This is the first post in a series that will cover the upcoming HTG events for the second half of 2012.  We are excited to be executing around a number of areas the HTG Advisory Council recommended as next steps to take HTG deeper into our member companies.  The first event happens August 16-17, 2012 and will occur in Omaha, Ne with a trip to the farm and HTG headquarters as part of the event.

The purpose of this event is to provide folks who are currently in service management roles, or are potential up-and-coming service management leaders, the opportunity to hear from industry leaders around the topic of leading and managing people involved in service delivery.  Tim Brewer, from Annitel in Australia, will keynote this event.  He runs service and other components of a publicly traded company  with over 250 staff doing $60M in revenue.  Tim's roots are with a much smaller managed services company so he has been part of building Annitel through M&A and organic growth and will bring fantastic perspective to the event no matter what the size of your company today.

Other speakers will include Dr Larry Little from the Enrichment Center in Birmingham, who is the HTG resource for coaching and people skill development, along with Arlin Sorensen and other members of the Heartland Team.  The experience will include the opportunity to experience the HTG/HTS/HTC offices on Arlin's farm and a ride in the GPS controlled equipment which is part of the solution set offered.  It will be an event to remember.  Registration will be limited so do not wait to get signed up as once the seats are full, there will be no more added.

This event WILL NOT focus on metrics and tweaking the use of PSA or RMM tools. That is not the design nor focus. So if you want to learn how to be more effective in using Kaseya, LabTech, Continuum, ConnectWise or another tool – this is not the event for you. There are plenty of other places you can gain that knowledge. We will be focused on leading a service delivery team well – the people skills and management needed to serve a team in a way that makes a difference.

The other group that the service management summit is NOT designed for is principals (except in the case where there are multiple owners and one of the principals serves to lead the service side of the organization). If you would typically attend the quarterly peer group meetings as the owner, or are part of the leadership track, this likely is not the event for you to attend.

Here are the details:

Event: HTG Service Management Summit

Dates: August 16-17, 2012

Location: Omaha, Ne and the techno-farm near Harlan, Iowa

Cost: $400 for first attendee, $250 for additional from the same company

Target Audience: Service management leaders or those who may become leaders in service delivery

Not Targeted: Company owners unless they are specifically tasked with service leadership

Focus of event: Leading and managing the people side of service delivery

Not focused on: Using and tweaking PSA or RMM tools for service delivery

Arrival into: Omaha’s Eppley Airport

Hotel: Holiday Inn Express at Ameristar in Council Bluffs Iowa

Transportation: Shuttle provided to hotel, bus provided to transport to farm

Departure: Do not schedule flights out of Omaha before 4 PM on Friday afternoon

Working Agenda: http://www.htgmembers.com/ServiceMgmtSummit2012.htm

Registration: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ServiceMgmtSummit2012

Hotel Registration Link: http://www.holidayinn.com/hotels/us/en/council-bluffs/cbfrb/hoteldetail and enter the Group Code “HTG”.