AIM Institute’s Tips for Good Password Habits
At AIM Institute, we know technology touches every corner of our lives. A nonprofit whose goal is to grow, connect and inspire tech talent, AIM teaches the importance of keeping data, identity and other online personal information safe. On Thursday, May 2, World Password Day serves as a reminder for us all to brush up on online safety and security.
AIM cybersecurity expert Jon Larsen says World Password Day is a good time for spring cleaning your accounts. “Go through your accounts and change the passwords. Pay attention to what accounts you use and how frequently, and review the privacy information on each web site to look for changes or added security measures that can be taken, like adding layers of multi-factor identification. Delete older accounts with services that have become obsolete.”
Larsen says avoiding common password pitfalls can make your accounts more secure. A recent breach analysis from the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) found that 23.2 million hacked accounts around the world used “123456” as a password. Here are other top passwords that were most commonly hacked:
Larsen says there is a development happening among large technology organizations including Microsoft and Google to eliminate the use of passwords all together utilizing new technology. However, he says, until this happens, the best defense against hackers is a good offense of due diligence by individuals.
AIM Institute, Frannet of the Heartland, and growmedia.com team to host “Laid Off & Launching It” Wednesday, May 1, 2019
Free event helps displaced workers who are considering the launch of a new technical career OR starting a business.
Omaha, Neb. (April 8, 2019) — There are hundreds of workers in the Omaha region looking for their next opportunity due to employer downsizing, layoffs and business closures. AIM Institute, Frannet of the Heartland, and growmedia.com will host “Laid off and Launching It” on Wednesday, May 1 at AIM Institute to help individuals identify new technical careers or entrepreneurial pathways.
This FREE, public event will be held Wednesday, May 1 from noon to 1:30 p.m. in downtown Omaha at the AIM Exchange building, 1905 Harney Street on the 7th floor. Attendees may attend for all or part of the event. Registration is recommended but not required. Register here: (Eventbrite registration page under development).
A “Q and A” format panel discussion will provide insight on re-training or self-employment for professionals in career transition. Speakers include:
ABOUT AIM INSTITUTE
AIM Institute is an innovative nonprofit that grows, connects and inspires the tech talent community through career development and educational programs. Through these efforts, we improve thousands of lives across the Silicon Prairie. More information about AIM is available at aimsite1.wpenginepowered.com.
ABOUT FRANNET OF THE HEARTLAND
FranNet is an International Franchise Consulting Firm that provides education and support to individuals who are interested in exploring self employment as a career option through franchised business ownership.
ABOUT the SBA
Elizabeth Yearwood, Economic Development Specialist for the Nebraska District of the Small Business Administration will describe the many government services that organization offers to entrepreneurs.
ABOUT GROWMEDIA.COM
growmedia.com finds the greatness of small business owners AND their optimum niche markets. Additionally, it inspires owners and launchers via “The Grow Your Biz Show,” a weekly talk show focused on entrepreneurs.
AIM Infotec returns to the Embassy Suites La Vista on April 1 and 2. The annual tech conference is designed to help attendees stay ahead of the tech curve and gain insights, investigate, ideate and share.
This year’s Infotec will feature cutting-edge speakers, networking events and training workshops covering a wide range of topics such as security, tech leadership, big data, innovation and more. Not just an event for big businesses and tech professionals, the event also targets startups and small businesses with a growing tech presence.
With over 20 breakout sessions to choose from and speakers from noteworthy organizations like Keiwet, Hewlett Packard and FNTS, Infotec has something for everyone. Here’s a brief overview of a few sessions SPN is most excited about.
How to Innovate – Using White Space Analysis to Spark Disruption in an Industry
Ryan Grace – Owner / Partner, Advent, LLP
Spending resources to obtain patent protection on innovation is not necessarily the right business decision for every company. In fact, for some companies, patenting can initially be a business detriment and/or inefficient use of capital. Yet, this is not to say the patent universe is not one of (if not the) greatest learning tool on the planet for sparking white space innovation and driving disruption in an industry. To demonstrate the disruption white space analysis can have on an industry, this presentation recounts a situation where the presenter used white space analysis to develop a technology centered around a unique solution to a real-world problem, secured around 20 patents, and ultimately sold the technology to Garmin Industries.
ADA Compliance for Websites
Jamie McNeeley – Wave Interactive
When building a new office, the new restaurant, new public space, etc. the architects and builders are legally required to be compliant with the American with Disabilities Act. In the same line of thinking, successful lawsuits have been filed against both large and small companies arguing that their websites are “places of public accommodation” and thus liable for ADA compliance. Come discover what is happening in the technical world of ADA compliance, what are some top ADA compliance issues on the web to look out for and how to solve them.
Considering Purpose, People, and Process when Managing Change
Victoria Graeve-Cunningham – Executive Director and Organizational Consultant, ThriVinci
Mitch Cunningham – Business Analyst, Werner Enterprises
Kelsey Haswell – Lean Improvement Specialist, Nebraska Methodist Health
By applying lean and agile principles to talent management processes, leaders can limit the resources required to motivate performance and accelerate change. ThriVinci will share best practices for creating a north star, crafting and managing talent-centric processes, and establishing a flexible team accepting of change. After reviewing the foundations of lean, specifically, emphasizing value-added activities, attendees will review structured interview techniques to conduct a customer-focused needs assessment along with tools to diagram and understand process flow to enable identification of bottlenecks that need to be addressed.
