The importance of community and collaboration in the technology community.
Tech Field day is much more than three or four days of vendor presentations. Tech Field day is a community of bloggers, podcasters, webcasters, speakers, who have become industry influencers, we are a community that shares knowledge, support one another, and lift each other up. You can’t pay a fee to join, you are invited in and you are trusted as part of this amazing community. I am so fortunate to be part of this amazing group and I am sharing my experience with how I was introduced to this amazing community through Tech Field Days.
At my first Field Day event, I nervously stumbled into a meeting room at TFD Xtra at VMworld 2018. I just turned 22 years old, and my mother was a delegate for TFD. Steven Foskett invited me to have a seat at the table for the final session. I was thrilled, and I was nervous, this was my chance, and I was with the brightest minds in technology from around the world. My voice quivered when I asked my one and only question, it was about real-time analytics, but I did it. This was the first of many events and speaking engagements.
Stephen Foskett and Tom Hollingsworth have given me the confidence to be the “blogger” “influencer” whatever the hell I am today. Why? They believed in me, they gave me a voice.
It has now been over a year since my first event and I now have the confidence to write, blog, and speak all over the globe. This confidence is due to the strength that comes when the tide swells together and just like my community lifts me up.
The most important quote to come from Tom “The imposter syndrome stops now, you deserve to be here, we know who you are”.
This unique group of individuals sees each other a few times a year but is always connected on Slack and Twitter. By lending a hand to others we can push this group of individuals to share their experiences with vendors and technologists all over the globe.
This community does not grow by itself and innovation is never a happy accident. By working together, we push vendors to drive change, give us faster speeds and more storage. Without an inside look at the industry, it is impossible for companies to see how their users interact with their product or service.
A rising tide lifts all boats, not only us as influencers, but vendors and the industry as a whole.
Thank you Stephen and Tom.