Secret M365 Admin Tools
We will cover tools that are not really secret, but are under used by most Admins who may not even know they exist. We will cover Security, Usability and some new features added recently to M365.
Looking for Virtual/Dedicated Server Solutions
There’s a lot of benefits to hosting some or all of your server infrastructure in the cloud. But who do you pick? What options are available? I go through my experience dealing with (probably) 100 different providers, who is hot, who is not, what to look out for and ways you can “kick the tires” with providers to find who is right for your needs and your budget.
An Overview of Newer Networking Technologies
We’ll take a quick look at some recent technologies in networking, and how and why you might use these in your mission organization. Topics will include: what’s new in WiFi 6 and 6E, and what’s coming in WiFi 7; newer wired ethernet data rates such as NBase-T (2.5Gbps, 5Gbps) as well as 10G and data rates higher than 10G (40G, 100G, and higher) and how those are used; and real-time audio/video over Ethernet technologies that are becoming popular such as Dante, AES67, and the Precision Time Protocol, and how to engineer a network to confidently support these low-latency media technologies.
Artificial Intelligence: Fact, Hype, Blessing, Curse?
What are the real possibilities of AI? How will it affect writing, art, computer programming, economics, criminal justice, the church? Is there a uniquely Biblical response to the search for and/or use of AI? This session will be a discussion about AI, based largely on Dr. John Lennox’s book “2084, Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity.” Dr. Lennox is a world-renowned Christian Apologist and Professor of Mathematics (Emeritus) at Oxford University. Thoughts from other sources will also be set forth. Your discussion leader, Kevin Weaver, is not an expert on AI, but has researched the concept enough to at least keep the conversation moving.
AI and Security
Security – Especially with products like ChatGPT and other AI models / products, security is becoming more and more important. How do we protect ourselves? How do we protect our organizations? What’s the difference between good security and paranoia? How do we find the balance? How do we trust God in the craziness? How do we get out of the fire and back to the future of God’s promise?
Keynote Follow up
This session will be an open discussion and follow up to Dr Dyer’s keynote.
AI & Software Development
What’s the current state of AI writing software? Can it replace a human? Can it let me reduce the size of a software team? We’ll explore the answers to these questions with actual software examples from both Chat-GPT and GitHub Copilot.
A) Managing Your Non-Techie Manager, or B) What Managers Wished their Techies Knew
Whether it’s a couple of people working together or an entire department, there are different skill sets and perspectives that can clash or/and complement each other over time. One of the many tropes we can encounter is the manager who doesn’t understand the relevant tech or the techies they manage. That may be true. Or is it a convenient way to explain away techie limited perspectives? What if we all increased our appreciation of the most common tech management scenarios and gained some perspective?
Cybersecurity as Member Care
Caring for missionaries and trainees by equipping them with what they need not just on the field, but in the years leading up to their deployment. We will talk about how to set expectations for things like secure communication (or the lack thereof in many more sophisticated contexts), prepping new missionaries face the reality of technological limits in more sensitive fields, addressing the need for strategic debriefs, and tackling the importance of focusing on cybersecurity as grounds for encouraging and mobilizing people instead of functioning primarily as risk mitigation on our infrastructure.
Sessions listed are subject to change.