Bringing Ingenuity Back to Engineering
Nicholas Tuck – Senior Software Engineer, Proxibid
Kathy Andersen – Scrum Master, Hudl
Developers, do you have innovative ideas that go unheard? Product Owners, does it feel like the solutions you deliver lack ingenuity? We have agile stories, empowered teams, and the latest in technology and yet we all know we could be doing better, we just don’t know how to unleash the fury. A surefire approach you are afraid to try is ShipIt Days. ShipIt Days are an approach and a mindset to allow your team the opportunity to capitalize on innovation and their natural desire to do good things. Inspired by Google’s 20% time, 3M’s 15% time, and Atlassian’s ShipIt Days, we have been putting a new spin on this “free time” concept for years to deliver innovative, motivated and sustainable results.
Infotec is also bringing you two can’t-miss keynote speakers who will share their experiences working in technology, science, and information. Their presentations will not only inspire and motivate, but will also enable technology leaders to better prepare themselves for the challenges of the future, help technology specialist to grow their knowledge, and challenge everyone to find new ways to solve problems.
Adaptability: Small Steps for Everyday Innovation
Josh Berry, Econic
From Boulder to Bahrain to Bogota, Josh Berry has spent the last fifteen years working with dozens of startups and Fortune 500 companies to understand how their organizations grow as their people adapt. During this interactive opening keynote, Josh will share brand new research and a few practical tips on the habits of adaptable teams and how leaders can create an environment to foster adaptability. Attendees will even learn how to take small steps during the rest of the conference to increase their adaptability.
Lessons Learned from the US Space Program – Recent Past and Near Future
Dr. Garrett Reisman, SpaceX and USC
Reisman was selected by NASA in 1998 as a mission specialist astronaut. While at NASA, Dr. Reisman completed two space missions, including one in 2008 where he spent 95 days on the International Space Station. He has flown aboard both the Space Shuttle Discovery and the Space Shuttle Atlantis.
After leaving NASA in 2011, Dr. Reisman joined SpaceX where he worked for Elon Musk and prepared SpaceX for human spaceflight as the Director of Space Operations. Currently, he is a Professor of Astronautical Engineering at USC and a Senior Advisor at SpaceX.
When: April 2 (with add-on workshops April 1-2)
Where: Embassy Suites La Vista
Cost: $239 (FREE for full-time college students)
Register now: careerlink.com/infotec
There are a lot of people who have been good technical employees––whether in a role as a programmer, network engineer, business analyst or project manager––but wondering whether they want to make a transition into more of a leadership or management role within their organization.
The AIM IT Emerging Leaders Program is geared toward people like them: Information technology professionals interested in transitioning into leadership roles. Classes within the program offer the real-world experience of existing IT leaders to help participants gain a better understanding of the issues, challenges and skills needed to advance in their careers.
Participants will be part of a cohort from organizations across the community and will have the opportunity to learn from each other, as well as the program instructors.
The program runs from April 25 through June 20. The group meets for one afternoon every other Thursday, with the exception of the last session, which is a full day. Topics include communication skills, resource optimization, performance improvement and relationship building.
The AIM IT Emerging Leaders Program will:
Conversations in the program draw on real-life examples to illustrate the demands and decision-making involved in leading teams. One day is spent on “day in the life of’ scenarios,” which some of the existing leaders have had to deal with. They present the scenario and ask the class: How would you deal with this?
Registration for the Emerging Leaders program is open from now until through April 18. For more information, visit careerlink.com/lp/emerging-leaders-program/
If you’re looking to change careers to a technology focus, or you want to improve your skills in the existing path you’ve chosen, learning programming skills at can be one of the surest ways forward.
According to recent research, most of the top ten most in-demand tech jobs predicted for this year are all some variation of engineers or developers, with cybersecurity engineers leading the way. (With billions of people affected by data breaches each year, it’s easy to see why cybersecurity is at the top of the list.)
Various developer roles are also listed among the most in-demand tech jobs in the IT market according to Robert Half Technology’s recent IT salary report.
With all the attention being paid towards the role of IT, and amidst an increasing focus on it given the constant focus on cybersecurity, how can you position yourself best for these important jobs?
The AIM Institute’s Interface Web School is helping to train more tech talent in the Midwest. Today’s post will explain what you can learn at Interface, and who should consider attending.
First, a quick primer on what to expect out of Interface Web School and why it was created.
Interface is an Omaha-based web developer training school. Located at 19th and Howard, Interface offers classes that can fit anyone’s schedule, from 1-day workshops to in-depth, multi-week courses on web development held in the evening so anyone can attend.
There are many individuals who have already begun a career, but who want to expand their skills and branch out into more skilled professions like programming. Interface was built to empower those individuals who want to enter a career in web services.
Whether your only knowledge of coding is what you’ve seen in the movies, or you’ve built a few websites already, Interface Web School can help you improve your skills.
Courses vary depending on demand, but our training opportunities range from introductory classes to specializations for more advanced learners.
Newcomers can dive into the foundations of web development to get a start in understanding HTML, CSS, and JavaScript/jQuery. If none of those terms ring a bell, that’s okay—by the time you wrap up your first introductory class, you’ll have the confidence you need to dive deeper into each.
More advanced learners can specialize in courses covering Java, .NET, and Cobol programming languages.
Interface has also partnered with Omaha Data Science Academy to create a certificate designed to teach you how about data discovery and data-driven decision making, so you can get the skills necessary to enhance your existing career and pivot toward being a data scientist (one of the 13 most in-demand tech jobs from our earlier list!)
So, now that you know what Interface Web School can offer, how do you know if you’re the right type of fit for classes there?
The answer is pretty simple. Anyone who wants to improve their web skills to maintain a competitive edge in today’s job market should consider attending.
Above all, Interface is accessible for learners of multiple skills levels; the school wants everyone to feel welcome. Interface provides practical training and immersive learning to help people get real results and advance their careers in ways they wouldn’t be able to otherwise.
Click here to sign up for the next information session to learn more about Interface Web School.
