It is already the second half of August and we are quickly approaching a busy conference time for DLT. Up-coming events will take DLT all over the country, but some of the best are local ones happening just down the road. The annual Innovation Nation Forum, hosted by MeriTalk, will take place Tuesday, August 23 at the Washington Convention Center. Aiming to “Shake IT Up,” Innovation Nation will focus on three Federal IT hot topics- cloud computing, cybersecurity and data center consolidation.

On your mark, get set, go! The contestants furiously ripped open their packet, which contained the 20 clues that they would be following for the next two hours. Race for the Cup 2011 had begun. The DLT Race for the Cup is a picture scavenger hunt which takes place in the Washington D.C. metro area. A couple of years ago the DLT Social Committee, an employee-led group that focuses on employee events and morale, started the event as a team building activity. However, this annual scavenger hunt has quickly become one of the most highly anticipated events of the year.

On May 22, 2011 a tragic event occurred in the small town of Joplin, Missouri, with an incredible and lasting impact. With little prior warning before touching down, a powerful tornado ripped through the region, leaving hundreds dead, and thousands with nothing to call their own. Houses, schools and businesses were leveled to the ground, belongings of all sizes and shapes were swept away into a cycling fury and residents of Joplin were left searching for aid in the form of basic necessities. Well Joplin, Missouri, aid is coming from over 1,000 miles away! DLT Solutions, partnering with a campaign led by the NetApp Vienna office, hope to deliver thousands of pounds of supplies to the area on July 1st.

What the heck is SORT you ask? Well, it’s Symantec’s new “make your life easier” tool. SORT (Symantec Operations Readiness Tools) is a set of Web-based tools that supports Symantec enterprise products. It automates and simplifies some of the most time-consuming administrator tasks! These tools basically make it easy to prepare for your next installation or upgrade.

One evening last week I was watching an episode of 60 Minutes where they were examining the information several scientists have collected about the melting of the icecaps in Antartica. During the discussion, they mentioned that the resulting melt was providing a crucial source of drinking water for people in India, China and several other large countries. It started me thinking about the water that we drink everyday – where it comes from, how it gets to us, and how can we make the best decisions about our responsibility to the source of our water supply. We spend 8 hours a day, 5 days per week here at DLT. During that time, many of us make use of the water coolers that are located in the two DLT kitchens. Sometimes there’s even a line while everyone fills up their various containers. It’s a great thing – and I mean really great! And not just from a social perspective.

Across the United States, about 660,000 people are homeless on any given night. Over the course of a year, 2.5 to 3.5 million people nationwide will experience at least one night of homelessness. As of January 27, 2010, 11,774 people throughout the metropolitan Washington region indicated that they were homeless – a 1.7 percent decrease from 2009 . The DLT Foundation and the Reston Youth Association (RYA) are doing their part to further decrease that number.

When I think about the upcoming holidays I feel, honestly, a bit of stress. The holiday season, by its very nature, brings with it a more harried pace. The quest to find the perfect gift for each person on my list adds an extra bit of angst. And, you don’t have to spend much time with Annie Leonard’s Story of Stuff (http://www.storyofstuff.com/) to wonder if there is a way to put a little green back in the holidays. What I’m talking about is getting back to basics and thinking outside of the Macy’s gift box.

Every year around the holiday season, we all get in the giving spirit. You put your spare change in a bucket, get an extra gift for a loved one, maybe even bake some cookies for someone. Well, at DLT Solutions, the holiday spirit gets kicked up a few notches in the form of our annual Toys for Tots Competitive Toy Drive. If you aren’t familiar with the Toys for Tots program, it is a great foundation run by the Marines to benefit underprivileged children. The goal is simple: bring in as many toys a possible. At DLT, we of course take it to another level.

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder of unknown cause that affects nearly 5 million individuals. While the average age at onset is 60 and the disorder affects one in 100 people over the age of 60, people have been diagnosed as young as 18. DLT Solutions knows firsthand the impact Parkinson’s disease can have on an individual and his or her loved ones. That’s why the DLT Foundation is proud to support the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF). The DLT Foundation focuses on making strategic investments to meet the most critical needs in our communities.

What do rodents, beer, pizza, coins and infectious disease have in common? Nothing, right? Well at DLT, they do. No, we don’t have rats running around the office. We are also clear of infectious disease. The above was just one of 24 clues for the fourth annual DLT Race for the Cup Scavenger Hunt. The DLT Social Committee invented The DLT Race for the Cup a few years ago as a social, team building activity, and it has quickly become one the most anticipated events at DLT Solutions.