Today, I got a sneak peak into the newest IT-oLogy branch – IT-oLogy @ University Center of Greenville. Lindsey Stork took a few minutes to show me around her digs, which are located in the heart of the library next to the really cool SimHub. Want to know what the SimHub is? Check it out!
Without further ado, meet Lindsey Stork, Campus Relations Manager, as she shows you around IT-oLogy@UCG!
I know…I’ve been a little MIA from this blog for a while, and I do apologize! Where have I been you ask? ALL OVER!
Here’s a recap of all that’s been going on.
New branch!
So excited to have keys to our new branch - IT-oLogy @ University Center of Greenville!
THAT’S RIGHT! We’ve got a new branch! I have a home now! SUPER EXCITED and just waiting on visitors. The University Center of Greenville is going to be a great place for us to build our Upstate connections. Keep an eye out for exciting events that will be coming up.
Campus career fairs
This semester I’ve traveled to five different career fairs. I’m finding it more and more interesting that students want to apply online and don’t have a copy of their resume on hand. ATTENTION JOB SEEKERS! BRING YOUR RESUME WITH YOU TO A JOB INTERVIEW! How else is an employer going to remember your experience?
NEXT Generation IT Internship Program
It’s that time of year again! Are you looking for an internship for the summer? Looking to hire an intern for the summer? Then the IT Gateway is the place to go! Here, job seekers can view/apply for jobs and employers can post jobs and events. Why get an internship? SO MANY REASONS! The number one reason is the most obvious, EXPERIENCE! Real world experience really does set you apart from other job seekers. Get out there today and find your summer internship…it’s a decision you won’t regret!
It’s a sign of progress. Friday, the Tower at 1301 Gervais — a landmark in the Columbia skyline – gets a new look with IT-oLogy @ Innovista.
The installation of the IT-oLogy @ Innovista signage exemplifies the already successful partnership between IT-oLogy and Innovista to foster the development, growth and relocation of information technology (IT) companies, small and large.
“This marks the fruition of one of our original visions: a district with the strategic clustering of IT companies in one locality,” said Don Herriott, Director of Innovista Partnerships. “More companies are seeing the advantages of co-location, and IT-oLogy @ Innovista now houses 9 IT companies and counting.”
IT-oLogy’s mission is to promote, teach and grow the IT talent pipeline and profession. With Innovista’s mission of creating, attracting and growing knowledge-based companies in the Midlands of South Carolina, the two constitute a perfect partnership for recruiting to the new IT-oLogy @ Innovista building. Clustering IT companies in a single location, such as the Tower at 1301 Gervais Street, can open the door for new opportunities for partnership and business development, stimulate new ideas and industry innovation and help in the recruitment of new companies to the region.
“Our goal is to bring the IT community together in a collaborative environment to develop the IT pipeline through programs at all levels,” said Lonnie Emard, Executive Director of IT-oLogy. “The partnership with Innovista is a perfect example of this collaborative effort because we are bringing together people and companies that are dedicated to both of our missions.”
The establishment of an IT district is not about a sign at the top of the Tower at 1301 Gervais Street. While that is a visible representation of the partnership, the real story is about what happens both in and out of the building. The uniqueness of IT-oLogy is that it is not a single company or entity; instead, it is a non-profit collaboration of companies, academic institutions and organizations uniting to address the nationwide shortage of skilled IT professionals. To address this challenge, IT-oLogy offers K-12 programs where students explore numerous IT career options, the internships for undergraduate students and the continuing education opportunities that keep professionals constantly learning and up-to-date. When all this happens, the result is a vibrant economic picture, which is the goal of Innovista.
The confluence of opportunities in IT-oLogy @ Innovista will provide a home in the community for local talent as well. “At the University of South Carolina, our responsibility to students and alumni extends beyond education. It includes a commitment to helping them find jobs, good jobs, when they graduate,” said Dr. Harris Pastides, President of the University of South Carolina. “The pairing of IT-oLogy and Innovista is perfect because of their complementary missions, each focused on growing our innovation economy in this region and across South Carolina.”
“From the outset, the vision of IT-oLogy has been to have business and academic partners collaborate to advance IT talent,” Emard said. “The lack of IT talent is a national epidemic that is solved in a local manner. The establishment of IT-oLogy @ Innovista is a visible representation of bringing companies together to collaborate and partner, fostering new ideas and technologies.”
Recently, IT-oLogy announced the establishment of the branch IT-oLogy @ University Center of Greenville, located in Greenville, South Carolina. This is yet another way IT-oLogy is working locally to address a national issue. In the future, IT-oLogy will continue to open branches across the nation as a way to advance IT talent in a grassroots manner.
Innovista is a strategic economic development effort that is connecting the University of South Carolina and university-spawned innovations with entrepreneurs, businesses and stakeholders. Its purpose is to help attract and create technology-intensive, knowledge-based companies, which result in higher-paying jobs and raise the standard of living in South Carolina.
For more information about Innovista, visit www.innovista.sc.edu or contact Lauren Edwards at 803.777.8786 or Laurene@mailbox.sc.edu.
IT-oLogy is a non-profit collaboration of businesses, academic institutions and other organizations dedicated to growing the IT talent pipeline and advancing the IT profession. IT-oLogy does this through three major initiatives: Promote IT (K-12 schools), Teach IT (Higher Education) and Grow IT (Professionals and Businesses).
For more information about IT-oLogy, visit www.it-ology.org or contact Powers Strickland at 803.354.5735 or powers.strickland@it-ology.org.
The Palmetto Open Source Software Conference (POSSCON), presented by IT-oLogy, will bring together the biggest names and companies in the information technology (IT) industry to discuss the latest issues for developers, executives, government leaders and educators. World-class speakers like Scott McNealy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems and one of the most influential people in the history of technology, will be featured along with many others.
Top companies like Twitter, Red Hat, IBM, Oracle, HP, Google, Homeland Security, Apache, Rackspace, EMC and FireHost will also attend and participate.
POSSCON will be held at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center March 28-29, and will feature track sessions, hands-on training and social and networking events. Tracks will include Education, Technical, Big Picture and Demo/Training.
Other speakers include Dr. Douglas Maughan, Director, Department of Homeland Security, Cyber Security Division; Jim Jagielski, Co-Founder and President, Apache Software Foundation; Chris Aniszcyck, Open Source Manager, Twitter, Inc.; and many others.
Started in 2008, POSSCON is an annual gathering of industry experts, thought leaders, IT decision makers, software programmers and educators around the topic of open source. The conference has steadily grown since it began, and in 2011 approximately 500 people from 24 states attended, 30 colleges and universities and more than 100 private and government organizations were represented. Open source is a philosophy and methodology based on making source code available and redistributable.
Major sponsors include IBM, IT-oLogy, OpenStack, Verizon Wireless, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina and the City of Columbia. Others include Canonical, Chipco Computer Distributors, Inc., FireHost, GitHub, Google, Health Sciences South Carolina, Hewlett Packard Company, Linode, OpenSource.com, Oracle, Percona, Inc., Rackspace Hosting, Red Hat, SkySQL, SPARC, SUSE and TM Floyd & Company.
Developers, executives, government leaders and educators will all benefit from attending POSSCON. Registration is available at www.posscon.org.
