I didn't get as much done las week as I had hoped. I had planned to find some time during the conference to sneak away and check some items off my 'to-do list.' I couldn't find a session I could or wanted to miss. Weather in Houston delayed my return on Friday but, I was able to get some things done in the airport. Then I spent Friday night in the ER with a family member. So much for getting up early on Saturday. Somehow things worked out, and I'm not too far behind where I had hoped to be on tasks. Funny how that goes.
While in the ER, I recalled the story that one of the presenters, Kathryn Segovia, told us on Tuesday, a story about Doug Deets. I recommend you look into his TED talk. Much of Tuesday' meeting last week revolved around Design Thinking. The presenter, Kathryn Segovia, a former 4-Her from Nebraska, is a faculty member at Stanford. While the day was much like a day we spent two years ago when we worked with the Adobe Kickbox and talked about Ideation, Kathryn's interpretation of Design Thinking has an added component of empathy. Doug Deets discusses how the addition of empathy in his creative process improved the success of his design.
This week is Program Council week. We will review the nominations for the two open at-large positions on Program Council. I haven't seen the list yet. I hope several people have indicated interest, but given the time commitment that Program Council requires it is understandable if few can make the time. Friday is the monthly call with County Directors and REC Directors. It's good to be out of airports for a couple of weeks.
On Tuesday, Mohammad Safeeq starts as a CE Specialist in Water and Watershed Sciences Specialist at UC Merced. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Safeeq.
It sounds like things are going well so far with UC Path. The Beehive Team has worked hard to make sure things go smoothly. They have spent many hours preparing for this week, designing the system and thinking through any problems that might arise. Please be sure to thank them for their efforts.