Leveraging An Enormous Technology Community Get The Answers You Need - When You Need Them

1. Leveraging An Enormous Technology Community Get The Answers You Need - When You Need Them Dan Stolts, MCT, MCITP, MCSE, TS… Sr. IT Pro Evangelist – Microsoft dstolts@microsoft.comor ITProGuru@Microsoft.com Twitter: @ITProGuru Blog: http://Blogs.TechNet.com/DanStolts Shortcut: http://ItProGuru.com First arouse in the other person an eager want -- Dale Carnegie

2. Dan Stolts “IT Pro Guru” • Presence • http://blogs.technet.com/DanStolts • http://ITProGuru.com • http://DanStolts.com • Twitter.com/ITProGuru or @ITProGuru • 3 years at Microsoft • IT Evangelist based in MA • Online Content Development • Live Event Delivery • User Group / Community Lead • Prior 20+ Years… • Bay State Integrated Technology, Inc • Hosting and Consulting • Community Volunteer • Skill Profile MCT, MCITP, MCSE, TS… • Windows infrastructure • Virtualization solutions • Systems Management and Security • More Jobs  • President - Boston User Groups (www.BostonUserGroups.org) • Founder - North East Leaders (www.neleaders.com) • Founder - Virtualization Group Boston (www.VirtG.com) • Board Member - Boston Area Windows Server User Group - www.WindowsBoston.com • President - Bay State Integrated Technology, Inc. www.BayStateTechnology.com It's not what you've got, it's what you use that makes a difference.-- ZigZiglar

3. Leveraging an Enormous Technology Community: Get The Answers You Need - When You Need Them Do you know who to call when you need career advice? Do you know the GURU in all technologies you work with? Do you have a strong as steel like relationship with your partners, customers and peers?  Do you know who to call when you get in a jam?  Do you know who to call to keep yourself out of a jam in the first place?    This session will teach you what you need to know to eventually be able to answer all of these questions in the affirmative.  You have to learn to walk before you run so you will not as a result of this session be able to answer yes to all questions.  But you will learn how you can eventually get to that point.  The “IT Pro Guru” (Dan Stolts) teaches us how to get involved, grow your sphere of influence and put yourself in a position to know all the right people.  If you listen closely, you may even walk away with the secret (Magic Tips) to you personally becoming the person that others seek out.  So, come and learn how to get the answers you want when you need them.   It may just change your life! Never criticize, condemn or complain -- Dale Carnegie

4. What or WHO is the “Technology Community”and How can they help? Community Leaders User Group Leaders (Presidents, Board Members, Leaders, etc.) MVP - Most Valuable Professional (Microsoft MVP) Speakers – National & Local Shows, User Groups (TechEd, SharePoint Sat, Etc) Influential Bloggers and Forum Participants Teachers and Trainers (MCT - Microsoft Certified Trainers and other trainers too) Writers, Authors – Magazines, Books, White Papers, etc. Other people in the technology industry that help the broader online or in person community • Members of the IT Field (Like Interests) • All persons that work in the technology field or are in some other way closely linked to the technology field ( IT Manager, Help Desk, Marketing Dept. of Software company, etc.) They can give you a bunch of experience and training You will help yourself by helping them!!! Win-Win Winning is not everything, but the effort to win is-- ZigZiglar Habit 4: Think Win-Win-- Stephen R. Covey

5. Technology Community Sample Boston Area / New England

6. Need a Job? Have a Job? Want to Advance? Underpaid Boss / company / co-workers are jerks Long hours (Over worked) Lack of respect Financial Struggles of your employer Layoffs – Lack of confidence in the future Long Commute Lack of challenge Need better benefits • How to find someone that needs your skills • What to put on a resume • Obtain references from reputable people • Networking Skills • Phone Interviewing skills • Interviewing Skills (1:1 / 1:n) • Under qualified (lacking some skills) • Over qualified (perception of over paid) • Self-Confidence Where and Why Do You Need Help? What Are The Career Problems We Face Today? Habit 1 : Be Proactive -- Stephen R. Covey

