“This is the third time; I hope good luck lies in odd numbers…. There is divinity in odd numbers, either in nativity, chance, or death.” – William Shakespeare

Good ole Bill Shakespeare says that good things happen in threes (more or less).  And in the case of Network Field Day, he’s right on the money.  March 29th and 30th, 2012, the best and brightest networking minds will gather in the Tech Field Day San Jose Headquarters at the Airport Doubletree to spend time debating Open Flow, OSPF, and how everything in networking has happened before and will likely happen again.  A sampling of the people that will be arguing about these topics (and many more) are:

	Ethan Banks	Packet Pushers	@ECBanks
	Tony Bourke	The Data Center Overlords	@TBourke
	Brandon Carroll	Brandon Carroll TechRepublic	@BrandonCarroll
	Greg Ferro	EtherealMind Packet Pushers	@EtherealMind
	Jeremy L. Gaddis	Evil Routers	@JLGaddis
	Tom Hollingsworth	The Networking Nerd	@NetworkingNerd
	Ivan Pepelnjak	ipSpace.net	@IOSHints
	Derick Winkworth	Cloud Toad	@CloudToad
	Mrs. Y.	Packet Pushers	@MrsYisWhy

There’s a great group of Tech Field Day veterans here, as well as newcomers Derick Winkworth and our mysterious Network Security Princess, Mrs. Y.  I’m excited to be invited back for yet another event with the TFD crew and happy to be considered in such austere company.

What is Tech Field Day?

Simply put, Tech Field Day is the Dragon’s Den of technical presentations.  There is no fluff.  No pretense.  No tolerance for drivel.  Instead, there are nerd knobs and technical content that would make anyone’s head spin.  No one is safe.  Analyst reports are booed.  Water bottles are thrown.  Why do this?  What’s in it for the companies?  Exposure.  The chance to reach a group of independent bloggers and put your best foot forward to show the world what you’re made of.  A chance to answer tough questions.  At Network Field Day 2 (NFD2), NEC presented about their new approach to Open Flow and where they were taking the emerging market.  They must have really liked what we had to say, because they are coming back once again.  I’m sure they’re going to bring a great presentation and lots of details and demonstrations for us to take in and discuss.

What Do I Get From Tech Field Day?

I love the concept of Tech Field Day.  Being able to talk to vendors in a small group with really bright minds helps me understand emerging technologies like Open Flow or Data Center Fabrics.  In my line of work, I might not encounter these things for many years (if ever), but with the help of Tech Field Day I can interact with the people driving these things today.  I also enjoy the fact that I can condense what I’ve learned and give it back to the community in the form of blog posts and discussion.  It’s been suggested that perhaps I’ve been to one too many Tech Field Day events in recent months.  To that I say: I don’t campaign actively to go to every event.  I realize that they are topics that I’m not well suited for.  I am always honored and humbled to accept invitations whenever they are presented to me.  I look at a chance to attend Tech Field Day as an obligation to my readers and followers to provide top notch technical analysis.  My wife has told me in the past the it’s a “nerdy vacation”.  She wasn’t as sure when I showed her the harrowing schedule or the amount of writing that I had to do for each company when I got back home.  The point is that I enjoy the real space networking opportunities and chance to discuss things with my peers that I might never get to otherwise.  Being able to sit down at a table and look someone in the eyes when you’re talking to them has a wonderful way of generating great discussion.

Tech Field Day – The Home Game

For those of you that like to follow along with the Tech Field Day delegates from the comfort of your office chair or recliner, you are more than welcome.  We will be streaming each of the presentations live at http://techfieldday.com.  We will also be spending a lot of time on Twitter discussing the presentations and questions about them.  Just make sure to use the hashtag #NFD3 and you can be a part of the discussion.  I always make sure to keep my Twitter client at the forefront so I can ask questions from the home audience when they arise.  That way, I’m truly a delegate representing people and giving them a say in what shapes the events.

If you’d like to learn a little more about Tech Field Day, you can head over to http://techfieldday.com and read up on things.  You can also apply to be a delegate at this link.  I look forward to seeing you online and hearing from you at this Tech Field Day event.

Standard Tech Field Day Sponsor Disclaimer

Tech Field Day is a massive undertaking that involves the coordination of many moving parts.  It’s not unlike trying to herd cats with a helicopter.  One of the most important pieces is the sponsors.  Each of the presenting companies is responsible for paying a portion of the travel and lodging costs for the delegates.  This means they have some skin in the game.  What this does NOT mean is that they get to have a say in what we do.  No Tech Field Day delegate is every forced to write about the event due to sponsor demands. If a delegate chooses to write about anything they see at Tech Field Day, there are no restrictions about what can be said.  Sometimes this does lead to negative discussion.  That is entirely up to the delegate.  Independence means no restrictions.  At times, some Tech Field Day sponsors have provided no-cost evaluation equipment to the delegates.  This is provided solely at the discretion of the sponsor and is never a requirement.  This evaluation equipment is also not a contingency of writing a review, be it positive or negative.