The HDI Membership Event in Orlando…

Having spent seven years at HDI as the Executive Director of Membership I will miss not being at the big event this year in Orlando at the Rosen Shingle Creek. I had the honor of working with Fiona Henderson the former Executive Director of Events to manage the conference program team of; John Custy, Phil Gerbyshak, Jeff Brooks, Mary Cruz, Katherine Lord, and Pete McGarahan. These members of the HDI membership are top notch professionals. I was the track Chair for the Maximize Team Performance track, and I wish I could be there to see it all come together. I am sure that all of the sessions that were chosen will be a great success at the event as they always have been.

It is a new day in membership with the introduction of Social Media platforms with the advent of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other tools. I am so glad I had the great sense to reach out to ServiceSphere guru Chris Dancy to create what is turning out to be an extremely popular pre-con; “Congratulations; Here is Your BS in Social Media.” Make sure to meet Chris at the event. He will be the one walking around interviewing and engaging attendees and vendors to post on tweet reel and twitter.

I convinced him to create a social media course for the conference, and it looks like the HDI community is embracing both Chris, and the concept. I knew the day I met Chris that he was exactly the type of person membership and community is built on. He was always willing to “drop off” as Ron Muns used to put it - when it came to helping his colleagues. He is now a Local Chapter Officer in Denver, and he is making a true difference in the ITSM community overall.

I am really excited for the members of HDI to experience the great program and pre-cons that are available at HDI 2010. Created by membership for the community it serves. That is the greatest reward any Membership Director could ask for.

HDI has a great Membership community!

Have a great time in Orlando!

The “Model” Remains the Same…

Ron Muns the Founder of HDI, my former employer, had a philosophy; always embrace valuable information and share it with your members no matter the source. And even if the “source” is "competitive", as long as it is credible and valuable, share it with your membership. The philosophy is more relevant today than ever.

Today with the pervasive information “traveling” throughout the networks called social media, information is just information, the value add is getting it to the right people, joining in the conversation, and enabling a vibrant discussion around the topic. The model is the same, the delivery has changed. There are so many new delivery methods.

There are also a ton of people that are trying to jockey for a position as a social media “expert” to help organizations figure out the best way to engage with this new medium. But there can’t be any true “experts.” There are people that are ahead of the curve on the tools and skills needed to navigate the virtual web, but the information is too vast and rapidly changing for anyone to have the time to be designated “expert.” Learn from people or organizations that are willing to help; avoid the "experts."

The greatest value we can add from an organizational perspective is to learn social media so we can share the information that will help the communities, customers, and members we serve. Give them a way to help each other through engaging the social media. Get to know Social Media to understand, learn, and grow with your community.

The goal is the same as when Ron started his company many moons ago before Social Media. You must know how to utilize social media, but it is not simply the social medium that is important; it is how you use it to serve your customers information that is credible and valuable …