So Much to Learn at the 2017 ITA Fall Collaborative

Many of Altec’s sales, management and marketing team had the opportunity to attend the ITA Fall Collaborative in Salt Lake City earlier this month and it was a positive experience for all.  The Information Technology Alliance (ITA) is an independent, membership association of leading mid-market technology professionals, consultants, and product/service providers in North America.  The ITA’s primary objective is to create a community where members share information and build relationships that improve the way they, and their clients, do business.

The Fall Collaborative offered attendees a full agenda of sessions, great takeaways, and all-important networking time.  The Altec team gleaned much from the 3-day event, and some of the sessions made a strong impact.

The “What If?” Keynote Experience gave much of the team a different perspective and approach to anything.  Hall of Fame international keynote speaker, author, comedian, and world-class guitarist, Mike Rayburn concentrated on the concept of focusing energy on WHAT IF, instead of why not.  Think big, don’t limit yourself, be open-minded and don’t talk yourself out of anything were just a few pieces of his sage advice.  The Altec team found the pronouncement “Create change, rather than manage change” an important takeaway.

Chris Helder’s session, “Useful Belief… Because it’s Better Then Positive Thinking,” was also impactful. The professional keynote speaker and trainer detailed two ideas that the Altec team found insightful:

1. Focus on the things you can change, things you can’t change LOVE IT – take a “so what?” approach to the negative, turn your internal voice around
2. Energy level is a choice – you choose to be tired, motivated, happy, sad so make the best choice

Altec’s April Blankenship, Director of Marketing along with Brent Romney, President of Ascend Strategies, presented a session titled, “What’s Your One Thing that Matters Most?”  Based on the book The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan, the session focused on three main suggestions for personal growth and leadership – to Live with Purpose, by Priority, and for Productivity.

On more specific business topics, the Altec team found the discussion opportunities within specific sessions to be most helpful and informative.  Following ITA’s motto – Knowledge Increases in Value When Shared – these sessions involved significant networking and sharing between members about a variety of topics including employee retention, managing millennials, women in leadership, etc., to name just a few.

The session “Recruiting and Retaining A-Players” identified some surprising statistics about what employees value the most.  The poll cited asked 450 successfully placed ERP and CRM candidates, “Can you name three critically important things about the company for which you work that either make you want to stay, or keep you from taking a position elsewhere?”  Their responses were:

In summary, The Altec team enjoyed the professional training in the personal environment providing an excellent chance for learning while also connecting with partners in a comfortable setting.  We certainly look forward to celebrating ITA’s 20^th Anniversary at its 2018 Spring Collaborative, April 21-25 in Nashville, Tennessee.