It’s all about the people

It’s all about the people.

We’re about to start another Wireless Tech Field Day – the fifth in an on-going series. The next three days will be filled with technological innovations, discussions on the future path of Wi-Fi, and lots of vendor comparisons.

Yet as we are about to enjoy this technological bacchanal, lets pause for a moment and remember, it is all about the people!

People we’ll meet and interact with this week come from all sorts of backgrounds, have varied experiences that have brought all of us together at this time. Perhaps someone is here because their role is to manage ‘page-clicks’ on the company website, or perhaps their position is to minimize internal RF interference on the latest AP board spin, or maybe they are the one who took the risks of starting their own enterprise.

All are just people. People trying to make their way through this life, making decisions along the way, that have brought them to be part of this Wireless LAN industry and a chance to be part of this shared experience this week.

Orchestrate

Those on the Gestalt IT team who orchestrate and produce this Tech Field Day – Stephen, Claire, Tom, Ben and Andrea – thanks for your dedication and professionalism in making this all happen.

Sponsor

Some will be those from the Vendor Sponsors – on the stage – putting themselves and their distinct technology on the line in front of not only the room of hard-hitting delegates, But live streamed to hundreds if not thousands of just as harsh of critics watching and commenting on every single slip.

Delegate

The delegates themselves – sure, they are indeed having a great time being together and enjoying the actual sessions – but they are also ‘on-stage’ during the presentations, being constantly evaluated by their peers and needing to efficiently multi-task, active listening, Tweeting, taking notes, and asking questions all at the same time, and all on camera.

Participate

Then there are the thousands of peers who won’t be able to attend in-person, but dedicate the time and energy to watch each of the sessions live, and giving input via Twitter, obviously engaged in the conversation between presenter and attendee – with pertinent, and valid questions being raised in real-time.

Finally there are those who don’t have the time to dedicate to attend the live-streaming in real-time. But still want to glean from the presentations as much as possible that watch the recorded sessions, read the delegate’s blog posts, and follow up with additional Tweets and blog posts themselves.

All of these are just people – people trying to make the best decisions possible along their lives.

Differentiate

Though some make their livelihood by working for a WLAN Vendor – and feel they need to protect and defend their technology and strategies against all others. Some are working with Value Added Resellers, and only support a subset of the variety of platform choices. Others are consultants who have to work across the aisle, supporting all vendors. Finally there are those who work directly for the end users of WLAN equipment – those who have to live everyday with their purchases and live with the benefits and foibles inherent in any vendor’s technology.

Relate

Though we all are part of this technology in different ways – having slightly different perspectives. We all are the same if so many other ways. We love our families and friends, we have passion for not only our work, but also our hobbies. We might come from different places, and plan on moving forward into even more variety in the future. But for right here, and right now, we’re all linked by being part of the Wireless LAN industry.

This post is to give kudos to all those mentioned. Thanks for being engaged. Thanks for being helpful. And thanks for being part of my life. This is a great time, and a wonderful technology to be involved in… but what makes it extra special is the people.

It’s all about the people.