Founders' Note: Thanks for Pivoting with IT Martini in 2011
January 3rd, 2012
By John Bishop
It's been another amazing year, with an incredible outpouring of support from IT Communities everywhere. Thanks to you, IT Martini was a success in 2011.
Thinking Different in 2011
Aladin and I started IT Martini to connect with professionals in the industry. We enjoy producing engaging, creatively inspired events for IT Professionals, but in 2011, we wanted to do it differently. Rather than host a record number of happy hour events, the IT Martini team acquired top tier venues, sponsors, conference partners - and even produced an IT Martini conference.
It was a year focused on quality over quantity, with Janova at the Limited Brands Campus in New Albany, Genesis10 at the House of Blues in Cleveland, Sprint & MTCI at the downtown Hyatt in Cincinnati, and partnerships with TechTomorrow and The Path to Agility in Columbus.
New Depth
Reaching this level of depth was a new experience for us. For example, we were stunned almost 100 people were waitlisted for IT Martini's very first conference event about quality assurance!
Conference presenter Mark Harris, Enterprise QA Manager at Grange Insurance discussed the importance of events exploring the intricacies of quality assurance in an August interview about the upcoming conference. "The value of quality assurance to an organization can be qualified ultimately in terms of business success. These discussions help QA professionals come to grips with that and communicate their vital role in an organization," he said.
Other topics were also hot, including the 4G technology briefing at the start of the year. The topic was so hot, a standing room only crowd nearly overheated one of the Hyatt's largest conference rooms during the discussion.
In a March 22, 2011 interview, John Cox, Vice President of IT Services for Rockfish said, "These types of discussions are important for the IT Community because technology is all about evolving to meet the needs of end users. [They] hit on 3 key components of success in technology: ideation, inspiration and innovation. The first is social in nature. The second personal. And the last technical. These...events touch on all three to move everyone involved forward."
Thought Leadership Focus
To better serve this thirst for knowledge, it made sense to (once again) do something different. In late 2011, we launched IT Martini Weekly with a vision for an IT Community on the web. So far, it's been a lot of fun seeing the newsletter format mature - and shake things up with a focus on top IT leaders and their 'unvarnished' perspectives on the industry.
Jeanne W. Ross, Director and Principal Research Scientist at the MIT Sloan School's Center for Information Systems Research, was one of the first to share her perspective. She discussed the value IT organizations can bring to a business, "...if IT leaders are really good, they will keep management decisions focused on what is core, what capabilities matter, what can be reused, and how the firm can build on its success. As one chief architect described it, 'we provide the rudder for the company—without us, business leaders would just pursue the flavor of the day.'"
And who could forget Jeff Harper, CEO at eProximiti, and his perspective on buying local here in Ohio? He described his dilema with this community, "It seems like it sounds better to say you got something from a company in California or New York. We've done business with Harvard and they don't have a problem with us being from Ohio, but local companies do."
In our short time publishing IT Martini Weekly, we've already discovered so much from the likes of Jeanne Ross, Michael Fergang, Jeff Harper, Joseph Sanda and Pamela Springer. And we're ready to share even more perspectives in 2012.
Looking Back, Looking Forward
In summary, 2011 was a 'pivot' year. Heading into 2012, we're looking forward to new and complimentary ways of connecting IT Communities, such as:
- Producing conference style events with first rate industry presenters and social activities
- Publishing weekly newsletters featuring IT industry leaders
- Connecting IT Pros with the web resources to make social and professional connections
I'm proud of IT Martini's evolution: from a cocktail hour into something that could impact the industry on a broad scale. Stay tuned for more in 2012!
Final Thank You's
So once again, thanks for your contributions to IT Martini this past year. Your words of encouragement, constructive criticism and feedback got us to where we are today.
In closing, and on behalf of Aladin and myself, I'd like to offer one more thanks. Here's to the team that made IT Martini happen in 2011:
Operations Team
Jennifer Fisher (Event Director), Katie Greene (Marketing Manager), Staisja Brant (Event Manager), Angela Slezak (Media Correspondent), Terreece Clarke (Editorial Director), Raquel Marquez (Event Manager), Jessica Kuhn (Event Manager), Rachel Orndorff (Event Manager), Andrea Mazzacco (Event Manager), Tony Whelan (Program Manager)
Community Team
Michelle Aro (Philanthropy Director), Kevin Hiser (Entrepreneurship Director), Holly Solomon (Community Development Manager, At Large), Dan Clark (Community Development Manager, Columbus), Daryle Johnson (Community Development Manager, Indianapolis), Jay Apple (Community Development Manager, Cleveland), Tina Koczeniak (Community Development Manager, Cleveland), Jared Price (Community Development Manager, Columbus), Denver Hutt (Community Development Manager, Indianapolis)
Cheers and see you soon!
John Bishop
