In March 2010, I attended and spoke at my first HDI National Conference in Orlando, FL. What a thrill and an honor. I want to thank all the wonderful people who made me feel so at home. I had several objectives while I was there.

First, I was there to learn as much as I could about becoming a better IT Service Desk Manager. What I got from the sessions did not disappoint. Whether it was about problem management, getting your point across in a quick communication, or service level agreements, I was picking up new information all the time. I also learned tons of valuable information from talking to peers.

Second, I was there to speak at one of the sessions. I offered to talk about effective customer communications. While the content was very focused to the service desk agent, I found a large majority of the attendees (about 70-80) were managers who wanted to bring the information back to their teams. As a presenter, it’s always more fun when the audience participates and interacts. This group was terrific in that respect. Yes, I had the first session of the day, right after the key note speaker (Larry Winget), but that didn’t slow this group down. Larry woke this group up and gave me some choice lines to refer to from time to time.

Third, I wanted to talk to vendors and find out what possible solutions there are to some of the current or upcoming initiatives. Again, there was a wealth of choices. I brought back several business cards that I quickly dispersed to the appropriate people.

One more reason for going was to get ideas for strengthening our local chapter. The other chapter officers were great; so full of ideas and very supportive. I really got a sense of family from the other officers and the staff back at the (HDI) “mothership”. I’m very optimistic about the future of the Titletown HDI chapter. Stay tuned…

The final reason I was there to show there is value in the conference to my employer. I went on my own dime (including the local chapter branded shirt in the photo). Did I get a couple thousand dollars worth of value out of all of this? You bet. I’m already building a case to attend next year. Here’s hoping I get the honor of speaking again.

Thank you HDI for a wonderful conference. Everything from registration, to the staff support services, to the party on Thursday night was something special.

Special thanks to Roy Atkinson for allowing me to share a room with him. We had many insightful and humorous moments.

I look forward to next year when we’ll have a bigger group from the Titletown area represented at the 2011 National Conference in Las Vegas.