I thought I'd pick up on the Telligent Twos meme that began when
Rob Howard mentioned Telligent's Two Year Anniversary, with
Scott Watermasysk and
Ken Robertson sharing their thoughts as well. But I'll go with two months instead of two years, since next week marks two months since I joined
Telligent.
I was hired as Telligent's first Evangelist for Community Server. I'm still dealing with the responsibility of being a "Community Server Evangelist" given the awesome product, company and people associated with it. After two months I'm still doing Robert Hays in the
Airplane! disco bar. "I told the guy next to me to pinch me to make sure I wasn't dreaming."
Now that I've been with Telligent a couple of months, you may want to ask, "What does a Community Server Evangelist do anyway?" Like, what do they pay me for? My services to Telligent are really divided into two areas: 1) Client Support and 2) Sales and Marketing. I create the
Community Server Daily News every day, which usually hits the wire around 3:00 PM EST. When I'm not doing that, I'm the Point Guy in Gold Support Forums. I say "Point Guy" only because I try to be the first responder to free other Support Team members to handle other Client Support duties. Telligent developers and support have been extremely responsive at handling any issues I pass along. Most of those pass-alongs have to do with Community Server Add-ons and multi-site configurations, areas in which I have no personal experience and am
playing catch-up. Apart from creating the
Daily News, and serving in Support, I'm also working with the Sales and Marketing team on some new publications coming online soon.
What about the Evangelism part? The Daily News is certainly an evangelistic effort, but it also serves functions that fall in both the Client Support and Sales and Marketing camps. Services I would consider strictly "Evangelism" would include the many new relationships I've been enjoying and serving as a connector in the user community network. Since I'm the recognized Community Server Evangelist, I regularly receive requests for assistance and advice that I can either help personally or route along to those who can. There are other evangelistic efforts I'm shooting for in the future that include more presentations, publications and new Community Server content in various formats. We're just getting started.
From outside appearances not much has changed in my life between three months ago when I was a Senior Developer with a small private firm in Pittsburgh and today as a Community Server Evangelist. I still spend my days in a converted spare bedroom in Vermont, surrounded by computers, music blasting, two parakeets squawking, a [NordicTrack] in the center of the room and a dog at my feet, but a lot has changed. For starters, I spend a lot more time during the day doing the job. I'm still maintaining good relationships with my [NordicTrack], but the leisurely daily dog walks had to go, or when they do happen, are drastically reduced. That also means I'm listening to far fewer podcasts than I was three months ago, so fewer
iPod and Dogs to share. Also, my
Labatt Blue Hour of Power when I happily mill about in the kitchen watching The West Wing on DVD and making dinner for my girls now starts between 5:00 and 5:30 PM instead of 4:00 PM. Another daily difference is that at night when its bedtime, I'm a lot more tired now than I was three months ago and the call of the bed is stronger than it used to be. I still try to get in several good late-night Geek Sessions a week, but they've been a bit less frequent for sure. That explains why I've been blogging less, or at least, blogging less on non-Community Server topics.
Blogging. That's another area my new telligent.com email address has had an influence, and not just because I need to sleep more nights of the week than I did before. I'm very sensitive that what I blog now and how what I say is a reflection on Telligent, especially since I have an "Evangelist" title. On the other hand, if there's one thing I've learned about Telligent Systems, it's that those who built the company promote above all else two things: 1) family comes first and 2) freedom of individual expression is not only tolerated but
required. (You probably wouldn't think that the young hotshot execs at Telligent believe so strongly in family coming first, but I see it in action all the time.) Yet even knowing how highly my new employer prizes freedom of expression, I still have been feeling that I've lost my voice somehow. When I blog I represent Telligent now. I'm accountable.
An angel is on my left shoulder, a devil on the right. One of them is telling me to let go of my crotch and get my ass in gear. I'm not sure which one is saying it, but a moment of catharsis approaches. I remember telling a very plugged-in friend of mine who runs her own business in Seattle about joining Telligent and that I was working for brilliant guys like RobH, JasonA and ScottW. She said, "Oh, that's alright. You'll soon find out they're buttheads like the rest of us and get over it." That hasn't happened yet and I've seen no indication that I'll ever change my original assessment of these guys, but if people already know, on the other hand that I'M a butthead, then the pressure's off.
So here's the deal. You can be comfortable in the knowledge that Telligent is the hottest company on the planet, that Community Server is the greatest platform in the world to build online communities, and that RobH, JasonA, ScottW and a long list of guys who work at Telligent are simply brilliant. And you'd be right in every case. I'm the Community Server Evangelist, and I'm going to do what comes natural and tell you why I think Telligent is so hot, why Community Server is so great and those guys so brilliant. I might come off like a butthead in the process, but that's just me being me. I never said that I was brilliant.
I'll tell you the obvious before we wrap up this Telligent Two Month Clambake. I couldn't be happier or more satisfied with my job at Telligent, with the product I get to work with every day and the people I get to work on it with. I knew for a long time that Community Server was a fantastic product, and you'd think I'd have more opportunity to work with it now as a Telligent employee than ever. The fact is, I actually have less time to really dig into the source now than before I joined Telligent. Ironic, I know, but that's okay because it's the people at Telligent who are the really fantastic part of the experience. I love to watch these guys in action, debating technical issues, jumping all over potential issues before they become problems, continually pushing the technology, working hard every day (and nights, too :-), taking time to answer user questions on the Forums, and still cracking wise with each other every chance they get. It boils down to the quality of the people, and these guys ARE brilliant.
We'll see you at my next Telligent anniversary mark, or whenever the boys downtown start another meme.
[tags: Telligent, Community Server, Evangelism]