itSMF USA conference FUSION09 is streamed online so every ITIL and ITSM expert is engaged in the conference. September 21, 2009
Posted by ivankamenken in itil, itsm.Tags: conference, itsmf
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The itSMF USA has their annual conference in September of each year (that’s what makes it annual.. ) And as far as the program is concerned, it will probably be the same old same old.. In my experience, there isn’t usually a lot of innovation and exciting new stuff happening at these conferences…
BUT
This year is the exception: Chris Dancy – the VP of Sales and Marketing of ServiceSphere is on a mission! He is committed to create streaming video directly from the conference via his twitter account @servicesphere.
The videos show up at Tweet Reel, a video streaming service that seamlessly connects with twitter.
Now THAT is innovation! What a way to share experiences and new ideas in the ITSM and ITIL industry…
Continual Improvement – what ITIL Service Management can learn from HR Management August 1, 2009
Posted by ivankamenken in business, itil, itsm.Tags: business, conference, IT Service Management, itil, ITIL expert, itsm, management
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As I was invited to speak at a Learning and Development conference in Sydney yesterday, I had the opportunity to listen to a number of the speakers.
Maybe my biggest learning is that I have been too much blinded / tunnel visioned around my area of expertise. In the past 15 years I only attended IT Service Management and IT Standard / IT governance related seminars….
SILLY!!!
Attending a seminar outside of your comfort zone and direct area of expertise really opens your eyes to innovative ways of improving your service delivery.
The little gem I picked up from the HR conference was from a presentation by Brad Markham who is the Manager Learning and Development of the Australian Institute of Management in New South Wales. His talk was around case studies to show the value add of Learning and Development Programs. One of his findings was that often they start a program to address a ‘performance deficit’ only to find that the individual staff members and teams actually perform really well. What they suffer from is ‘reporting deficit’ … and the improvement project are relatively simple: document and report on all the brilliant things that are being done in the organisation to make it more visible to all levels in the organisation.
Now ponder on that in an ITIL Service Management context… It will add value to the success of your ITIL implementation projects- I am sure of that!
Dinner at parliament House August 29, 2008
Posted by ivankamenken in Uncategorized.Tags: conference, itsmf, the art of service
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Last night was the gala dinner at the conference and this year the location was the great hall in Parliament house. Silly us… we thought it was the OLD parliament house (and assumed it was now a function centre). Nope – it was the NEW parliament house where currently parliament is in sitting. (No, Kevin Rudd didn’t join us for dinner…. )
It was a great evening, especially as one of our students was the winner of the EXIN IT Service Manager certificate Award. This award is given to the student with the highest score for the ITIL Service Manager certificate exams. I must admit that I am extremely proud, as this is the 3rd year in a row that one of our students was nominated for the award and this year we won!
Great publicity as nothing speaks louder than a happy customer who tells to all 650 people in the room how fantastic his experience with The Art of Service was…
Oh, and the food was great too… I had goat cheese tart, salmon filet and chocolate mousse.
Now we need to pack up the booth as the conference is finished… another one done for a year! Next year is in Sydney – what will the future bring?
Ivanka
no longer with my head in the clouds… August 27, 2008
Posted by ivankamenken in Uncategorized.Tags: cloud computing, conference, customer, fun, IT Service Management, itil, itsmf, value
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I have well and truly arrived back on earth! After an amazing 2 days of the cloud computing workshop I am now at the other end of the spectrum: exhibiting at a conference… the annual itSMF conference, and for those of you who know me it doesn’t come as a surprise when I say that this isn’t my most favorite way to spend three days.
Yes, it is great to see a lot of people again and fantastic to see the faces that belong to the email addresses and names. And I am having a great time with my team members and colleagues catching up on the gossip in the industry, but overall conferences don’t really do it for me. Am I cynical? Probably. Am I unrealistic? No, I don’t think so.
You see… Only a very small subsection of our clients attend the conference and most of the decision makers do NOT attend. They stay back in the office keeping the IT department running. They continue to struggle in their day-to-day effort to continue the service delivery to their customers. They probably need our services more than the people who attend this conference and they will never know as I am here and they are there…
What always amazes me is that a lot of people seem to approach conferences as if it is a sales activity. It is NOT! Exhibiting at conferences is a touch point – one of many. It is a way of dripping the stone, to show people that The Art of Service is still here. They may not have seen our name in their local community for a while but we are still here! Stronger than ever with a great portfolio of services. That is why we are here.
You know what we did this year? We brought the office Wii with us. So everybody who is feeling a bit ragged after listening to yet another presentation can come to our booth and play a game of tennis or bowling or baseball.
Yes, I hear you ask…. what does this have to do with your product offering? What is the link to your unique selling point in the industry? Well… nothing really!
We use this time at the conference to show what our company is really about: We are creative and have FUN. Plain old simple fun!
There are enough people and companies in the IT industry who take themselves way too seriously… You can see it all around you: people in suits who look very seriously all day. No jokes, not a thing out of line…. you know what I mean – you’ve seen them.
To me IT Service Management is all about the customer experience, so make it fun! After all we are about education and knowledge transfer; learning doesn’t happen when you are bored and can’t get enthused about the benefits and possibilities of the subject. So first and foremost we try to make the whole experience a memorable one – and what better way than fun?
Maybe this cloud has a silver lining after all…. they may not remember exactly what we do or sell. But they do remember ‘the vibe’ our core values and isn’t that ultimately what matters? It makes you come back for more, to learn more and to achieve more. These days are about showing the delegates that they can have fun too! And secretly learn a thing or two without them knowing it… It’s what Randy Pausch referred to as a ‘head fake’
Ivanka
