Closing Thoughts by Hugo Landau

It is human nature to compete; thus, faced with the opportunity to compete, there is no choosing, or choice at all; there is only competition. For no other choice is befitting of any human, or even any animal. There is little wisdom to be found in declining such an opportunity. Competition is like survival; it is an instinct, written into the fabric of our very being.

Euroskills 2008 was a skills competition I had the good and most precious fortune to participate in. Like any competition, it is an opportunity to prove and better thyself. Truly, it would be impossible to travel through such an experience without doing the same to some degree. Any individual who had the extraordinary fortune to participate in the competitions left Rotterdam a better person than they were entering.

What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. This is something of a mantra for me and many now. It is a philosophy that I genuinely hold faith in. Other philosophies I particularly take to are the philosophies that sometimes, you have to live on so that you can fight another day... and that you should live in the present, not spend your life tending to the past or obsessing over the future.

I participated in a team of four, my person included, that comprised the UK Office ICT team. We came fifth; we were seven out of one hundred marks from first place.

Many people like to hold onto the philosophy, in this situation, that one did their best, and to take comfort and psychological tranquility in that concept. This philosophy could not induce more the opposite in myself, curiously.

I, frankly, reject outright the concept that I, and we, did our best. I reject this not just because we didn't come in first place, but because I don't believe that anybody truly does their best.

Understand what I am saying carefully; I take this philosophy not to be negative, pessimistic even; on the contrary, this gives me hope, moreso than the philosophy that is 'you did your best' would ever create in me.

It gives me hope because it means I, and any competitor in any competition anywhere, has the power to exceed the potential they demonstated in that self-same competition. To me, it is that no matter how much potential someone may render in some circumstance, they always have the power to achieve a greater potential still. There is no limit to human endeavour.

Accepting that 'I did my best' means accepting that I will NEVER be better than fifth place. I outright reject that notion, completely and utterly.

This is not to say that I am rendering myself a sore loser. I accept the outcome of the competition I participated in; more than than that, I am at peace with that outcome, and I believe that I, and the team in general, did very reasonably.

But I recognise my ability, as a human, to EXCEED THE POTENTIAL THAT I DEMONSTRATED, and, more than that, I WILL EXCEED that potential. Be it at WorldSkills, be it in another competition, be it in academic contribution, be it in the field, be it in invention. I will exceed what I rendered here, this year, in Rotterdam.

Recognising that power is mutally exclusive with believing that 'you did your best'. It is to me, at least.

Euroskills, to me, is perhaps a prelude to greater things to come. I believe that because I believe that I can, through my own action, effort and passion—wrought with my own two hands—come to exceed what I demonstrated here, and that in doing so, I will render myself a greater person still. I seek to better myself, and prove myself. I will do so. I swear it, and I promise it; not to you, but to myself. I give up self-improvement not for this.
I will exceed.

Hugo Landau
Open Source Specialist,
Office ICT Team, UKEuroskills 2008 · 2008·10·04

Euroskills Results

Hi All,

Sorry for the delay in writing after the competition but as you can fully understand it has been a very trying time for myself and the team.

So Euro Skills I'll try to make it brief but to the point for the days

15th September
We had the team Send Off party in London, where we received our Team UK Enamel's
We then flew from London city airport to Rotterdam (a nice private little jet) and enrolled at the Ahoy centre. Where by chance Stevie Wonder was playing

16th September
We got taken around the Euro port of Rotterdam, where there were Crates, Crates and more Crates
Later we travelled to Rotterdam to see what the City was like. Both Mike and I indulged in some decent food from McDonalds

17th September
The first day we got to check out the competition site, sadly we didn’t get to try out any kit and but we did get a good look round.
Later that day was the opening ceremony, there is no video evidence from Euro Skills of this but I do promise we did do it.
I got the chance to lead the country out, waving the Union Jack, a very special moment to me

18th September
The competition began we got table number 4
Random fact - 4 was the number on the back of my shirt at Warden Hill football B team, anyway.......
Organisation is not one of Euro Skills greatest High lights - we did not have the right equipment for sooo long, sadly it wasn’t just our competition which was poorly organised but all of them.
Though as a team we managed to get round things and we were doing well for time etc.

19th September
I had little sleep that night trying to make sure everything went to plan.
The morning session, also went drastically wrong and by lunch time I was glad to have a break.
Back in April at the team selection competition on the final lunch time before we went back to try and finish our task warren said he didn’t know what he was doing and I personally let rip, not something i'm proud of but something that had to be done
Sadly this happened again at Euro Skills, but this time we managed to get round it and we were able to get that part of the competition working in a fashion
By the end of the day we had 90% of it working in a useable form.

