The No SPLAT! Zone is HDI’s most innovative and supportive community-building forum and guided networking program ever offered! You’ll discover support from your fellow conference attendees, and learn how to be better supported by the people you count on everyday, all in a fun, idea-packed setting.

It’s the network zone to gather ideas, direction, new perspectives, techniques and strategies for taking conference information and putting it into results-producing action.

Participate in No SPLAT! Zone networking sessions throughout the week. The more you participate, the more value you will gain from the conference experience:

• Round 1: The Conference Optimizer: Setting Up to Win BIG
• Round 2: Afternoon of Discovery: Tools and Tricks to Take Away
• Round 3: The Open Door: Leverage the Experience, participate and learn how to extend the conference experience all year long.
• And join informal "No SPLATS!" during breakfast round table discussions each morning.

The No SPLAT! Zone will help you meet new people who have faced the challenges you’re currently facing; gain new insights and see new possibilities for taking your team to the next performance level.

Conference Optimizer
Monday, March 7th — 3:10 pm - 3:45 pm

Open to all conference attendees, but especially recommended for first-timers at the HDI Annual Conference & Expo, take advantage of the most fun “guided tour” through all the events and activities we have planned. Hosted by No SPLAT! Zone author, Mark Rosenberger, this welcome session and conference orientation will provide you with an opportunity to meet new friends, highlight what to do, where to go, how to navigate the sessions, and what not to miss throughout the three packed days of education, expo, networking, and fun.

Start your No SPLAT! Zone experience (Round One) at this orientation session! You’ll leave this welcome session with CFFP - Clarity, Focus, Fun, Plan. Get a simple tool to help you network throughout the conference, and make new friends even before the official opening session.

Daybreak Discussions & The Story Zone
Begin each morning with a new discovery at breakfast with a host of round table discussion groups. Choose from informal networking sessions organized by common interests or geography, Vertical Visions discussions for various industries, No SPLAT! Zone round tables for guided networking and idea-sharing, or the ever-popular Daybreak Stories, with HDI’s chief morale officer Kirk Weisler!

Wednesday, March 9th — 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm
And, don’t miss the HDI 2005 Conference Festivities on Wednesday night, featuring many exciting surprises!

NEW!!! Vertical Visions
You asked for it and you got it! Vertical Visions provides HDI Conference attendees with an unparalleled opportunity to share skills, knowledge and expertise within your own industry - not only during the few days at the conference, but online before the conference via our new event weblog, “the HDI Buzz Zone,” and long after you return home.

Facilitated by seasoned veterans from within each industry, these sessions will spur discussion about issues unique to your type of business. In the Vertical Visions session, the industry host will introduce key issues and trends relevant to each group. The host and Vertical Visions community members will encourage continued networking throughout the event during breakfast and lunch roundtable discussions and informal conversations. Finally, reconvene in the “Open Door” during the last sessions of the week to establish a framework for continuing your group’s dialogue year-round and form an action plan packed with ideas that you will take back to your own organizations.

Government Customer Support 106 - E - Tuesday, March 8, 9:45am - 11:00am

The Future of Software Support John Custy, Host, JPC Consulting 206-E- Tuesday, March 8, 11:15am - 12:30pm

Technology Support in Higher Education Mark Fitzgerald, Host, Brigham Young University  306 - I- Wednesday, March 9, 9:45am - 11:00am

Banking and Financial Services: Building a World-class Back Office Robert Barnes, Host, JP Morgan Chase 405 - I/E - Wednesday, March 9, 3:30pm - 4:45pm
 
The Open Door - Open to All
606 - I/E - Thursday, March 10, 8:15am - 9:30am
706 - I/E - Thursday, March 10, 9:45am - 11:00am

Afternoon of Discovery
Back by popular demand!

Take advantage of this dedicated time for highly interactive workshops and special in-depth group discussions on today’s hottest issues. Gather and share ideas you can use, look out into the future to see upcoming trends, ask questions of the experts, and be inspired!

D1- I/E: The Discoverers - Executive Networking, Doug Whittle

D2- I/E: HDI Local Chapter Networking Zone, Mary Cruse

D3- I/E: Global Support: Top Five Issues & Answers, Phil Vergis

D4- I/E: Outsourcing Unplugged, Kristin Robertson

D5- I/E: Knowledge Management Unplugged, Richard Joslin

D6- I/E: The No SPLAT! Zone, Mark Rosenberger, Greg Cortopassi

D7- I/E: Certifying Your Support Center: An Inside Look, Carrie Higday

D8: I/E: Whose Management Line Is It Anyway?, Arthur Coombs, Kirk Weisler

D9: E: Applied Concepts, Frederick Van Bennekom

D10: I/E: SQL Workshop for Help Desk Managers, Jeff Davis

D11: I/E: Assembling Key Performance Statistics from Support Magic, Anthony Krasinski