Prestigious Local Chapter Excellence Awards Presented at HDI 2006 Conference & Expo

<i>North Coast Local Chapter Awarded Best Overall</i>

Nashville, Tenn. – March 20, 2006 – HDI, the world's largest membership association for IT service and support professionals and the premier certification body for the industry, today announced the winners of the HDI Local Chapter Excellence Awards. These prestigious awards acknowledge the performance of select HDI local chapters, and provide a benchmark for all of HDI’s 60 local chapters. The awards presentation took place at the HDI Annual Conference & Expo, being held this week in Nashville, Tenn.

HDI’s North Coast Local Chapter was selected as the top local chapter from all of HDI’s local chapters in the US, Canada, and Mexico, and was honored with the Overall Excellence award.

In addition, HDI presented Local Chapter Excellence Awards in five additional categories: Membership Excellence, Program Excellence, Newsletter Excellence, Special Events Excellence and Web Site Excellence. To qualify, the North Coast Chapter submitted entries in all of these categories. The overall combined score awarded by the judges in each category determined the Overall Excellence Award winner. The North Coast Chapter was applauded for displaying superior performance in each category and also won the award for Special Events Excellence.

“We are very pleased and honored to accept this prestigious award,” said George Reichert, president of HDI’s North Coast local chapter. “I credit our team of both former and present officers for their hard work and dedication to the chapter, as well as our membership for their enthusiasm.”

Rich Hand, executive director of membership, HDI, commented, “The HDI Local Chapter Excellence award winners show a remarkable commitment to excellence and a dedication to serving our members. They have consistently exceeded objectives, and met the challenges of being a leader in our industry.”

Other HDI Local Chapter Excellence Awards were presented to the Austin Local Chapter for Program Excellence; the Delaware Valley Local Chapter for Membership Excellence; the Mid-Ohio Local Chapter for Newsletter Excellence; and the Dallas Local Chapter for Website Excellence.

More information about the HDI Local Chapter Excellence Awards can be found at http://www.thinkhdi.com/membership/localchapters/

About HDI
HDI is the world's largest membership association for IT service and support professionals and the premier certification body for the industry. Founded in 1989, HDI's mission is to lead and promote the IT service and support industry by empowering its members through access to timely and valuable industry information, including reports and publications; encouraging member collaboration through events and online forums; and establishing internationally recognized, standards-based industry certification and training programs. In addition to membership, certification and training, HDI produces the world's largest and highest-rated event for service and support professionals, the HDI Annual Conference & Expo. HDI is member-focused, and remains vendor-neutral in its efforts to facilitate open, independent networking and information sharing within the association network. HDI has more than 7,500 members worldwide including most of the Fortune 500, and 60 local chapters in North America. For more information, visit http://www.thinkhdi.com.

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