I enjoyed doing the 2005 review last year ... so figured it was time to get the '06 review fired up.
Here's a run down on some of the bigger news, events, tools, and projects that I yaked about in 2006...
JANUARY
Narnia rap ... hilarious!! True dat ... double true!!
Michelle is our first IT intern at GCC ... hmm, we need to look into interns again.
A random post on what did Jesus dream about ... and I'm liking IE7 Beta1
Microsoft is going to take on the iPod? They could have done something really great, but in the end the now named Zune product is not "plays for sure" compatible and thus lost tons of possibilities. Sigh.
GCC's projection gear gets a GIANT boost via our new Vista Systems Spyder
We also stop using PowerPoint and switch to ProPresenter ... and thus starts a slow influx of Macs
A shop vac makes an awesome drain unclogging device!
Find your installed Microsoft license keys with the free Produkey app.
Dameware v5 is released ... now supports multiple monitor setups. Dameware is an awesome remote control app that doesn't break the bank to purchase.
The date for our first Church IT Roundtable is set ... Sept 20th. The roundtable will end up being one of the major highlights for me personally in 2006. I'm really pumped for '07 roundtable!
FEBUARY
I ponder doing a Church IT Podcast wondering if anyone would listen to it. Now almost a year later we've done 3 live interactive podcasts that have been well received ... over 290 downloads! Hmm, guess that answers my orginal question :-)
CoComment enters beta testing to track comments left on the blogs you read ... today it's a mature product and I can't imaging blogging without it.
I dub 2006 the year of "back to basics" for the IT Dept ... yeah, well ... it was a great goal to shoot for ... and well try again in '07.
Although we're to believe Macs NEVER have problems ... our macs do
The GIGANTO 50 foot screen arrives at GCC! DROOL baby DROOL :-)
The "provocative" feet billboards go up ... creating enormous buzz ... GCC gets ready for the Pure Sex series launch
Our Tech Arts team works like dogs to get all the new screens, projectors, Vista Spyder, ProPresenter, etc ready for the opening weekend of the Pure Sex series. Lots of pictures of the screens in action in this post.
Feb 21 - my blog turns 1 yr old! 200+ people are reading a church IT blog??
Neat Patch cable management rocks!
before and after ...
The ghetto-tastic Hard Drive Cooler is born ... this will end up spawning several more ghetto-tastic devices as the year progresses
VMware Server is released ... we start experimenting with virtualization ... now close to a year later almost all our servers are virtual. If you're not already experimenting with VM's you should be slapped.
All 5 screens in action for the opening weekend of the Pure Sex series ... 7296 people (a record) come to check it out.
MARCH
My first real full-time job ... was as a math/science teacher
I'd forgotten about this ... part I and part 2 of perhaps the worst 8 hours of my life in 2006 ... draggin' your sleeping kids to church at 2:45am is NOT fun
Thanks to VMware we finally get up that 2nd domain controller we've been planning to do for a year. I also get linked to off of VMware's corporate website for my blog post on our VMware testing.
For the first time in 20 years Indiana is going to follow daylight savings time ... Microsoft is not releasing a fix for the very ugly calendaring problems this is going to produce. We start to get very nervous as April 2nd approaches.
T-minus 2 days to time change ... things are looking very not good ... then we have the good fortune of getting the name of Jeff Ello at Purdue University who has created a script for the exchange calendaring issue we've been sweating over.
We survived the switch to Daylight Savings! 2 weeks of praying and googling and testing paid off ... mainly due to Jeff Ello's script. We couldn't get the microsoft timezone hotfix to work so we had to remotely log into each PC and manually change the time zone ... 3hrs of "fun" ... but it meant our users never had to lift a finger to make their PC Eastern timezone happy.
APRIL
Microsoft's Virtual Server product is now free ... great news for IT shops, but a little late to the table for us now that we've invested a lot of time in VMware Server.
We have some F1 checkin problems and Fellowship Technologies support folks go above and beyond ... I wish all customer support was this awesome.
Over 10,000 attend GCC over Easter ... another record!
April 16 - My service streaming pet project finally becomes a reality. After several months of testing we unveil streaming of our services to the public. This has now become almost a new audience that GCC serves ... and there have been many incredible stories about life change from people all over the world as a result. This may be one of my proudest achievements at GCC.
We move exchange to a virtual server ... implement a front-end/back-end senario and finally get RPC-HTTPS off our to-do list.
We begin our SAN (storage area network) research
We begin transitioning from Dell to IBM/Lenovo for our laptops. Unfortunately we discover that although the technology in the Thinkpads is superior to Dell's ... Thinkpads don't look kewl and thus begins much yaking about form-over-function. You can listen to epidsode 3 of the Church IT Podcast where I talk about this a bit more.
April 26 - My prayers are answered and Ed transitions from part-time to FULL-TIME ... and there was much rejoicing!!! I offer to hug Tony Morgan ... he says he'll fire me if I do :-)
MAY
Church IT Roundtable registration opens ... 20 slots available ... they end up filling very quickly!
The public beta of Office2007 is released ...
I try a "unique" approach to "fixing" loose laptop hinges
Adobe FINALLY offers non-profit pricing ... about time guys!
JUNE
After months of sliding dates ... Ed and I are on our way to spend a couple days with Tony Dye and the IT crew at Perimeter Church in GA. We are overwhelmed by their hospitality and openness to our stream of questions. The time spent with Tony and company is by far THE best learning experience I've ever be part of ... it blows away every conference and workshop I've ever been too . Day 1, Day 2, Day 3. 
