity!
We also want to take a moment to say that we have incredible respect and admiration for all the teams who participated in this race. The Red Team was the strongest team on the ground challenges, especially their work with the Audubon Society. The Green Team made real connections with everyone we met along the way. The Blue Team gave us a real run for our money both literally and figuratively. Well done to all the teams and please consider supporting them in any way you can in the TechEd Runoff.
Speaking of the TechEd Runoff, we just wanted to let you know that we chose to withdraw. We have had the opportunity to help our charity substantially with our win. We wanted another of the worthy nonprofits to benefit from this event.
All of this is not to say there weren’t lighter moments in the race. Susan left pens scattered across the country. Chris had a remarkable collection of hotel room keys by the time it was over. I still don’t know how I ended up with a whiteboard marker in my backpack or where it came from. Beignets straight from the deep fryer are REALLY hot. Jogging through the National Mall was awesome. There were just so many moments along the way that made this a fun, rewarding experience.
But in the end, the real winners are all the nonprofits we helped along the way and raced for. And of course the real winner is International Development Enterprises and the people they will be able to help with the money you helped win. Well done Gold Team and if you are at TechEd please stop by the certification desk; we want to thank you in person.
(PS We will post some photos later today as soon as we get a chance so please come back later and check in)
So here we sit, the last day, the last challenge, the race - over. We woke up in New Orleans went for a jog from our hotel to the Superdome, thinking we needed to get some exercise. Well it turns out we needn’t have sacrificed our sleep.
Our first task of the day was to record a 5-10 minute video on a technical topic that could be used by one of the nonprofit we worked with this week. We chose to record a video about Microsoft certification paths, because we found the attendees at NPower were very interested in how certification might help advance their careers. We fielded a number of questions around that topic, so a short video that explained the certifications and the value they provide would be a useful resource for the NPower TSC program.
After all the teams recorded their videos, we were given our next challenge. In the true spirit of the Amazing Race, we were given a series of clues to lead us from one New Orleans landmark to another. First, the trolley car to fetch a beignet (very tasty by the way). Next up the place where the voodoo queen sleeps, which was the burial site of Marie Laveau. With no cabs in sight we made our way on foot, jogging most of the way hoping to gain a lead on the Blue Team. Then it was on to the home of the Muffelato sandwhich, a small sandwich shop on Decatur Street. About a mile away and the only cab we saw passed us by, forcing us to hoof it once more. Huffing and Puffing we arrived at the sandwich shop where we cut the line with the full support of the patrons after we explained what we were doing (those sandwiches are HUGE!) Then off to ride a bull? A mechanical bull at Bourbon Cowboy…mercifully travelling by cab this time. The bar was closed, so no bull ride, but we were ready for the last clue. “knowledge is power, back to where it all began”.
This was where we messed up. We were thinking about New Orleans, while we should have been thinking more about the race itself. We ended up at the museum and cathedral (first building in New Orleans). To our dismay there was no sign of David or Scott (the videographer). After much fruitless running about we realized the clue was leading us to the convention centre, home of TechEd NOLA. We hopped in a cab and the cab driver did everything he could to get us there, but it was too late.
The Green Team and Red Team outsmarted us and were seated comfortably in the conference centre when we arrived huffing and puffing at the finish. However…Blue had not yet arrived …
So where does that leave us? Well, as far as we can figure, that means the Blue team gained 8 points on us during the ground challenges…so it comes down to the pit crew. Which bodes well for the gold team, because you guys have been fantastic this whole race. We thank each and every one of you for every post, each exam taken, each subscription updated, every question answered in Are You Certifiable. We are forever in your debt whatever the final outcome. Stay tuned.
Hi all!
I'm working on updating the scores and uploading the Day 3 video. Our teams are doing a pretty amazing job and I hope you guys are watching the videos to see what they're up to.
I wanted to give you a schedule of what's going to happen in the next few days.
Thank you all for participating. I think regardless of what happens, we've all done some great work to support the charities: IDE, Alzheimer's Association, NetHope, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and NPower.
So pit crews - make your last minute effort to the team and come back Monday to see who won. There may be another way to help your charity of choice so stay tuned!
-Erwin
Although I am composing this on a plane to New Orleans with Christopher sitting in the seat behind me (hey stop kicking my seat ), today we woke up in Houston Texas! We grabbed a quick breakfast and then went off to find out the results from Wednesday’s challenge in New York. We finished in second place, an improvement over the previous day (a trend we hope will continue). One of the great aspects of this race is that every single team is able to complete their challenges. After all, the challenges are tasks that help non-profit organizations, so if even a single team wasn’t doing a great job that would mean the non-profits are not reaping the benefits of participating in the race. There is no question that the difference between 1st and 4th place is very small and that is great news for each organization we have the chance to help.
