By
El Copeland
February 28, 2025
•
20 min read
Professional Development
Business

Answer a question for me, and be honest.
When you sign up to attend a conference, what is the point?
I would guess that your answers, with a varying levels of importance, include networking with peers, expanding your knowledge, getting insights on latest trends, meeting vendors or influencers you’ve been following, and having a few nice meals or drinks in a city you don’t often visit.
Did I get it right?
Ok, follow up question. Think back to the most recent conference you attended.
Did you accomplish what you wanted to when you signed up in the first place?
It’s ok, this is a safe place.
There are a variety of reasons a conference may feel like a bust to you. Maybe the speakers had an off day (or in reality weren’t as good as you hoped). Maybe the session synopsis wasn’t an accurate reflection of the actual content provided. Maybe you were up too late the night before and accidentally slept through the sessions you were most looking forward to.
Or maybe, maybe, you experience what I have, which is that everything went perfectly: you attended all sessions, cheered when you were supposed to, participated in meaningful conversations with peers and mentors, had an uneventful trip home, and yet, something still feels wrong.

While exhilarating, at the end of these trips I’m exhausted, and yet the horrors, er, I mean, responsibilities wait for me. Those good ideas and clever tools quickly fade away, only to resurface in the occasional conversation, but rarely through intentional practice.
And then, you look at the budget. Between travel, meals, the conference pass, and your time away from work, attending a conference is a true investment.
With networking, sessions, and vendor conversations, how do you actually implement your investment into what you've learned, follow up with the people you’ve met, or pursue that tool that's going to change your life?
I have some thoughts on that. But first, let’s talk about gardens.
When planning any event, project, or goal, I'm sure you’ve heard someone wryly cite Murphy’s Law (“Anything that can go wrong will go wrong”) or quote the poet Robert Burns: “The best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry.”
The implication? Don’t plan too much, just go with the flow. If you don’t plan, you can’t be disappointed.
I hate it when people say that. And not just as a driven, technical, successful person. As a practical, down-to-earth person with a garden in my front yard, it’s the quickest way to tell me that you’re out of touch with reality.
Let me paint you a picture using tomatoes (or another delicious fruit of your choosing).
Every tomato gardener and farmer plants with the end goal in mind: a beautiful, bumper crop of brilliant red tomatoes, sun ripened and perfect for sandwiches, sauces, and salads.

But you don't just plant the seeds and immediately get the fruit. A full growing season looks like this:
Life happens. Just because I planted tomatoes doesn't mean I harvest tomatoes.
Just because I put a trellis up for my tomatoes doesn’t mean I can dictate where each branch will weave and grow. It just means there is a structure there for it to fall back on when things literally go sideways.
When you know what success looks like (a full, healthy tomato plant with brilliant red fruit), you can iterate from there or return to it when things inevitably go wrong, like needing to tie the branches that have gotten too heavy.
The goal is rarely perfection, but consistency and accountability so you can gain the literal benefits of the fruit of your labor. This metaphor on gardening is something I apply in both my personal and professional life (Starting Seeds: Episode 1 - Let's Grow!), but it’s especially critical at conferences. Conferences are fast-paced, exhausting, and packed with information. It’s easy to get caught up in the moment and never actually apply what you’ve learned, leaving beautiful tomatoes rotting in the sun.
Pre-planning and setting your intentions not only help you stay focused but also gives you more flexibility. Ironically, preparation makes it easier to pivot when plans shift. It also gives you the mental clarity to clean up at the end of the season and better prepare the soil for what you want to do next.

So join me in our figurative conference gardens and let’s look at how we can better set ourselves up for success and that bumper crop of good ideas for our businesses, communities, and personal growth.
One of the unspoken lessons that underpins our analogy about tomatoes is that time matters. Setting small things in motion early on allows for success because there are other parts of your environment (sun, rain, pollinators) that can do the work while you’re not actively thinking about it.

Watch what you’ve planted and care for it. That means using wisdom to prune, weed, stake up and feed your garden as needed, with a careful eye for success. I had to remove the word "ruthless" at least three times in this section. While the word is gone, my sentiment remains and I encourage you to use it freely in this section where I say "careful, intentional, test, focus...": you are the protector of your business and your ideas. One of my favorite sayings is, "If everything is important, nothing is important." What is important? Be intentional about focusing on that and letting everything else go to the wayside.

