Event Notices From January 16

Midwest Technology Leaders returning: The Midwest Technology Leaders conference will return Wednesday, May 22, and will be held at the Inn at St. John's in Plymouth. This year's conference comes at an inflection point in the industry as IT executives grapple with the unstoppable forces of mobile, cloud and social media. They are doing this with limited resources, more demands than ever from line-of-business managers and new skill requirements. MTL will provide you with the strategic tools, education and peer connections needed to meet those challenges head on and produce positive results. Thanks to MTL's dedicated and influential advisory board, the conference will feature a stellar lineup of keynote speakers including David Behen, the CIO of the State of Michigan and chairman for this year's MTL, as well as CIOs from the United States Tennis Association, GE and Dell. In addition, Gartner Fellow and Vice President Ken McGee will share his views on the challenges and opportunities facing senior IT executives looking to lead their organizations and drive growth. MTL also announced that Tom Abraham, Comcast's Director of Enterprise Services, will set the stage as he kicks off this year's conference. We thank Tom for his company's continued support of MTL and dedication to this community of IT professionals. Those thought leaders will help you better understand how to manage IT in these transformative times with actionable information specifically designed for tech leaders in the Midwest. Speakers will address such pressing topics as competencies for the new-age CIOs, collaboration, mobility, cloud, social media and connectivity. You will also gain an insider's view of the state of the IT state of Michigan. MTL is also adding a special pre-event CIO Bootcamp on May 21 packed with content to help participants become a more strategic business leader capable of harnessing the value of IT and applying it to positive business outcomes. Since last year's gathering, MTL has aligned with UBM Technology, a global business information, events, media and marketing organization. UBM is investing in MTL and is dedicated to helping IT professionals in the Midwest succeed. An early bird rate of $125 is available at this link.

Upcoming MCWT ConnectNet Events: The Michigan Council of Women in Technology is offering a ConnectNet eLearning Webinar Thursday, Feb. 7 on "Transformation of the IT Service Desk" and a ConnectNet Forum on Tuesday, Feb. 12, "Tales from the Trenches: Hackers and How to Avoid Them."  GM IT Global Service Desk Manager Karen Schankin will lead the Webinar and share her experience of how GM has transformed over the years. She is an advocate that promotes self-help solutions and ways to reduce time in resolving IT issues. The event will be held from noon to 1 p.m. Eastern time. No pre-registration is necessary. A few minutes before the start time, dial into the audio conference at (866) 365-4406, access code 6036206#. The WebEx meeting number is 632 501 264. If requested, enter your full name and email address. If a password is required, enter "MCWT", then click "Join" and follow the instructions. The ConnectNet forum, meanwhile, will inform attendees how to better protect themselves and their companies from security breaches. This session will include practical advice for cyber safety and offer anecdotes from MCWT member and partner in one of Michigan's top IT security firms, Barbara Goushaw. Register online at www.mcwt.org. For more information, please contact events@mcwt.org. The Feb. 12 event will begin with registration at 5:30 p.m. and the program from 6 to 8 p.m. at Epitec, 24800 Denson Drive, Suite 150, in Southfield. The event is free to MCWT members, $10 for nonmembers and $5 for students.

C/D/H Offers System Center Series: Microsoft has been making IT's life simpler with System Center 2012, and products like Operations Manager, Configuration Manager, Service Manager, and more. Join Grand Rapids-based C/D/H for a series of events on the most exciting System Center 2012 features and tools. Our experts will share their insights and expertise to provide a comprehensive tour of System Center. Attend the series, or just one event. The meetings begin Wednesday, Jan. 30 from noon to 1 p.m., either online or at C/D/H's Grand Rapids office. (For in-person attendees, lunch begins at 11:30 a.m.) For more information, visit http://www.cdh.com/seminars/ or email sarahw@cdh.com today.