HTG at WPC

We are almost ready to head to New Orleans for what may be the biggest event of the year outside our quarterly HTG meetings. There is a lot going on down there, and here is a list of things you probably want to take advantage of:

HTG Green Shirt Day
Wednesday is the day which has been set aside for HTG members to wear your green HTG shirts. It is important to bring that shirt along and proudly wear it that day. See photo for clarification on shirt!

HTG Buttons
Scott and I will have buttons available for you to wear at WPC to let people know you are part of HTG. Find us and put a button on!

HTG meeting place
SBSC is again hosting the Yellow Lounge, which is a good place to meet up with other SMB partners and particularly HTG members. Plan to meet up there around 11:30 each day to see what other HTG'ers are free for lunch.

Morning prayer and devotions
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings we will have a devotional and prayer time at 6:30 AM at the Residence Inn Convention Center in the courtyard there. Join us and bring along anyone that has interest.

Partners in Christ Prayer Breakfast
Wednesday morning at 7 AM we will hold the annual prayer breakfast at the Marriott Convention Center. Pre-registration is requested – link to register is http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e2is6m4qfuzirfgr/a011kfwjnyit6/questions

HTG Meet-Up and dinner
Sunday evening at 6:30 PM – sponsored by ConnectWise and Microsoft
The Court of the Two Sistershttp://www.courtoftwosisters.com/ 613 Royal St. New Orleans, LA 70130. This is for HTG member companies only and you need to RSVP to me via email to have a spot.

HTG Speakers at WPC
SMB007 Power of Community
Presenters: Mark Crall, Dave Sobel, Erik Thorsell, Richard Tubb, Jamison West
Wed 7/15 2:00 PM-3:00 PM 215-216

Learn from esteemed peers who have successfully harnessed the "Power of the Community" in not only establishing better operational, sales, marketing and financial practices but greater work/life balance through execution of goals and accountability to their peers who become lifelong friends. Get ready to be personally challenged to aspire to greater things as you witness fellow SMB IT community peers who have called each other higher though a commitment to giving and execution.

SMB008 Social Media 101: Defining and Understanding How to Connect with Your Clients and Colleagues Using the Latest Technologies
Presenter: Stuart Crawford
Wed 7/15 2:00 PM-3:00 PM 217

Social media is the latest trend, but many leaders face big hurdles with getting online and creating a buzz. Hear how you can use social media tools internally across your organization and as a mechanism to quickly share important information. This session takes a hands-on approach on how to: use social media to connect with employees, team members, and clients; design a blog; write your message clearly and concisely; and apply delivery mechanisms and alerts for notification of new content.

SMB009 Partner Planning: Four Simple Plans That Can Change Everything
Presenters: Scott Scrogin, Arlin Sorensen, Erik Thorsell
Wed 7/15 3:30 PM-4:30 PM 208-210

This first session discusses key plans that should be in place for success, including: company business plan, personal leadership plan, life plan, and a disaster recovery/continuity plan. Hear from Partners who have had business or life change because of planning and learn how to get started with specific tools in each of these areas. Plan to spend a few hours working on your business and your life developing foundational direction that will lead to success!

SMB010 Virtualization: What You Need to Know to Get Your Business Ready
Presenter: Dave Sobel
Wed 7/15 3:30 PM-4:30 PM 215-216

Virtualization is a game-changing new approach to infrastructure. Learn what you need to know to start implementing projects using virtualization technologies, specifically as it relates to Windows Small Business Server and Windows Essential Business Server. See real life techniques and experiences that get you ready to deliver solutions, including a complete restore into a virtual machine from raw backup. Not just for the big boys, this is the next generation of infrastructure.

SMB013 Partner Planning Workshop: Putting Pen to Paper
Presenters: Scott Scrogin, Arlin Sorensen, Erik Thorsell
Wed 7/15 5:00 PM-6:00 PM 208-210

In this session, a workbook is provided for working on your company business plan, personal leadership plan, life plan, or continuity plan. We break into groups to work on at least one plan that is specific to your situation. Partners provide feedback and ideas to help you with the process. One of the outcomes of this session includes follow-up and accountability. Plan to spend this hour working on your business developing foundational direction that will lead to success!

SMB015 Building Momentum in Your Managed Services Practice
Presenter: Mark Crall
Thu 7/16 1:30 PM-2:30 PM 218-219

Move from the hit-or-miss world of break/fix to a reliable, recurring revenue stream. Industry leader Mark Crall strategizes on how to successfully move your customers to managed services. Learn • The importance of offering managed services • Key issues to consider first • Steps for planning your new service offerings • When and how to present to existing customers Don't miss this session! A stable, predictable revenue stream is critical for your company's survival and continued growth.