Today’s event started out with another challenge. And for the third day in a row the GOLD team was first out of the gates ...homophone for a German highway...the Audubon Society! The Houston Audubon is a conservation group that manages nature sanctuaries. In fact the challenge location was at a stunning nature sanctuary (Chris & I snuck out for a short walk to check it out, saw a tortoise!) While they have about 20 staff, their IT is managed by two part-time volunteers, Brad and Susan. They somehow keep an incredible assortment of technologies up to date as well as up and running. Our task was to identify a migration strategy and list of benefits for Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010. A lot of information to sum up in a 15 minute presentation luckily we have USB keys we can leave behind with additional resources and information. It’s amazing how much a group of dedicated MCTs can accomplish in a single day, makes you wish you could stick around a few more days and help with the actual implementation!
Because it is a small organization, with a small team to support their IT, the race may have made its biggest contribution to a single organization today. Imagine working part time doing IT support with one other person and having 8 MCTs who are all experts in their field descend and spend a day focused on helping you sort out all the different technologies you have in place.
This race really reminds you about what is really important. The points are fun...but in the end it’s what’s being accomplished during the ground challenges themselves that count. Having said that, it’s still a race... Bring on New Orleans!! Let’s GO FOR GOLD!!
Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but today was yet another amazing day on the IT Grand Prix.
We started off this morning finding out the results of yesterday’s competition. As you’ve no doubt seen by now, we tied for third. While we’re disappointed about the results because of our competitive nature, it’s hard to get too upset about not winning; we were able to play a small part in helping a group of determined homeless men in DC get back on their feet.
Today started out with a much simpler clue than yesterday (which allegedly took us 40 minutes to figure out). We were the first team out the door and the first to arrive at NPower New York.
NPower is the organization Microsoft Learning is working through to pair us up with the different nonprofits throughout this race. NPower New York also has a program called Technology Service Core (TSC). The goal of TSC is to help train underprivileged young adults in the New York area, mostly Brooklyn and the Bronx. They take the attendees through several weeks’ worth of training, with a focus on moving from a “job track to a career path” – from working at Starbucks to database administrator.
The day started with all of the members of the IT Grand Prix serving as a guest panel for the invited alumni. We learned about their experience at TSC as well as their experience in the real world after graduation. We served as mentors, sharing our experiences and our personal stories. They were very curious, and wanted to know and understand how we built our IT careers.
From there the attendees were broken into groups of 5 and placed in different conference rooms. Each team moved from room to room answering questions and sharing information about our areas of expertise. Our areas were SharePoint and SQL Server. The attendees were incredibly engaged and engaging about what we had to share. They asked amazing questions about technologies, wanting to understand what the technologies do and why they should be interested in them. On top of that, they were all very interested in how we personally were able to make the transition from the non-IT field to an IT career. Even having lunch was a pleasure as we were able to make a personal bond with certain attendees, and we were blown away by the passion, smarts and attitude the attendees displayed. (In fact we’d have loved to have written letters of recommendation for many of them.)
We felt we performed well, but regardless of the final results of today’s competition – it’s still not about us. It’s about the people we’ve been able to meet and work with. This was yet another fantastic day on the IT Grand Prix.
Today was a day that proved what this race is really all about – helping nonprofits.
This morning we were hooked up with two different organizations – Byte Back and Back on My Feet.
Byte Back is a community training center. Their focus is teaching practical computer skills to low-income residents of Washington, DC. Among the programs they offer are Computer Literacy Training, Office Programs and MCAS Certification.
Back on My Feet promotes self-sufficiency of homeless populations in 4 cities by engaging in running. The running serves as both a means to generate a sense of community and self-esteem, as well as a sign of the participant’s commitment; in order to obtain training through Back on My Feet participants must maintain a 90% attendance rate for the morning runs.
Amazing organizations both.
Upon arrival we discovered that our challenge was to put together a one hour training session to be held at Byte Back for Back on My Feet participants. The Green Team put together a fantastic presentation on basic Office and Windows skills, while we were tasked with an hour presentation on Internet skills – specifically guiding the attendees in using the Internet to enhance their job search.
Both presentations went fantastically well, and the students were both attentive and appreciative our work. There were hugs all around at the end of the day.
In fact, the representatives from Back on My Feet invited us to join us on their run on Wednesday morning. Although we couldn’t join them as we’re en route to New York as I type this, it was very fitting because we started our day with a run through the National Mall and to finish the day helping an organization assisting homeless through running.
