HDI 2006 – Get Connected. Get Energized. Get Results.

HDI 2006 TRIP REPORT FROM NASHVILLE

Another year at HDI 2006 Conference and Expo—the support industry event—has come and gone already. I can still vividly picture 2500 eager faces, people waiting with anticipation as the lights went down and the band cranked it up. The roar of laughter throughout the Presidential Ballroom as Marni Vos mimicked her mother’s laugh—“snort”—still echoes in my ears. And, the bumps and bruises still loom across many a rider’s backside following 7 ½ seconds of bull riding prowess at the Wild Horse Saloon. Take a quick step back into Nashville time as we relive the biggest moments of our week.

Sunday. March 19. 4:25 p.m. Take your positions. Headsets on. House lights down. Cue opening video. Three – two – one. “Howdeeeeee!,” shrieks Minnie Pearl. We’re definitely in Nashville now. It was another spectacular HDI event. An all-star line-up of keynote speakers. Live bands. Minnie Pearl and “Reba McIntire.” Three days of pre-conference workshops, certification tests, and local chapter meetings were already under our belts. And that was just the beginning.

Reba McIntire created a frenzy of her own. Our look-alike performer was such a dead ringer for the real Reba that heated debate reverberated throughout the corridors all week long. Opinions were split—I think some people still believe it was the real Reba. Yes, she was that good!

Following welcome remarks from our hosts, Ron Muns and Cinda Daly, wheelchair athlete Chad Hymas captured our hearts in the opening keynote speech. Drawing upon many personal experiences, Chad weaved stories about vision, individual achievement, and personal connection. Chad’s touching photo montage of his small boys, who actively shared in his rehabilitation from quadriplegic to wheelchair athlete, left few dry eyes in the house. His strength and vision inspired us all and carried us throughout the week.

5:30 p.m. Welcome to the Technology Connections Expo. A jazz quartet, a rich array of food and beverages, and more than 80 exhibitors welcomed our conference guests to the opening reception in the largest and busiest expo to date. Exhibitors unveiled new products on the HDI Launch Pad Stage, entertained interested buyers with in-depth demos, and stamped poker hands for the expo prize giveaway promotion.

The HDI Membership Booth, all decked out like the Grand Ol’ Opry stage with oak barrels, bales of hay, and a towering red barn, was the hub of membership buzz and activity. The HDI Local Chapter officers, who manned the booth, were quite popular as the patrons of the cool HDI t-shirt giveaway. Rich Hand, HDI’s executive director of membership, unveiled the new HDI Customer Satisfaction Index tool (CSI), and the HDI team offered non-stop demos as members and attendees networked and shared thoughts about the new tool.

HDI global partners from Belgium, Brazil, and the new Middle East/North Africa organization showed the growing presence of HDI worldwide as they gathered at the HDI booth, building relationships and sharing experiences about the global support industry. The vertical market forum members also gathered at the booth to share valuable information with others in their industry. Exhibitors enjoyed a wine and cheese reception at the booth where they discussed the new product offerings and shared the buzz around the expo floor. Finally, on the closing expo day, the HDI booth was the focal point for the expo prize giveaway, where expo goers reaped the spoils of more than 50 great prizes.

Monday, March 20. One of our rules of engagement for the week was, “Don’t forget to get up in the morning.” Kirk Weisler started our day with Daybreak Stories, an HDI tradition, sharing excerpts from his favorite books, quips from famous personalities, and personal anecdotes to enlighten the day. Fueled with food and inspiration, everyone was ready for the first full day of the conference.

Monday’s activities set the tone for the rest of the week. The breakout sessions were packed, with many popular speakers playing to standing room only crowds. The Technology Connections expo hall was brimming with enthusiastic visitors all day long. And, the general sessions, one to start each day and another to wrap up the day, created a stir that resonated long after the cameras went dark.

8:00 a.m.The teen fiddlers, Fiddler Frenzy, charmed us with a medley of songs, while the Little General Cloggers tapped and clogged along to the beat. The fiddlers’ rendition of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” got the morning general session off to a lively start. We’re still in Nashville after all!

Then, industry veteran Geoffrey Moore, challenged our intellect with his keynote speech based upon his newest book, Dealing with Darwin. Geoffrey examined the twelve vectors of innovation that companies need to identify and capitalize upon in order to maintain competitive advantage, and connected the role that IT and support organizations play in that dynamic.

He then summarized two keys to success. First, focus investment so that it results in market-validated differentiation that leads to revenue and profit improvements. Second, fund investment by unblocking the flow of talent and recycling the existing workforce back onto core competitive advantage.

3:45 p.m. HDI Founder Ron Muns delivered the state of the industry address to a packed auditorium. Always a provocative thought leader, Ron peppered the audience with challenges, predictions, and calls to action. On the subject of outsourcing, Ron challenged companies to offset off-shoring with support optimization. He suggested that we focus on the value proposition and deliver high quality support at a low cost. He also recommended that support teams become actively engaged in the productivity improvement of IT.

Ron acknowledged the strong impact IT support organizations now have on technology purchases. He challenged technology vendors to make a better business case for the supportability and quality of the products they develop, or cautioned that they would be replaced by other solutions. He predicted that by the end of 2007, as open systems continue to become mainstream, a new player in the software market will take over a major share of a software category by embracing open systems and customer support.

Finally, Ron challenged the British government, which is actively seeking a third party vendor to outsource the maintenance, distribution, and certification of ITIL, to give the ITIL framework and support to itSMF, with a simple royalty structure and walk away. Ron concluded, “IASCA controls COBIT. Let itSMF control and manage ITIL.”

