It’s hard to believe that a year has passed already, and it’s only a week until Spreadsheet Day — Monday, October 17th.
Don’t panic though, there’s still time to organize an office party, and order a spreadsheet cake.
If you have thousands of dollars in your celebration budget, you could buy a special bottle of Scotch, that is the “Excel” of the whisky world. That’s out of my league though – I’ll have a glass of Canadian wine instead.
And please keep reading, to see how you can contribute to the celebrations.
Before the Spreadsheet
Back in the old days, when I went to university, there were no laptops, or spreadsheet programs. Sad, I know. Fortunately, paper had been invented by then, so I was able to take notes, without a rock and chisel.
There was even a computer assignment in my Statistics class. No tapping on an iPad though – we ventured into the dark and dusty dungeons below the Science building, where we submitted punch cards, to run a program. Good times!
The Spreadsheet Day Challenge
Even now, with fancy gadgets and Google searches, it’s tough to manage things as a student. By mid-October, the new school year enthusiasm has worn off, and brutal reality has set in.
Students are running out of money, are tired of eating macaroni and cheese, and can’t find any clean socks. A spreadsheet can’t solve all their problems, but might help them keep organized, and stay on a budget.
Many students have Microsoft Excel, or Google Documents, or another spreadsheet, so let’s help them make good use of those tools.
To celebrate Spreadsheet Day 2011, could you create a free template or add-in, to help a student? What spreadsheet tools could a struggling student use?
- Monthly student budget tracker
- Course assignment checklist
- Mark needed to pass this course calculator
- Low cost meal planner
- ???
If you don’t have time to make a template, you can drop by this blog next Monday, and leave a spreadsheet tip in the comments.
- Share one of your favourite formulas
- Post a time-saving shortcut
- ???
Post Your Contributions
Next Monday, October 17th, post your Spreadsheet Day contribution on your blog, or Facebook, or Twitter (use hashtag #spreadsheetday), or create a public Google spreadsheet.
If you send me a link to your free and useful Spreadsheet Day tool, I’ll post it on the Spreadsheet Day Blog, to help students find your work.
Thanks! Looking forward to seeing your contributions. Will you join in?
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