It's all about community
Today is an exciting and special day for me. It was announced today I had been accepted into the Citrix Technology Advocate program (https://www.mycugc.org/blog/community-champions-cta). This is a program that recognizes those for their contributions to the Citrix technical community. Some blog, some present, some give advice through forums, some do all! I have been lucky throughout my career to have had great mentors and colleagues that have helped, challenge, and guide me to become better. It is because of their investment in me that I am where I am today. The only fitting repayment is to continue that investment in others, and it is a privilege to be recognized. In helping others you help find new ways of solving problems, or just better understand the ramifications of what you are doing. Either way an investment in helping others is immeasurable. I wish I had more time to talk with customers more, talk to colleagues more, talk to competitors more, etc; however, I do sleep a little and I love spending time with my family.
So does this mean I'm some sort of bastion of knowledge for all things Citrix? I certainly am experienced and knowledgeable in their solutions, but as in all things, there are more things to learn. I enjoy learning new methods to deploy and helping other learn new nuggets of knowledge. That is what community is about. Learning from one another so we can all elevate each other. Even when you feel like you are talking to a brick wall, you are learning. Whether it is strengthening your own position, or perhaps realizing the shortfall in your stance, talking through and working through a situation with someone helps everyone out.
I look forward to being able to contribute to the Citrix community in a more 'official' nature, though I would do it regardless. They have great technology that continues to evolve and leverages other great technologies. We, the Citrix community, can help other technological communities. So let's talk VMware community, Nutanix community, Microsoft community. Let's learn from one another, let's disagree with one another (professionally of course), let's leverage one another.
See you out there in the field folks! Reach out to me and let's talk technology and how it drives business innovation......or we can just straight geek out :)