by Liem Nguyen, (former) Director of Communications and Social Media, Dell Storage — July 09, 2010
Compellent is excited about sponsoring Tech Field Day (@techfieldday) next week in Seattle. In case you didn't already know, Tech Field Day is run by Stephen Foskett (@sfoskett) over at Gestalt IT. A great group of bloggers from around the world will converge on Seattle to meet privately with storage and virtualization vendors. On Friday, July 16, Compellent will host the delegates in the Microsoft Partner Solution Center where we have offices and lab facilities on Microsoft’s Redmond campus. Stay tuned for updates from me. Besides Compellent, vendors presenting are F5, NEC, and Veeam, plus a new company will launch in Seattle. I'm looking forward to meeting a lot of new faces and connecting with people I've only talked to online.
Stephen and I thought it would be fun to ask each other three questions about Tech Field Day Seattle. You can see my comments on Gestalt IT. Below are Stephen’s answers:
1.
Why did you start Tech Field Day?
SF: The basic Field Day idea came from the community. At an HP-sponsored blogger event, they wondered aloud whether other companies could put on similar events and how they could make it work. Planning such an event is extremely difficult and expensive, after all. But the biggest challenge is getting the independent industry folks on board. It's hard to know who to invite and reassure them that it won't be a cheerleader session or a bore.
The breakthrough came when we thought of flipping the idea on its head: The bloggers run the event and invite the companies instead! We all saw the value of live and direct interaction with the companies we talk and write about but wanted an equal seat at the table when it came to selecting who to hear from. That's the core idea of the Field Day: Getting companies and independent voices together to talk.
2.
What are you planning on showing everyone in Seattle?
SF: I always want to challenge the delegates with products and technologies that are surprising or a little outside their comfort zone. I love when people walk out of a session saying "that's not at all what I thought it would be" or "I didn't know anything about that before now!" No one wants to sit through a boring presentation about something they already know and love - they're here to see something new, whether it's a technology, a use case, a value proposition, or a whole company.
I'm also looking to keep things on the right level. The event has to meet the needs of the delegates, both in terms of technical content and plain fun. I'm planning to mix both together!
3.
How would you know if you had a successful event?
SF: It's easy to know if the event is successful: The delegates and sponsors come right out and say it! Shrinking violets need not apply for the Field Day. We're all about open communication, and I'll know we're successful whenever a rousing, boisterous conversation starts.
Another great measure of success is the community that comes out of the event. When I see newly-introduced folks talking like old friends and relying on each other for help on various technical topics, I know things have worked out. The Field Day events tend to bring people together across the usual lines that separate different technical areas of focus, vendors and independents, and focus on large and small business. It's so cool to see a post-event conversation between these diverse folks, and everyone benefits.