Busy in Boise

This was a busy week. On Monday, I flew to Boise, Idaho. Back in the 80's and early 90's when I would travel to Boise, I just did not like the place. Even four years ago when I was there for a conference, I wasn't very impressed. Other people would rave about the city and I just didn't get it.

Now I've been to Boise three times in less than three months and I have to say that I am so impressed with the area. I think it might be my favorite city in the Northwest now. It's pretty easy to get around, there's stuff to do in town, there are lots of natural resources and, perhaps most importantly, good restaurants are all around.

I was in Boise trying a new initiative for OIT. I arranged for four faculty to come to the city as well, built around a reception I planned at the Professional-Technical Center for the Boise school district. The P-Tech Center and the Black Eagle IT Center are where all the Boise and Meridian schools send their kids for shop and computer classes, as well as some other things, so it's a natural fit for OIT.

Well, the reception itself was kind of a bomb, though it was no one's fault. The school district, especially the district's counseling coordinator and the tech center's industry liaison, could not have been more cooperative. With their help, we selected what appeared to be a good date and sent multiple invitations to the science and math teachers, as well as career counselors, in the area. I'm not sure that we could have done a whole lot better even with 20-20 hindsight.

Fortunately, I was also able to set up times at various schools for each of us to go into classrooms and make presentations about various career fields or college in general. Between the five of us, we got to introduce 750 to 800 students to Oregon Tech over the course of four days. I also had some productive meetings with some career counselors in the schools.

On Wednesday, I got to have dinner with Jeannette's brother Jared and introduce him to Fuddruckers and hear about how he broke his arm snowboarding a few weeks ago. After several flight delays Thursday night, I spent Friday in Portland in planning meetings with colleagues from PNACAC. I always enjoy working with Todd, Teri and Ralph . . . hardly seems like work, even when we are struggling with tough issues.

I got home last night at 11 PM. Tomorrow at 11 AM it's back on the airplane, jetting off to Chicago for a few days. Thirty-six hours after I get back from that trip, I'll be back on board, heading to Denver. Whew.

Photo courtesy Boise Convention and Visitors Bureau.