Pink14: What You Already Know & Some Of What You May Not Know!

David Ratcliffe, President | February 25, 2014 Events
So the 18th Annual IT Service Management Conference is all in the past now - except for the "clean up" we have to do over the next few weeks. When I say "clean up" I'm not talking about any unexpected mess, just the detailed assessment of feedback from all the sessions, and paying the bills! By all initial accounts the Pink Conference Team did another fantastic job. We had slightly more attendees than last year, and more vendors too. So from a purely business perspective, the riskiest thing that Pink does every year is almost put to bed with no surprises or dangerous incidents to send us into any kind of panic (thank you Mother Nature; thank you Mr President; and thank you everyone else in the world who didn't do anything to mess with us). There's a lot the Conference Team have to do to prepare and then execute this event, but they're old hands at most of what's needed. One thing I'd like to call out, though, is how on the Tuesday afternoon they assisted the Bellagio team to "flip" the main keynote room to get ready for a big party. There was a lot to do, from setting up the stage for the Water Coolers and the Rolling Stones tribute band - The Jagged Stones - to setting tables for 1500 people with party favours and lots of other fun decorations. Oh yes, and the bars and food tables! If you were there for the party then you probably wondered how that huge room could have been reset so quickly - but it was. Thanks to the Bellagio Events Team and the Pink Conference Team. Well done! Speaking of "The Jagged Stones" - we were quite tickled at a piece on Huffington Post the next day profiling the band and their performance at the "Tower Ballroom, Bellagio"! Just a bit puzzled why they didn't mention Pink or our event by name ???? Also, does this mean one of our participants is a blogger for Huffington Post? But lots of other reviews were very clear in their appreciation of Pink and the overall value of the event. Some interesting reads were contained in the blog entries by: Rebecca Beach writing for the ITSM Review Jon Reynolds (Cloud Sherpas) Ian Aitchison (LANDESK) Earl Begley from the University of Kentucky, writing for the ITSM Review Chuck Darst for HP Jim Finister (Tata Consultancy Services) If you were there then some of what you'll read in those blogs will sound familiar, for sure. And, no doubt you took away some great ideas and guidance from the eclectic group of speakers and fellow attendees. The anecdotal comments we've received first hand have also been universally positive, praising the great job done by all our session speakers and contributors. As expected we've had a few comments about how there's "just too much content", and "give me more than 15-20 minutes for lunch please!" But you know - and you've heard me say this every year - no matter how we slice & dice things, you're ALWAYS going to be unable to attend everything! You just have to spend some time planning your time to make sure you hit what's most important to you. And if you need 45 minutes for lunch - take it! Don't blame us (it's my fault actually) that we have sessions going on while you chomp down. We just want to give you lots to chose from, and that means you can't do everything. I'm afraid that's a "criticism" we're always going to have to live with. We regularly consider new ideas for how we can space things out and try to adjust the program so that you can make the most of as much of the content as possible, but at the end of the day - unless we have a single track event - YOU have to make some choices! Again this year, for the 3rd time, we streamed all the keynotes live via the web. If you were one of those who tuned in, I'd really like to hear what your experience was like. This year we made some adjustments to how that was done, using a split screen to show the speaker and the images on the big screen simultaneously. A big improvement on how when a speaker might show a picture or video and you're left staring at a silent and motionless speaker on-stage as in the last 2 years. My personal highlights of the Conference program:
  • Seeing the impressive stage setting for the first time on Monday morning. Wow! It looked fabulous - the colourful yet moody Gotham City backdrop with the London phone booth (errrr, OK, a bit of artistic licence there!)
  • Seeing Pink's CEO, Fatima Cabral, come out of that phone booth, removing her Superhero cape and welcoming everyone in that most calm, confident and stylish way that only she knows how - and then going on to deliver, for me, the most memorable line of the Conference: "Holy Fit For Purpose, Batman!"
  • Then seeing Pink's Executive VP, George Spalding go INTO the phone booth dressed as Clark Kent and exiting a few seconds later in his Superman outfit. OK - to be honest the Superman outfit is not something we really want to retain in our memories, I know, but it was fun for us in the know (and now you!) to think of how George was "re-dressed" by two ladies inside that booth. George has many talents, but being a solo quick change artists clearly isn't one of them - so he needed an extra couple of hands in there. OK - moving on quickly ....
  • Long time Pink friend Kirk Weisler doing an absolute kick-ass job as Jimmy Olson in his little vignette with George, sorry, Superman.
  • Commander Chris Hadfield. Everyone else has already said how he lived up to our need for inspiration. I was just a bit tickled to think how we booked him almost a year ago - when he was actually still in space at the International Space Station! Well done Conference Manager, Pattie Lanktree! I loved his style of speaking, and I'll never get tired of seeing close-up video of launches from Cape Canaveral. That thunderous roar always gets to me!
  • Seeing Pink's Barry Brown accompany Cmdr. Hadfield in a performance of "Space Oddity" Nice one Baz!
  • Caroline Casey: Again, others have written eloquently about this impressive lady. I was just completely taken aback by her story. In 18 years we've had many, many interesting keynote speakers, but she takes the cake for providing me with the biggest surprise. I just wasn't prepared for what she had to say. If you want to know what all the fuss was about, watch her TED Talk video and be ready to have your mind blown.
  • The many conversations and good wishes I received from old and new friends over the few days we spent together. It means a lot to me when people say they LOVE coming to our Conference and they can't wait to come back! Thank you.
  • And the folks who attended my two sessions on Wednesday. "The Dragon's Den of ITSM" just before lunch got off to a fun start when I asked everyone if they were enjoying the event, and especially why a few folks tend to leave on Tuesday evening. "What's that all about?" If you were there you'll know there was no shortage of opinions on what people would like to see next time. We'll try our best - I can promise you that! All good feedback we're taking into consideration, thanks!
  • And my half-day " workshop "The ITSM Leadership MasterClass" on Wednesday afternoon. If you were there you probably observed that I enjoyed it as much as anyone in attendance. Is that fair? Am I allowed to have more fun than my customers?! I just love this subject and I'm planning to do a lot more research and writing on this. "Leadership" is talked about a lot these days, but mostly in a very generic way. I think "Leadership in ITSM" has some special needs - which I really want to understand and discuss more. So look out if you're going to the "3rd Annual ITSM Leadership Forum" - PinkFORUM14 - later this year!
Well, if you were there last week I want to thank you. The faith you place in us means a whole lot more than I can express. And if you weren't there - then maybe we'll see you next time? The "19th Annual International IT Service Management Conference & Exhibition" is way more than just a placeholder in our calendars right now. We've been planning it for some time and we promise you'll not regret attending! Better still, if you plan to be at PinkFORUM14 & Pink15 - you need to check out our special combo offer! Pink14 is gone. PinkFORUM14 & Pink15 are on the way!

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