Blackberry Training Workshop – A Success!
By, Sandra Saunders, Enterprise Application Services, OIT
On February 7 th and 8 th of 2008, the Office of Information Technology's Enterprise Applications Group along with Research In Motion (RIM) and US Cellular held a Blackberry training workshop at the Central Maine Commerce Center 's Florian Hall. The same three-hour training class was held on each day. The snow storm on the first day did not seem to deter people from attending. There were approximately 150 of the 350 total Blackberry users in attendance for both days combined.
The first day was video taped by Randal Tunks of the Bureau of General Services. The tape has since been edited and has been sent to be modified for close captioning. Once complete, the video will be posted on OIT intranet site for those users who were unable to attend. In addition to the video, RIM's PowerPoint presentation and OIT's handouts will also been posted. These items will be located under Blackberry Training Workshop at http://inet.state.me.us/oit/services/electronicmessaging/blackberry/index.html .
Many positive comments came from those who attended the training. An example of one of these comments: “ One of the best things OIT has done”. Several inquiries have been received about future training opportunities. Due to the interest in future training, the Enterprise Applications Group has polled Blackberry users to get the number of users who are interested and has separated them by region. To help cut down on State employee travel, US Cellular has been kind enough to provide one and one-half hour live training classes in Augusta , and Portland and will also hold a webinar for those who are unable to attend the live events.
This training will be the same 101 basic training that was held in February and is scheduled during the month of June. Training dates and locations are listed below. A determination has not been made as to whether an advanced Blackberry training workshop will be held.
| Location/Time: | Date: |
| Corrections Region 1 Juvenile Office 10:00-11:30 So. Portland, ME (Live Event) |
June 19, 2008 |
| CMCC's Florian Hall, Augusta (Live Event) 10:00-11:30 | June 20, 2008 |
| Webinar for all other locations 10:00-11:30 | June 18, 2008 |
For more information regarding the training, please contact Sandra P. Saunders, at sandra.p.saunders@maine.gov or 207.624.9419.
Enterprise Application's Group would like to extend their thanks and appreciation to John Dean of the State Fire Marshal's Office for providing Florian Hall as well as Randal Tunks, US Cellular and Research In Motion who all played a part in making this workshop a success.
