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Service Desk Show 2010

By Linda King, G2G3

Yup, it's that time again. End of April and the calendar has swung around again to the Service Desk and IT Support Show, London (SDITSS). It's been an interesting week in the office getting ready.. the new stands on arrival were somewhat larger than expected, and on (eventual) erection, took up half of the office and kept falling on people (sorry Stuart!). Eventual stability was restored and the frantic packing is now over and we're ready to go.

The volcanic ash/flight situation also created some unknowns this week... at one point it looked like it was going to be a 'road trip' to London for us all in the company white van, but thankfully the flights have normalized and we are taking the slightly more civilized route with British Airways.

We've got LOTS on at SDITSS... not only are we exhibiting (stand 320), but Jason will be running back-to-back simulations in Simulation Zone A. Tough competition in the next door simulation zone in the form of Johnny Ball, the 80's children's television presenter, but of course, our simulations will win hands down! The full list of Simulations being run can be found here.

Henry will also be giving an unmissable seminar presentation entitled "Fighting IT complexity and creating shared understanding with visualization and infographics". This is a really interesting session on how taking a visual approach to ITSM can help engage staff and promote understanding. The full synopsis can be found here. Don't miss it!

Anyway, we're looking forward to seeing you all there!!

IT vendors: It's time to act more responsibly!

By Linda King, G2G3

As a IT vendor, I often think that we are in a position of great responsibility. We can create platforms on which we can put forward our wares, our opinions and our contributions to the market. And dependent upon the size of your marketing budget, that can often be a pretty big platform. I have to say though, I have been getting more and more annoyed of late by the number of vendors in the market who are abusing this position of responsibility. From fictional statistics to vendors taking open swipes at other vendors via social media - I'm starting to wonder whether I'm working in a professional community or a school playground!

I'd like to consider G2G3 as a socially responsible and ethical vendor - we take into consideration how everything we do and say could impact the industry, and truly want to be seen as thought leaders for the contribution we make. And I sincerely hope that is how we are perceived in the market.

I genuinely believe that every single IT vendor has something to contribute - something truly unique and special that defines their value. It needs marketing to look beyond 'feature and function' though, and start to combine some conscience and common sense with commerce.

I'd like to see a day where I can attend an industry event where the delegates actually want to visit every stand in order to open their minds and learn something new - instead of feeling scared to approach in case they are given the 'hard sell'. Perhaps also one day, marketing will be perceived as a positive and forward-thinking function. Until more vendors start to practice responsible marketing, I sadly suspect this may be a long way off.

Meet Gladys, Reg and friends

By Linda King, G2G3

The observant among you will have noticed that we have made some aesthetic changes to our website, Twitter avatars etc. We've been keen for a while to make these updates and in doing so, bring a fresh, more fun feel to our brand identity. We've also been doing a lot of work of late for our clients in 3D and virtual gaming environments, and decided that by introducing a series of virtual characters to represent G2G3, we could create a visual style that exactly captured our essence - fun, innovative, eye-catching and unique.

We're really pleased with the results... and even we've affectionately named all of our characters. Meet Gladys, Reg, Gavin, Dude, G-Bot and more. You can see many of these characters across our core website. We've also taken delivery this morning of our new banner stands which we are taking out to the HDI 2010 event in Orlando next week... photo below!

We've had some great feedback about the characters... although not everyone was so impressed when I changed my Twitter avatar (@g2g3) to Gladys!! Chris..(@servicesphere on Twitter)... I hope you've got used to my new head now!! :-)

Fun, fun, fun

By Linda King, G2G3

Must.. blog... more... often... that's my (slightly late) New Year's resolution. Yes, have still been neglecting the blog in favour of Twitter, guilty as charged. Twitter's been great though, it's offered an immediate communication channel with partners, customers and everyone in the industry interested in our offerings. Follow us on Twitter by clicking here.

The last few months have been very busy in the land of G2G3... new simulation variants based around new industry scenarios, new clients, new technologies, new products and new people. Lots of our news is on our 'News' page, so check it out just in case you have missed any!

We're having a lot of fun in the office at the moment working on an image refresh for our website and marketing products. As a company who promotes fun in learning and also has fun as one of our company 'core values', we have decided to try and ensure that this is reflected in everything we do... so we're looking forward to revealing a new look very soon that I hope you will all love. Keep your eyes peeled for the updates!

itSMF Fusion in Dallas

By Linda King, G2G3

G2G3 are heading out to Dallas this weekend to the itSMF Fusion event being held from September 20-23 at the Gaylord Resort! We're exhibiting at booth number #2114, so if you're coming to the event, please come along and say hi!

It's been an exciting year for us with being selected as a Gartner 'Cool Vendor', also with the launch of our first virtual simulation for IBM and our new Business Continuity and ITSM health simulations. We'll be showcasing all these simulations, as well as our renowned ITSM and Project Portfolio Management simulations on the booth.

Henry Strouts will also be delivering a simulation to the pre-conference academic summit on 19 September.

Hopefully see you all there!

Wow, how time flies...

By Linda King, G2G3

I can't quite believe how long it has been since the last time we've blogged on this page. To be quite honest, the blog has been rather neglected in favour of Twitter.... We've been rather enjoying the immediacy and interaction that Twitter offers, and have found there to be a lively community around ITSM and serious gaming in Tweetville. You can follow our Twitter feed here.

Anyway, the guilt around neglecting the blog has caught up with me, so I thought I'd write a quick update. It's been a busy summer here at G2G3... we've been working hard on 2 new simulations for a very large IT vendor client of ours, more details of which will be revealed in the near future. We've also launched a new 'ready-to-go' ITSM simulation in the form of Polestar Health - this new simulation is based in an exciting healthcare scenario and offers an low-cost and time-effective alternative to traditional ITSM or ITIL Foundation Training for Healthcare organizations. The full press release can be read here.

We're also getting ready for the Autumn event season... the team will be heading out to the itSMF USA Fusion event in Dallas at the end of September. We'll be showcasing our face-to-face and virtual simulations on the stand. We'll also be running a simulation at the pre-conference academic summit. If you're at the event, please come by booth 2114 to say hi!

Lots of other things happening as well... I look forward to giving you some exciting updates over the next few months!