Speaking of setting goals at conferences, Tara Rummer at Immy.Bot and Immense Networks, gave her insight in a recent conversation:
We always did a little powwow before events to discuss what sessions each of us would be attending. And during the event (and after) we would do check-ins regarding something we've learned from our morning or afternoon... Or maybe you met an awesome vendor or had a hallway conversation that stuck with you. All of that was fair game! Learning isn't limited to planned content!
I always kept the maximum to three things you learned that day because the amount of information you take in at events can be overwhelming. There are so many intelligent people talking about their passions and successes / failures.
Tara makes some great points, but specifically, this is a good place to mention the 3-3 approach, which can help you focus and fortify ideas or experiences, either by challenging you to do more or challenging you to do less! The emcee at Right of Boom 2025, Robert Cioffi, mentioned a version of this from the stage this year. At Rising Tide, I word it like this:
What’s the point of a good tomato if you can’t take the first one and immediately slap it between some white bread with salt and pepper and mayonnaise? (By the way, the Duke's and Hellman's argument is wrong, it should only be Kewpie)
Often in a garden, the fruit comes to maturity in waves. It is up to us to determine what we want to do with it.
Back to Tara's experience at Immense and Immy.bot:
At the end of the event we would each come back with one or two large takeaways.... Something we'd like to try, a vendor we'd like to meet with, etc.
I've seen a lot of people come back from events and try to change everything all at once, which quickly caused dumpster fires within their teams. I've tried to put guardrails up to help guide the team a bit and keep them away from shiny objects.
Oof. Your team is your wealth and overwhelming them or frustrating them is a quick way to lose not just morale but efficiency! How can you, like Tara, put up guardrails up to protect their time?
For me, the heart of this is to take the key things you learned and actually celebrate and use them!


In the end, sometimes you end up harvesting something that you didn't expect, but that worked out.
Did you see my photos about tomatillos? I didn't even plant those and they kept our home fed that entire summer. What did I learn? Next time, I'll only keep two plants so they don't overtake my garden!
So, how did this harvest go? What can you do better next growing season?

At the end of the day, a garden only succeeds with the right combination of time, resources, and attention.
And a conference is exactly the same way. It is truly only as valuable as the effort you put into it.
Let’s face it, we’re all exhausted and it’s easy to be a consumer. It’s easy to just go to the grocery and pick up a beautiful tomato that someone else made.
It’s easy to only meet with people or vendors you already know and like. It’s easy to just take what people give us and check a box saying we attended an event. It’s easy to mindlessly take in what you’re being fed – to not question it, to not challenge it, to not chew it up and consider if it actually serves you or not before swallowing the meat, fat, and gristle in one bite.
I propose to you, friends and colleagues, that you can attend every session, shake every hand, and still walk away having wasted your time and money if you’re not actively tending the garden and harvesting the fruit in your personal and professional life. It is vital that you consider your agency and power in controlling your own growth and own destiny. We must be intentional with our time and resources if we are to harvest the best fruit.
Lastly, if this speaks to you and you attend conferences for the content, I intend to create a conference content webinar that reviews conference material and gives people a chance to ask questions and to determine what action could and should look like following conferences in our industry. Find me on LinkedIn and let’s talk about collaborating and making this happen together or come find me at MSPGeekCon!
I look forward to continuing to tend to our industry, together.
Love,
El


