A BIG week in my life
As I set about changing my life last year, determined to make it better, I drew up a list of things I wanted to do. Being acknowledged for my thoughts or ideas in a public forum was one of these items on the list. Well, be careful what you wish for, because my chance came up last week.
The firm I'd joined had taken a bit of a risk last year using a certain type of computer for the workers called a Thin Client. It is basically a PC, but without the Hard Drive, and all its work is done back on a network of servers using an operating system called Citrix. Well, each year Citrix holds a Trade Convention called iForum and I got to speak about the stuff our firm has done. This was my first BIG public speaking gig that rated.
Wyse, the makers of the Thin Client, flew me up to Sydney, and helped me write the speech. I didn't realise how big the deal was until I lined up for a Taxi at Sydney and saw this
The signs were all over the Airport, and later on, I wandered over to the Darling Harbour area and saw similar large signs about Citrix. I have to include the link in case I ever get my name on it...Take a peek at www.citrixiform.com.au
Needless to say, I wasn't able to concentrate too much on work up in Sydney, but there was plenty going on in that area as well as the new offices will be ready in less than 3 weeks now.
The speech was schedule just before lunch. I don't think I could have eaten anything in any case.
I co-spoke with Jeff, from Wyse, who is also the co-inventor to the Wyse terminal, so he is pretty famous in his own right.
I wasn't the key speaker, in fact I was in a breakout session, but 25 people came to hear me and that was good enough for me.
If you are able to zoom in on the little photo, you can see just how scared I was, but once I got started, I relaxed and was able to deliver the speech / story without too many stumbles.
Afterwards I went and stood outside for a little while, still too excited to eat...But I soon over came those feelings.
The evening had a party at a seaside venue, and at this event I met and spoke with a living legend within computing circles, one Kevin Mitnick, who had been the Keynote Speaker. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Mitnick Kevin is famous for being the first person arrested for computer hacking back in the 70's. At one stage, he was banned from even touching a computer until 2003. He was a lot better at speaking than I was. I shared a drink with him during the evening.
The next morning, the organisers had some more entertainment in the form of the group of musical comedians called Tripod. Nathaniel and I have always enjoyed their talent so it was fun to sit back and watch them perform live.
A bonus for me was on the flight back to Melbourne, because Tripod were in the seats beside me, so I was able to thank them personally for their songs and jokes from the morning.
They were very nice guys and wrote out a little note for me to give to Nathaniel. Cool. Of course, there is also a web site to get a bit more detail about Tripod...It's http://www.geocities.com/tangawarra/tripod.html
I'm nearly recovered from my week, and now I have another busy week in front of me, so ta ta for now, and remember, never give up on your dreams, and if you try, good things may just happen.
The firm I'd joined had taken a bit of a risk last year using a certain type of computer for the workers called a Thin Client. It is basically a PC, but without the Hard Drive, and all its work is done back on a network of servers using an operating system called Citrix. Well, each year Citrix holds a Trade Convention called iForum and I got to speak about the stuff our firm has done. This was my first BIG public speaking gig that rated.
Wyse, the makers of the Thin Client, flew me up to Sydney, and helped me write the speech. I didn't realise how big the deal was until I lined up for a Taxi at Sydney and saw this
The signs were all over the Airport, and later on, I wandered over to the Darling Harbour area and saw similar large signs about Citrix. I have to include the link in case I ever get my name on it...Take a peek at www.citrixiform.com.au
Needless to say, I wasn't able to concentrate too much on work up in Sydney, but there was plenty going on in that area as well as the new offices will be ready in less than 3 weeks now.
The speech was schedule just before lunch. I don't think I could have eaten anything in any case.
I co-spoke with Jeff, from Wyse, who is also the co-inventor to the Wyse terminal, so he is pretty famous in his own right.
I wasn't the key speaker, in fact I was in a breakout session, but 25 people came to hear me and that was good enough for me.
If you are able to zoom in on the little photo, you can see just how scared I was, but once I got started, I relaxed and was able to deliver the speech / story without too many stumbles.
Afterwards I went and stood outside for a little while, still too excited to eat...But I soon over came those feelings.
The evening had a party at a seaside venue, and at this event I met and spoke with a living legend within computing circles, one Kevin Mitnick, who had been the Keynote Speaker. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Mitnick Kevin is famous for being the first person arrested for computer hacking back in the 70's. At one stage, he was banned from even touching a computer until 2003. He was a lot better at speaking than I was. I shared a drink with him during the evening.
The next morning, the organisers had some more entertainment in the form of the group of musical comedians called Tripod. Nathaniel and I have always enjoyed their talent so it was fun to sit back and watch them perform live.
A bonus for me was on the flight back to Melbourne, because Tripod were in the seats beside me, so I was able to thank them personally for their songs and jokes from the morning.
They were very nice guys and wrote out a little note for me to give to Nathaniel. Cool. Of course, there is also a web site to get a bit more detail about Tripod...It's http://www.geocities.com/tangawarra/tripod.html
I'm nearly recovered from my week, and now I have another busy week in front of me, so ta ta for now, and remember, never give up on your dreams, and if you try, good things may just happen.
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