HDI ANNOUNCES 2010 ANNUAL CONFERENCE & EXPO

Transformation is key topic at world conference on technical service and support

Colorado Springs, CO - October 30, 2009 - Think Services' HDI, the world's largest technical service and support membership association and the industry's premier training and certification body, announced 2010 dates for the technical support industry's premier event, the HDI 2010 Conference & Expo. The event will take place March 16-19, at Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel & Resort in Orlando, FL with more than 2,000 technical support professionals, managers, directors, and executives expected to attend.

The conference will help service and support practitioners transform their support operations, including the services provided, their support processes, and their customer satisfaction ratings. Regardless of a tech support department's size, maturity, or financial backing – HDI will present industry best practices, standards, and emerging trends that can help facilitate change. Attendees will also have the rare opportunity to personally network with more than 2,000 peers; share many of the same challenges and goals; discuss real-world situations, and deliberate viable service and support solutions.

Event highlights include:

13 pre-conference workshops that provide valuable business processes and soft-skills training for all levels of support practitioners, from desktop support technicians to support center directors.
80 conference sessions that focus on strategy and leadership, essentials for support managers, achieving operational excellence, maximizing team performance, best practice frameworks and models, applying service management – beyond theory, creating customer connections, and optimizing performance through technology.
An exclusive Executive Connections Package that provides high-level, round table discussions facilitated by industry experts and special networking offerings designed to meet the needs of our executive audience.
Presenters include dozens of knowledgeable and dynamic speakers, practitioners, industry experts, and six prominent keynote presenters; including: Mike Schlappi, Stan Slap, Cindy Solomon, Larry Winget, Frank Miles, and Chip Eichelberger.
The Expo Hall – a definitive marketplace for discovering products and services from more than 100 top industry vendors.

"HDI is excited to present our industry-leading educational program and a host of new speakers. The program committee worked closely with the industry experts to create a dynamic blend of emerging trends alongside a number of crowd-pleasing favorites, brought back by popular demand," said Fiona Henderson, HDI executive director of events. "This event addresses the needs of all internal and/or external technical support professionals – from seasoned directors to front-line analysts – and provides valuable insight into how formal procedures and processes as well as properly selecting and utilizing industry tools can improve your support operations."

Now in its 10th year, this annual event provides help desk, customer service, and IT support professionals with actionable ideas they can immediately implement once they return to work. Attendees will discover emerging trends and innovations, examine valuable best practices, and probe critical processes that positively impact technical support operations. They will also learn how to increase a support center's capacity, reduce overhead, and improve customer loyalty from people who have already succeeded in doing so.

For media and analyst registration, contact Allison Wroe at [email protected] or 1-800-248-5667.

About HDI
HDI, a Think Services company, is the world's largest IT service and support membership association and the industry's premier certification and training body. Guided by an international panel of industry experts and practitioners, HDI is the leading resource for help desk/support center emerging trends and best practices. HDI provides members with a vast repository of resources, networking opportunities and the largest industry event - the HDI Annual Conference and Expo. Headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo., USA, HDI offers training in multiple languages and countries. For more information, visit http://www.thinkhdi.com or call +1 719.268.0174. (Think Services and HDI are not affiliated with Customers International Limited or HDI Europe.)

About Think Services
Think Services connects specialized communities worldwide using innovative media, educational events, consulting, training and certification. Providing comprehensive opportunities for people to learn from, network with, and inspire each other, Think Services builds strong brands and works within communities to foster a unique affinity with its products and services. The division's flagship products include the Game Developers Conference, the Webby Award-winning Gamasutra.com, Game Developer magazine, the International Customer Management Institute, HDI, and Dr. Dobb's Journal. Think Services is a subsidiary of United Business Media, a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $2.5 billion. To learn more, visit www.think-services.com.

HDI Press Contact:
Allison Wroe
HDI, Executive Director of Marketing
719-785-5355

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