SI003 Optimizing What You Already Own in a Changing Economy
Presenter: Kenneth Lince, Arlin Sorensen, Erik Thorsell
Thu 7/16 4:30 PM-5:30 PM 243-244

Understand the software your partnership with Microsoft affords you to maximize your management of information and client relations. Learn how partners are using Microsoft technology solutions they own, as a result of their partnership with Microsoft, to optimize their business and sales agility in selling and delivering solutions more effectively to their customers.

2009 HTG Award Presentations

This year marked the first year we have presented the HTG Awards to our membership. We have some of the greatest partners in the IT Channel, and we were able to recognize them on Tuesday evening as part of our HTG Summit in Dallas last week. Here is the list of winners:

Award - Name - Recipient Company
Group of the Year - HTG2 - Facilitator Nate Austin
Rookie of the Year - Amy and Peter Kardel - Clever Ducks
Facilitator of the Year - Erik Thorsell - Success Computer Consulting
Vendor of the Year - Zenith Infotech Ltd.
Spirit Award - Robert Lindley - Innovative Systems, Inc
Leadership Award - Dan Hay - ISOutsource
Founder’s Award - Lyf Wildenberg - Mytech Partners
Friend of HTG - Paul Dippell - Service Leadership, Inc.
Excellence in Partnering - Aaron Booker - Hardlines Co.
Best Practice/Great Idea - Mitch Miller - Dynamic Computer Solutions
Best Practice/Great Idea - Alex Ziogas - AZBS
Best Practice/Great Idea - Andre Vittorio - Idealogical Systems, Inc.

Group Members of the Year
HTG1 - Dan Shundoff - Intellicom
HTG2 - Lyf Wildenberg - Mytech Partners
HTG3 - Steve Riat - Nex-tech
HTG4 - Garrett Brucker - Solve IT
HTG5 - Cohen Barnes - TBC Net, Inc.
HTG6 - Dave Rodman/Jeremy Kurth K&R - Network Solutions
HTG7 - Chris Bates - The Computer Hut
HTG8 - Roy van Norstrand - Usherwood Office Technology
HTG9 - Gary Stein - Netlink Systems Inc.
HTG10 - Randy Biggs - VACS
HTG11 - Raja Pagadala - The Final Step Ltd.
HTG12 - Jamison West - JWCS
HTG13 - Steve Winter - ERGOS Technology
HTG14 - Don Bentz - Preferred IT Group
HTG15 - Amy and Peter Kardel - Clever Ducks
HTG16 - Tom Fox - Tech Experts
HTG17 - Greg Gurev - MySherpa
HTG18 - Ben Rife - Integrity Networks

Congratulations to the winners. We are proud of you!

Less than a week away

Things have been way too quiet around the upcoming launch of SBS2008 and EBS. Time for all of us to let people in our patch know about the upcoming Launch. There hasn't been nearly enough hoopla or air cover. So it is up to us as partners to set off some rockets and fireworks in our own cities and towns. And it is time to do it NOW.

In less than a week, the Dream Server Launch will happen. http://www.thedreamserver.com/ Know what I am talking about? The new kid in the Windows Server Family becomes public on November 12. That is also the day that SBS2008 makes its public debut. Our own Erik Thorsell from HTG3 will be part of that launch with his great work for Robby Gordon Motor Sports. We also had about 10 other HTG partners who had customers in the TAP program doing beta deployment and testing. Two great products that have potential to help you grow your SMB business. Generate leads by inviting your customers and prospects to the Windows Essential Server Solutions special launch webcast (link above) using guidance (https://partner.microsoft.com/40082316) and an invitation email template (https://partner.microsoft.com/40082139). Take a look at the tools provided and take action now to get involved. Don't miss the opportunity. Get involved and take action today.

The Go Giver Update

Yesterday I was blessed to be on blogtalk radio with Stuart Crawford and Bob Burg to discuss the book "The Go Giver". You can catch the show at this link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/smb/2008/09/19/The-Go-Giver

We spent a little over an hour talking about the 5 laws of stratospheric success and real world examples of how these principles can be lived out in life and business. It was a great discussion and one I encourage you to listen to.

