Looking Back on IT Day 2024
By Luke GagliardiDecember 10, 2024
Connecting
IT Day is more than a series of presentations or keynote speeches—it’s an invitation to explore your part in what Sarah Bay-Cheng aptly calls our “human machine.” More importantly, it’s a day to connect with the people around us. A day to break down silos and pull up a chair beside someone you’ve never met or someone you’ve only ever met on a screen. It’s a day of discussion and expanding minds. A day of aha and haha moments that each generate their own sparks of inspiration.
IT Day began with a challenge. Tim Hampton, Director of Information Technology and our emcee, dared us to introduce ourselves—even to those we’ve worked with for years. It was a lighthearted but powerful way to break down the first barrier that can keep us from truly connecting.
Connection is the purpose of IT Day. Tim describes that, above even new technologies and techniques, IT Day is about seeing the humanity in what we’re up against and how that creates a camaraderie that naturally chisels away at the tribalism that can grow between groups as we work in vacuums and silos.
Chief Information Officer
Dean, Arts, Media, Performance & Design (AMPD)
Director, Information Technology
Solutions and Relationship Manager
Communications & Marketing Assistant
Resilience
The theme of this year’s gathering was resilience. A word that means something different to everyone—and can feel trite if only examined at a surface level. To Merriam-Webster, resilience is “an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.” For us in IT, it means something far more.
For Sarah, resilience isn’t just an ability but an act and an art—even, at times, a martial art: “Sometimes we think about resilience as meeting the challenge head-on in a direct, even adversarial way. Like we're going to battle this thing to the ground. But other times, it's about absorbing even accepting the challenge and finding another way around, like in many martial arts.” Sarah expounds on this idea of absorbing challenge and redirecting that energy by likening resilience to a cork in water. “If you push a cork down, the cork offers no resistance, but the minute that you let go, the cork pops up with the force that submerged it, plus extra energy.”
To Tim, resilience is less the cork in the water and more the ship on stormy waves. He describes being truly resilient not as merely putting things back together after the storm but as having a clear purpose that serves as our north star and recognizing that “the ways we achieve that purpose can change with time, and so resilience is improving everything we do to achieve our purpose. The sails could be up to the left. They could be up to the right, but we're still going in the direction we need to achieve our purpose.” Brad Strom defined resilience in much the same way, as “the ability to stay the course” and drew on a simple yet powerful lesson from his children’s VeggieTales days—to “keep on keeping on.” To Milena Jeremic, that keeping on means, “giving "100% even when the situation is hard or things aren’t going the way that you imagined”
Mention of VeggieTales had Erin Skopitz thinking back to her earlier career working on the production of the Magic School Bus: “On that show, the kids were constantly being put in situations that required them to use their combined knowledge to think fast and adapt to new and changing environments. I think this notion of adaptability, often through trial and error, really lands with me in terms of how I view resiliency. So to quote Ms. Frizzle, ‘Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!’”
The paradox of resilience is that it’s an independent journey we each share. We are all in our individual ships (or floating school buses) on the same stormy sea; some of us are hit by different waves—caught by different crosswinds, but we each keep on keeping on. You may see your colleagues from a different crew drifting off to starboard, others off to port; the important thing is that we acknowledge that while our journeys may be different, our destination is the same. As the storm worsens, we need to lash together in new ways and find new strength in our connections.
Value
IT Day offered more than just opportunities for connection—it provided attendees with unique and meaningful takeaways. For Milena, who did so much behind-the-scenes work for the event, IT Day showed how valuable being creative is and gave her a chance to leverage some of the soft skills that don’t always get to shine in her everyday work. Erin appreciated the opportunity to gain insight into what others are doing—removing the blinders that our busy schedules naturally force over our eyes to see the bigger picture. For Brad, it was watching the IT Team showcase their knowledge and gifts of communication and seeing those hidden talents clawing out from under their operational workloads.
These are vital aspects of our daily lives that we often overlook in our busyness. IT Day offers us that moment to pause, reflect, and broaden our perspective. It’s up to each of us to carry that outlook forward in the weeks and months ahead—extending the spirit of IT Day from a single day to every single day.
Highlights
Everyone remarked that IT Day is a whirlwind. Tim described it as an invigorating day that makes you need a nap after. So much happens so fast, and you can’t stretch yourself far enough to capture all the excitement. The presentations were fantastic this year. Everyone who presented was at the top of their game, and the most common feedback was that people couldn’t be in two places at once. Those who are curious about the presentations they missed can find them here!
While the presentations were great, it’s often the smaller moments that are the most connecting. For Erin—a last-minute but exceptional addition to the Breaking Barriers: Women in Tech Leading with Resilience panel—the moment that stood out to her was when a woman from another crew shared, “I've never heard anyone speak my truth like that. It was the first time that I heard someone describe an experience very similar to what I've been going through over the years, and I felt like I wasn't alone.”
