Network Field Day 29: September 7 – 9, 2022
by Eric Stewart on Sep.04, 2022, under Networking, Technology
Network Field Day is a networking focused version of Tech Field Day, where tech companies present to a collection of delegates from the industry. For NFD29, I’ve been asked to be a delegate. The presentations are streamed via both the event page as well as the Tech Field Day LinkedIn page (the preferred location for viewing the streams). From the event page, the companies presenting over the three days of NFD29 include:
You can find the schedule on the event page; all times are Pacific Daylight Time as the event is being held in San Jose, CA (which is in Silicon Valley).
What’s involved in the presentations?
Well, this is my first one, but from what I gather it includes whatever the companies want to present. Often times this includes presenting new products that they’ll be selling soon, including live demonstrations. The delegates are free to ask in depth questions regarding capabilities, getting a specific as possible.
Who are the delegates?
A collection of professionals from the industry. Delegates are not directly financially compensated (we get no money directly from participating), but are flown out (if attending in person), put up in a hotel, provided food and drink, and given swag. As there is some compensation involved, many delegates (including myself) are required to take leave from their jobs in order to participate. So, while on vacation, they’ll be working from around 730am until likely as late as 630pm in the evening participating in presentations and discussions. Delegates are free (but not obligated) to create content (like blog posts or videos) about what they see, and are free to cover both the positives and the negatives.
How does the money work out?
Gestalt IT arranges the presentations, charging the companies for the privilege for presenting, streams the presentations, and arranges travel and lodging for the delegates.
What do the companies get out of it?
Potentially, advertising; also some feel for the kinds of things industry professionals really want to know about the products. If the interface isn’t intuitive or seems confusing, they’ll find out pretty quickly as the delegates will be politely brutal about their feedback both in the meetings as well as (if they produce any) content they develop based on the presentations. If the capabilities of the product are lacking, the questions from the delegates will make it clear what network engineers are looking for. If the presentation goes without any participation from the delegates … well, the company learns that their presenters need to work on their communication skills.
What is Eric’s plan?
Aw heck, I don’t know. It’s a new experience and I will be taking notes and hopefully have intelligent questions to ask. I’m only very familiar with one of the companies, so I’m interested in what’s available from the other companies. I’m looking forward to seeing some of the people as they are “Cisco Live” friends, and I’m also a tad nervous – I really hope I can contribute.
Also … I hope that by the end of the event, I don’t have a “don’t do this” rule named after me.
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