Along those lines, this week at the Connectwise conference, I moderated two breakout panels where we discussed these principles as well. Serving and sharing their experiences were Brad Schow, Jeff Howard, Erik Thorsell, Stuart Crawford and Jeff Wood. These guys opened up their businesses and personal stories to help people understand that there is another way to live rather than blindly following the common wisdom the world shares with us. If you haven't read the book, please take time to do so, about a two hour read which is great for a plane ride. The bottom line is that these principles can really change the way you look at business and ultimately life. Being a contrarian often has some hidden value and can lead to even more success!

The Power of Cooperation

One of the great things that happens when partners get past the fear of competition is that true partnering can happen. A couple of our HTG partners, Erik Thorsell at SCC and Lyf Wildenberg from MyTech, did a very unique event cooperatively to drive business. These two companies compete in the Minneapolis market. Both are in HTG - SCC in HTG3, and MyTech in HTG2. As is the case for most - the fear of competition is really based on lack of understanding and relationship. These two companies have worked over the past year to learn about each other, understand where the strengths and weaknesses are in both companies and become true go-givers with each other. They have done an exchange day where staff spent time in the other business to see how they run their business. They are doing joint telephone cold calls together through an IBM campaign - did you catch that - their sales teams sitting together in the same room. Their success has been based on open sharing - but between competitors in the world's view.

Most would say the culture of HTG is crazy - to open up a business completely to 11 other companies. And in this case - to be transparent even to another company right in the same market. The world would say "bad decision". But these guys have proven the power of peers. They have recently held a joint marketing event. Each invited their own customers plus they marketed to drive prospects to the event. In prior years each had done their own pretty successful event. But this time, by working together, they hit a home run. They had more people than either would have drawn on their own, much more vendor participation, and most importantly, both companies are energized and growing. Of course a lot of the success comes from the top - leaders who get what it means to be go-givers. They communicated clearly and set expectations. It didn't just happen, but it was a powerful example of what can be when people live out the power of peers in community.

Stuart Crawford recently did a blogtalk radio show with these two. I encourage you to take time to listen and see how the culture of HTG and the power of peers can make a huge difference. Check it out at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/smb/2008/09/05/The-Art-of-Coopetition.

New Groups Formed for HTG

I get excited when we are able to finally get new groups into the HTG family and yesterday that happened as we started HTG12 and HTG13 here with their initial meeting in Iowa. HTG12 is a group of companies that primarily were in the online program last year and are being led by Erik Thorsell from Minneapolis.

HTG13 is being led by David Cooksey from St Joseph, one of the founding companies from way back in 2001. His group is also filled with great companies with a lot of diversity in their business models. Both groups were out to the technofarm last night here at HTS for some bbq and good old Iowa hospitality. We always like to start new groups out with a trip to the farm.

There will be another set of groups beginning in October, so if you are interested or know of a company that would be a good fit they can apply at www.htgmembers.com by filling out the survey there.

Iron Chef Video from WPC

At the WPC event in Houston earlier this month I had the opportunity to do a presentation with Erik Thorsell, Ric Opal and Glen Lowe to help create a little interest and understanding about the new Windows Essential Business Server that will ship this fall. If you aren't up to speed on this product - you need to start getting familiar.

We didn't do a normal presentation at all - it was a takeoff on the Iron Chef TV series and we had some fun. I made a little snafu in the presentation but overall I hope you find it enjoyable. There will be more tools coming very soon for you to evaluate your readiness for EBS, but take some time for a laugh or two and begin thinking about how you will add EBS to your portfolio going forward.

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=665414301&k=X5EZ3Z64P4ZM5ACEWFY2WW

Send any feedback via this blog. Would love to hear what you think.

Zoom Zoom II

Details are starting to trickle in regarding the SBSC racing promotion. You may recall that Microsoft is sponsoring some opportunities around the #49 car on teh NASCAR circuit. As SBSC members we can participate in that. Here is the URL for the sign up page, including a link on it to view more details on all of the items included in this package: https://www.49team.com/sbscorder. On that page, be sure to enter the Microsoft Promo code which will be sent to you in the SBSC newsletter so watch for that.

Looks like a fun promotion and a lot of creative ideas to incorporate into our own marketing. I encourage you to take a look and see if it fits your plan. If you haven't been marketing to prospects and customers, this may be just the entry point you need.

Having been blessed with the opportunity to attend an event with Erik Thorsell and the SCC team last year, I saw first hand just how crazy committed these NASCAR fans are to the sport. There are lots of them and they pay attention to the details. So I think it is a great opportunity to have some fun and touch a crowd that may be outside your normal customer base.