Help me spend my professional development money
July 18, 2013 2:57 PM
I am very fortunate to have an employer that gives us $1000/year to spend on professional development. Help me spend it!
I work as a software project manager for an arts service organization (a national non-profit that serves artists of all disciplines). The software I manage is a data aggregation/visualization platform. The development could be related to any of these things, or more generic "professional development." My best idea so far is lynda.com -- what am I missing? (I'm in Philadelphia, fwiw.)
I work as a software project manager for an arts service organization (a national non-profit that serves artists of all disciplines). The software I manage is a data aggregation/visualization platform. The development could be related to any of these things, or more generic "professional development." My best idea so far is lynda.com -- what am I missing? (I'm in Philadelphia, fwiw.)
If it were me, I'd be aching to spend it on a real world skills course, like a windsor chair making class.
posted by bonobothegreat at 3:45 PM on July 18, 2013
posted by bonobothegreat at 3:45 PM on July 18, 2013
Yes, I could use it to attend a conference. As long as I could pay by August 31.
posted by nosila at 4:27 PM on July 18, 2013
posted by nosila at 4:27 PM on July 18, 2013
I didn't have a particular conference in mind, but maybe this one-day course on Presenting Data and Information by Edward Tufte is relevant to your work, if you can fit the travel into your budget. You can probably find other conferences or events that are interesting to you, including ones closer to home.
posted by mbrubeck at 4:47 PM on July 18, 2013
posted by mbrubeck at 4:47 PM on July 18, 2013
Look for a local code camp. Or since you do visualization, see if a Tufte seminar is nearby.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:48 PM on July 18, 2013
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:48 PM on July 18, 2013
The Tufte seminars are a great idea! Not sure I can fit one of the upcoming seminars in my schedule, unfortunately.
posted by nosila at 4:50 PM on July 18, 2013
posted by nosila at 4:50 PM on July 18, 2013
SkillShare offers online classes on a wide range of subjects - perhaps you could find something there? Most classes are relatively inexpensive so they wouldn't make a huge dent in your budget, but it might be a good way to use up some of the rest of the money if you make a larger purchase elsewhere.
posted by meggan at 5:11 PM on July 18, 2013
posted by meggan at 5:11 PM on July 18, 2013
If it were me, I would get Rosetta Stone and learn a new language. Is there a language that is valuable to know in your field?
posted by NoraCharles at 5:40 PM on July 18, 2013
posted by NoraCharles at 5:40 PM on July 18, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by mbrubeck at 3:44 PM on July 18, 2013