Weren’t we just there? Seems hard to believe that the Fusion 08 itSMF USA conference in San Francisco was over 5 weeks ago! It was another great event for those able to participate. Here are some of the highlights from the event - A memory jogger for those who were there, and a glimpse of what took place if you weren’t able to attend this year….

General Sessions - Keynote Speakers Were Phenomenal!

Kirk Weisler – the Master of Ceremonies – always the motivator! 
It was great to see Kirk Weisler back again this year to shepherd the group and transition between main events throughout the conference.  Kirk has a knack for keeping people engaged….he scored big time again this year!  Not only did he start activities off in his ever present high energy style, he continued throughout to motivate people to attend sessions, take advantage of all opportunities to network, and join in on the fun on the exhibit floor.  At the last general session on Wednesday, he offered up a “big sized” western invitation (reminiscent of Clint Eastwood) to join itSMF USA again next year in Dallas!

Fusion 08 was indeed fortunate to have five phenomenal and very diverse keynote speakers!

Patrick Lencioni
What a way to start the conference!  Patrick spoke about building a smart team – a healthy team by minimizing the politics, providing a high degree of moral and having low turnover among key members.  The author of The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team talked through these dysfunctions and drove home the point that a leader must LEAD to ensure the team does not feel Absence of Trust, Fear of Conflict, Lack of Commitment, Avoidance of Accountability or Inattention to Results.  It was motivating to listen to Patrick's stories and to get some practical advice to ensure that all of our Process-related initiatives are successful.

Charlie Feld
Charlie started out the session by showing some incredibly detailed slides, some hard to grasp at first…until he started talking about the practicality of what lies ahead for those that need to manage IT organizations in the 21st century. Then all the pieces began to fall into place. Charlie has lived the transformation in the IT workplace. His talk focused on why organizations need to develop an enterprise-level framework for standardizing delivery to the Business value chain. Sound familiar??? He was right on target. Our ITSM principles parallel with these ideas.  Charlie was one of the best industry speakers we have had to date.

Archie Manning 
Who wouldn't enjoy the stories of football, family, and personal fortitude as a way of rethinking our process journeys!  This NFL legend talked about his sons and their success and how football, as in life is a journey filled with starts and stops, successes and challenges…not unlike our process journey  Archie’s best advice?  Bring the right attitude every day – as a leader attitude can be contagious.  Be flexible – no plan covers everything and alternatives/risk/contingency are things that can change quickly.  Lastly – Play the “game” and play it hard.  

Connie Podesta 
Connie provided a high-energy, interactive and entertaining presentation to start the day on Tuesday, entitled "Life Would Be Easy If It Weren’t For Other People."  With her humorous, fast-paced style she had us examining why we behave and react as we do, thereby providing insights into how we can create and maintain successful relationships with others.  Everyone was laughing and learning as she described the characteristics of each person in the room using a square, triangle, circle and a squiggly line. Are you a squiggle or a circle? It had Kirk Weisler considering squiggles for the remainder of the conference.  She was not just entertaining but very informative for all who desire to manage change in their organizations.

Sharon Taylor
Sharon's great approach to ITIL v3 and the top 10 lessons learned were a fabulous conclusion and “call to action” for the end of the 2008 Fusion Conference.  We all struggle with how to best approach the processes and v3.  Her realism was great.  Simple tips like, "Keep It Simple," "Be the Change with attitude, behavior and cultural leadership," "Remain accountable to the business," and "Be Proactive – do what makes sense now," were all great recommendations for each of us to find ways to enhance our current process initiatives without losing site of the end result – supporting business outcomes!

"Outstanding Keynote speakers! I enjoyed ALL of them and their very different styles and perspectives.” - Tess DePalma

Networking at Fusion08

Networking is one of the most important reasons to attend the conference. Not only were there formal programs for content focused networking opportunities, there were countless opportunities for creating and renewing professional contacts and personal friendships. It was all accomplished from the standpoint of a common bond - itSMF - linking us all together in one place. 