SAN purchase getting closer ... vendors are contacted and our list of needs is nailed down
June 16th - Roundtable registration is full and a waiting list is started
SAN project update #1 ... CEO's are reading my blog and the vendors start really going at it to win our bid.
SAN project update #2 ... we narrow vendors down to LeftHand and EqualLogic
SAN project update #3 ... after much deliberation we almost have a final decision ... just a few more questions need addressed.
SAN project update #4 ... it's over ... decision is made ... We have an EqualLogic PS100E and some Cisco switches on the way.
JULY
eBible.com goes beta - pretty sweet Bible research site
SAN project update #5 - Our EqualLogic gear arrives and we rack it up and start using it. Props to EqualLogic for a really simple setup compared to other SAN products.
How to increase IE's number of simultaneous downloads from it's lame-o default of 2
USB to IDE to SATA cables - every geek should have at least one of these! Seriously, this is one of the most valuable tools out there and it's only about $30!
I get asked to do a presentation for the Michiana IT Professionals Users Group (MITPUG) on our VMware Server implementation. The presentation went very ... I'd forget how much I enjoy giving presentations :-)
Using IE's Content Advisor to restrict where users can surf
VMware Server moves out of beta ... and now offers for-pay support levels.
It takes us several tries ... but we finally figure out how to make our F1 checkin kiosks work via wifi. 
Some more deets about our auditorium screens and projectors from Live Design
We score free tickets to see the White Sox ... a great family experience.
Mac meeting - I arrange to have our new mac-guru volunteer meet with our mac users so figure out where they are experiencing pain and start working on solutions. Feedback was very positive. Here are the post meeting notes.
AUGUST
The Ghetto-fabulous Mac Hard Drive Array is born
I get interviewed by Network World magazine on virtualization ... and actually made the final copy! Check out page 2 and 5 of the A Virtual Breeze article ... my part isn't exciting, but hey ... I've finally been published in a big time rag :-)
Did you know 40% of our weekend attendance at GCC volunteer in one or more of our ministries? That's pretty amazing. Purpose Driven News has a small blurb about us ... and I list our IT volunteers and how they got involved.
I pass the 3 year mark at GCC ... I yak about some of the changes that have happened over that span of time.
Jeff Hook, CEO of Fellowship Technologies, has a 3 part blog post about the "cost" of their Fellowship One product. Before you whine about cost please read his posts.
Leadership Summit attendees max out our 3mbps internet connection. Time to add another T? ;-)
We start investigating SSL VPN's ... still don't have one, but it's in the budget for 2007.
SEPTEMBER
Some thoughts on backup strategies
Ed and I get some more screen real estate
Not exactly what you like your servers to look like
The Church IT Roundtable is a success! Lots of great conversation and networking ... and boy am I tired afterwards :-) Tony Dye posts some great notes here.
OCTOBER
I post a comparison between a Dell Inspiron and a Macbook ... and learn once again that if you even suggest something non-positive about a mac you'll get flamed ... 23 comments!
Ed and I go to Chicago to take in David Allen's Getting Things Done workshop ... yes, worth the $. No, it's not easy to implement GTD, but I'm working on it.
I'm again on the search for a better helpdesk system ... after almost a year with Track-IT I'm not a happy camper.
GCC's technology purchasing guidelines
After using Office2007 for a while I post my thoughts on reasons you might want to upgrade.
Another post on charity pricing ... I'm still finding churches that are not aware of charity pricing!
Our A/V guys need a load of storage space ... initial discussions on perhaps building a 20TB ghetto-tastic Raid Array.
Windows Defender is out of beta ... remains free! This and AVG Free are what I recommend to all home users for anti-virus/spyware. Free is good :-)
A fellower GCC staffer gives me a Mac laptop :-)
I get interviewed again by Network World ... this time on technology in the church. Also interviewed by EqualLogic on our SAN implementation.
NOVEMBER
Microsoft releases charity pricing figures on Office2007 and Vista. Sadly, the $60ish OfficePro package is dropped :-(
Sharepoint implementation started
Spring 07 Church IT Roundtable dates are set ... this time we're headin' to Texas!
Sharepoint implementation leaked ... we scramble to get it ready for production
Spam stats for GCC ... crazy how much spam is out there.
I stumbled upon ServiceDesk Plus ... is this our answer to "finding a better helpdesk solution"? Answer will end up a resounding yes :-)
DECEMBER
Uber IT volunteer Dustin posts about his experience as a volunteer.
I post about some crazy "what if" senarios ... What if we gave everyone admin rights to their GCC computer? ... What if we made direct end user support our number 1, top dog, utmost priority? ... What if we switched from Dell to building our own desktop PC's?
Our first Church IT Podcast is a success ... 10 of us are in the conf call, 19 people are listening to the live audio stream, and the show is later downloaded over 60 times. Although this first show is a bit rough around the edges ... there's some great dialogue on "kewl IT tools".
We begin looking to Apple's XSAN solution for video storage needs. This will end up getting me in contact with the guys from North Point ... they've got a large all Mac network.
Our helpdesk stats ... Houston, we have a problem
This blog passes the 400 subscriber mark ... crazy!
Our 2nd Church IT Podcast ... even more participation this time 'round. Lots of dialogue about dealing with spam.
Well, there ya have it. 2006 in a nutshell. Looking forward to what 2007 brings :-)
Tons of fun to track along with you this year. Thanks for opening your world up.
Posted by: David Russell | January 28, 2007 at 09:48 PM