Speak At Knowledge 14: It’s Time To "Pay IT Forward"

[stephenmann]

Remember the film "Pay It Forward" starring Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, and Haley Joel Osment? Where Haley Joel Osment's troubled youngster is set a social studies assignment by Kevin Spacey to think of, and execute, something to change the world. With the result: the concept of paying a favor forward, not back — that is repaying the good deeds of others not with payback to them but instead with good deeds to new people, so paying forward not paying back.

ServiceNow's next customer conference is your chance to "pay it forward"

Or more specifically, Knowledge 14 is your opportunity to "pay IT forward."

Think of all those people that have made you who you are, both personally and professionally. Personally I think of my parents, my teachers, my friends, my numerous colleagues and bosses, and of course my better-half. Hopefully the same is true for you — to quote Isaac Newton "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants" (although it seems this metaphor was first used 500 years earlier).

So whether you feel you can "pay IT forward" or if you, and your colleagues, have created something good at your company such that others can stand on your shoulders, I urge you to share your successes (and struggles) at Knowledge 14. And it doesn't have to be related to the use of IT service management (ITSM) processes and ServiceNow — as with last year, the world is your oyster or, if you prefer, lobster. You can submit a talk on anything that you think will help other IT pros; it could relate to AppDev, leadership, customer experience, the non-IT use of ITSM, measuring success through a business lens, or anything else that would help others help themselves and their organizations.

Knowledge 14 — the lowdown

Knowledge14, in San Francisco next April, will be a point of sharing, learning, and collaboration for thousands of IT professionals representing the world's most innovative companies and recognizable brands. That's over 6000, yes 6000, CIOs to System Administrators and all roles in between — who will congregate at Knowledge 14 for five days to share proven service automation strategies and to learn how other IT pros achieved significant and real results with the cloud.

Throwing out some other numbers:

• There will be 180+ presentational/interactive sessions spanning CIO to Developer topics.
• Up to 90% of these sessions will be delivered by ServiceNow customers, i.e. those that have "been there, done it, and bought the t-shirt."
• There will also be more than 100 lab sessions — almost 2x more than Knowledge13 — to help customers get more out of their investment in ServiceNow.

It could be you presenting, or co-presenting, one of those 180+ sessions. You could be "paying IT forward," sharing what you have learned on your IT Transformation journey for the benefit of others.

Sign up before it is too late

So join us on stage at Knowledge14 and share your real-world experience with ServiceNow customers, prospects, partners, and industry experts. Our Call for Speakers closes on December 31, 2013, and we'll let you know whether your submission has been accepted before the end of January 2014.

And of course while you are at Knowledge 14 you will also benefit from the other attendees "paying IT forward" either through the formal presentations or those chance meetings that make life so rich. And did I mention that your ticket to the event is FREE if you are a speaker? That's one less cost to justify if you are already planning to attend the event.

You can find out more and sign up here. I look forward to seeing you, and possibly hearing you speak, in San Francisco next April.