In January of 2024, we celebrated both the highlights and achievements from 2023, as well as the outstanding individuals who've helped contribute to make the Lenovo Communities across the globe what they are today.
To continue the recognition and celebration, we wanted to spotlight the Lenovo Pro award winners; their thoughts, tech, recommendations and experience here in the Lenovo Pro Community. So tune in as you get the behind-the-scenes peek into the winners!
What does winning this award mean to you?
Assia: "I am happy that my appreciation of the community has been recognized!"
Judith: "The Lenovo Pro Champion Award means so much to me. First of all this was unexpected because I interact with the Lenovo Pro Community because I really enjoy the interactions I have with the other professional people. I look forward to learning new ideas daily from the groups. It is truly an honor and a privilege to be part of this community."
Daniel: "I was surprised and honored to win the Lenovo Pro Community MVP award. I always like to share knowledge and help others."
What is one of your favorite moments or highlights from being part of the Lenovo Pro Community over the years?
Assia: "I really appreciate the fact that there is someone reliable who is here to assist when needed. Even if it is not her mission, she helps to contact the habilitated person to help."
Judith: "My favorite highlight of being part of the group is the Lenovo Evolve Small information. This program is helpful to many small businesses throughout the USA. I really enjoyed the video that Lenovo Evolve Small made for my business."
Daniel: "My favorite moments were the online events. I enjoyed speaking with Beth and the members of the community over Teams or Zoom."
What time of day are you most on and visiting the community for others to connect with you?
Assia: "I don’t have a particular time. Just when I am traveling, when I’m back home, when I have a time to enjoy the community 😊"
Judith: "The best time I found was during the lunch time hours because it is fun to review the information while having lunch or waiting for a class to begin."
Daniel: "I work and reside in Arizona, and I'm available in the mornings and late evenings after my wife and kids go to sleep. Some days I have time to be in the community during work hours when I am not swamped with projects.'
What advice do you have for other members just starting out in the community on getting engaged or finding resources?
Assia: "Do not hesitate to communicate with the community. It is a caring place, where several people can help in their specialties."
Judith: "The advice I have for other members just starting out in the community on getting engaged or finding resources is that I found that when posting a comment and adding a video, one should click "upload" because it appears that nothing will happen but it will. Refresh the community if nothing happens with the post. Also at the bottom of the page there is a drop down menu for the other two communities that are fun to interact with."
Daniel: "I try to read everyone's responses to the topic posts. I think it's a great way to learn from each other and we all have different backgrounds and knowledge that can benefit each other."
What is one of your favorite series, authors, conversations or events from the community?
Assia: "There are currently several webinars for small business owners. These are valuable sessions where you can find great advice."
Judith: "One of my favorite authors is actually Daniel Y. He is a very insightful Lenovo Community member. I always learn so much from his posts."
Daniel: "I enjoy many of the Coffee Break discussions, like favorite Space-theme movie & Poll, Favorite Productivity Hack, Favorite Christmas Food and etc."
Can you tell us about your personal ‘tech stack’? What you use and how you like it?
Assia's Set Up
Assia: "My favorite is my precious X1 carbon. It is my ideal work tool for processing data, preparing my reports and presentations. It is robust and reliable. I plan to expand my pack to have the completeness of the tools necessary for my work: smartphone, computer for my colleague, her phone and various accessories. I want everything to be trusted tools, so, Lenovo. It will be as soon as possible."
Judith's Set Up
Judith: "The Tech stack that I have in order to keep my businesses up and running is: first and foremost I have Lenovo ThinkPads; 2 ThinkBook 14s Gen 4 (Thank you Lenovo Evolve Business), Lenovo Yoga 9i Laptop (Thank you Lenovo EDU), Ear Buds and Lenovo Go Wireless Split Keyboard and Monitor (Thank you Lenovo Pro Community), and Lenovo Tiny (thank you Lenovo rewards points). These are work horses and during the busiest parts of the year, they run non stop. I use Canva, HeyGen.ai, Adobe and DropBox for creating ideas. I am a part of nine online educational companies that supply substitutes to many global classrooms. The underserved students of the USA, Asia and the Americas need help and so I try to connect with these students as much as possible so that they can learn English and achieve their dreams."
