In the Spotlight is an opportunity for the campus community to get to know one another better. The goal is to build Eastern’s community by becoming familiar with the faces of faculty and staff members.
Date: January 11, 2011
Name: Mike Childress
Title: Information Tech Specialist IV
Department: Office of Information Technology
Number of years at Eastern: 7
Brief personal/professional description:
Personal: My journey with EWU began 32 years ago at age 12 when I attended the Successful Stuttering Management Program in 1979. It was terrifying and one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. Though I continue to stutter, they taught me how to accept myself for who I am. How cool is that? Shout out to the good folks of the SSMP!
The Schpeel: Lead administrator and subject matter expert (SME) for the development, design, and support of WordPress services. Intended to augment typically static information on EWU’s main website, WordPress is a platform offering a dynamic set of management tools that can be utilized in a myriad of ways including blogs, websites, newsletters, social media integration and more in a search engine optimized platform. Serve as system administrator and SME for SharePoint services which include departmental, project, and committee sites offering document sharing, collaboration, group, blog, meeting, and team workspaces. Future Project: Will serve as administrator and SME for the new MyEWU Portal which is poised to change the way patrons of Eastern Washington University do business by integrating existing and new IT services into a tool set which can be fully utilized by faculty, staff, and especially students.
Favorite book: The Tower Treasure from the Hardy Boys. It was the first book I ever checked out of the library and actually read from beginning to end. It was a great feeling. Next week I’ll try another.
Favorite movie: Band of Brothers, Blazing Saddles, Unforgiven, and The World’s Fastest Indian.
Favorite restaurant: My backyard grill. T-Bones, loaded spud, fresh salad, ice cold Sam Adams Bonfire Rauchbier and a slice of my mother-in-law’s homemade cherry pie. It doesn’t get any better than that.
Favorite quote: “My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives.” – Hedley Lamarr / Blazing Saddles
Favorite vacation: Chaco Canyon, New Mexico
Volunteer activities: I’m on the list to help bottle at Dry Fly Distilling.
Awards received within the past five years: More like a reward…my beautiful wife and three kids.
If I could do anything today I would: Destroy all technology and get back to the business of human interaction. Scratch that, I need a job. Maybe be a time traveler.
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