If you have recently visited HDI’s website might have noticed that HDI has added a new area to the website dedicated to our partner programs and certified instructors.

If you have not yet visited the partner section I would encourage you to do so. You will find an overview of the different HDI partner programs, an online application for new partners, contact information for all current partners, and the HDI Partner Resources portal.

Please note that the HDI Partner Resources portal is still under construction. Once live, this portal will hold marketing materials, resource information, newsletters and applicable forms. If there is anything else you would like to see in this portal please let me know.

Along with the partner pages, HDI has also created the Certified Instructor Resources web pages—the online repository for all of your instructors’ resources needed in order to deliver HDI training. HDI has assembled the most current information for course facilitation and classroom resources, such as course activities, presentation files, video and voice files, and procedural forms all in this one place.

We have also added a link for your instructors to participate in the Certified Instructor online community which is sponsored by HDI for the exclusive use of HDI Certified Instructors. Instructors are able to share documents, such as additional exercises and supporting material that they may use in classes, post a blog, or start a discussion on the message board. The HDI Certified Instructor Community is the place for instructors to share experiences and learn from other professional instructors.

In the future, if you need to add new certified instructors, they should visit the certified instructors web section and fill out the online application which is the first step in becoming an HDI Certified Instructor.

HDI 2010 Annual Conference & Expo

Left-Right: Suzanne Yang, Ayako Osakake-Certification & Training Director HDI Japan, Victoria Bech HDI Account Manager, Izumi Takahashi Event/Member Specialist HDI Japan

Back: Craig Baxter, Managing Director, HDI

Left-Right: Suzanne Yang, Ayako Osakake-Certification & Training Director HDI Japan, Thiago de Marco Manager HDI Brazil, Luiz Couto President & CEO HDI Brazil, Izumi Takahashi Event/Member Specialist HDI Japan

Left to Right: Tatsumi Yamashita President & CEO HDI Japan, Suzanne Yang, Ayako Osakake-Certification & Training Director HDI Japan, Izumi Takahashi Event/Member Specialist HDI Japan

Back: Ron Muns Founder of HDI

I would like to take this time to thank all of our partners who were able to make it to this year’s HDI Annual Conference and Expo. The conference was a great success with about 1,700 attendees.

The global partner meeting was held on Wednesday March 17, and a number of topics were covered. For those partners who were unable to make it, I would like to use this time to summarize what was discussed at the meeting.

As many of you may know, HDI was acquired by Think Services, a division of United Business Media (UBM) in 2008. As of February 2010 HDI has merged into a different division of UBM—UBM Techweb. UBM Techweb is the global leader in technology media and content services, and serves both technology professionals and technology vendors through a powerful portfolio of trusted brands and services including InformationWeek, Interop, and Light Reading. This is a very exciting merge for HDI, and we are looking forward to the opportunities and resources that UBM Techweb can bring to our business.

For our partners that joined HDI before 2009, this year HDI will discontinue the distribution of student kits. Student courseware and exams will now be sold separately. This should cause little impact, however since there have also been some price adjustments made. I will be in touch with each of you with your updated pricing.

All of you may have received an email from HDI in regards to our Desktop Support initiative. HDI is developing additional products and resources aimed specifically at this market. As you all know, we have had the HDI Desktop Support Technician training and certification for a number of years. At this time our initiatives include, creating a Desktop Advisory Board, creating a Desktop Support Forum, and developing an HDI Desktop Support Manager certification and training which is set to launch in Q4 of 2010.

Lastly, each of our partners at the conference received an official HDI Certificate of Partnership. The HDI partner certificate details how long an organization has been partner and the courses that they are authorized to deliver. As you become authorized for more courses, a new certificate will be sent to you. For those who could not make the conference, your partner certificates will be mailed to you.

As always, if you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me.

Best Regards,

Suzanne