7. You Still Have Career Challenges? Have A Job and Happy Where You Are… • Relationships with smart people on the technologies you have deployed (Exchange, Lync, CRM, SharePoint, SQL Server, whatever) • Not enough time to get it all done. Budgets and staff cut to the extreme. • Keeping up with technology • Fire drills seam never ending • Time for training! No such thing. Not even enough time to get the job done • Networking… yeah right, with whom and when? • Career advancement? Just happy to have a job! The real opportunity for success lies within the person and not in the job; that you can best get to the top by getting to the bottom of things -- ZigZiglar

8. Money? Security? Lifestyle? Experience? • What are your goals? • Write them down; Look at them daily! • Break them down into manageable and achievable goals • Invest in yourself • What Are You Willing To Do To Get It? Bottom Line… (Magic Tip #1) Live a purpose driven life and PLAN to WIN! Why get involved… What Do You Want? You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win.-- ZigZiglar

9. Act like a leader… • Abraham Lincoln • Harry Truman • Ronald Reagan • Bill Clinton • Barack Obama • Pick a president … • OpraWinfrey • ZigZiglar • Dale Carnegie • Stephen Covey • Where to Start? • One Leadership Development Book every three months • Dale Carnegie – How To Win Friends and Influence People • Stephen Covey – 7 Habits of Highly Effective People • ZigZiglar – See You At The Top • One Technology book every three months • Windows, SharePoint, Virtualization, or Whatever Leaders ARE Readers! Eventually: a book a month then even more  Prepare to become a leader in your community in your career and in your life… The first thing to do is… (Magic Tip #2) "Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers." — Harry S. Truman

10. What You Get… What To Do… Who You Know is More Important Than What You Know!Are You A People Person? • Bottom Line… (Magic Tip #3) Help Others And You Will Become a People Person You can have everything in life that you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want. -- ZigZiglar

11. What You Know Does Eventually Matter! “Pay Yourself First” is not just about money, it is about all that we do! Invest In yourself first. If you do not, there will be nothing left for you. -- Dan Stolts “ITProGuru” • Eventually, what you know will be vital. As important as who you know. • If you want to have an image of an XYZ Expert, you need to know a lot about XYZ! • Spend time EVERY DAY doing research: • Read blogs • Read online forums • Watch video’s • Attend conferences virtual and physical • Seek user groups related to the topic. • Find people in your area that are already exerts in the field. • Read books • GET CERTIFIED!!!! • Setup lab environment and play with the technology! • Answer Online forums … Most questions on forums can be answered by simply doing a quick Internet search • Learn how to do research: Bing.com • Start your own blog! It can be done with no financial committment! • Bottom Line: (Magic Tip #4) Invest in Yourself; Educate Yourself Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood -- Stephen R. Covey

12. Develop Your “Personal Mission Statement” and Personal Branding… “A personal mission statement is based on habit 2 of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People called begin with the end in mind. In ones life, the most effective way to begin with the end in mind is to develop a mission statement one that focuses what you want to be in terms of character and what you want to do in reference to contribution of achievements. Writing a mission statement can be the most important activity an individual can take to truly lead ones life.” -- Stephen R. Covey • What do you want to be known for? • What do you want to excel at? • What are you strong at now? • What would be a good niche for you? • Generic Branding may NOT be fruitful! • If you like being well rounded, fine be a Jack of all trades and MASTER of ONE! • Focus significant time and energy towards your brand and your mission • Think about it when you are in the elevator, in your car, TV commercials, when you go to bed. Think about it constantly. • What do others say about you now? • Do you have to change your image? • This could take weeks or more (even much more) to figure out Habit 2: Begin With The End In Mind -– Stephen R. Covey

