It’s time again for more zany fun in San Jose with the Tech Field Day crew!  I will be attending Network Field Day 5 in San Jose March 6-8.  This time, I was honored to be included as a member of the organizing committee for the event.  There were lots of discussions about timing of the event, sessions that would be interesting to the delegates and the viewers, and even a big long list of delegates to evaluate.  That last part is never fun.  There are so many great people out there that would be a great fit at any Field Day event.  Sadly, there are only so many people that can attend.  The list for Network Field Day 5 includes the following wonderful people:

	Brandon Carroll	@BrandonCarroll
	CCIE Instructor, Blogger, and Technology Enthusiast
	Brent Salisbury	@NetworkStatic
	Brent Salisbury works as a Network Architect, CCIE #11972.
	Colin McNamara	@ColinMcNamara
	Colin McNamara is a seasoned professional with over 15 years experience with network and systems technologies.
	Ethan Banks	@ECBanks
	Ethan Banks, CCIE #20655, is a hands-on networking practitioner who has designed, built and maintained networks for higher education, state government, financial institutions, and technology corporations.
	Greg Ferro	@EtherealMind
	Over the last twenty odd years, Greg has worked Sales, Technical and IT Management but mostly he delivers Network Architecture and Design. Today he works as a Freelance Consultant for F100 companies in the UK & Europe focussing on Data Centres, Security and Operational Automation.
	John Herbert	@MrTugs
	John has worked in the networking industry for 14 years, and obtained his CCIE Routing & Switching in early 2001.
	Josh O’Brien	@JoshOBrien77
	Josh has worked in the industry for 14 years and is now serving as CTO in the Telemedicine sector.
	Paul Stewart	@PacketU
	Paul Stewart is a Network and Security Engineer, Trainer and Blogger who enjoys understanding how things really work.
	Terry Slattery
	Terry Slattery, CCIE #1026, is a senior network engineer with decades of experience in the internetworking industry.

There’s likely to be a couple more people on that list before all is said and done.  I really wish that we could have an event with all the potential delegates.  Maybe one day after I finally buy my own 747 we’ll have enough airline seats to fly everyone to Silicon Valley.

Network Field Day 5 Sponsors

There will be an extra full lineup of sponsors this time around.  A few of the details are still being finalized, but here’s the lineup so far:

That “secret company” sounds nice and mysterious, doesn’t it? I can’t wait until they’re revealed.  I am always pleased with the lineup of sponsors at each Field Day event.  The leadership and vision provided by these vendors gives us all a great idea of where technology is headed.

What’s Field Day Like?

Network Field Day is not a vacation.  This event will involve starting a day early first thing Wednesday morning and running full steam for two and a half days.  We get up early and retire late.  Wall-to-wall meetings and transportation to and from vendors fill the days.  When you consider that most of the time we’re discussing vendors and presentations on the car ride to the next building, there’s very little downtime.  We’ve been known to have late night discussions about OpenFlow and automation until well after midnight.  If that’s your idea of a “vacation” then Tech Field Day is a paradise.

Tech Field Day – Join In Now!

Everyone at home is as much a participant in Tech Field Day as the delegates on site.  At the last event we premiered the ability to watch the streaming video from the presentations on mobile devices.  This means that you can tune in from just about anywhere now.  There’s no need to stay glued to your computer screen.  If you want to tune out to our last presentations of the day from the comfort of your couch with your favorite tablet device then feel free by all means.  Don’t forget that you can also use Twitter to ask questions and make comments about what you’re seeing and hearing.  Some of the best questions I’ve seen came from the home audience.  Use the hashtag #NFD5 during the event.  Note that I’ll be tagging the majority of my tweets that week with #NFD5, so if the chatter is getting overwhelming you can always mute or filter that tag.

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.  The delegates are in this for the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.