Tidbits of 'The Woz' at eLive 2015

The whole tone and feel of Ellucian Live 2015 was a bit different to me.  I attend the CIO Forum and the first day and a half of the regular conference.   Some of you will be shocked I am saying this because of various things I have written or tweeted over the years, but there were pieces of eLIve 2015  where it seemed as though maybe…..just maybe that Ellucian may finally be getting it all together after the merger a few years ago.   I still don’t excuse them for not being able to provide services in a more timely manner and costs associated with many of their tools are still too high but they certainly have made some good moves.
I had a terrible flight in for the eLive CIO forum (delayed flights created a 3:30AM arrival for the 8:00AM start), got a piece of fuzz in my eye that I couldn’t get out for awhile (ouch) and I just have felt a bit run down, but things got better quickly.   The “Secret Guest Keynote Speaker” for the opening session of eLive 2015 morning was Steve Wozniak, who along with Steve Jobs co founded Apple Computer. The Woz was the best keynote speaker I have heard in the past 20 years. Here are a few tidbits from that meeting. I thought I would give my FB friends a sneak preview.
Observations:
“And that is that…. just means The Woz is starting another story
Note to self…Never follow the Woz as a speaker
Living Proof the that the best delivery needs no visuals
The Woz grabbed the audience early and never let g
Didn’t know the Woz taught 5th grade for a little while after he left Apple
Silicon Valley was just fruit orchards when Woz was a kid
The Woz design computers on paper when he didn’t think he could ever afford the parts
The Woz took a year off following his sophomore year to earn his 3rd year of college as to not burden his parents
The Woz got his degree under a fake name after his successful time at Apple
Wozniak isms
“H=Fcubed = Food, Fun & Friends”
“My biggest challenge was getting the faculty to listen to me when I had a good idea” (from Woz as a student)
“Whereever the brightest people work… they don’t lock their doors” (this was invaluable in gaining access to learn stuff)
“The higher up you go is usually dependent upon how nice you are to people”
“The reason we got stuff done fast….We had no lawyers”
“Don’t believe that movie with Ashton Kutcher, it’s so…. UGH.”
“Five cents was my standard rate for everything”
“I was too shy to ask if I could go to the conference( some tech event a long time ago) even though I was the co founder”
“I always wanted to be a knowledge based person”
“Sometimes when you challenge the impossible your don’t succeed, but you learn from it.
” A young person wants human guidance”
“My mind just goes off on whatever I am thinking about” (at which point Ellucian CEO Jeff Ray just chucked his question list across the stage, perfect timing and reaction)
“Steve Jobs died wishing he were more technical
“The one who changes the world is not the one with the idea, but the one who puts it into practice””I am glad Apple is smart financially…Smarter than the US Government”
“The human is more important than the computer”
“I want to interact with date in a human way and have the computer understand me”
“I wonder if our phone will recognize our emotions”
“I wish I had an hour more” (and so did all 8000 people in the room)
“Your the best, Your Important”