After completing a degree at Pittsburgh's Duquesne University in psychology with a minor in sociology, I begin working for the City of Pittsburgh. I was born and raised here, and working for the City let me help give back to the community. I love this city and its people, and I can truly say it's been a very fulfilling experience.

In my major, I didn't receive formal technology training, yet I joined the City's IT department. The personal surprise for me was how technology is hands-on, and can be fun and creative for anyone.

A big part of my job was ensuring that employees were comfortable and productive using Google Apps. What better way to orient people than using the Google Apps themselves for further learning after training?

Working closely with our web team and using templates from Daston, we custom built a Google Site with video and Internet links to help users adopt Google Apps and become productive quickly. We wanted to be sure that the migration and the training would be tailored to meet users' specific requirements. Having this site has allowed our users the chance to learn new aspects of Google, and review topics covered in the hands-on training. For instance, we linked content to web pages that explained how features worked in Microsoft Outlook and how the capabilities could be mirrored in Gmail.

Our CIO estimates that the move to Google Apps will save us 25 percent or more in annual email support costs and allow us to deliver better services to our residents—but we have to ensure that users are versed in taking advantage of all the Google Apps tools. That's a task that is progressing well with hands-on, how-to tutorials, created using the built-in capabilities of Google Apps. We've found that Google Apps is a great way to train employees, with the potential to cover virtually any topic.