After missing a year due to the pandemic Harry met up with Rico and Steve from Help Desk Cavalary to recap the IT Nation Conference. After a full agenda of educational classes, hallway 101, and an exhibit hall both Rico and Steve said “ It was great to be back after two years getting to see people, shaking hands and talking along side them.”
With the chance to connect with good friends and partners both individuals said the conference was phenomenal. Watch the entire interview here.
Video Transcription
Harry Brelsford
Hey nation nation Harry here in Orlando. It is the end of IT nation. 2021 I'm with some good friends from Seattle, Rico and Steve, how you doing?
Help Desk Cavalary
I'm doing great.
Harry Brelsford
Guys again, hey, the only thing standing between me and some fun and a flight is the two of us. So I'll start with you. How did you like the IT Nation after a one year absence?
Help Desk Cavalary
missed it last year for sure. It was great to be back here after two years getting to see people shake hands talk, talk along the side. In the hallways, it was wonderful.
Harry Brelsford
And how about you stop? How'd you like it? I have questions for both of you. How did you like it?
Help Desk Cavalary
Oh, I love to be back in person was phenomenal. We got a chance to connect with some good friends and partners. And it's just oh, so glad to be back together?
Harry Brelsford
Absolutely not back to you. Why did you attend?
Help Desk Cavalary
My focus as CEO is what can we do to take care of our clients? How can we improve our service? How can we promote for improve our offerings? And this gives me a great opportunity to see a lot of different diverse solutions. Alright,
Harry Brelsford
and why did you attend?
Help Desk Cavalary
So operation side BMC? Oh, I had to come in here and find new ways new improvements for the business and and think of my people and improve their lives as
Harry Brelsford
well. Yeah. And why I attended as well. I'm a talking head and I'm in an analyst role. But I actually participated in the m&a track. It's a really hot area for MSPs. So back to you. First of all, you were on a stage and a presentation on that. But, but more importantly, you've made some acquisition system, one or two parties. I know. So talk to me, what was that experience? Like? How's that going? He got the integration points he liked with that.
Help Desk Cavalary
Sure. Our key focus for our acquisition was culture. And so you get to know the other owner, make sure that his staff and client base are a good fit for what we're going to offer and make sure that we're going to gel well together. And it's been great.
Harry Brelsford
Yep. And you're in over an operation. So how many employees do you have now with that kind of growth?
Help Desk Cavalary
So we're currently at 30. Okay, this last year, with everything that would happen, we increased that was where we grew eight people in that time.
Harry Brelsford
Wow. And are you happy? Maybe you're recruiting? Maybe you're not. But you know, one of the conversations is the difficulty recruiting labor. You certainly hear about it. Have you experienced that firsthand recruiting talent?
Help Desk Cavalary
Well, definitely. There's it's tight out there. It's hard to find the people you need. And that fit the culture of the company.
Harry Brelsford
Yeah, as well. Yeah. And I've known you for a while so I get it. I know you're pretty cool. And I think it's cool that your culture based we all kind of came from that folks the same lifestyle out on Bainbridge Island Kitsap County. So this is a little bit of a reunion.
Help Desk Cavalary
Appreciate you reaching out to me to say hello and nice to finally meet you live.
Harry Brelsford
All right. There we go.