By SANDRA GITTLEN

Take our learning "test" to help us help you

Network World, 02/13/02

As I write this, I am sitting in a hotel room in San Jose preparing to kick off our Winter/Spring seminar series with our Performance and Availability Management Tour. I'm also working out the details of Network World's summer/fall series, including what new technologies we'll introduce to you and what new industry experts we'll bring on board.

It's an exciting time for us as the economy begins to show signs of turning around. Our Buzz 2002 tour, which is an extension of our popular annual Buzz Issue, is gearing up to be an unmatched opportunity for you to learn what hyped technologies have merit and which should be left in the oven. Our mainstays, State of the LAN/MAN, State of Storage and State of the WAN, will be chock-full of lessons from this challenging time. And our other multitude of other tours - Networking for Small to Midsize Businesses, Voice over IP Tech Update and State of Security Town Meeting - will let you interact with your peers to see how they have fared and what strategies they are implementing to move ahead with new technologies.

Recently, Network World merged with IDG Executive Forums, so together we'll bring you Demo, Vortex, Agenda and Demo Mobile. These are all professional conferences that show you what the leaders in the industry will be rolling out in the coming years.

Couple all this with the fact that subscriptions for this newsletter are up to almost 30,000, and you've got a whole lot of learning going on. But, lest you think this learning will be one-way, think again. What follows is a test for you to fill out and return to me. It will help me gauge how to best help you learn what you need to know through all of our educational outlets.

Thanks ahead of time for your input.

Which of the following to do you attend in a year?

1. One-day seminars
2. Multi-day conferences
3. Vendor-sponsored tech days
4. None of the above (too busy)

Which of the following best describe your learning preference?

1. On-site
2. Out of the office
3. Web-based
4. Hands-on
5. Self-paced
6. Book-based

What technologies are you considering for your network?

1. Storage
2. Security
3. Voice over IP
4. Wireless
5. Performance/availability management
6. Service-level management
7. Web acceleration
8. IP technologies
9. VPNs
10. CRM

What perplexes you most about networking today?

1. Lack of budget
2. Lack of standards/interoperability
3. Lack of products/services
4. Lack of support from upper management
5. Lack of information

5. If you had only one educational opportunity this year, what would you like it to be?
(This is an open-ended answer.)

Please send your answers to sgittlen@nww.com. And here's to a great and educational year.

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Past Articles

Your WAN: What's your next move? What you'll learn at Network World's WAN Technology Tour

Wireless: How far we have come - What to expect at Network World's WLAN Technology Tour

What's new about the New Data Center: How the concept of the New Data Center forces different thinking

2004: What do you need to know? - Your chance to help shape the Network World Technology Tour

What identity management can do for you: The importance of identity management

Mailbag: Who's minding the voice calls? A trick question

Mix 'n match storage: Not all data requires the same storage approach

Key to VoIP success? Training VoIP smarts

Who is responsible for securing voice calls over data lines? - Network and data managers must work together to ensure network integrity

Is your network view cloudy? - Storage: Shoring up your enterprise strategy

Six options for securing wireless LANs: Lessons from Network World's Security Technology Tour

Security and Storage: The perfect pair

Get savvy about SAML: Single sign-on with SAML

Standardizing IT skill sets: Your chance to help shape the standards for IT skill sets (05/14/03)

The art of consolidation: Consolidation is not an admission of defeat (05/07/03)

Reinforcing security: Network World Technology Tour focuses on corporate security (04/30/03)

The Day Two demands of VoIP: Taking voice-over-IP to the next level (04/23/03)

Instant messaging getting its due?: Instant messaging finds a home in the enterprise (04/16/03)

A powerhouse of CEOs in one room : Of Cisco, Linksys and Vortex 2003 (04/09/03)

How to survey your site for WLAN : Getting ready for WLAN in your enterprise (04/02/03)

Fooling spamers : Anti-spam tips from the Center for Democracy & Technology (03/26/03)

IEEE works on wireless access for riders on high-speed vehicles : Introducing IEEE's 802.20 spec (03/19/03)

Where will you spend your security dollars : What's the most important to you in security? (03/12/03)

What are your WLAN concerns?: Join our Wireless LANs Technology Tour (03/05/03)

Voice and video on the security scene: Identification via voice and skin recognition (02/26/03)

Is now the time for service level management?: What came out of the Service Level Management Tour? (02/19/03)

Setting limits: When to say "No" to end-users (02/11/03)

Keeping up with the patches: Resources to help guard against security attacks (02/05/03)

State of the state: Venture capitalists are cautiously optimistic about the future (01/29/03)

Demo: Who says innovation is dead? (01/22/03)

