itSMF Norway 2009 Conference Report - ITIL –”The name of the game”

Posted March 18th, 2009 by editor
in

ITIL -"The name of the game" - another successful conference has been brought to an end.
This year's itSMF conference 2009, the seventh in the row, is finished. Close to 500 participants had an enjoyable time with many interesting lectures and workshops. The atmosphere was ecstatic and the participants were very enthusiastic.

The Norwegian conference has a tradition of having a theme related to famous bands and music. The theme of the year was" The name of the game" inspired by ABBA's music. ITIL is in many ways the name of the game which helps organisations to secure efficient leadership of support and delivery of services in a life cycle perspective.

Pre-Conference
The new attraction of the year was a Pre-Conference Monday 02. of March. The participants gave an immediate positive response to this new feature. Around seventy participants started the conference one day early with three workshops:

  • Service Desk - Time to take it seriously!
  • Risk Management as ITIL-tool
  • How to create and maintain a CMDB

.
Lectures and international guests
This year's conference presented many interesting topics. The sessions were divided into topics like User experiences, Challenges, Profitability, Improvement, Humans, Services and Organisation culture. Both public and private organisations together with exhibitors were represented as speakers. In total, close to forty lectures were given during the three days the conference lasted.

Ken Goff, Christian Nissen, David Cannon and Scott Standen were among our international guests. They participated in many lectures and workshops.  

Banquet and midnight concert
A tradition at the Norwegian itSMF conferences is a banquet followed by a midnight concert. The night was opened with a dance number by the board of itSMF Norway. Dressed in ABBA costumes the group danced and sang to"Waterloo" in front of a cheering audience.
After a three-course dinner the local group Dos Mosquitos started playing. At midnight an ABBA look-alike group entered the stage and played old classics. The conference participants danced and sang long into the early hours of the night.

Sponsors and exhibitor
This year's conference had in total 13 sponsors and 13 other exhibitors. These organisations are daily working with ITIL and IT Service Management. The participants got a unique opportunity to talk to the exhibitors about relevant questions and topics. The attendants to the exhibition were good, and many of the exhibitors promised to come back next year.

IT Service Management Awards
The annual ITSM awards were officially announced during the event dinner. The Norwegian itSMF gave out rewards to:

  • The Student of the Year, the Best Manager Exam result (ITIL v2) - was given to Ketil Marcussen from Ernst & Young.
  • The Service Management organisation of the year - was given to Color Line AS, represented by CSI manager Espen Lyngaas and responsible for Request Fulfilment and Service Catalogue Kjersti Winnæss.

We congratulate with the awards!

Thanks to all of you!
The board of itSMF Norway wish to give a "thank you" to all the participants for their involvement and enthusiasm during the conference. A special thanks to all the speakers, sponsors and exhibitors, and to all the hardworking members of the conference committee.

The itSMF conference 2009 harvest good feedback from the participants, both for the technical program and for the friendly atmosphere during dinner and entertainment.

We welcome everybody to the next year's conference with the theme"ITIL - With a Little Help From My Friends".