IT in the D

Latest Episodes:

Episode 424 with Billy Strawter of BLAC Magazine Jan 27, 2022

Show notes

On this episode, we chatted with long time friend of the program Billy Strawter, owner and publisher of BLAC Magazine. We talked about basically starting a print magazine in a digital world and how to balance all forms of media. We then got into expansion, as BLAC has now entered into 6 new markets. Lastly, we talked about Detroit, living in the city vs. 20 years ago, the vibe, and some new places that have popped up around town. All in all, Billy is family to us and we hope you enjoy listening to this episode!

Episode 423 with Travis Waye and Bailey Terrell of CallHarbor Jan 13, 2022

Show notes

Randy and I had a great conversation with Travis Waye and Bailey Terrell from Call Harbor. We started things off right by making fun of the acronym UCaaS but then really started getting into some interesting stuff. Most of us look at telecommunications as an afterthought in the tech stack, especially when it comes to security, but Travis was a wealth of knowledge and discussed ways to safeguard phone systems. Overall it was a great chat and is well worth a listen, hope you enjoy it!

Episode 422 with Nuri Gocay Dec 23, 2021

Show notes

Friend and former cohost Nuri Gocay has returned to the States after working two years in New Zealand. We catch up and Nuri tells us what life in New Zealand is like, what the biggest culture shocks were, and what he missed most from the US. This was a great, light-hearted end to 2021. It was great to have Nuri back on the show. We'll be back in 2022!

Episode 421 with David Franco of Exceptional Academy Dec 16, 2021

Show notes

This week's guest is David Franco, Director of Exceptional Academy, a post-secondary program that provides IT certification training with a focus in cybersecurity for Detroit-area adults with disabilities. David spoke with us first on episode 337 where he introduced the program. Now, he's giving us an update on how the program is going, what the future plans are, and what their program needs from the community. Exceptional Academy is a program of the Living and Learning Enrichment Center (a suburban Detroit nonprofit which helps teens and adults with autism and/or related challenges. They offer IT training to local adults with disabilities that will result in globally recognized technology certifications up to and including CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) with a focus in Cybersecurity. This program was the first of its kind to be offered in Michigan and only the 2nd in the entire country. If your company is interested in providing guidance, experience, hardware, volunteer hours, internships and jobs for students, or financial sponsorship, please reach out to David. Thanks for listening to this episode about this great local program.

Episode 419 with Jason Brown of The Shyft Group Dec 10, 2021

Show notes

This week, we had a chat with Jason Brown, currently the IT Security Manager at The Shyft Group, formerly the CISO at Merit. We immediately talked about the mindset you have to be in moving from a Service Provider model to the public and then to the private sector in terms of security and privacy. We also chatted on his definition of zero trust. We talked about a recent breach where hackers are getting smarter and finding playbooks and reading chat rooms before they strike. Lastly, we mocked Hollywood a bit, our favorite being the NCIS episode where 2 people used 1 keyboard at the same time to try to thwart an attack. Thanks for listening! (Yes, we know this episode and the previous episode are out of order—we had to do it for the gag and didn't want to delay releasing episode 420!)

Episode 420 with Tom Celani of Luna Entertainment and Rudy Patros of Securatech Solutions Dec 02, 2021

Show notes

Episode 420—you know what that means? We are talking all things marijuana. Mary Jane. The devil's lettuce. You get the point :) And who better to talk about it than Tom Celani, the owner, president, and CEO of Luna Entertainment, the mother company of Metro Detroit based MotorCity Harley-Davidson, MotorCity Power Sports, Freedom Hills amphitheatre, TC Vineyards Inc., and the Celani Family Vineyards in Napa Valley. Celani is also an investor in a theater chain, a land developer in Arizona and Colorado, and a casino management consultant. Tom was also a partner in Detroit’s MotorCity Casino. He also owns High Life Farms in Chesaning, Michigan and California that boasts over 250,000 square feet of grow facilities. We also had in studio Rudy Patros, President of Securatech Solutions. Rudy puts in physical security systems, cameras, access control, etc. for these grow facilities. We discussed everything from how Tom got started in this business, to the legality of it, to how they select the products that go to market and how these facilities are locked down similar to a data center. Being a complete novice to this scene, I was fascinated on how quickly it's become a norm in today's society. Lastly, we talked about Tom's family foundation and the Cars and Cigars event where they raise money for Gleaner's Food Bank and the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, two of my favorite local charities.

Episode 418 with Lisa Plaggemier of the National Cybersecurity Alliance Nov 18, 2021

Show notes

For this episode, we were super-lucky to be able to chat with Lisa Plaggemier, Executive Director of the National Cybersecurity Alliance. NCSA advocates for safe and secure use of all technology. They give the average user plain-spoken info on cybersecurity issues. Lisa is super passionate about cyber security awareness and we immediately chatted about awareness for the older crowd. They have a great YouTube series called Mom, Don't Click That.We then got into corporate security awareness training. Their main site, staysafeonline.org has a ton of great resources from the basics to how to report cybercrime. We had a great time, and we are sure you will enjoy the conversation and content. Find more videos on the NCSA YouTube channel. (P.S. We thought this was Episode 417, so Randy had to do some creative editing—did you notice?)

Episode 417 with Jason Bourque of C3 Technology Advisors Nov 11, 2021

Show notes

This week, we talked to Jason Bourque of C3 Technology Advisors about all things cybersecurity and communication. Jason just visited the Channel Partners Conference in Las Vegas, and he talked about not only emerging vendors in the space but emerging technologies as well. If you like drinking games, I highly recommend having a drink in hand for everytime Jason says an acronym. Jason is a great resource and a great conversationalist—definitely worth a listen.

Episode 416 with Bill McAllister of Podcast Nation Nov 04, 2021

Show notes

This week, we were lucky enough to chat with long time radio veteran and podcast professional Bill McAllister. You might remember Bill from his days on 97.1 FM with Jay Towers and Stoney, you also might hear him on the radio now with 94.7 WCSX or subbing in for Frank Beckman on WJR. Bill is currently the President of Podcast Nation. We started off arguing about Gremlins, why it's a horror movie and not a Christmas movie and how the Dad is a giant pile of trash. We discussed the growth and evolution of podcasting and finished up talking about some of the famous people he has met and interviewed. (I'll give you a hint, it rhymes with Schmom Moos).

Episode 415 with David Spiess of Rollbar Oct 28, 2021

Show notes

On Episode 415, we chatted with David Spiess from Rollbar. For those unaware of what Rollbar does, they are a continuous code improvement platform. Obviously, Bob had 100 questions: What happens to QA? What happens when bad code keeps coming from the same people (because this software can do that)? And much more. Dave is an old school IT pro and we also shared stories from how he got his start in IT to what took him from engineering to sales. Thanks for the listen!

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