20th September
That day I had to do the presentation to the experts, pretending it was to the CEO of the company
As a team we gave the presentation of our lives, this is filmed and if you ever get to watch it, look out for Hugo's part, he was fantastic!!!!
We then waited for a silly amount of hours and then finally he had the closing ceremony with results.

We came 5th.

Personally I thought we deserved a medal but something’s are not to be. Also my reaction to finding out the results was not one of a project manager, but when you put everything you have into a competition like that you have to sometimes express yourself in a manner which shows how you feel.

Team UK though achieved 8 Gold Medals, 1 Silver and the rest obtaining Medallions of Excellence including ourselves.

From the darkness comes light;
The after party was amazing, free booze at the Ahoy!, and then somehow we had to bottles of wine for the coach back to where we were staying. The Atmosphere on that bus was electric. The singing, the Irish and the toilet stop by the side of the road, the bad Dutch music and poor dancing by yours truly

Now a few personal notes to people who I hope will read this....
Shereen - You could of dressed up 1000 times better but that coat did make the outfit =]
Victoria - Thank you for listening to me go on and on you if anyone deserved a Gold you did more than anyone
Hugo & Mike - Part of the 3 amigos, you were fantastic and CMA many times
John O & Kev - For giving the chance to do something I never thought I would do in a million years
Ollie Benson - My hands are still out of my pockets and won’t go back........Thank You

And finally to my Family and Girl friend Laura, you were able to keep my spirits up in my darkest times.

So when all is said and done, this was a fantastic experience and something that makes me feel proud to be involved with.

Thanks for reading

Toby H

Mike's Thoughts

Hi All,

I think that considering the short amount of time I have spent with the team - i think we have worked very well in getting things done and have been able to resolve problems together very quickly.

The other guys have obviosly spent alot of time doing their training and deffinatley know what they are doing.

Overall i think if everything goes to plan we should do very well in the competition.

All the best

Mike W

Keith's thoughts

Hi all,

Just going to post some of my thoughts about how the training has been going and what I think about the other team members.

First of all, the training. Most of the training has been more individual-based than team based in my opinion, but that may be because I have been putting in a lot of work at home as well as during the training sessions. Most of the home training has been focussed more on the theory side than the practical side, with researching of the practical side when I am stuck. In the training sessions, we have been practising labs and keeping our skills sharp for the competition.

Having Hugo on the team is a real blessing. He keeps impressing me with what he can do with Linux as well as the knowledge he already has in my area of expertise in this competition. He seems to be a natural when it comes to computers and networks.

Although Micheal has only been a member of the team for a month or two, his Microsoft knowledge from his job will be an asset to our success. Although I have not seen his team working skills that much, what I have seen makes me happy to see that any problems will be communicated as they arise, or shortly there after.

During the April competition, Toby's project management skills were impressive to me, mainly due to not knowing exactly what needed to be done for project management. However, recently, due to his work or assignments for teacher training, he has not been doing much during our training sessions in the way of practising for the competition. I am a bit worried about this, but would assume that he would be dedicated enough to practise in his own time, when possible.

All the best,

Keith

Euroskills Brochure

Hi All,

Below is a link to the Euroskills sqaud brochure.
It has interviews with all the members of the Office IT team as well as Hairdressing, Fashion, Cleaning, Automotive Technology Light Vehicle and Farrier.

http://www.ukskills.org.uk/export/sites/uk.co.vpt.ukskills.content/projects/b_Euroskills_Team_UK/resources/download/EUROSKILLS_TEAM_UK_BROCHURE_.pdf

Enjoy

Toby H

The time is near.....

Hi All,

6 days until we jet off to Rotterdam and the reality of the competition is starting to hit home.

I don't think anyone involved with us guys would believe a year ago, we would be going to represent the country in computing and some still don't.

We have always been a very determined group of individuals and I think we are currently in the clutch just about to hit top gear.

Mike has joined this team with very little time to prepare and has fitted in so well, I’m amazed to think we coped without him little more than a month ago.

Hugo is now starting to achieve the potential we all thought he had. He is able to take an idea and rung with it and showing the determination needed to break through the “I’m good at what I do”, to “I’m fantastic and no one can beat me” level of technical excellence.

Keith is a rock. If you ever asked him to do a job, he would do it and keep with it until it’s done to his level, which I may add is higher then what most people can think of. He is practising everyday at the college and such a high work rate, yet i know he can do even more.