Milena’s highlight came at the end of IT Day, when the stress of her duties were behind her, and the last thing to do was to collect the nametags she had created in the days leading up to the event. During this time, Brad approached her to commend her hard work and recognize the great job she had done. This small moment solidified what IT Day meant to Milena: a chance for a work-study student to meet and be acknowledged by her CIO. A rare opportunity for connection that doesn’t happen during the frenzy of our workweeks. Brad spoke about this moment and others like it, moments when he could take a second to recognize the excellence of his staff at a human level.
We know IT Day is packed with countless incredible moments, and we’d love to hear about your highlights. Leave a comment below to share your favourite memory of IT Day 2024!
Going forward
Right now, York and other post-secondary institutions are navigating stormy seas, and the clouds make our horizon unclear. What is clear is Brad’s commitment to IT Day. Those who have been around for a while would know that IT Day is a pre-existing event resurrected during Brad’s leadership. When he joined York, Brad held Voice of the Team meetings where he would meet with and discuss the current state of things and ways we could improve as an organization. During his sessions, he kept hearing people’s need to connect with their colleagues. So, “when it came time to invest into the team, it became an easy decision” to bring back IT Day. “When investments are being scrutinized so closely, it is really rewarding to champion this event, to keep it, and to see the ripples of others benefiting from that investment.”
Brad’s championing isn’t going away. In fact, his vision for the future of IT Day is to further professionalize it—building on its current strengths to further grow it. As Brad explains, “This conference is done by volunteers, many of whom are incredibly busy, and we’re asking them to make significant investments of time and effort.” He recognizes that the team has to scramble to get everything together on short notice and would “like to see what IT Day looks like with more deliberate focus—earlier calls for keynotes, a longer runway for presentation submissions, and a clearer theme established well in advance.” He discussed the feedback forms many attendees submitted (thank you!) and the importance of listening to that feedback. Using it to make thoughtful adjustments ensures the event continues to meet our needs. He wanted to reconfirm his excitement for IT Day 2025, which he’s committed to making happen next October.
Tim echoed Brad’s ideas for improvement and is excited to “sound the start gun and have people preparing with a date in mind, and for us to work backwards, more confident of our milestones.” Tim also suggested we improve our attendance gathering and poll people on which presentations they will most likely attend. This would address some of the feedback we got from attendees who noticed that room size didn’t always align with audience size.
Erin's vision for future improvements centred on extending connections beyond the IT community to foster broader collaboration and greater impact. She emphasized the value of panels as a presentation format, recalling past IT Days where student panels offered our community a platform to share their IT experiences. These sessions allowed our teams to engage directly with the students, asking questions to better understand and adapt to their evolving needs. Milena, a student herself, also spoke about the power of panels and, inspired by Sarah’s interactive keynote, highlighted the importance of making IT Day more interactive and suggested we incorporate a workshop feel into some sessions to encourage active participation and shared experiences. Brad confirmed that, based on attendee feedback, IT Day 2025 would include more out-of-the-box experiences to further shake things up and make future gatherings even more engaging.
Taking the Plunge
IT Day owes its success to all of you—brave presenters and gracious attendees alike. The most valuable things we can share are our time and our thoughts, and IT Day thrives because of your willingness to contribute both. Beyond the day’s highlights, IT Day also offers opportunities for professional growth—but it’s up to you to seize them. When asked how to grow as IT professionals at York, Brad encouraged everyone to take the leap and submit a presentation.
Where there is risk, there is growth…
— Brad Strom
“Where there is risk, there is growth. Standing before your peers can be intimidating—they know your strengths and weaknesses better than anyone. But every time someone shares, it benefits the whole community. Your courage makes the event possible and inspires others, showing them they can do it too. There’s something powerful about watching someone face their vulnerabilities, creating a ripple effect of growth and connection. The community's gonna benefit, both from your knowledge and also from your example, but you're gonna grow too. And I think that's some of the best fruits you can get.”
Tim describes this risk-growth mindset through the concept of misogi, a Japanese ritual where participants endure a freezing cold waterfall to prove to themselves that they can do something hard. Similarly, stepping up to present at IT Day can feel daunting, but it’s an opportunity to embrace the challenge, grow from it, and pave the way for others to do the same.
When the IT Day 2025 call for proposals opens, take the plunge and submit your idea. And if you’re not quite ready yet, we look forward to seeing you in the audience!
In the spirit of connection, growth, and taking the plunge, Brad offered another valuable piece of advice to carry with us as we prepare for IT Day 2025: the importance of openly sharing your aspirations and goals.
"It’s always amazing when someone approaches me and says, ‘I have aspirations in this area—can you offer any advice on how to get there?’ I’m always happy to come alongside them, but it takes courage to start that conversation."
Brad encouraged speaking not just to your manager but also to others, your directors or colleagues across teams. "Make sure your aspirations are known. People are busy, and your goals can easily go unnoticed. By sharing them, you create awareness and position yourself for opportunities when they arise."
He also recommended coming prepared with ideas or solutions when discussing your aspirations. Bringing something other than a blank page shows initiative and makes the conversation more real and productive.
Finally, Brad stressed the value of seeking advice and building connections. "Talking to others—not just your leaders—can give you valuable insights and help further your growth. Don’t be afraid to start those conversations."