Summary
The year 2011 has been very special so far.
Two months ago, I had an opportunity to speak at "Inside Track" event at Chicago, Il. It was an awesome opportunity. I never thought I would ever get an opportunity to speak. Not only I had an opportunity to speak but also it was very successful. Thanks to SCN, Bhanu, Michelle and others who made it possible.
Two months later, I became Cool Dad. People who know me wouldn't believe this statement.I Promise. For 20+ years, my wife and kids know me as a person who knows 3 things, 3 things only: Work, Eat and Sleep.
TechEd 2011 - UpClose specifically - has 'liberated' me + transformed me to cool dad.
What is SAP TechEd UpClose?
Source: http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn
You can view videos here: http://www.sapvirtualevents.com/teched/Sessions.aspx?category=sessiontype&code=SAP%20TechEd%20UpClos...
Details
Both SCN and TechEd in general - TechEd '11 specifically - play critical roles in my life/professional career. How critical are they? No matter how hard I try, I'm convinced my language skills would fail me in expressing the true feelings about SCN and TechEd(+UpClose). That said, let me try.
I'm sure all of us have milestones in our lives. Just to be sure we're on the same page, here is the meaning of milestone:
"An important event, as in a person's career, the history of a nation, or the advancement of knowledge in a field; a turning point".
What are the milestones of my life?
- Born and groomed to be a human being by my parents (Timeline: 1963-'80, 17 years)
- Born and grew up in a great country, India (1963-'91, 28 years)
- Spent four years in great school - NIT, Trichy, India (1980-'84,4 years)
- My wedding, kids and family (1990 - Current)
- Became a citizen of another great country, USA (2003)
- Collaboration in great community network SCN (2009 - Current) and
- Last but not the least, participation in the first ever TechEd UpClose (2011)
Each one of first six milestones helped me to go to the next level. I'm sure the milestone (7) would take me to the next level, the level I had never dreamed of.
As you can see, 2 out of 7 milestones are SAP related. The milestone 7 has already transformed me to 'Cool Dad". Here is my teenage daughter's response to UpClose video introducing me:
"haha THAT'S AWESOME APPA. you could've done it without talking about the shopping trip:)........but that was cool! looks like you're having a good time!"
My teenage son's response:
"Wow, that's a cool video!"
I'm planning to write a few more blogs on TechEd 11 and UpClose in the next few days/weeks.
Finally I would like to thank a few people who made me feel home all 5 days of my stay at TechEd:
Marilyn Pratt: For not only preaching Inclusion but also following it wholeheartedly.
Idit Herzog: For the leadership skills, the patience and the smile.
Chip Rodgers: For genuine smile which made me welcome to heterogeneous crowd.
Philippe Rosset: For providing feedback on what he liked in my video and sincere attempts to make UpClose event successful.
Tom Upton: For working with an amateur; what an awesome job he did as Cameraman!
Walt Wasdyke: For that extra efforts to check the status of Autograph with OneRepublic.
UpClose Production Team: I probably didn't meet everyone who made me look so good on Camera. Everyone did their part and made UpClose a great success. Thank you everyone!
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