HDI Announces 2012 Conference & Expo Keynote Lineup

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Dec. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- HDI, the world's largest professional association and certification body for IT service and technical support professionals, today announced keynotes for the HDI 2012 Conference & Expo (http://www.HDIConference.com). The event will take place April 24–27, 2012, at the Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, FL, with more than 2,200 technical support professionals, managers, directors, and executives expected to attend.

Keynote speakers include Lou Holtz, NCAA football coach, and Dr. Michio Kaku, theoretical physicist and host of Science Channel's Sci Fi Science. The lineup also features business consultant and best-selling author Joe Calloway, celebrated dancer Li Cunxin, organizational therapist Connie Podesta, and Showtime Comedy All-Star Steve Rizzo.

The conference will help service and support industry professionals discover and utilize the latest tools, technology, and trends they will need to meet the unique challenges of a rapidly evolving industry. HDI will feature presentations from nearly 100 prominent speakers, solution providers, and industry experts, providing valuable resources for every technical support department across a broad spectrum of perspectives.

Event highlights include:

• Thirteen pre-conference workshops that provide leading-edge operational strategies and effective soft-skills training for all levels;
• Eighty breakout sessions that focus on emerging technologies and media, metrics and measurements, team building, problem analysis, knowledge management, and process improvement;
• Eight customized tracks targeted on strategies for senior business executives, fundamentals for support managers, IT operational efficiency, team dynamics, metrics, desktop support, creating a service culture, and support tools and technologies;
• An exclusive Executive Connections Package that allows senior directors and executives to network, share new ideas, and examine alternative strategies in private roundtable discussions facilitated by renowned industry leader, Craig Baxter;
• Opportunities to network with hundreds of knowledgeable and dynamic speakers, practitioners, and industry experts; and
• The HDI 2012 Expo Hall, which is the ultimate marketplace for comparing products and services from IT service and support industry vendors.

"We're very excited to offer such an impressive lineup of presenters this year," said Michelle Frilow, HDI's director of events and conferences. "They represent a broad spectrum of expertise for industry professionals to draw from. HDI 2012 will provide a dynamic blend of resources. The sessions, keynotes, and networking opportunities are all designed to directly benefit support industry professionals and help them meet today's—as well as tomorrow's—unique challenges."

Now in its twenty-second year, this annual event provides help desk, customer service, and IT support professionals with invaluable education, insight, and thought leadership. Seminars, case studies, in-depth roundtable discussions, and workshops are led by industry experts, representatives from top solution providers, and seasoned practitioners.

About HDI

HDI is the world's largest professional association and certification body for IT service and technical support professionals. Facilitating collaboration and networking, HDI hosts annual industry conferences and events, produces comprehensive publications, connects solution providers with practitioners, while certifying and training thousands of IT professionals each year.

HDI serves a community of over 110,000 members, followers, customers, solution providers, and contributors throughout the service industry, supporting sixty local chapters across North America. Guided by an international panel of industry experts and practitioners, HDI is the community's leading resource for best practices and emerging trends. Headquartered in Colorado Springs, CO, HDI offers training in multiple languages and countries. For more information, visit http://www.ThinkHDI.com or call +1 719.268.0174. HDI is a part of UBM TechWeb.

About UBM TechWeb

UBM TechWeb, the global leader in technology media and professional information, enables people and organizations to harness the transformative power of technology. Through its core business—media solutions, marketing services, and professional information—UBM TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed brands, applications, and services in the technology market. More than 14.5 million business and technology professionals (CIOs, IT and IT support managers, Web and digital professionals, software and game developers, government decision makers, telecom providers, and business executives) actively participate in UBM TechWeb's communities. UBM TechWeb's brands include: global face-to-face events, such as Interop, Game Developers Conference (GDC), Web 2.0, Black Hat, and VoiceCon; large-scale online networks, such as InformationWeek, Light Reading, and Gamasutra; research, training, and certification services, including HDI, Pyramid Research, and InformationWeek Analytics; and market-leading magazines, such as InformationWeek and Wall Street & Technology. UBM TechWeb is part of UBM, a global provider of media and information services for professional B2B communities and markets. For more information, visit http://www.techweb.com.

CONTACT: Melanie Adamich, +1-719-785-5391, [email protected]

SOURCE HDI