13. Be Consistent Your Image… Follow Your Mission ITProGuru Personal Mission:Help the Information Technology Community solve technical problems. Teach IT professionals how they can solve problems, save time, save money and build their own technical prowess. Grow the technology community by helping and teaching others how they can be part of something that is much bigger than the sum of its parts.  Help community leaders build and grow the community. Follow and share best practices provided by world leaders such as Stephen R. Covey, ZigZiglar, Dale Carnegie and others.   -- Dan Stolts “ITProGuru” • Similar or Identical Name • (ie. ITProGuru / Dan Stolts) • Picture or Logo • Name, Image, Tag Line • Fake it until you make it • Perception is everything • But don’t go to fast! • Leverage Relationships • Leverage existing brands of others • Email address matters! (ITProGuru@Microsoft.com) • Blog address matters (ITProGuru.com) Dramatize your ideas -- Dale Carnegie

14. Give a person a fine reputation to live up to • -- Dale Carnegie

15. Learn From Your Community Experiences… Arouse in the other person an eager want: He Who Can Do This Has the Whole World with Him. He Who Cannot Walks a Lonely Way -- Dale Carnegie

16. Start Building Your Community and Your Career Today! Magic Tip (#5) Start Now! • Write down WHY this is important to you! Read it every day. • Start developing your “Personal Mission Statement”. Follow it every day. • Find Community Groups in your area… Visit many of them and volunteer for the one(s) that interest you. Bing.com: • Technology + User Group (ex: Windows Server User Group) • Technology + virtual + community (ex: System Center Virtual Community) • Geo Area + User Group (ex: Boston User Group) • Technology + Forum (ex: SharePoint Forum) • Any combination of above • Start slow.. But start today: Reserve X hours each week to build your plan, yourself, your community and your career. X should start out small so you do not overwhelm yourself. Eventually, you will likely find yourself spending X*2 or more per day  • Introduce yourself to someone new daily if possible(start with the person next to you) • Objective: Learn as much as you can about the other person (be interested in them) • Need help? Ask BING… “working a room introduce yourself” for tons of tips. • Want more guidance… Check out Toastmasters • Practice on me if you like… introduce yourself after the show • Something like… Hi Dan, just want to take a minute to introduce myself. I am _______ … Become genuinely “Interested” in other people -- Dale Carnegie The future belongs to those who live intensely in the present. - Anonymous

17. I Get Networking And Helping Others Is Important… But, That Is Not Me! That is not you because you have not learned HOW! You have not learned it well enough to be comfortable doing it! You Need Conversation Starters… Introduce yourself and ask a question! • What are you studying in school • How much time do you have left • What do you do for work • How long have you been doing that? • Where do you work? • How long have you been there? • Are you a football fan? … How do you feel about what is going on with the _Patriots_or whatever • Are you a …. fan? • Have you gotten into social networking? • Where do you live? Where is that? • Kids? People love to talk about their kids! • What age? Soccer, football, reading, math, driving (what age drives many more conversation continuation topics) Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves -- Dale Carnegie

18. Networking: What To Avoid • Politics (even if they bring it up) • Religion (even if they bring it up) • Any topic that is controversial (even it they bring it up) • Sex / Love Life / Other Personal Matters • Criticism / Judgement • Their Vacation until you have a relationship (unless they bring it up) • Their health or family health … until you have a relationship (unless they bring it up) • Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves • -- Dale Carnegie

19. Networking: What to do… Ask a Question, but Avoid Sounding Like You Are Giving Them The 3rdDegree Ex. Conversation where you introduce yourself to someone at this conference… Hi, My name is Dan Stolts • Hi Dan, I’m Jim • Hi Jim, nice to meet you. What do you think of the conference so far? …. Or just lead with your opinion of the conference followed by the question • Oh, I guess it is ok • Yeah, I can relate. I have been to 4 sessions and one was great, one was good and the other two were just ok. But even if the rest of the conference is not good, I feel I got enough out of the xyz session to make the whole day worth my investment. Have you gotten the value of your time back out of it yet? • No not really, but I am still hopeful. • What do you do for work? Are you here to get something specific to help you with your job? … asking multiple questions at once is ok … or you could just change the subject. Are you a Celtics Fan? They have been doing great… • Start a conversation… Ask a question… • It really does not matter… what you talk about… You just need to find common interests. Remember, they are likely uncomfortable too. • Make sure you “Offer” information about you during the conversation Being a people person is not being a good talker… it is being a good listener. -- Dan Stolts “ITProGuru”

