Connect 2022: Learning Leads the Way
May 17, 2022 by Steve Goll
Learning took the driver’s seat as Connect 2022 shifted into top gear. From the participant perspective, Connect’s 750+ classes provided learning routes for every skill level: beginning, intermediate, and advanced. Along the way there was something for every learning style as well. Whether it was traditional classes, product demos, hands-on labs, workshops, or roundtable forums, participants were destined to pick up new insights on using Tyler products for better, more efficient service.
Choices, Choices
The huge variety of sessions was almost overwhelming for Samuel Blake, IT manager for the city of Lynn Haven, Florida. Appreciating how many sessions he wanted to attend, he wished for a longer conference.
Blake’s colleague Stephanie Nickell, director of customer service for utility billing, agreed. Her strategy when faced with the choice of picking between concurrent classes? Flip a coin. Nickell and Blake were happy that they would be able to download the presentations for the sessions they couldn’t attend.
Nickell said this year’s in-person aspect was invaluable. She was impressed by the sheer number of people at Connect, and she appreciated seeing everything her peers across the country were tackling. That person-to-person interaction was something she missed when she attended Connect virtually last year.
From left to right, Samuel Blake, Stephanie Nickell, and Rachel Bundy traveled to Connect 2022 from the city of Lynn Haven, Florida. Lynn Haven uses Enterprise ERP, powered by Munis, for utility billing.
Also grateful for the in-person format was Marie Middleton from Contra Costa County Office of Education in California. “The forums are great. I love the opportunity to learn from peers and to discuss problems and solutions.”
A team from California’s Contra Costa County Office of Education, Karin Critoria, David Sanderson, and Marie Middleton, users of Enterprise ERP, powered by Munis.
Learning From Experts
In fact, a common refrain mentioned over and over was how valuable it was to hear from peers across the country. Connect is known for elevating a mix of voices, both peers discussing innovative uses of Tyler technology in their communities and Tyler experts sharing the latest product features. For many, the sessions were opportunities to “put faces to the names” of people they were already familiar with through Tyler virtual user groups and communities of practice.
From left, Justin Bruce of Tyler Technologies with Mike Rowicki and Kristin Stoycheff Schillig of Fulton County, Georgia. Rowicki and Schillig shared how Fulton County chose Tyler’s Enterprise Data Platform to connect and share data across criminal justice, courts, and behavioral health systems to redirect people with mental health disorders out of the criminal justice system and to the supportive care they need.
The session, Cloudy With a Chance of Court, was led by Tyler's Jonathan Lang and Riley Miles. The duo explained Tyler’s cloud-first strategy, outlined the benefits to be gained from the cloud, and demonstrated the next generation of Incode Court. Already, courts have used the new, browser-based functionality to bring their judges and prosecutors online and to manage their courtroom practices.
Teams Take the Learning Home
Veterans of Connect know the team approach is the best way to take the learning back home to their agencies. And by far, “divide and conquer” was the most popular and effective strategy they employed for maximizing their time.
Back home the learning won’t slow down. In many ways, everyone who takes part in Connect returns home having picked up a newer, larger team – a team of newfound peers from other jurisdictions with whom to continue on their learning journey.
From the city of Monroe, Ohio, the team of Donna Campbell, Amy Deufemia, Brian Ha, and Jameson Diegmueller, took the “divide and conquer” approach to Connect sessions.
The team from the city of Cape Coral, Florida, meeting first thing in the morning to plan for a day of learning.