There is no easy way to say it, but the IT Service Management Forum globally has been having a tough time, with the exception of a very few chapters. The forum is at a crossroads where it needs to prove its relevance to its members or pack up and go home – wherever that may be. There is a lot of competition out there for membership time and dollars, to attract and keep members you have to prove that you are at the front of the pack.
For this reason it was exciting to be asked by the new leadership of itSMF UK to attend their conference and record new episodes of the AllThingsITSM podcast with members of the industry community.
There was a lot of talk, on stage and off, about the future of the organization and we were fortunate to capture some of this on video, notably in conversations with new interim CEO, Barclay Rae, and new chair, Rosemary Gurney. They do have a vision for the forum that, if it all comes together as planned, will provide real value to its members. Have a listen and see what you think.
Where is the perfect location?
I will say that I was initially dubious about the location of the conference, at the Sofitel at Heathrow Terminal 5, and there was a lot of discussion on various forums, when this was announced, about the merits of this decision. However, I have to say that the service was outstanding, the venue was the perfect size for the event, and the food was great. There were a number of valid reasons for moving the conference out of central London – not least of all the cost. It would be interesting to survey attendees to see their thoughts about the success or otherwise of this location. I imagine the itSMF UK board will spend a good amount of time discussing this and it will be interesting to see where the next event will be held.
I was very fortunate to work with some wonderful co-hosts for this event. Many thanks to Simone Moore – as my right-hand-person you were outstanding! Robert Stroud, Andy White, Barclay Rae, James Finister and Patrick Bolger – thanks for helping us to record some great conversations…may just need to explain to a couple of you that when the cameraman starts jumping up and down and gesturing wildly he is actually telling you it is time to wind up, not to ask another question!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Once again we were very fortunate to have the support of organizations who really support the ITSM community – thanks to Cherwell Software, The Service Desk Institute (SDI) and itSMF UK for making it possible for us to be there and share the conference with a global audience. Special mention needs to be made of Andy White and Carolyn Arnold from Cherwell; Emma Spears and Tessa Troubridge from SDI; Barclay Rae, Natalie Pinner and Mark Lillycrop from itSMF UK, thank you for your efforts, there was a lot of organization needed in a very short time to get the podcast team there!
There was some great energy at the event, excellent presentations, and some really inspiring keynotes; it was a well rounded and relevant program. The subject that seemed to be on everyone’s lips was SIAM, and there is, I am sure, a lot more that will be said on this subject in the near future…watch out for some upcoming blogs on this topic.
A great team!
A final thanks to the great team from AllThingsITSM who make sure that the videos and audio recordings we produce look and sound good, and that they get to our audience as soon as possible. William Goddard, Francisco Piñeiro, Terry Brown and Melanie Adamich – you make it all look easy and I know it isn’t. Thanks also to our cameraman at this event Trevor Lock, you need a lot of patience to work with us, and you handle it really well.
We plan on being at a lot more IT Industry events in 2016, so we hope to see you somewhere very soon.
