Monthly Chapter Meetings
Help Desk Analyst of the Year
Annual Mississippi Boat Trip
Support Expo
National Help Desk Institute
The Minnesota Chapter of the Help Desk Institute was formed in December
of 1990 and holds ten meetings per year, usually
on the third Wednesday of each month. Exceptions are the Annual Support Expo and the July Boat Trip
down the Mississippi. There are no meetings in August and December.
Monthly meetings of the Minnesota Chapter are usually held on the third Wednesday of the month, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. We manage to get a lot accomplished in that time! The typical agenda includes:
Past presentations have covered a wide variety of topics, and are given by experts in
their fields. Speakers are often representatives of firms who provide services to support
organizations and, as such, can offer the benefit of their experiences with help desks of
all sizes and facing a wide variety of issues. To date, our speakers have done a wonderful
job of presenting well-balanced information, without promoting any particular vendor or
product.
Other presentations have included problem management systems, outsourcing, support
avoidance techniques, computer telephone integration, stress management, asset management,
and identifying and achieving effective skill sets. . If you have an idea for a meeting
topic, networking session, or an icebreaker, or if you are interested in making a
presentation, please e-mail us at: programs@hdimn.com
.
Monthly meetings are hosted by chapter members or sponsored by a member at a non-member
location. Each meeting is held at a different location in the Twin Cities, with dual goals
of offering the opportunity to tour the host’s help desk and visiting various sites
so that travel distances are distributed as evenly as possible. (Of course, our success in
achieving these goals is dependent upon the sites offered for meetings.) If you would
like to host a chapter meeting, please e-mail ust at: programs@hdimn.com .
Help Desk Analyst of the
Year Award
The Minnesota Chapter of Help Desk Institute held its first annual Help Desk Analyst of the Year competition in 2003. This award recognizes a local Help Desk Analyst that exemplifies the best qualities among Help Desk practitioners. The winner will have demonstrated extraordinary commitment, dedication, and service to customers while consistently exceeding performance objectives. To qualify the nominees must spend at least 75 percent of their time performing direct customer facing tier one support.
Our local finalist moves on to complete at the regional level. The winner of each Regional Analyst of the Year competition will be invited to participate in HDI’s Global Analyst of the Year Awards Gala, to be presented at the HDI Annual Conference.
The Annual Support Expo showcases vendors who provide goods and service that are
especially pertinent to support organizations. These goods and services include training
and education, problem management and automatic call distribution systems, ergonomic
furniture, headsets, staffing services, and specialized consulting firms that assist
support organizations in everything from product selections to business process
improvements.
Vendors come from local firms and from all around the United States, and they
appreciate the opportunity to meet with a targeted audience of local help desk
representatives. Attendees have the opportunity to see the latest developments in help
desk related tools and services, as well as to meet with representatives of firms with
whom they are, or are considering, doing business.
A very popular feature of the Annual Support Expo is the schedule of entertaining and
educational presentations by local and national experts. A list of recent presentations
follows:
2001 - "2000 Years of Technical Support", presented by George
Spalding; Panel Discussion on "Soft Skills" with Maria
Anundson of Hollstadt & Associates, Brian Fisher of Benchmark, Dave
Keller of TEK Systems and Colleen McCann.
1998 - "Effective IT Service & Support – It’s the Process! Designing
a Service Architecture," presented by Curt Strait, of Synet; "The Problem
Management System Selection Process," presented by Stacey Frankovich, of Hartford
Life; and "Computer Networking 101," presented by George Spalding, of Spalding
& Associates.
1997 - "Humor at Work," presented by Nancy Mark, of reMarkable speaking!;
"Technical Support on the World Wide Web," presented by Stacey Frankovich of
Hollstadt & Associates; "Problem Resolution Strategies for the Web,"
presented by David Lewy of Advantage KBS Inc.; and "Problem Resolution Systems: a
Critical Competitive Weapon," presented by Amy Ting of Primus.
1996 - "How to Evaluate Help Desk Software," presented by Don Farber, of
Applix, Inc.; "Help Desk Career Management," presented by Herman Schranz, of
SMCG, Inc.; and "Avoiding Support Staff Burnout," presented by George Spalding.
In addition to all of this, benefits to attendees also include the opportunity to win
fabulous door prizes and a grand prize drawing. Door prizes include a wide variety of
baubles and gift certificates, and for the last two years, the grand prize drawing has
been a $700 travel voucher.
Every July, the Minnesota Chapter charters the Jonathan Padelford and holds its chapter
meeting on the Mississippi River.
The annual boat trip follows a more relaxed agenda than the usual chapter meeting, with
icebreakers, networking sessions, and games that offer the opportunity to win fabulous
prizes. Free to chapter members, the boat trip is a fun and popular way to network with
other help desk professionals while enjoying outstanding scenery and terrific
refreshments. Don’t miss this year’s cruise!
Check out the Home Page of the National Help Desk Institute: http://www.helpdeskinst.com/