The 14th annual Computerworld Premier 100 IT Leaders award honors individuals who manage internal IT organizations, mentor and motive their business colleagues, create a positive work environment, envision innovative solutions to business challenges, and effectively manage and execute IT strategies. Honorees are selected based on factors including their background, experience, approach towards risk and innovation, and more. A total of 100 honorees are selected each year to receive the lifetime award.

Computerworld's Premier 100 IT Leaders issue, published each year, highlights the accomplishments of the honorees, focusing on how they have used technology to have a positive impact on their organization.

We define a Premier IT leader as an individual who guides the effective use of information technology to improve his or her company's business performance. A Premier IT Leader can be a CIO, vice president, director or manager from a number of areas of the IT organization — network management, database management, intranet and Web management, help desk, application development, project management, contract management or procurement. Additional characteristics of an IT leader include the following:

• Promotes an IT vision that supports the company's business strategy
• Identifies strategic opportunities provided by IT
• Thinks beyond short-term tactical needs to long-term strategic goals
• Understands business needs and P/L responsibilities beyond the IT department
• Ties technology and innovation to specific business needs and goals
• Uses technology to gain an advantage over the company's competition
• Takes calculated risks but has contingency plans in place
• Learns from failures and uses these experiences to improve IT processes and services
• Hires inquisitive people who like to explore and who are innovative
• Creates a positive and rewarding work environment for employees
• Encourages staff to be innovative and come up with ideas
• Motivates with recognition and opportunity, not just money
• Compares best practices with peer companies
• Leverages their technology vendors as partners
• Develops leadership skills inside the IT organization
• Is viewed as a leader by other executives and by the IT staff

The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA)’s chief technology officer, Steven Snyder, has been named a 2012 CIO of the Year by Boston Business Journal and its sister publication, Mass High Tech.

The MCCA owns and operates the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center (BCEC) and the Hynes Convention Center. This annual award recognizes the region’s top information technology leaders who have shown leadership in making their New England business successful.

In his nine years with the MCCA, Snyder has led information technology teams and technology development at the BCEC and Hynes. His innovative spirit drove the development of the MCCA’s custom, state-of-the-art event management system, Showbiz, which is used by MCCA employees and their clients to plan and manage events. Thus far, the ShowBiz program--the only one of its kind developed by a convention center--has processed $95 million in business and received innovation awards from both Red Hat and JBoss.

Snyder also led the development of the meetings and conventions industry’s first facility mobile applications, myBCEC and myHynes. The apps can be customized on a show-by-show basis, and are available for iPhone, iPad, Blackberry and Android platforms.

“Steve embraces an entrepreneurial spirit, imbuing his team with the drive to be the most innovative and prepared IT department in the meetings and conventions industry. We’re extremely proud of his accomplishments and lucky to have him on our team,” said James E. Rooney, executive director of the MCCA.

Snyder is not the only one in the MCCA’s IT department to have received a prestigious award. Last year, Mark Michaud, senior director of technology business development, was honored with a 2011 CIO Ones to Watch award from IDG's CIO magazine and CIO Executive Council.

The BCEC and Hynes deliver the most advanced technology services of any convention facilities in the world and include state-of-the-art networking, free Wi-Fi, building-wide cell phone coverage, teleconferencing and videoconferencing. Our own on-site team of professionals will manage all your technological needs.

Last year, the BCEC celebrated the debut of its new digital outdoor 78 feet tall HD LED Media Tower and indoor 159 feet wide HD LED Video Wall, the first of their kind in the convention and meeting industry. Both displays are expected to become the new standard for how convention centers use digital technology to welcome events. Watch them both in action!

As an IT professional, you are focused on many technology and business trends in IT today.   It is also essential that you focus on your career advancement and build your personal brand – as well as develop your staff.  In this session, Steve Snyder, CIO of the MCCA, will share his career journey and personal insights as a seasoned and progressive CIO.  Steve is passionate about developing and mentoring IT leaders and will share real life examples and practical advice as a CIO mentor in the Pathways Leadership Development program.  Steve will be accompanied by Matt DeJohn, from Christian Science Publishing Society, a current participant in the Pathways program. Together, they will provide you with valuable information to aid you to successfully build your brand and advance your career.

Back by popular demand, IDC will lead a panel of technology buyers to hear what insight and advice they have for your sales(and marketing) teams. This panel will consist of a buying team from one company, with representatives from the business and technology perspective, as well as influencers and decision makers.

Read the entry here

Topics addressed:

• Quality of bandwidth within facility and how this is impacted
• How can the internet be accessed.  The difference between WiFi and Wireless (cellular) connection to the internet. 
• The various levels of access to internet – up to and including Ethernet access.  Light business use (free?) to full video streaming (Premium).  What’s the standard fees for these various tiers and how is the pricing impacted (number of people, type of attendee?)
• What’s the standard (minimum) GHz requirement and what’s in store tomorrow?  What type of devices (smartphones, tablets, PCs) need what type of service, and what are their minimum GHz requirements today (and tomorrow)
• It’s beyond bandwidth” it’s also about “Congestion.”  What is congestion (visual) and how does this impact access and availability?
• Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS).  What are they, and how are they supporting facilities today and what’s new with DASs of the future?

The New CIO: Chief Innovation Officer?