Well this may not be the longest journey, but I have a feeling I will be very tired by Friday, and this morning I take the first step (or flight at least). Below you see the airplane that will take me from Ottawa to Washington in a few moments where Chris and I will meet up with the other teams. Airport security is crazy today in Ottawa since the Israeli prime minister is in Ottawa, he was actually supposed to fly to Washington today but the attack on the convoy in Turkey has resulted in a change of plans, and he will be returning to Israel. It puts things into perspective a bit when you hear about tragedies like that. But that's why we all have to do what we can to make a difference where we can. So Chris & I will do our best to help out International Development Enterprises by winning the ground challenges!
Don't forget YOU CAN PARTICIPATE..join the GOLD team...enter a contest win a prize by guessing our challenges...tell us if we can call on you for help during a challenge...or just wish us luck!
See you in Washington!!!!
... And all through the house, not a creature was stirring...
Except for this developer.
It's 1a PDT and I'm just too excited to sleep right now. It seems like only yesterday I agreed to join Susan as part of the Gold Team, and now we're about to begin the ground portion of the event in about 30 hours. But as has been said many, many times before - we can't win this without you.
Just because the ground portion starts doesn't mean the end of the Virtual Pit Crew support. The only competition that's officially over is the "Build Your Team" challenge.
If you've been on the fence about taking a certification exam, now's the time!
If you haven't played "Are You Certifiable" (the Windows 7 portion of the game), head on over and play! Even if you have played, play again.
Keep tabs on the forums, and participate! We'll be posting there regularly during the race, looking for support on the different challenges.
The time is nigh. The finish line is in sight, but we haven't reached it yet.
Let's finish strong, and Go For The Gold!!
Okay keep in mind, this is the certifiable geek girl who says it's a cool t-shirt...but still you could win a E=MCt or E=MCp T-shirt (heck we will even autograph it for you if you want)
All you have to do is guess what technology or task the Gold team will face during our ground challenges. We will give away one t-shirt for each city challenge.
So just post your best guess to this thread in the gold forum
GOOD LUCK
MCTV returns with a new video...from the the same artist that brought you the Certification Rap and the Virtual Business Card rant...it's proof that I AM CERTIFIABLE!
Check out the behind the scenes video of our latest video blog on Virtual Business cards
http://borntolearn.mslearn.net/prix/f/62/p/19910/53759.aspx#53759
Just scroll down through the discussion to see the behind the scenes version!
More to come
Why do you need a virtual business card? Well I think it's time to talk about that.
My career as a rapper seems dodgy at best, so MC Susan has traded in her bling for now and instead ponders the value of a virtual business card
I also hear rumours the Green Team may be fighting back with a video of their own...Bring it on Green! I'm not done yet...How about Red & Gold...have you got what it takes to step in front of the camera?
As most of you know, we're closing in on the end of the first challenge - the Build Your Team Challenge. This is where you (the collective you) decide what team it is that interests you most, what team you want to throw your support behind. Many of you have already signed up, and it's been amazing to see the global response that this event, and of course the Gold Team, has received.
Since there's just one more day left of this challenge (it ends tomorrow!), now's the time for the final push. If you're a Gold Team member, send out personal messages to your MCP friends and ask them to join. Explain why you joined and why others should do the same. Susan actually wrote a great template email in the Gold Team forum that you could copy and paste.
If you haven't selected a team, let me suggest the Gold Team - and not just because we're the best (although, I may be biased). Susan and I are racing for an amazing organization named International Development Enterprises (IDE) that works in 11 countries and has touched the lives of over 15 million people worldwide. If you want to find out more, you can check out their site at www.ideorg.org.
But honestly, I can't play a "our charity is better than their charity" card. All four of the charities we're racing for are fantastic, and they do great work.
If you're on the fence, check out each team's site. We've each talked about the charities we've chosen and why. Find the team and charity that connects with you.
And sign up! Even if it's not to join our (Gold) team.
Although - I'd prefer that it was. : )
The teams have been working hard...new members joining...virtual cards viewing..exams taking...discussions posting...but how many...will blue take the lead in the Build your team...will Gold finally get out of 3rd place in the Virtual Business Card Challenge...will the Red team move up in the standings? will the Green team finally overtake gold in the discussion...we want to know!
To help you understand the fantastic work being done by IDE, I will post success stories to our Behind the Scenes Discussion in the Gold Team Forum. Regardless of what team you have joined, take a minute to stop by and learn about IDE. This race is about more than Gold, Blue, Green, & Red.
All the teams are working hard for great charities, and although we can't all win the $10000, we can all raise awareness of our chosen charities: IDE, NET Hope, Alzheimers, & Cystic Fibrosis
Thank you all for taking the time to take part in the IT Grand Prix.
All great videos come with the 'deleted scenes' or extras...so I figured what the heck, why not use the extra footage from the certification rap to do a 'behind the scenes' look.