At this point a special thank you to Kevin as his technical training is helping Keith and Hugo to be far above the level needed for the competition.

I think that is it for now

All the best

Toby H

Team Practise

Hi All,

Today the team practised at barnfield college.

To the right are a few photos from the day.

A Video should be uploaded within 24 hours

Cheers

TH

Offical Dates for Office IT Team

Hi All,

Below is a list of dates regarding the team over the next month or so.

26th August - Team Practise, Barnfield College
2nd September - Team Practise, Barnfield College
9th September - Team Practise, Barnfield College
15th September - Team Send Off, London & Travel to Rotterdam
16th September - Team free day/city tour
17th September - Team preparation/familiarisation & Opening ceremony 5.00pm
18th September - All Day Competition
19th September - All Day Competition
20th September - Competition until 1.00pm & Closing ceremony 6.00pm
21st September - Arrive back in London
25th September - National Training Awards, Cambridge
18th October - Team UK 'Welcome Back' reception, London

All the best

TH

Official Announcement

Hi All,

It is our unfortunate but necessary displeasure to which we must announce that Warren Fox has been withdrawn from this summers competition at Euroskills.

Warren Fox has been a crucial compenant to the team as Microsoft Specialist, but due to personnel reasons has been removed.

Owing to this last-minute change, we have approached Michael West who has agreed to provide his exceptional skill in maintaining Microsoft environments as we compete for the duration of Euroskills.

Kind Regards

TH, HL, KK

Happy Birthday Keith

May I on behalf of the team wish Mr Keith Kelly a very Happy Birthday!

He is working extremely hard towards Euro Skills this September and today, his 21st birthday should not go unnoticed.

Happy Birthday once again

Toby

Official Announcement 19th August

Hi All,



There is to be an Official Announcement regarding the team on the 19th August 2008



Kind Regards



Toby Henness

Keith Kelly Interview

Brathay Review

Hello all


Just thought I would do a bit of a write up of our few days at Brathay last week.

Thursday, the day we arrived, we were kept fairly much to ourselves and were able to address a few issues and get team members to rely on each other more as a unit, as can be seen in Brathay Day 1.

Friday morning started early with exercise looking over Lake Windermere. All Office IT team members including training managers took part (Photos to appear soon!). We then continued with more team bonding exercises which allowed us to reflect on the processes of the team and use the feedback skills we had learnt the previous night.

Mid Morning we got set a Euroskills Squad task. This involved multiple activities taking place through the day including Boating on Lake Windermere, Abseiling and High V's to name but a few. These activities scored points which would allow the team to launch itself officially.

The required points total was 130 and we managed to get 171 points meaning our send off was even better. The team were able to launch rockets, and show off the newly created Euroskills Squad banner. This was followed by Champagne and Muffins out on the green beside the Lake.

A celebratory meal and a speech by the CEO of UK Skills, Simon Bartley, was the evening’s entertainment followed by drinks in the Brathay bar.

Saturday began like Friday with morning exercise led by Steph. The squad was then broken down and to our individual trades. We, as the Office IT team, then created an image which represented us as a whole, The Four Golden Boys. (Photos again to follow)

We were then explained the Schedule and said our good bye's to the rest of the squad until September the 15th, which is the official send of date of the UK squad.

So at this point I would like to say a big thank you to all members of the Brathay staff who have helped us over the last few months. Their advice has been amazing and has really opened up my eyes to what we can achieve as a team and personally.

I would also like to say good luck to all members of the squad;

Victoria Griffiths, Dean Jones, Charlote Mason, Sandro Nobrega, Craig Robinson, Fabio Silva, Kirsty Steel, Sarah Terry and Hilary Wells.

There will be more interviews from the Office IT team members soon and photos from Brathay and activities we will get up to as a team.

Thanks for reading

TH

Brathay Day 2

Brathay Day 1

Congratulations Keith Kelly

As Project Manager of the team, I myself and the team would like to congratulate Keith Kelly on passing his Cisco CCNA earlier today.

His commitment to the team is second to none and today’s achievement is another step to ensure that he can be at his best the September.

The team now moves on to a training weekend in Brathay next week and photos and videos will be uploaded after the event.

Thanks for the support and congratulations to Keith once again.

Toby H

Well Done Keith and Warren

Great news for us two of the team members have won medals at the recent UK Skills National Championships. Kevin Large (Technical Instructor) took Keith Kelly and Warren Fox to Northumberland College, Ashington.