The traditional role of CIO meant ensuring the success and reliability of technology within an organization at the lowest possible cost. Yet, more and more, CIOs are being charged with driving bottom line business benefits and managing the demanding needs of next-gen knowledge workers, who want the latest and greatest in software and hardware at the office. CIOs are faced with the challenge of balancing the need for security and compliance with delivering innovative technology solutions to increase productivity, grow the business, engage consumers, and reduce costs.

How will CIOs today meet these challenges? Is the traditional role of the CIO now obsolete?  Join the discussion “Where and how does innovation really take place inside the enterprise?”

Mobile devices and applications are overtaking organizations and enterprises of all sizes – and creating many headaches along the way. In this session full of best practices and lessons learned, Steve Snyder, CTO & CIO at the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA), will share the challenges of building a network infrastructure and web architecture capable of supporting the proliferation of mobile devices now needed for effective facility management for the MCCA. He will discuss how he has put together a system that ensures that his service delivery workers are unchained and can communicate and collaborate in a safe and useful way, and while BYOD (while all the rage in many enterprises) did not work for his particular organization.

The International Association of Exhibitions and EventsTM (IAEE) recognizes the issues and challenges facilities, organizers, exhibitors and attendees alike face with Wi-Fi and Mobile Bandwidth availability and connectivity.
Thanks to a task force of individuals across the many facets of the industry, information was gathered and compiled to find the common ground. Defined in the pages of this document and organized by viewpoint sections are the prevailing themes identified based on knowledge, quality control, delivery and cost.

Sometimes the best enterprise advice comes from those who’ve aggressively adopted diverse mobile device management policies, or those who haven’t for important reasons, or those who’ve bumped into a few walls along the way — and especially those who can share what went right and wrong that can benefit others. Don’t miss this revealing discussion chock full of inside stories and critical tips.

George Baroudi, VP for IT & CIO, Chief Business Process Improvement Officer, Long Island University
Karin McCleery, Manager - End User Services, Raytheon
Mark Olson, CISO, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Steve Snyder, CIO & CTO, Massachusetts Convention Center Authority
Robin Layland, Contributing Writer, Network World Challenge Series, and President, Layland Consulting

Businesses that are heavily depended on and/or support cyber infrastructure need to ensure that their computer and network infrastructures are resilient. Resilient infrastructures must be able to absorb an attack and be fully functional with a minimal amount of downtime. The facilities that are built and maintained by the Markley Group, represented by Mr. Fleming, set the current state-of-the-art in cyber- resilient business enterprises. Mr. Snyder will discuss the resilient infrastructure and network required to operate the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA), the world’s most technologically advanced convention center.

Mojgan Lefebvre, SVP & CIO, Commercial Markets, Liberty Mutual Holding Company
Steve Snyder, CIO, Massachusetts Convention Center Authority
Moderator: Carrie Mathews, Manager of CIO Programs, CIO Executive Council

In order for IT to become a business influencer and game changer, the technology organization must transcend its “service provider” relationship with stakeholders and become a trusted business peer and partner. The task of guiding that relationship journey falls to the CIO and the senior IT leadership team. In this combination panel discussion and hands-on workshop session run by our CIO Executive Council, you'll take a short quiz to assess your own IT group's relationship with business leaders. Then with your own assessment in hand, you'll hear directly from a panel of Boston area IT leaders about their own challenges, roadblocks and successes. Finally, the audience will take over the discussion in small groups to explore the panel’s ideas and identify further best practices.

CIO Perspectives is a series of one-day senior executive events for IT leaders, held annually in 10 major cities around the country. This exclusive, invitation-only gathering of CIOs from mid- to large-sized companies is produced by CIO magazine and the CIO Executive Council, a global peer advisory professional association.
The agenda is created by an advisory board of Fortune 1000 CIOs, ensuring that these events provide a powerful mix of peer-to-peer networking, in-depth presentations, workshops and discussion panels – all focused on the business and technology issues enterprise CIOs care most about.

The goal of each CIO Perspectives event is to empower local CIOs to expand their professional communities and tap into the knowledge base of their colleagues to solve their most pressing IT/business problems. Moderated by CIO Editor in Chief Maryfran Johnson, these regional events also connect senior IT leaders with the deep experience and extensive influence of the most respected publication for CIOs in the world.

At CIO Perspectives you will have the opportunity to network with Senior IT Leaders from the Boston area in addition to meeting with leading technology providers for the latest solutions and products to help your business gain a competitive edge

The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA) and its consultant, Boston-based Optaros, have been named winners in the 2009 Red Hat and JBoss Innovation Awards contest. The award recognizes the MCCA's open-source event management system called ShowBiz, which was designed and implemented by the MCCA and Optaros and went live in December 2008. 

ShowBiz has streamlined operations at the MCCA by transforming business process flow and eliminating the need for inter-office mail and the consumption of huge amounts of paper.  The program, which now supports 90 percent of MCCA business, allows employees to spend more time focusing on customer service and event support. The program is unique in the meetings and convention industry and could one-day be marketedby the MCCA to other venues. Because the program was built with open-source programming, it can grow and adapt to a number of future uses. The MCCA competed for the award with some powerful American and foreign businesses, including Geico, Verizon Communications, Whole Foods Market, Allianz Australia Limited and Ecommerce Inc., all of whom won in other categories.