With 2024 fast approaching, my thoughts are on the February WirelessLAN Professionals Conference (WLPC, for you hipsters in the crowd). We’re looking at the tenth incarnation of this awesome event, which I can only describe as the singular best tech conference I have ever attended.
What do I like about WLPC? For starters, it’s wireless-focused. Under the heading of “wireless”, it’s mostly about Wi-Fi but with enough variety on other wireless topics to keep it interesting. It’s also a conference BY wireless people and FOR wireless people- with very little vendor influence in the mix. The majority of all presentations are by women and men who make their living DOING wireless, and not by sales folks pitching products. The breadth of the content is amazing, and those who will attend the event vote on submissions sent in by those who have something to say.
Like… me.
This year. I’ll be doing two talks- one on the “rules” of Wi-Fi that sometimes you gotta break in the real world, and one on the topic of changing vendors. Over the years, I’ve done a number of presentations, panel discussions, and even led a couple of deep dives. Each has been a privilege. Then there was this back in 2018:
And that was humbling, to say the least.
WLPC is also a fantastic opportunity for those of us who don’t get to a lot of other events to see old friends and to make new ones. It’s an intense few days, with a great mix of content, hands-on activities (I’m doing the Flipper Zero deep dive this time), and socializing with a profoundly diverse range of people. I treat every one of these events as “this might be my last one” and so try to take nothing for granted.
Maybe next year there won’t be budget for travel on my end… or COVID version 19 could scrap the event… or I could have health issues or schedule conflicts… or my books could take off and make me a millionaire (in which case you can all just kiss my arse, if I forget to say it at the time)… Few things in life are guaranteed, so I place great value and appreciation on every wireless-related thing I get to do whether it be conferences, webinars, articles, or good conversation with people who can make me think. But among all of that, WLPC is uniquely wonderful.
While the wireless industry itself continues to change, and those of us in it evolve (or age out), the reliability of WLPC is comforting, and is easy to look forward to. Hopefully I’ll see you there.
And no- they didn’t pay me to gush, so shut up about that.
wirednot 