Episode 17 warps up the breakdown of version 2.21 and begins 2.212, highlighting impactful updates across billing, SLA visibility, and ticket management. The team dives into major improvements like dynamic ticket filters, default billing templates, and better billing tab access controls. This episode is especially useful for MSPs looking to tighten billing accuracy, improve reporting visibility, and streamline ticket workflows.
Watch Now: By the [run]Book: Episode 17
For easier tracking, check out haloreleases.remmy.dev to filter and search HaloPSA updates by ID, version, and keyword.
The Billing tab is now visible to agents without requiring full billing permissions, with actions locked based on access.
Tickets on hold can now be included in SLA breached filters.
You can now define a default billing template applied automatically when creating a new customer.
Dynamic filters can now be used on ticket lists for more flexible querying.
This helps keep recurring invoices aligned when item third-party IDs change.
Recurring invoices now get the same due date option already available at customer setup.
This adds more control to portal-based approval workflows.
This extends alternate invoicing behavior down to the site level.
This helps prevent tickets from disappearing into inactive-agent limbo.
More ticket list criteria means more practical operational views.
This update improves the ManageEngine Endpoint Central integration.
Halo now supports generic OpenID Connect SSO.
You can now duplicate item bundles instead of rebuilding them manually.
This adds more naming flexibility to the UI.
This makes SLA breach reporting more honest and more useful.
A major improvement for standard billing configuration.
This adds more flexibility to meter-driven recurring billing.
Dynamic ticket filters add a much stronger filtering experience.
Cloning custom fields speeds up admin work.
This update improves chart label readability.
This update refines the encryption update workflow.
This improves call handling context.
This gives more control over quantity precision.
This improves flexibility when linking work records from sales orders.
This adds better billing visibility without fully exposing billing controls.
Spreadsheet imports can now target existing tickets by ID.
A small UI cleanup on the ticket details pane.
This adds flexibility for co-managed support models.
This improves control over CSP user mapping behavior.
This adds clarification around tax rate usage in Xero-linked setups.
This makes Avalara tenant cleanup easier from the client billing tab.
This is a strong automation improvement.
Custom table row deletion gets more precise.
This cleans up recurring invoice visibility.
This is a documentation/config clarity improvement.
Ticket rule assignment now supports more role-based options.
Approval rule logic gets another useful condition.
Supplier-related configuration gets more flexible.
Project templates now get more dynamic input from sales-order-driven creation.
This expands visibility in quote and sales order line views.
This makes customer/site control more precise.
The API docs continue to improve.
This improves ticket logging layout flexibility in the agent app.
This is an important reliability improvement for payment processing.
This adds more flexibility when services are generated from assets.
This improves parent/child ticket data behavior.
Third-party ID linking is now available across more entities.
Query Builder gets another field for reporting logic.
This expands visibility of account/prospect records in top-level views.
Custom buttons now get access control.
This adds polish to the opportunity creation experience.
This is one of the biggest integration-facing updates in the episode.

In Episode 16 of By the [run]Book, Mendy and Robbie continue reviewing HaloPSA v2.210, covering a wide range of updates across billing, workflows, integrations, AI, and asset management. The episode highlights several settings MSPs should review immediately—especially a billing change that can lock recalculation—as well as improvements to ticket automation, AI categorization, and service desk efficiency.
Watch Now: By the [run]Book: Episode 16
For easier tracking, check out haloreleases.remmy.dev to filter and search HaloPSA updates by ID, version, and keyword.
Editing billing time allocation will lock billing recalculation | v2.21 #1044274
A setting has been added to Billing configuration so that editing the billing time allocation on an action will lock the ticket from billing recalculation.
Credit notes can default to today’s date | v2.21 #1042924
A setting has been added to Credit Note configuration so that the Credit Date is set to today's date instead of the Invoice Date.
Auto-assign the next unassigned ticket when closing a ticket | v2.21 #1003964
Added a new setting that automatically assigns an Agent the next available Unassigned Ticket when they close a Ticket.
Parent tickets can inherit dates from child tickets | v2.21 #975755
Added a new Ticket Type setting: "Automatically set Start Date and Target Date based on Child Tickets".
This setting adds a new option for grouping ticket entities during invoice creation in the Ready for Invoicing area.
This setting locks a ticket from billing recalculation when billing time allocation is edited on an action.
A new variable has been added for adjusted opportunity value.
Workflow steps now require an outcome to be selected.
Invoices can now default to the customer’s main site address.
Credit notes can now default to today’s date instead of the original invoice date.
Halo can now remove FW: and RE: prefixes when creating tickets from email subjects.
AI generated summaries can now be displayed in ticket column profiles.
A new advanced setting enables configuration change tracking for Services.
A global setting can now display the asset DID as a read-only field.
Custom integrations can now use separate credentials per instance.
The Main Site Address field can now be used in client and site column profiles.
The instances area has been updated with a new loading method to improve performance.
Tickets generated from Contract Schedules can now be created a specified number of days before the appointment date.
Additional ownership-related fields are now available in asset column profiles.
Asset dependency diagrams can now display customizable fields.
The client API endpoint can now return website data when requested.
The Twilio WhatsApp integration has received multiple improvements.
Assignment rules can now be disabled during Salesforce sync.
Runbooks triggered via webhook can now use a secret URI parameter for authentication.
HubSpot quote imports now include a default user field.
Agents can automatically receive the next unassigned ticket when they close one.
Chat Bot input steps can now access browser local storage.
Additional configuration options are now available for asset system fields.
Asset custom buttons now support dynamic visibility.
Asset fields can now perform SQL lookups.
Stock bins can now be selected for non-serialized assets.
Date custom fields now support validation rules relative to the current date.
Workflow Stage can now be used in the report query builder.
The New Relic integration has received improvements.
The phone number requirement for anonymous portal tickets can now be configured per ticket type.
Parent tickets can automatically derive start and target dates from their child tickets.
AI can now suggest ticket categories from a configurable list.
A new setting expands how Agent Site Restrictions apply to users and organizations.
Halo now allows configuration of how appointment unique IDs are generated.

