Barclay introduces me, I run some things and do some things too.
It’s a nice day to start something new: How InfoGovCon started and looking to the next chapter.
When Jim Merrifield and I first came up with the idea that became The Information Governance Conference, we were sitting at a coffee shop in the city that doesn’t sleep at 2am. If the idea is good enough, you’ll stay up late enough to figure it out, so 1. Always discuss great ideas late at night over coffee.
When Jim, Rich Mesquita and I announced that we’d rented out the Connecticut Convention Center, it came as a huge shock. We had no community, no history, no anything; some thought we were crazy. We had considered smaller venues, local hotels, even the old City Hall building. When it came down to crunch time, the answer was always ‘go big or don’t waste your time’.
Rule 3. Stay the course. When you believe in what you’re doing, stay the course. There were many sleepless nights wondering how in the heck we were going to now pay for more than just the downpayment on this beautiful venue for last year’s event. Eventually some amazing sponsors came to the table, some amazing people believed in what we were doing and bought tickets, and it all came together. There were a lot of times when we considered giving up, but when you have something great, stay the course. If we hadn’t have, we wouldn’t have had this… PICTURES START ON NEXT SLIDE (4)
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4, Do things to help the industry, the industry will always repay you. Why does the Optismo team create things like InfoGovCon, InfoGovModel.com (our free model for Information Governance), the ARMA IGP Prep Course, and things like that? At Optismo we maintain a commitment to serving the industry and the industry always is there for us. Whether it’s a huge consulting deal or a small software purchase of igKit, the industry always repays it’s supporters. Oh, and about InfoGovModel, we’ve just released version 3 and you can get your free copy at the Optismo booth. Why? Because you always help the industry.
And finally, number 5, work with partners who ‘get it’. When Barclay and the IGI team, Bennett, Jay, Jason, Ann, and Maribel approached us after last year’s conference to discuss a partnership for this year’s event, what it came down to for us was that we wanted to work with partners who ‘get it’, who understood the need that this event fills, that don’t view the conference as a ‘cash cow’ (I mean how many other conference tickets are even in the same price ballpark as this event?), and that view the conference’s goal of service to the industry with respect, We think you’ll be pleased with our partnership choice in the IG Initiative team as the next couple of days unfold.
I’m Nick Inglis, the CEO of Optismo, come stop by our booth at some point. With that, I turn it back to the IGI and Barclay Blair.