Driving to The Light at Support World 2021

Last week HDI organized the largest post-pandemic live event for IT professionals in America, Support World Live in Orlando.

I attended with a personal mission to help the attendees bridge Service Management to Experience Management. It turned out that this event had as much effect on me as I set out to have on it.

Ever since Ron Muns founded The Helpdesk Institute in 1989, it has been the center of the support universe for thousands of IT professionals. Like its UK cousin SDI, HDI pre-dates ITIL and the organization that I helped create itSMF. These days HDI is part of InformaTech, and it has evolved in many significant ways.

Welcome to the Mosaic of America

Support World Live USA is a living mosaic of everything good about America. People of every size, shape, age, ability, color, persuasion, lifestyle, and creed attend. HDI is built from the ground up by enthusiastic, energetic individuals working diligently in chapters across America. This year Erica Hanna, leader of The Capital Region, was chosen as the best of them. To win, she had to battle awesome competing colleagues like Doug Rabold and Tom Wilk.

This is the America that I signed up for, welcoming, focused on moving forward, keen to learn new things, embracing differences of opinion, and never judgmental. ?

While we often lament the lack of diversity, subjective equity, and inclusion in technology, HDI has moved beyond that. It is led by talented and focused women like Tara Gibb, Megan Selva and Christine Montoya.

The nominated and awarded movers and shakers of 2021 also reflect HDI's, recognition of a broad spectrum of professionals like Honey Cole-Wilson, Prisnel Dominique, and Sandra Heesch.

Support World caters to all organizations, from the Masters of Experience Disney to a host of smaller teams pushing to make a positive difference in the lives of their Prosumers.

Towards The Light

HDI represents a force for good. The members do the hard work in the trenches of the digital workplace, helpdesk, customer support, and IT engineering.?For most Prosumers, these folk are the face of technology. They are the beginning and end of experience management for the business.

This year a number of us made a concerted effort to introduce the concepts and facilities of Experience Management to this gathering of professionals.

Marco Russinen, America's leader of Happy Signals, the IT experience survey tool, kicked off the Experience Management Theme. Next up was Roy Atkinson, the pater familias of HDI with an overview of important experience management themes, followed by Evan Carlson with the Easyvista perspective on experience management. Then we had the exuberant Nate Brown of Officium Labs linking employee experience and corporate values to CX.

Just before my presentation, attendees enjoyed the irrepressible Ben Brennan, Founder of the Q.S.T.A.C. method, and lastly but mostly, my very good friend, the learned Rae Ann Bruno.

Rae Ann is not only a queen of HDI. She is my fellow host on XLA.TV and a certified trainer for the Experience Optimization Framework courseware. This courseware is managed by The TSO and certified by APMG.

Our ad hoc Experience management scrum team forms a collage of opinions and approaches. However, we unite in our role to help IT professionals survive and thrive in the experience economy by bridging Service Management to Experience Management.

The Great Debate

When putting your children through college or planning for retirement based on what you are good at today, it can be uncomfortable when someone like me comes along to nudge you in a different direction. The result is often passionate and animated debate.

Kudos to professionals like Kristi Lawrence, Kevin Morris Jim McPhee, Ariane Ray, and the learned David Sharp, who battled with me about the content and helped me better understand their everyday world. This was a truly valuable dialectic, and I take home much food for thought.

Progress is combining what one generation knows well with what another knows differently.

There is a reason that HDI has thrived for 32 years and is as relevant and lively now as it was back in the day. It is the ability to attract and enthuse a new generation of professionals.

It was no different this time around. How refreshing it is to see a new cohort of intelligent, cool professionals enter the ring! Welcome to the stage: David Leon J. Martin Molinos and the Brazillian Explorers Felipe Coêlho and Thiago de Marco (aptly named Thiago God in his LinkedIn URL). Our world is in good shape as you take on the leadership mantle.

?Support World Live.

While I set out to bring the light of Experience Management to Support World Live, it turns out that I was the moth, attracted to the light and energy of the World of Support and the hundreds of ambitious professionals that make it a thriving, living organism.

Thank you to everyone who put up with me, inspired me, and maybe took a step towards the light that is Experience Management!

If you want to be part of this great journey, please don't hesitate to connect, suggest, and cajole!

Next stop Support World Live Las Vegas May 15-20