Episode 15 of By the [run]Book covers Halo v2.208 and starts into v2.210, with Mendy and Robbie walking through SLA refinements, shifts/time tracking updates, billing cadence improvements, and tighter access controls across portals and reporting. Key moments include new SLA response targeting options, a clock-in/clock-out widget for shifts, a bi-monthly schedule period, and expanded team leader controls. This is a useful episode for MSPs looking to tighten operational workflow, reporting governance, and self-service experience improvements.
Watch Now: By the [run]Book: Episode 15
For easier tracking, check out haloreleases.remmy.dev to filter and search HaloPSA updates by ID, version, and keyword.
Adds an SLA option so your first response target can differ from subsequent response targets.
Adds the FAQ List Ticket field as a workflow criteria option.
Allows ticket end-user updates when an anonymous chat is successfully upgraded.
Adds a clock in/clock out widget for Shifts.
Adds a 2-month schedule period option.
Improves Knowledge Base latest article links.
Adds “Visible - Read Only” for Agent Asset details visibility.
Adds load-balance on reopen if assigned agent doesn’t meet qualification rules.
Introduces a module for an Opinyin integration.
Adds test email sending for individual mail campaign messages.
Adds new Halo API actions in runbooks.
Splits KB view counts so end users see only user views (when enabled).
Adds item group restrictions + running cost total on portal ticket item selection.
Adds a Ticket Reference field that’s searchable and usable in column profiles.
Groups service subscribers.
Adds $ variables for CONTRACTSLA, CONTRACTSUBTYPE, CONTRACTSTATUS.
Adds improvements to Agent Resource Booking.
Adds encryption options for variables/responses in integrations/runbooks.
Adds software expiry date tracking on assets.
Adds ticket-type control for end-user approval action visibility.
Allows team leaders to modify agents’ preferences.
Adds bulk add assets via the asset search modal.
Adds chat profile overrides at the user role level.
Allows KB links to include FAQ lists and auto-expand on open.
Allows HTML formatting in popup notes triggered by ticket rules.
Shows credit notes alongside invoices in the portal.
Adds a setting to limit users/agents to one active session.
Adds TD Synnex Quote Line Imports.
Adds dark mode counter widget color options.
Adds downpayment invoice creation from sales orders (fixed price + T&M).
Adds settings to limit portal options to Web Access Level list values.
Adds access control for reports.
Adds a deep link button on imported Addigy devices.
Multiple changes made to the Expenses list.
Allows embedding Halo portal/agent UI (including dashboards) in SharePoint via iframe.
Changes how recurring invoices appear/create based on month selection.
Ensures billing template application creates a billing plan record per matching contract/agreement.
Adds Last Contacted + Created Date fields to NinjaOne device import.
Removes quote “Send” button so sending happens only via ticket/opportunity.
Disables change history tracking for selected asset fields.
Adds invoice access restriction levels (No Access/Site/Client).
Shows the overriding contract field even if it isn’t on the field list (admin-editable only).
Enables database lookup while entering an action in the self-service portal.
Updates the Account Integrator for Sage UK v32 (2026).
Adds a setting to group ticket entities separately during invoice creation.