Traveling, Cybersecurity with PNC, Star Wars and Talking

We’ve got stuff going on all over the place.  Let’s start with what’s close to home.  September 12th, for example, finds us partnering up with PNC Bank with a morning session entitled “Are you a Sitting Duck for Cyber Crime and Bank Fraud?”  This free event is at our offices in Stow and runs from 8 to 10am.  Click here to RSVP for this puppy.We’re also putting together our first public event specifically aimed at internal IT folks for small-medium businesses.  Too early for details, but I suggest you keep the morning of November 14th open.And this was in the past, but Hattie Larlham awarded Simplex-IT their "Corporate Partner of the Year" award in August, which was great.  And they also dropped by our office and interviewed me about our relationship.  And they created an....interesting video.  Click here to see that.If you’ve kept up, this year (especially the second half) has found me bitten by the travel bug.  And by that I wasn’t actually looking to travel more, but the opportunities (and responsibilities) seem to be on the rise.  Last week I actually flew to LA (5.5 hours) on Wednesday morning, spoke at a conference for about an hour, then flew back the next day (because I couldn’t get a non-stop the same day).This week will be unusual in that I will actually take a day off and travel (with Julie, of course) for a long weekend in Maine.Then it’s 2 weeks at home, followed by speaking in Cincinnati and ending up the month in Nashville.

• October?  Speaking in Paris, Cleveland and Orlando.
• November is a bit slower, just Columbus.
• Rounding out the year is Orlando again (different conference).

Next year (2020) looks to be much of the same.  So far I think I’m penciled in for about 20 speaking engagements outside of the northeast Ohio area.  There’s been talk about creating a tour t-shirt.About 2/3’s of the topics are of interest to MSPs (Managed Service Providers).  People who do what I do for a living.  It’s mostly because of the interest generated by my second book “The MSP’s Survival Guide to Co-Managed IT services”.  Other topics include Business Intelligence, Cyber Security and Critical Thinking.In the online world, you should check out our second Snipits video, this time with our new friends at Datto.  Michael DePalma and I discuss Cybersecurity and some of the history behind where we’re at today.  Check that out here.Oh, and as for the "Star Wars Reference"?  Almost two dozen of the Simplex-IT family went out to Blossom to watch "The Empire Strikes Back" while the fantastic Cleveland Orchestra played the soundtrack over Labor Day weekend.  Yup, we did this last year as well.  A good tradition to build on, to be sure!