This was Keith’s first attempt at competition. He has won a Silver Medal in the Cisco Competition.

Warren got a Bronze Medal in the Microsoft Competition. He has previously won a Gold Medal in the Hardware Challenge.

Every member of the EuroSkills 2008 team is now a medal winner in national competitions.

Well done guys, gold in Rotterdam though.

John O

Team Appear in Luton News

On the 21st of May the Office IT Team appeared in the Luton News.
It discusses the success already achieved by the team.
To veiw article please click below

Hugo Landau Interview

1 Month Review

Team Appear in Luton News

On the 7th of May the Office IT Team appeared in the Luton News.

It discusses the success already achieved by the team.

To veiw article please click below

1 Week on Review

Results Review, Day 3 - Coventry

Competition Day 2 Review

Competition Day 1 Review Video

Rotterdam Photos

Just uploaded are the photos from John O’Neill’s trip to Rotterdam.
This trip was to see the competition venue and read a possible competition script

TH

Toby Henness

Toby Henness is the Project Manager for the Office IT team and his role is to ensure the team functions as smoothly as possible, manages all office procedures and keeps the team running within the time scales specified. He is already trained in Cisco and Microsoft and is certified in Linux.

Currently he is studying the CompTIA Project Management course, as well as studying towards a Foundation Degree in Mobile Telecommunications.

Toby is currently employed at Barnfield College in Luton where he teaches Linux, as well as being a Cisco Technician for the Open University and is Shop Manager for Yellowstone Electronic Solutions.

Toby’s participation with World Skills UK dates back to June 2006 when he entered a Hardware and Software Competition. He went on to win Barnfield Colleges first medal, Silver, and since then has won an additional medal. Thanks to Barnfield, Cisco and World Skills UK he was able to visit Japan to witness World Skills in November 2007.

Warren Fox

Warren Fox is the Microsoft Specialist for the EuroSkills 2008 Office IT Team. He is responsible for the set-up of Microsoft server’s DNS, DHCP and Active Directory for the competition.

Currently on his 1st Year of the BTEC diploma at Barnfield College, he is also studying the Cisco CCNA, CompTIA Computer Hardware and Maintenance as well as the Microsoft certification.

Warren previously competed at the UKSKILLS Computer Hardware competition achieving 1st place in 2007. He now looks forward to hopefully competing internationally for United Kingdom at Euroskills this September.

Keith Kelly

Keith Kelly is the Cisco Specialist for the EuroSkills 2008 Office IT Team. He is responsible for the set-up of the network and configuration of the Cisco Equipment for the competition.


Currently on his Second Year of the Foundation Degree at the University of Bedfordshire, learning about Mobile Telecommunications, Security, Building Scalable Internetworks and Project Management .


Keith Brings an enthusiasm for excellence as well as a comprehensive knowledge of Cisco equipment. Though he hasn’t done any previous competitions his commitment to the team in unquestionable.

Kevin Large

Kevin’s role could best be described as the team’s technical instructor and technologies coordinator; it will be his responsibility to train the team members in specific technologies and to develop scenario’s that will promote lateral thinking, great troubleshooting skills and most importantly team bonding.

Kevin is currently employed at Barnfield College in Luton where he teaches Linux, Cisco CCNA/CCNP and Network Security on the Foundation Degree programmes and the Cisco CCNA for the Open University.

Kevin’s involvement with UK Skills dates back to 2006 when he trained the first Barnfield College student to enter a competition, the student Toby Henness (project manager in the EuroSkills 2008 team) went on to win the first of his two medals.

Since that time Kevin has trained two more students both currently members of the 2008 team, Hugo Landau and Warren Fox, both of whom were national Gold medal winners in 2007 on their first attempts at competitions.

John O'Neill

John is the Training Manager for the EuroSkills 2008 UK team. He has 28 years of Voice and Datacoms experience gained with companies such as BT and a number of smaller specialised companies in the sector. John also has many years of Project Management and Microsoft experience so he is well placed to lead the teams training.

John is currently employed at Barnfield College in Luton where he manages the Full Time Foundation Degrees in “Computer Hardware and Networking” and “Modern Telecoms”.

As Training Manager for the EuroSkills 2008 UK team John will manage all aspects of the teams training, from creating individual training plans through to delivering technical training in the areas of Cisco, VoIP, Microsoft and Project Management.

Brathay Feb 2008

The team joined other UK EuroSkills 2008 Competitors at Brathay Hall, Cumbria. Here we took part in team building and movitivational activities. As you can see from the picture of Lake Windermere the weather was not in our favour.