Sunday was the final day before the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference began the following day – but there was plenty to keep me occupied on the “pre-day”!
After going to George R. Brown Convention Centre to register, I bumped into Matt Mackowizc of Ambition Mission to talk about his new book a little, and also saw Dave Sobel who will be the Facilitator of the new HTG 11 group to open in the UK.
After bidding a farewell to my chauffeur, Matt (but seriously, thanks mate – appreciate everything!) I met up with Vijay, Hilton Travis (from Australia) and David Lees (South Africa) for lunch at the nearby Grove. We were soon joined by Chris Rue and Beatrice Multzer.
Whilst Vijay, Hilton and David left to hit a day’s worth of SBSC PAL meetings – I “strolled” over to the Holiday Inn Express, 2 blocks away from the Grove, to join my first HTG ALL meet-up. Crawling would be a better description than strolling – it was so hot and sticky! I can now see why you rarely see people walking along in Texas!
What is HTG? It’s the Heartland Technology Group, founded by Arlin Sorenson. It’s a peer group (and there are now 10+ such groups across the USA and Canada) of business owners who exchange ideas, help each other set goals, and set each other accountable for meeting those goals. My own take is that it’s like a local user group taken to the next level and beyond. I’ve been invited to join the new HTG 11 group which will be based in the UK, and I’m very excited about the possibilities that opens up.
The meeting outlined the vision for expanding HTG (or HTG 2.0) and how it would be accomplished. Being in a room full of business owners who were passionate about doing well was really motivating, and I’m looking forward to being involved in HTG as a worldwide group.
Many of the HTG group including Dave Sobel and Erick Simpson then moved on to other pressing matters – beer! We stopped off at Cyclone Anaya’s Mexican Kitchen (Cyclone being a former Lucha Libre Wrestler, the Kitchen was themed with old Wrestling bits) where I explained my love of Pro-Wrestling and was promptly ridiculed for it. ****kers. Talking of British expressions, Erick and Armen were most amused by the phrase “Pissed as a Newt“. Those crazy yanks!
Day One “proper” of WPC to follow!
Richard Tubb is one of the best-known experts within the global IT Managed Service Provider (MSP) community. He launched and sold his own MSP business before creating a leading MSP media and consultancy practice. Richard helps IT business owner’s take back control by freeing up their time and building a business that can run without them. He’s the author of the book “The IT Business Owner’s Survival Guide” and writer of the award-winning blog www.tubblog.co.uk
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