20. These are conversation “Starters” this is not the conversation Technology Professionals User Group Leader Same as Technology Professional How long have you been a leader (or on the board) for this group? How many people are on the board How much time does it take to run a group … what do you get out of running the group… why do you do it What are some of the challenges the group faces now Is the group growing? Have you embraced social networking to grow the group? How much time does it take to run the group? Are you involved with other groups … if you are interested in helping the group… do you need any help? If so, what would I need to do to get started? • What technologies do you work with • Where do you work • How long… • Unemployed… • What are you looking for? • What are your strengths? • What companies are you targeting? • Where do you live • Do you have any hobbies? • Hobbies… • Vacation – careful here!! Conversation Starters Do not overcommit… Instead, under commit and over deliver -- Dan Stolts “ITProGuru”

21. Speakers Vendors / Business Owners What does your business do Are you looking for new customers; when kind of companies would make a good referral for you How long have you been in the business Do you work with the technology community or leverage their support for prospects How’s business Do your homework … No excuses before you go, check out blog, twitter, website, products/services, news, etc. So you can talk about his/her interests. • How often do you speak at events • What other topics to you speak on • Do you have your schedule posted online • Do you cover the local area do you do a bunch of traveling • It looks like a really cool job, how did you get into the field • Do you have a twitter account • What do you like best about your work More Starters… • Talk in terms of the other persons interests • Make the other person feel important and do it sincerely • -- Dale Carnegie

22. Key Takeaways - 5 Magic Tips • Live a purpose driven life and PLAN to WIN! • Act like a leader – Read a book • Help Others And You Will Become a People Person • Invest in Yourself; Educate Yourself • Start NOW! • Recommended Reading: • Dale Carnegie – How To Win Friends and Influence People • Stephen Covey – 7 Habits of Highly Effective People • ZigZiglar – See You At The Top Sign up to be alerted when Dan’s book on building the technology community comes out http://www.ITProGuru.com "There are two ways to climb an oak tree. You can climb it, or you can sit on an acorn and wait for it to grow.“ -- ZigZiglar

23. Links From Dan Stolts “ITProGuru” • North East IT Pro Community Leaders – http://NELeaders.com • Boston User Groups – http://BostonUserGroups.org – North East US User Groups • GITCA – http://www.gitca.org User Groups around the world! • ITProGuru Blog – http://ITProGuru.com – More detailed HOW TO… information • How To Successfully Deliver Presentations for Community Leaders and Professional Speaker ... • Scale Your Message Online Improving Blog Exposure and Increase Reach of Your Message by ... • Online Collaboration - Publishing PowerPoint Slides to Your Blog or Website Using Office ... • Much more coming in the months ahead • Microsoft Technology Community Groups – www.TechnicalCommunity.com • TechEd Online (lots of technical content) – http://msTechEd.com • TechNet – http://TechNet.com • Sign up to be alerted when Dan’s book comes out • http://ITProGuru.com • This Slide Deck http://ITProGuru.com/p/resources.aspx • (Resources Link on Main page)

24. Leveraging an Enormous Technology CommunityGet The Answers You Need - When You Need Them Do you know who to call when you need career advice? Do you know the GURU in all technologies you work with? Do you have a strong as steel like relationship with your partners, customers and peers?  Do you know who to call when you get in a jam?  Do you know who to call to keep yourself out of a jam in the first place?    The “IT Pro Guru” (Dan Stolts) teaches us how to get involved, grow your sphere of influence and put yourself in a position to know all the right people.  This session will teach you what you need to know to eventually be able to answer all of these questions in the affirmative.  … you will not as a result of this session be able to answer yes to all questions.  But you will learn how you can eventually get to that point.  If you listen closely, you may even walk away with the secret (Magic Tips) to you personally becoming the person that others seek out.  So, come and learn how to get the answers you want when you need them.   It may just change your life!… Are you one of the 1-2%’s? Never criticize, condemn or complain -- Dale Carnegie