Garrett Wasny, MA, CMC, CITP

On January 15, I delivered my Google Productivity Tools for Accountants webcast at CPE Link from 9:00 am PST to 12:30 pm PST.   The session was attended by CPAs from all across the United States including Virginia, Louisiana and California.  The webinar showcased leading Google applications such as Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Sites, Google Local Business Centre, Google Latitude and dozens more free and efficiency-boosting tools.  Participants were perhaps most intrigued with Google Spreadsheets -- a totally under-rated online spreadsheet application -- that allows up to 50 people at one time to simultaneously edit a web-based spreadsheet.

As always, thanks to the fantastic team of CPE Link -- Erhan Aksoy, Sue Anderson and Leeanna Hammer -- for their superb production support. 

On January 14, I had the great pleasure of visiting the University of Northern British Columbia campus in Prince George, British Columbia.  I had heard many wonderful things about the campus, but had never previously visited the University in person.  One word:  Wow!  Who could imagine that in the middle of such vast wilderness would be an extraordinary learning and research centre (and architectural marvel).  Kudos to all the staff and students for an eye-opening and mind-blowing experience.   

On January 12, 2010, I attended the lecture "Making Fun and Games:  The New Economic, Inner City Space and Vancouver" at UBC Green College.  The presentation was delivered by Trevor Barnes from the UBC Department of Geography and Thomas Hutton of the UBC Centre for Human Settlements.  What an amazing event!  After a brief history of how the urban landscapes of London and Singapore were transformed by new production economies, the professors highlighted how Vancouver has changed from a resource entrepot to a cultural production centre.  They also profiled the video gaming industry in the city and how its evolved from a Burnaby garage to the $1.5 billion annual industry it is today.

I only wish all the presentations I attend were like this.  The presenters were true subject matter experts and passionate about the topic (a rare combination), the venue (Green College) was superb, and the audience was totally engaged and asking tons of intelligent questions (and even quoting "The Tempest" from Shakespeare).  How cool is that?  I had a wonderful time and hope to attend future lectures at the UBC Geography Department.

 

 

On December 14 2009, I delivered my Advanced Internet Research Techniques for Engineers webinar. The presentation revealed how professional engineers can boost their online productivity and gather more and better web information in less time. The event was sponsored by EPIC (Education Program Innovations Centre), a Mississauga-based education institute for engineering and technology. Thanks to the professional engineers from across North America who attended and for all your positive feedback. Kudos to Hira Ahuja, President of EPIC, and Fuad Sultanov, Instructional Designer, for their excellent production assistance.

 

On December 11 2009, I delivered my Advanced Internet Research Techniques for Accountants presentation at the Sutton Place Hotel in downtown Vancouver.  The session revealed how to dramatically improve your online search skills and instantly increase your web productivity using simple, no-cost Internet tools and techniques.  The sold-out audience was terrific:  they were totally engaged and posed lots of excellent questions.  Participants were particularly interested in Google Reader, a free RSS feed aggregator that allows users to receive updates from all their favourite websites in one place. 

As always, thanks to Kitty Leung and the excellent professional development team at the ICABC for organizing another superb learning and networking event.