The annual Pink Elephant conference, Pink19, is right around the corner! It will take place on February 17-29 at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas.

We’ll be at booth #402 and hope to see you there! Register now.

This is the 23rd year of this IT Service Management conference, and the theme for this year’s event is Back to the Future. While you may be lucky and get to ride in a slightly modified DeLorean, you can be sure to get the latest insight on how to achieve service management excellence.

Pink19 features more than 120 sessions, in 12 tracks, with topics tailored for every role. You’ll get the latest on topics such as Lean IT, Agile, DevOps, Organizational Change Management and Business Relationship Management. And you’ll also get the inside scoop on ITIL 4.

Don’t forget the keynotes, including one from Admiral McRaven, former University of Texas Chancellor. In his book, Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World, he shares the ten life lessons he learned as a Navy Seal; lessons that can help overcome challenges, including ones we deal with as IT professionals.

Plan Ahead to Get the Most From Pink19

With so many sessions with great content, it can be challenging to decide what to attend. As with many activities, it helps to have a goal for what you want to achieve. You can start by reviewing what projects and initiatives you have underway already or plan to do in the next year or two. Your initiatives could include: increasing automation, leveraging AI-powered virtual assistants, doing more DevOps, improving Governance, or doing a better job at core ITSM processes like Incident Management, Problem Management or Self-Service.

Take some time to rank your initiatives as the ones that will be key to your success in IT.  Once you have your list, review the Pink19 agenda and find the presentations that line up with your short list. Highlight those sessions and plan to attend them. If you end being double-booked, maybe you can split sessions with other colleagues who may be at the conference too.

Make New Connections

Pink19 will bring many service management experts together so it’s a great time to make new connections. Plan to not just attend their sessions but also take the opportunity to introduce yourself after their session, at lunch or at one of the receptions. They enjoy meeting new people, hearing stories from the trenches and learning how new technologies or initiatives are doing. These introductions could be the start of relationships and ongoing dialogs that last years.

It’s also a great opportunity to meet and network with other ITSM professionals. I find the conversations at meals range over many interesting topics (and not just about the casinos and shows in Vegas). Most attendees are like you and look forward to learning what other IT teams are working on and lessons learned. Try to meet as many other attendees as you can. It’s very possible that you’ll learn something new and helpful from these conversations.

Learn About New ITSM Innovations

We invite you to visit Ivanti in the exhibition showcase. Ask us about our proven ITSM solution and what we’re doing to make it easier to resolve issues faster, and keep your employees happy and productive. We’d be thrilled to show you our AI-powered virtual support assistant that brings self-service even closer to your users. Let’s talk about how including asset management or integrated voice automation can take your service desk to the next level. And we’d be happy to share examples of other teams who’ve used our ITSM solution, with its 13 Pink Verified processes, to improve operations for IT and the rest of the business.

Stop by booth #402 to say hello and see what else we’re working on for you. We’re looking forward to meeting you at another informative and enjoyable Pink conference!

Expert predictions for 2019 and beyond