Find out where you can buy your own gold chains (you'll be surprised)
You'll find it in the Certification Rap discussion group, just scroll down...
http://borntolearn.mslearn.net/prix/f/62/p/19770/51782.aspx#51782
It's the weekend, it's been a long week of blogging, tweeting, posting, and recruiting for all the teams, so I thought I would psot something a little lighter today just to give you a chuckle
http://borntolearn.mslearn.net/prix/f/62/p/19783/51712.aspx#51712
Have a great weekend, and remember
GO FOR GOLD!!!
MC Susan wants to know when you got your first MC...
She even recorded a video to inspire your thoughts, just visit the gold forum to see the video and then you can tell us about your first certification experience
http://borntolearn.mslearn.net/prix/f/62/p/19770/51549.aspx#51549
October 20, 1997 is a very important date for me. That was the date, now 12 and a half years ago, that I passed my first Microsoft certification exam and became an MCP. (NT 4.0 Workstation, if you’re curious – an exam which I failed the first time.) And my life hasn’t been the same ever since.
Certification for me has never been simply about passing a test. For me it’s a validation of my knowledge and skills for both myself and potential employers. Having that certification helped me land my first IT job (which was doing internet help desk), and I haven't looked back since.
Over the years I’ve obtained numerous certifications, and have taken 50 exams (yes – fifty, a number which shocked me as well). Each one in some small or great fashion has helped advance my career.
Think you know a product? Prove it to the world and become certified on it!
I’d love to hear what certification has done for you. Have a great story? Share it here.
http://borntolearn.mslearn.net/prix/f/62/p/19761/51491.aspx#51491
(IDE - Get it? It's a developer pun.)
When Susan and I were asked to participate in this race and choose a charity, the choice was obvious – The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Susan and I have a connection with the organization, and know the work they do.
What we didn’t know, however, was their donation policy. As it turns out, their focus is for donations from individuals rather than from organizations or entities, which this race certainly qualifies as. (I suppose there’s also something to be said about a Microsoft sponsored event donating to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation looking a bit odd.) With that, we were asked that rather than donating to the Foundation directly, we donate to one of their grantees instead.
Because of the multinational makeup of our team, we wanted to find an organization that does international work. This led us to International Development Enterprises (IDE), who strives to create income opportunities for poor, rural households. IDE is a social enterprise dedicated to ending poverty in the developing world not through handouts, but by helping farm families access the tools and knowledge they need to increase their income. They operate in 11 countries worldwide, including a couple we have personal connections with.
Trying to decide what charity to give $10,000 to should when we win the race is a daunting and humbling task. We think IDE does amazing work and we’re very excited to be racing for them. We appreciate your continued support – we couldn’t do it without you!
We're all a team and we're all in this together. In an effort to figure out how to help each other out, Susan and I were talking about the process of taking exams. One theory I subscribe to is being a good test taker will get you half of the way to a passing score on an exam, and knowledge of the product gets you the rest of the way. Below are my top 5 exam tips:
1. Read the entire question and all of the answers. Yes, it seems like a simple thing. But frequently you’ll have questions that will look for exceptions to certain rules. If you don’t read the entire question/all answers you may easily overlook the one word or phrase that changes the entire question.
2. Eliminate wrong answers. You can almost always eliminate at least one wrong answer instantly, and frequently two. Eliminating two possible answers increases your guessing chances when you’re not sure of the correct answer. Sometimes, you may even be able to eliminate all the wrong answers and be left with just one.
3. Answer all questions. No points are taken away for wrong answers; you simply score zero points for that question. Leaving questions blank does you no good.
4. Use the scratch paper. Sometimes a little diagram can help you visualize the question.
5. Don’t over-study. Staying up until 3am the night before an exam won’t help. You’ll show up for the exam tired and not remembering anything from the night before. Treat yourself to a good night’s sleep.
Now that I've shared, we'd all love to hear what strategies you use when taking exams! Stop by this forum and share what's helped you obtain certification.
http://borntolearn.mslearn.net/prix/f/62/p/19708/51190.aspx#51190
Well Christopher and I were talking last night and we are very excited about the tremendous response we have had already to the IT Grand Prix and the support for the gold team. We will work hard to go for gold! We will need your help along the way as there are various challenges for us to complete on the ground, but also for the pit crew (that's you!). In fact the pit crew counts for 60% of the overall score. So we really do need your help. Keep an eye on the blogs here at IT Grand Prix, or if you prefer facebook, "Like" our facebook page "IT Grand Prix Gold Team", or if you prefer twitter you can follow us there at http://twitter.com/ITGrandPrixGold whatever works best for you! We'll keep you informed of how you can help GO FOR GOLD! Thanks again, it's going to be an amazing race!