Inside Wireless LANs: Building and managing a well-integrated WLAN network (01/15/03)

Inside service-level management: A look at what Network World’s Technology Tour on SLM will offer (01/07/03)

Shaking the tree: The problems with voting systems (12/17/02)

Videoconferencing: Bring it on (12/11/02)

It’s not just about networks anymore: Extending enterprise applications (12/04/02)

Mailbag 2: Dial-up is (not) history (11/27/02)

Mailbag: Dial-up is dead (11/20/02)

Voting: A lesson in technology (11/13/02)

Dial-up is history: Hurray for wireless LANs (11/06/02)

Dial-up is history (10/30/02)

Inside the LAN (10/23/02)

Your WAN concerns (10/16/02)

Mobile interaction (10/09/02)

The Wireless World (10/02/02)

The State of IT Spending (09/25/02)

Let's talk VoIP (09/18/02)

Distance learning not all about distance (09/11/02)

What's the state of your WAN? (09/04/02)

Paperless society falls by the wayside (08/28/02)

Educating tomorrow's IT managers (08/21/02)

Educating tomorrow's IT managers (08/14/02)

Your work concerns (08/07/02)

All about You (07/10/02)

A tale of woe from the front line (07/10/02)

Your commitment to yourself (07/03/02)

Mailbag: Who should foot the training bill? (06/19/02)

Security: A tough nut to crack (06/12/02)

Training is up to you (06/05/02)

How valuable is training?(05/30/02)

Data prioritization: Not as easy as you think (05/22/02)

Keeping up with security (05/15/02)

Storage: The crux of business continuity (05/09/02)

IT training on the rise for 2003, NetSmart, 05/03/02

The allure of 3G, NetSmart, 04/24/02

RFPs: Get your money's worth, NetSmart, 04/10/02

Cisco exams tests real-world skills, NetSmart, 04/03/02

Wireless: The key to enterprise application integration?, NetSmart, 03/27/02

Are you ready for voice over IP?, NetSmart, 03/20/02

The value of communication, NetSmart, 03/13/02

Your thoughts on training and technology, NetSmart, 03/06/02

More vacation time or more certifications?, NetSmart, 02/27/02

Live demos: Could you do them?, NetSmart, 02/20/02

Take our learning "test" to help us help you, NetSmart, 02/13/02

Screaming for streaming media, NetSmart, 02/06/02

Mailbag: Ways to learn on a shoestring, NetSmart, 01/30/02

HIPAA's ripple effect, NetSmart, 01/23/02

Ways to learn on a shoestring, NetSmart, 01/16/02

Spring 2002 tour schedule, NetSmart, 01/09/02

Several ideas for finding internship opportunities, NetSmart, 12/21/01

How to get the best out of trade shows, NetSmart, 12/19/01

Internships make a comeback, NetSmart, 12/12/01

The longevity of skills, NetSmart, 12/05/01

The State of the LAN/MAN tour is underway, NetSmart, 11/28/01

State of the LAN/MAN seminars and resources, NetSmart, 11/16/01

Got Certification?, NetSmart, 11/14/01

Your thoughts on certifications, NetSmart, 11/07/01

Resources to help you decide if XP is right for you, NetSmart, 10/31/01

The benefits of short-term certifications, NetSmart, 10/24/01

A list of storage resources on the web, NetSmart, 10/15/01

Reviewing IT Budgets, NetSmart, 10/09/01

Local-based training options, NetSmart, 10/02/01

Disaster recovery, Part 2, NetSmart, 09/27/01

Help for disaster recovery planning, NetSmart, 09/20/01

The power of public speaking, NetSmart, 09/17/01

Tips for getting to know your colleagues, NetSmart, 08/21/01

Places to talk about tech online, NetSmart, 08/14/01

The fall lineup, NetSmart, 08/07/01

Salary survey shows certification boosts your pay, NetSmart, 07/31/01

Ease your concerns with training, NetSmart, 07/24/01

Summer vacation: A great training opportunity?, NetSmart, 07/19/01

Train the trainer, NetSmart, 07/10/01

The manager's role in training, NetSmart, 07/02/01

Project management is your best friend, NetSmart, 06/27/01

Tracking one network manager's journey to CCIE, NetSmart, 06/21/01

Practice makes perfect, NetSmart, 06/14/01

Training in two's, NetSmart, 06/07/01

Training isn't just about education, NetSmart, 05/30/01

Boot camps boost you network skills, NetSmart, 05/23/01

The many benefits of on-Site training, NetSmart, 05/16/01

Back to basics, NetSmart, 05/02/01

Gittlen is Events Editor at Network World.
You can e-mail her at sgittlen@nww.com.