The 'Significance' of our 20th Anniversary

This year will mark the 20th anniversary of IT BY DESIGN . That's a big deal! I don't want to age myself, but I think back to all the years from when we began to today. I remember back in 2005, everyone had a BlackBerry, Apple was a fad gadget that only the artsy types liked. Companies were running small business servers; emails and servers were located locally, and meetings had to be in person in the office.??

?From the day we began to today, we have worked to build our organization not only to be successful, but to be significant. Now, you're probably thinking what do I mean by significant? I mean that we leave an impact on those we touch. It's not just a transaction, it's a relationship. When we started to think about our 20th anniversary celebrations and how we would commemorate them, what encapsulates these last 20 years? It's success with significance.?

?We've always valued our partners, but in 2019 ― when we launched BUILD IT LIVE ― we started being significant for our partners. After Build IT LIVE '22, an attendee from Montana sent us a huge gift basket accompanied by a letter. I want to share a small excerpt of that letter which truly impacted me:?

?Kam & Sunny,?

?I wanted to take a minute and say thank you for the work you are doing to help MSP's and customers across the planet! I really appreciate what I experienced at your IBD event this year from the people to the presentations, to the content, and so forth. But more than all of that I appreciated the heart I could see in you guys and your team. It wasn't just another event. You guys really care and that meant more to me than anything else that week. I look forward to working with you guys in the future and I will bring more people from my team next year. You've changed me forever and I will take some of the things I learned from you guys and pass it on to my team and my customers. HONORED TO KNOW YOU?

?Those four words - HONORED TO KNOW YOU - truly impacted Sunny Kaila and I. John Maxwell always says, “To live a good life is to live one of significance where you are adding value to others.” I think back to the poem about the footprints in the sand by Mary Stevenson and, ask at the end of our journey, “Will we have left footprints in some good strong concrete that have a lasting impact?” ?

?We knew when we launched Build IT that it would not be a money maker. A conference about giving away tools and templates to help others, where people have to come to learn to be better, where vendors and educators come with proprietary templates that they must give away, and no sales pitches? WHAT! And I will do a shameless plug for our dear friend, Rob Rae , who was the first person to support our novel idea. ?

?Those four words meant that we had done it. That we had made a significant impact on at least one person’s life. This year will also mark Build IT’s 5th anniversary. In that time, we will have held four in-person events, one virtual, given away over 200 unique templates to MSPs and hosted over 150+ educators. We will have shared our favorite Leadership trainings, from The Collaborative Way? , Disney Institute , Eagle Center for Leadership , Jack Daly , Paterson , and, of course, my favorite, John Maxwell Team . We will have an online university and every day we will be thinking of ways to make a greater impact for MSPs. ?

This year, you will hear about it from everyone at ITBD. So, whether you’re an internal team member, a partner, a vendor, or a channel friend, our mission will be to celebrate 20 years of building one of the largest privately held MSPs and building that success while also being able to add significant value to others. ?

?We thank each and every person who has touched our lives over the last 20 years. You have in some way shaped who we are and what we have built, and we’re excited to see what the next 20 years will bring. Sorry I got a little teary eyed with this one, but in 20 years, I have had three children, two fur babies, and over 1,000 ITBD family members touch our lives. That’s a big family, even for Indian standards, so I hope you don’t mind if I get a little sappy about it. ?

I hope to see you at Build IT LIVE '23, where we will all celebrate together and, next week, where in this space we’ll talk about Succession Planning. Thank you, ITBD, for 20 years of “Success with Significance”! ?