SharePoint is now used in many organization by many different types of people. We have developers customizing it, Power Users doing some wonderful things in SharePoint designer as well as PM’s, BA’s, Admins, Architects all doing their thing on a daily basis with it. All have wonderful tales to tell!
So, my question this week is based around the journey you have taken with SharePoint. Answers can be 1 liners or 20 paragraphs and could include some (or all) of the following! However, you have a free rein to to tell us your full story! Be creative! (Videos, photos will get extra points).
Suggestions :
- How long you have been using SharePoint ?
- Where have you worked – what type of organizations ?
- Are you certified ?
- Favourite project ?
- Key influencers
- What has your role been ?
Win-an-eBook Wednesdays is a small three day contest that we hold every week. The Prize? An O’reilly eBook for your choice! Furthermore, if you win, you also get the chance to ask the community whatever question you want and be the judge for next week’s contest!
You have until Sunday, June 17th (10pm GMT) to answer this question!
How did I get into SharePoint? Simply put, I needed a fulltime position with benefits.
I had been working with the Technical College for 6 years as an adjunct instructor teaching Computer Information Systems and Business Administrative Technology courses. While I love teaching, I needed something with a little more “stable” pay checks (never knew how many courses I’d have each term, so it was hard to plan for major expenses).
When I applied for the job I have now as Content Manager (SharePoint Admin/Webmaster), I had no experience with SharePoint at all. I went online and read about SharePoint before going to the interview so that I’d at least know something about it. I had experience with website design and teaching the software (dreamweaver, flash, Html).
I got the job (obviously) and have been here ever since. I took my first training course from SharePoint Solutions at the Brentwood, TN location and came away totally overwhelmed. A lot of information was passed on to me in that 4 day training.
I came back from training and jumped into designing our site without fulling realizing the implications of the decisions I was making. Working with an outside consultant, we started creating forms and workflows long before I realized what ootb features of lists and libraries could do.
My second training was in Sharepoint Designer at a Mindsharp Summit.
We did some creative things early on in our site, like creating a custom list for a cake auction fundraiser. That little project was my first endeavor in modifying existing list forms.
Early on, I found the End User SharePoint website (now NothingButSharePoint), and spent a lot of time reading blogs, watching videos and attending workshops. I also posted questions in the Stump the Panel discussion. Mark Miller, Christophe Humbert, and Laura Rogers gave me a lot of information that helped me along the way.
I’ve spent the 5 years I’ve worked with SharePoint all for one organization. At this point, no, I am not certified. Although, once we have our 2013 implementation up and running, I’d like to start working toward certification.
Everyday there’s something new. And always more to learn. Every position I’ve had, prior to this one, got boring after a year or so. This one keeps my mind occupied (overloaded quite often). No time to get in a rut or get bored, too much to learn, and see, and do.
