I had a great time at SMB TechFest in Irvine. Huge thanks to Dave Seibert for putting on this quarterly event. It had lots of great content and a fun crowd. Plus his venue is super cool.

I'm spending the weekend in Barstow, where it's not even going to hit 115 while I'm here.

Norman Lear turned 101 on July 27th. I read his autobiography a few years back. It's entitled, "Even This I Get to Experience." That sums up my opportunity to spend a summer weekend in Barstow. In search of a Route 66 sign. I bet I find one.

Monday I drive to Vegas to catch up with my team and get ready for ChannelCon.

Details below. Please join me for one or all of these!

At one of the breaks at TechFest, several folks were talking about why some business owners seem to be stuck and can't move ahead.

A lot of it amounted to fear.

Of course, fear rarely looks like fear. Fear often looks like:

Sometimes I think "fear" is more about, "I'm comfortable where I am. Can we just stay here for a while?" As I've mentioned before, when you get to a place where your company can just freeze change for six months and consistently deliver on a profitable product mix again and again, that's a very profitable time!

But you also need a philosophy of change. Change will happen whether you resist it or not. So the consistent question needs to be, "How will we make money with this?" Not, "How can we resist this?"

But the good news is: The people who attend these industry events are opening themselves to change - and having conversations with others who are eager to figure out how it fits in their business as well. That's one reason I love to go to events when I can.

XChange is the premier event for IT professionals – where innovation, networking, and industry recognition converge to shape the future of the IT channel landscape. 

* Discover cutting-edge technologies and strategies to elevate your business

* Forge partnerships, share ideas, and network with industry peers.

* Get inspired by keynote sessions from visionary leaders and industry experts.

* Celebrate excellence and honor outstanding individuals and companies at the XCellence Awards.

Seats are limited and filling up fast – secure your spot now!

Register Here

I'm going to represent the National Society of IT Service Providers. I'll have a booth in the vendor hall AND I'm doing a presentation on the 22nd. I'd love to see you there!

Get all the information and details at https://na.eventscloud.com/ereg/newreg.php?eventid=715029&reference=kp

You could win a real-life vintage Robbie the Robot at our booth in Vegas. And even if you don't win, you can still go home with a fancy robot sticker.

Note: You must have a business card to enter the drawing. So be sure to stop by our table first - before you run out of business cards. We're in Booth 101 at ChannelCon.

Join us August 1-3 in Las Vegas.

Normally, CompTIA ChannelCon costs $1,200. But you can attend Free on Me if you follow this link to register: https://i.snoball.it/p/3igU/l.

Or use the code SBSmallBizThoughts23 if asked. NOTE: I am giving away this robot to one lucky winner. Must be present to win.

:-)

A very busy August!

All-Member meeting August 9th - Open to Everyone

NSITSP elections are coming in September. We're opening candidate filing in August. Stay tuned here and at the blog at NSITSP.org for details.

If you're not a member, please join today. Company memberships start only $150. Visit https://nsitsp.org/join.

Register Now for a GREAT all-member meeting August 9th.

See the info and registration here: https://www.nsitsp.org/events.

In addition to the elections, we have a HUGE announcement and we're unveiling some major changes for the year ahead.

Our intro training for TCP/IP continues August 16th with a click-by-click intro to Building the Small Business Network.

So far, we've covered Intro to DNS, Introduction to TCP/IP, Troubleshooting TCP/IP. We finish off the series with a basic introduction to plugging in the equipment and turning "stuff" into a network. Documented, of course!

Next up:

August 16th

9:00 AM Pacific

Info here: https://www.smallbizthoughts.org/building-the-basic-small-business-network/

This is a members-only event. All members are encouraged to bring your whole staff. That way everyone has at least a common, basic understanding of what it takes to build a network in the 2020's. (It's a lot easier than it used to be. But that's true for all technology.)

PLEASE review the recent blog post on Microsoft's new $5 support offering. I don't think you have anything to worry about. The blog explains why I believe that. See link below. And always stay tuned to https://blog.smallbizthoughts.com.

As always: Feedback and comments welcome. Please share this newsletter if you enjoy it.

Have a great week. And stay cool.

:-)

Links below in the events calendar - or at WhereInTheWorldIsKarl.com.

Taught by Larry Mandelberg

Author and Coach

- Five Tuesdays

- August 15th - September 12th

BONUS: I am buying a copy of Larry's book for everyone who attends this course!

Every business that has failed did so because of leadership’s inability to adapt to change. Learn how to prepare for the inevitable changes your successful business is racing toward now, and the changes continued success will impose on you in the future.  

In the business world, change lurks around every corner. And the more successful you are, the more change your business will face. But no business ever failed due to external forces or finances. External forces can be anticipated and deflected, and finances are always lagging indicators of prior bad choices. Businesses always fail because success always brings change and unfamiliar problems without instructions on how to handle them. Without knowledge, experience, or instructions, leadership is forced to guess.