• Formal Networking Opportunities: 
  
  The Birds of a Feather Sessions were spectacular and provided attendees with many opportunities for learning.  They started out on Tuesday with an industry focus on what others in your industry are doing with ITSM.  Separate session rooms were dedicated to sectors such as, Manufacturing & Utilities, Financial, Software, Technology, Retail & Service, Government & Education, Consulting & Outsourcing/ASP, and Healthcare & Insurance. Many Fusion 08 attendees took advantage of these informal discussions to meet and get to know the leaders in their respective industries. These contacts are invaluable when you need to contact "someone" that has experience in the areas you are trying to implement or improve.
  
  On Wednesday, the topics shifted to the content areas of Service Strategy, Service Design, Service Transition, Service Operation, ISO/IEC 20000, and ITIL® for small and medium sized companies. These interactive sessions provided excellent feedback and great insight on how well these topics are playing out in the business.  Most important, the information about these topics is invaluable to folks trying to understand and apply the concepts in their companies back home.
  
  
• Informal Networking Opportunities:    
  
  Breakfast with Kirk Weisler, Fusion’s Master of Ceremonies, was a treat for those who attended. Kirk's upbeat style carried us through the entire conference with insight and wit.
  There were the daily events like the Welcome Reception and Exhibits that kicked off the events on Sunday Evening, followed by the Monday and Tuesday afternoon receptions and Exhibits.  And the hors d'oeuvres and drinks were pretty good too!
  
  
• Networking - Drinks and Discussions: 
  
  If the other Networking Opportunities didn't suit you, there was at least one other possibility... regional "Drinks and Discussions" held at various watering holes after 7:30PM each night... Like the New England and Mid Atlantic States (Eastern Time Zone) attendees meeting at the Hilton Lounge at Seven Fifty, and the Pacific and Mountain Time Zone, International attendees in the Marriott View Lounge & Bar, and the Central Time Zone, Hawaii and Puerto Rico attendees in the Piazza Lounge at the Parc 55 hotel, and the South Atlantic States (eastern Time Zone) at Bar 888 in the Intercontinental... If you couldn't find your group at one of these sessions, there was always the city of San Francisco waiting to host an impromptu session just about anywhere you would choose.
  
  
• Personal Networking: 
  
  Finally, there were the personal networking opportunities that came as a result of contact with the friends you have made along the way during the ITSM journey....it really helps to have friends in the business.
  
  
  
  
  
  In all, there were many ways to Network, and the conference committee worked hard at providing several options. A great job!!
   
  

Exhibits

This year's conference clearly included the single largest U.S. gathering of qualified and accredited ITSM providers, specifically for the attendees to see and talk to. There were over 80 exhibitors this year. The exhibitor list included Diamond, Platinum, Gold and Silver levels and a host of additional exhibitors. There were several newcomers this year and some returning from a few years ago. Each exhibitor brought the best of the best, representing tools, services, and consulting opportunities for all the attendees to evaluate. The exhibit hall was a very active place this year.

Every year vendor products get stronger.  With increasingly mature products, the vendors have become more creative and focused with their marketing. Although there may have been less frills and giveaways this year, there was better product and service content.  The Exhibit Hall is getting better every year!

Most of the traffic this year seemed focused around vendors who can provide tools solutions.  Not surprising, as most folks have either moved toward implementation programs or are evaluating how or what they will need to support their implementation efforts in the near term. The longer the vendors concentrate on ITSM, their solutions and tools will become more scalable and comprehensive…and easier to implement. The overall ITSM market maturity has moved toward service implementation and improvement, and the vendors are providing offerings that can map to the client needs. Good news for all of us!


Track Sessions 

There were ten Track choices every day with eight topics each over the 2 1/2 days of the conference. That meant over 80 presentations, workshops or round table discussions to choose from. 

Each Track had at least three to four outstanding presentations and workshops available per day. The hard challenge was choosing between these concurrent sessions…you really needed to choose carefully to make sure you were getting to the ones you really wanted.

However, if you happen to have nomadic tendencies, and since you could download the presentations beforehand, you could split your time between presentations. 

This was made especially easier this year as all the track sessions were in one area on one level at the Moscone Center.  Many well known and respected presenters, including Malcolm Fry, Karen Ferris, Jay Stuart, Teresa Mount, Dennis Ravenelle and other distinguished industry notables shared their experiences and thoughts with the attendees.  The session feedback has been very positive.