4:15 p.m. Let’s play Jeopardy! And the game did go on, despite the last minute drama when we learned that Ken Jennings was stranded in a blizzard at the Denver airport and would be unable to make his appearance. Little did our audience know that one of our faculty members, Marni Vos, was a hot shot, award-winning comedienne, in the company of Ellen DeGeneres and Paula Poundstone. With the creative spirit and desire to help, Marni dusted off some of her best stand-up comedy routines and had our sides splitting in laughter, all with just 30 minutes to prepare.

Then, Marni took her place alongside audience contestants Jeffrey Brooks, from Formscape, and Eric Phillips, from the FBI. The deadpan wit of Jeffrey and Eric alongside Marni’s quick repartee made for a spirited game. Kirk Weisler, quite dashing as Alex Trebek, held his own with hysterical one-liners and exasperated sighs. The contestants had a little trouble with proper phrasing, but the audience nudged them along: “What is..” resonated from the chambers.

The championship came down to the final category, support centers. The final clue was, “The help desk contacted by dialing 1-800-829-1040.” Jeffrey was quite the audacious player—he whipped out his cell phone and dialed the number to get to a final question. Jeff Davis, a popular faculty member and stand up comedian in his own right, quipped, “Jeffrey, this is not ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.’ You have no life lines.” But Jeffrey’s call was to no avail—no one answered! And no one got the final jeopardy right. Eric and Marni bet it all and were left with $0. Jeffrey won with $2300, play money of course. But, he did win a complimentary conference registration to HDI 2007.

Tuesday, March 21. It was a full day Tuesday with the announcement of the Team Excellence Award winners, two outstanding keynote speakers, the exciting and unabandoned chaos of the expo prize giveaway, and the legendary party at the Wild Horse Saloon.

8:00 a.m. Guitar in hand and belting out original lyrics, faculty member Dave Timmons connected folks with an energizing general session wake-up. Dave had the audience on its feet, high-fiving their neighbors and bringing down the house. “I’m a call center manager, I’m Superman and Wonder Woman, too . . . . . .”

Marcus Buckingham, the morning keynote speaker, challenged each person to focus on individual strengths in order to see true performance growth. During years of research, Marcus has discovered that in the U.S. just 17 percent of the people get to spend most of their day focusing on their strengths. He lamented that even though he has sold more than a million copies of his book, Now Focus on Your Strengths, that needle has not moved at all in five years. One way to move that needle is to accept these truths: 1) as you grow you become more of who you really are; 2) you will grow most in your areas of greatest strength, and 3) you will contribute most to the team when you offer up your strengths.

Marcus commanded the stage with quiet sophistication and strong conviction. His ideas captured the audience, who gave him a standing ovation and then stood in line for more than two hours to get a signed copy of his newest book, The One Thing You Need To Know.

3:45 p.m. Emmy-award winning comedian Ross Shafer, offered the perfect blend of laugh-out-loud humor and motivational content with his “Nobody Moved Your Cheese” performance. From personal quips to hysterical TV clips to lampooning the self-help industry, Ross gave us a fresh perspective for taking charge of our own success. In his own inimitable way, Ross reinforced Marcus Buckingham’s sentiments with his belief that success is our own fault, and he gave us plenty of examples. He took on Tony Robbins; “He’s so optimistic that if he ever went to jail he’d tell people he lived in a gated community.” And, Patrick Lencioni, author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. “You think there are only five? What if you have six members on your team,” Ross joked.

7:00 p.m. The party. The crowd went wild at the historic Wild Horse Saloon, 60,000 square feet of pure fun on three levels. All the HDI traditions were intact, along with a few surprises: tattoo artists, caricaturists, Texas hold ‘em poker tables, pool tables, video karaoke, line dancing, and a giant riding bull on the main dance floor. Bull riders were unceremoniously thrown to the mat after a few brief seconds aboard. Rumor has it that one guest managed a ride of 23 seconds—we’re waiting for her to come forward!

The dancing heads video-karaoke offered the “fans” plenty to be amused by as they waited for their turn at video fame. Crooners placed their heads behind a green screen while the videographer projected images to create a full visual rendition of each song.

But, the Low Cash Cowboys stole the show as they played rockin’ country, blues, and popular cover tunes tirelessly for four straight hours—yes, not a single break. The band rocked. The ladies danced. The men cheered. We shut down the house well after the planned party hours.

Wednesday, March 22. Yes, we shut down the house on Tuesday night, but we were up bright and early for the final breakout sessions Wednesday morning, capturing the last opportunities to learn something new and head back to the office raring to go.

11: 15 a.m. Our closing general session gave us one more chance to get together as a group—now a tightly connected community. We reveled in the experience as host Ron Muns rolled the highlights video showcasing the week’s festivities, now another chapter in our history.

Our final keynote speaker, Dave Timmons, set us up to return home filled with ideas, conviction, and a renewed spirit of leadership. He shared his six strings of leadership metaphor, where each guitar string represents a key leadership value: courage, trust, truth, connection, inspiration, and action. Blending personal stories, anecdotes from courageous leaders, and song, Dave reinforced his philosophy that leadership is the highest form of service and serving just one person makes you a leader. As a final farewell, Dave gave away a brand new acoustic guitar, autographed by each of the keynote speakers on the program.

12:30 p.m. So it was time to say farewell—connected, energized, and armed with actionable ideas. It was a trip. See you all next spring at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.