Author and Coach

Week Five - Putting it all together to become a sustainable, extraordinarily spectacular organization

Delivered by Larry Mandelberg, author and coach.

Includes five weeks of webinar classes with related handouts, assignments, and "office hours" with the instructor.

This course is intended for business owners and managers. It is particularly useful for the Owner or Operations Manager.

Meets Certification Requirements for:

This class will be recorded. Each unit is generally posted within 24 hours of the live class. These recorded units will become the On-Demand class and you’ll have lifetime access to it.

SMB Community Podcast - New episodes drop every Thursday

Our YouTube IT Consulting channel now has more than 705,000 views!

Subscribe today and don't miss a thing!

You can always check out my YouTube Channel and subscribe at https://www.youtube.com/smallbizthoughts

OR my Relax-Focus-Succeed Channel at https://www.youtube.com/relaxfocussucceed

Join us Thursday

August 3rd

9:00 AM Pacific / Noon Eastern

George will be another great guest for us. Members can always find the link in your dashboard.

See the article above. The Introduction to TCP/IP and Troubleshooting TCP/IP Trainings are posted in the Community.

The final course is:

August 16th

You can find out more about these in the What's New area of the SBT Technology Community site: https://www.smallbizthoughts.org/category/whats-new/.

I created these trainings by request of a Community member. The goal is to make sure you and your techs have a solid understanding of the basics of TCP/IP - the protocol that runs the world.

Get all the details and a much longer description in This Blog Post.

Here's the last Community News video:

I call this the "I know a guy" toilet.

My hotel in Irvine had new floors, new chrome and glass furniture, new tile and fixtures in the bathroom. Even Vegas style LED-lit mirrors. And a brand new toilet with the wrong lid. When you're a contractor, all the little things matter!

This calendar lists two kinds of things: LIVE in-person events from any organization that focuses on the SMB consulting community; and MY events, whether live, webinar, etc.

More Info: https://www.arnnet.com.au/event/4652/edge-2023

More Info: https://web.cvent.com/event/4a346188-067d-455b-a837-e0982ee48bb6/summary

:-)

More Info: https://connect.comptia.org/channelcon/register-and-plan/register?snoball_referral=mb0d

More Info: https://getnerdio.com/nerdio-training-camp/#trainingregister

Aug. 9-10

Newark, NJ (Northeast)

More Info: https://events.channelpronetwork.com/channelpro-smb-forum-2023-newark

More Info: https://www.connectwise.com/theitnation/evolve/agenda

More Info: https://mspinitiative.com/msp-community-minds/

More Info: https://event.thechannelco.com/xchange-august

More Info: https://www.thechannelco.com/events

More Info: www.cmitsolutions.com

August 30 & 31

Toronto, Canada

More Info: https://events.ascii.com/

:-)

Sept. 6-7

Boston (New England)

More Info: https://events.channelpronetwork.com/channelpro-smb-forum-2023-boston

More Info: https://getnerdio.com/nerdio-training-camp/#trainingregister

More Info: https://www.thechannelco.com/events

September 20 & 21

Chicago, IL

More Info: https://events.ascii.com/

More Info: https://www.canitcon.ca/events/canitcon-2023-banff-1

Sept 28-29

Scottsdale, AZ

More Info: http://bit.ly/kernanmastermind

Oct. 2-4, 2023

Miami, FL

More Info: https://www.dattocon.com/

More Info: https://getnerdio.com/nerdio-training-camp/#trainingregister

More Info: https://www.thechannelco.com/events

Oct. 10-11

Atlanta (Southeast)

More Info: https://events.channelpronetwork.com/channelpro-smb-forum-2023-atlanta

More Info: https://www.thechannelco.com/events

Oct. 16-18

Miami, FL

More Info: https://promo.acronis.com/summit-2023-pre-register.html

More Info: https://getnerdio.com/nerdio-training-camp/#trainingregister

More Info: https://www.thechannelco.com/events

More Info: https://www.smbtechfest.com/registration.asp

October 18 & 19

Washington, D.C.

More Info: https://events.ascii.com/

More Info: https://www.smbitpro.org/conference-2023/

More Info: https://events.channelpronetwork.com/content/2023-events-registration

More Info: https://www.connectwise.com/theitnation/evolve/agenda

More Info: https://getnerdio.com/nerdio-training-camp/#trainingregister

More Info: https://www.connectwise.com/theitnation/evolve/agenda

:-)

More Info: https://web.cvent.com/event/70970f2a-39dd-46ad-9469-1c6e7733071e/regProcessStep1:74825d1d-ed84-4213-ac63-741430f5a2d4

More Info: https://www.thechannelco.com/events

More Info: https://navigate.ascii.com/

Dec 7-8

Phoenix, AZ

More Info: https://kernanconsulting-mastermind.mykajabi.com/mastermind-event

More Info: https://getnerdio.com/nerdio-training-camp/#trainingregister

:-)

Send us your updates

More Info: https://www.thechannelco.com/events

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