LDS Church's "Tech Talks"

[ShineOn]

I just saw this on the front page of lds.org.

The link goes to a page that says:

CIO Joel Dehlin and directors in Church technology invite I.T. professionals to “tech talks” in various locations to discuss the technologies that serve the Church’s enterprise. System engineers, software developers and testers, interaction designers, and other "techies" may enjoy these discussions.

http://www.lds.org/techtalks

Sounds pretty interesting to me. But I don't get it. Why would they have pubic seminars on the church's techonologies, and why would they put it on the front page? Normally you don't advertise your infrastructure, and if you want input you ask for it. This is not input, just them explaining how they do stuff. I must not be in tune because I don't know why they would do this.

I do know that the church is hiring 40+ Java developers right now, which is a large number, even for consulting companies. So maybe this is related to that.

[SwissMrs&Pitchfire]

Seems odd in that setting, but it could just be a "getting on the same page" kind of thing with those working with the church? I know the geneology dept. is undergoing huge metamorphesis as far as their networks.

[ShineOn]

I went to one of the Church's Tech Talks this week. There were lots of people there, at least 300 since the chapel in the Joseph Smith Memorial building was packed. There were several breakout sessions regarding Development, User Interface Design, Infrastructure, etc. My impression coming away was that the church really does have a top notch development program going on. The individuals involved all seemed like really good guys. Based on what I saw of the techonology they use and the processes they use to create and deliver techonology solutions for the church, they have got a really good thing going on.

The purpose of the Tech Talks seems both to get members who want to help with the techonology a way to do that, and also for a recruiting tool. One thing that seemed a little odd is that the church's IT deptartment is so big, with such highly-skilled people, with such good processes in place, what do they need other people for? I didn't hear of any real pain points that the church was trying to solve, so I just feel like saying, "Keep up the good work. I don't know what you need me for."

[SwissMrs&Pitchfire]

Our old bishop down in Dixie was recruited by the church into that department. Funny his story of recruitment from CA. and it's high pay etc...

I can't wait to see the finished product of their massive genealogical overhaul.

Hard to say what they are looking for eh.

Having worked for a huge company with proprietary software, I have to say that I really appreciate what the church has done. Top notch undeniably!