Daniel's Home Set up
Daniel: My photography business & personal home tech stack consists of the following: (most used and larger items, I have a ton more tech stuff)
- Networking
- Ubiquiti Unifi UXG-Lite – firewall
- Ubiquiti Unifi 16-port gigabit switch
- Ubiquiti Unifi 8-port gigabit switch
- Ubiquiti Unifi 5-port gigabit switch
- Ubiquiti Unifi AP nanoHD – Wireless Access Point
- Ubiquiti Unifi U7 Pro – Wireless Access Point
- 2 Ubiquiti Nanostation 5 AC point-to-point wireless - for bridging my wired office network to the rest of my house (could not run CAT6 here)
- Computing
- Lenovo ThinkPad P50s laptop
- Lenovo Tab Extreme android tablet
- Apple Mac Studio desktop - main photography, video editing, and 3D design system
- Apple iPad Pro 11”
- HP ProDesk desktop - for running Unifi Network Controller and home automation
- Camera gear
- Canon EOS R5 – mirrorless digital camera
- Canon EOS 5D mkIV – DSLR camera
- Canon RF 28-70mm f/2 L lens
- Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L lens
- Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L lens
- Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L lens
- Various Profoto monolights, Canon speedlights, and light modifiers
- Several tripods, monopods, light stands, C-stands, background stands, & etc.
- Monitors
- Lenovo ThinkVision P27u-20 27" 4K LCD color corrected monitor - main photo and video editing monitor
- Lenovo Qreator 27 monitor 27" 4K LCD - secondary monitor
- Storage
- Synology DS419p 4-bay NAS - main storage
- Custom built Intel Core i7 5th gen desktop with unraid – Older Windows desktop converted to secondary NAS
- Accessories
- Logitech G512 Lightsync RGB mechanical keyboard
- Logitech MX Master mouse
- Datacolor Spyder X – color calibration tool for monitors
- Wacom Intuos Pro M – graphics tablet
- 3 APC Back-UPS battery backup systems
- APC BE425 – network hardware (firewall, Unifi switches, iOT hubs)
- APC BackUPS Pro 650 – desktops(Mac & custom)
- APC BackUPS Pro 650 – NAS & HP ProDesk, & Unifi 16-port switch
- Printers & Scanner
- Canon ImagePROGRAF Pro-1000 - 17" desktop photo printer
- Canon ImagePROGRAF Pro-2000 - 24" large format photo printer
- Brother DCP-L2540DW - multifunction mono laser printer
- Bambu Lab X1 Carbon 3D printer
- Epson FastFoto FF-640 scanner
- Audio & Webcam
- Rotel RTC-970 preamp, Rotel RB-970BX amp, and a pair of Bowers & Wilkins DM601 bookshelf speakers - audio for computers
- Sennheiser PXC-550 wireless headphones & mic
- Logitech Brio 505 webcam
- Software & Services
- 1Password
- Adobe Lightroom
- Adobe Photoshop
- Apple Final Cut Pro
- Autodesk Fusion 360
- Backblaze – Cloud backup
- Microsoft Office 365 Business Premium – includes Office for desktop, Exchange Online email, OneDrive, Teams, & more
- Parallels Desktop – Running Windows 11 on Mac
- SnagIt – screen capture-images
- Camtasia – screen capture-video
Congratulations again and thank you for sharing a peek into your ThinkPad worlds!!
Did you enjoy getting to know the 2023 Lenovo Pro Community Award Winners better?
If you missed the ceremony, enjoy it on-demand here. Congratulate the winners and drop them a friend request!
Thank you all again for your participation in the Lenovo Pro Community. It is truly a pleasure to have each and every one of you. Cheers to a bright and successful 2024!