This “Field Day” Thing…

Our Field Day events bring together innovative IT product vendors and independent thought leaders to share information and opinions in a presentation and discussion format. Independent bloggers, freelance writers, and podcasters have a public presence that has immense influence on the ways that products and companies are perceived and by the general public.
                                     -Stephen Foskett (Tech Field Day)
I just wrapped up the better part of a week in the Silicon Valley, and have to say that at times I felt like a little kid. Having never met the Grandmaster of Field Day, Stephen Foskett, I was pretty awed when we finally did shake hands. Stephen is a master of his craft. Bringing together an impressive group of “delegates” from far and wide and getting them into the boardrooms of the biggest names in IT can’t be easy, but Stephen makes it seem effortless, and is as genuine a person as I have ever met.

The other first-timers in the mix and I were quickly made to feel welcomed and appreciated by Stephen and the veteran delegates, and driving around with this crew was a blast. If you are a techie-type and have never been to the San Jose area, you can’t help but marvel at the names on the very modern-looking buildings as you roll by- Avaya, Broadcom, Citrix, McAfee,Netscout, Ruckus, etc- the list goes on and on. This is a special place, and you can feel the vibe.

Being in the inner sanctums of Aruba Networks, Cisco, Juniper, and Motorola was a thrill. Even if the presentations weren’t all that exhilarating at times, simply sitting amongst the best brains in Wireless Networking certainly was. Being both in IT and a faculty member at Syracuse University, it was also nice to see SU grads in the mix as we moved from company to company.

Impressions I took away from the companies’ presentations are at my Network Computing, but also wanted to get it out here how very cool Foskett’s Field Day is. With separate events for Networking, Wireless, Storage, and Virtualization, Field Day connects a lot of industry analyst talent with top companies in their respective fields in a unique and effective format.

It was an absolute honor to have been invited, and I guarantee that you’ll walk away smiling if you ever have the opportunity to meet Stephen.