"Fusion 08 Conference was simply amazing. As a volunteer and a long time advocate of IT service management, I give the entire conference a two thumbs-up! The knowledge I gained as a result of participating in various program track sessions related to IT service management, especially ITIL® v3 framework and practical ITIL implementation strategies to utilize in my daily projects will add value to my organization as an IT service management consultant."  - Cathy Beykzadeh 

 

 
 The Party...ahh…the Party 
 
We all waited in line at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art for the doors to open Tuesday night.  What a great venue!  The entrance to the Museum had a variety of food and drink stations with small areas to mingle and network throughout the first floor.  There was such a variety of food it was difficult to “taste everything!”  With the crowd of participants coming in the doors, there seemed to be room for all to find something of interest.
 

Music floated from the main floor up and through the building, but the imagination took over when viewing the various art exhibits.  What a great way to challenge our senses from a different perspective!  Some people had the occasion to stay in San Francisco for a few extra days, and the lines to get into the Museum on other nights were equally long and impressive as ours was on Tuesday.  It was fantastic that itSMF USA had the entire Museum to itself to enjoy the festivities, food and art.

"The Fusion '08 party mirrored the level of sophistication we saw at the whole conference.  The museum provided a perfect backdrop for this gathering of IT professionals to network, enjoy fantastic food and view some amazing art and exhibits.  Each year gets better and better.”  - Bill Bennett
 

Post Conference Training…a huge success!  
 
Post-conference Training this year was extremely successful!  The Training Sessions included an ITIL v2-v3 Bridge, v3 Foundations, Best Practices in CMDB, Best Practices in a Service Catalog, Root Cause, and ISO Training.  Following the close of Fusion 08, the Moscone was returned to its quiet state.  Over 80 participants stayed for training and everyone got used to a quieter venue.  ITSM Academy, Pink Elephant, Third Sky, and Plexent provided top-notch trainers for the classes offered.  Each day participants indicated that they were pleased with the caliber of the Instructors and the dialog within the class – all providing for a great training experience.  
 

As classes concluded and various certification exams were taken, the recurring comment coming out of the class was, 'Thank you for such a great Instructor - I felt really prepared for the certification!"  Some of the other acknowledgements were equally positive:  “It’s great to have a teacher with such passion and knowledge” and “Nice course to have at the conclusion of the conference.”  
 
Following Fusion 08, many of the Training vendors who provided certification exams shared that their pass rate results are outstanding!  Pass rates for the v3 Foundation course and the two ITIL bridge classes had a pass rate of 100%.

Attendees were fortunate to have had such a group of great instructors and dedicated students who were able to the most out of post-conference training opportunities!

"I attended the ITSMF Conference in North Carolina in 2007 and was so impressed by the organization, caliber and attention to detail to every aspect of the conference, the vendors, networking, exhibits, food, parties, and keynote speakers were absolutely phenomenal.  I made a promise to myself that as an ITSM Professional I would never miss a conference.  This year, I set the bar higher; I had something to compare it to.  I was not disappointed!  The job that the organization, volunteers and facilities is by far the absolute best!!  San Francisco was outstanding I can't wait until next year...It is an event I look forward to."  - Nisi Vidato

Note: More photos of Fusion 08 are available on the website.

About the Authors

Larry Killingsworth has over 35 years of industry experience in developing and managing technical service delivery and support systems for engineering and IT.  His experience includes IT Process development including industry good practices based on frameworks such as ITIL, CoBIT, CMMII, Six Sigma, ANSI and TQM. He has developed courses and taught Service Management at the University MBA Level, and is active as one of the founding members of the Local Interest Group Board serving as President for the Lehigh-Delaware Valley LIG. He has been a Track Chair for the national conference several times and has presented at many industry forums on Service Management topics. His business background includes Planning, Budgeting and Project Management. Larry has a degree in computer science from DeSales University.

Shari Brunette has worked in IT Service Management for over 20 years.  Currently, she works for Cargill and is responsible for the Global implementation of the ITIL processes and enabling tools.  Cargill is an international provider of food, agricultural and risk management products and services.  Prior to joining Cargill, Shari has worked as an IT Service Management Consultant, Enterprise Process Owner, Tools/Applications Manager and Educator.  Her industry experience includes Hospitality, Travel and Leisure, Financial Services, Insurance and Manufacturing.  

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