For the second time this summer I find myself in Houston, Texas... and I couldn’t be happier.
In May when I got my tour schedule I didn’t think twice about Houston. I had never been, and aside from the Astros I admit I didn’t know a lot about it. This time would be different. You see, I had a great time when I was here in June; I had a spectacular class, met some incredible people, and aside from the fact that I caught a horrible cold leaving here (ask anyone who was at the Influencer’s cocktail party Friday night how bad it was!) I was leaving with a big smile on my face.
In late July I got my schedule for the next few months and just as I rang in my summer break in Houston, so too would I kick off my new season here. This time I had plans to make, and I got on the phone making arrangements.
Monday evening I had dinner with the son of a fellow MVP, a budding IT Pro who is at the beginning of a promising career. We hit it off and dinner was (thankfully) not about my giving him career advice, but instead was a great conversation that will mark the start of a friendship with a peer.
Tuesday I went into the office and got to see a few familiar and friendly faces, and set up my classroom for the week. It is truly a pleasure to have all new equipment to set up – thirty-five laptops without a scratch, the protective film still covering the shiny Dell logo. Because the rest of my evenings were already booked I decided to stay in, relax, and do a final run-through of my user group presentation that evening.
A real advantage to being a traveling trainer is the opportunity to meet other MCTs. Wednesday evening I had dinner with Chris Harrison, Bill Chapman, Ron Freeman, and Amber Mears and am really glad I did, because we had such a good time that before we knew it the clock struck midnight and we all turned into pumpkins. They may all be dev folks, but we had a great time nonetheless. (They helped me with my Texan English; for example, did you know that the first-person plural of y’all is not w’all, but rather ‘all y’all’?)
Thursday evening was my big presentation or rather my small one because it was two hours long as opposed to the three-day presentation I do during the day. It was big for me because it was aimed at the community rather than at partners, and you all know how passionate I am about the IT Pro community. We had a small group, but the presentation was very well received, and I am looking forward to honing it and taking it to the other cities on my tour.
If you have heard me talk or write about Certguard you know that it is an independent corporation whose goal is to promote and protect the integrity of IT certifications. Though it could not work last time I was here I convinced Robert Williams, the CEO of Certguard, to bring his wife for the long drive from Corpus Christi, and we had a great conversation about the direction of that organization, and different ways we felt that we could work together towards our shared goal. Just like every other dinner I had this week, this one resulted in a new friendship with people with a shared passion.
As nice as my evenings were, I have to tip my hats to yet another incredible group of students. I must be the luckiest instructor I know because every week I step into a class with thirty new people and week after week I am getting vibrant, energetic, interested groups. This group was no different and the dynamic throughout the week was electric. I find that I am not lecturing to them, rather having a conversation about a subject that may be boring to some but is alive and exciting to us. I hate to keep coming back to the same noun but it is the shared passion that makes these classes so much better.
That really is the common thread that binds together so many aspects of my life, whether it be work, community, or my personal life. I may enjoy my down time, but I always feel listless during these periods. I honestly feel sometimes that it will be impossible for me to start back to work the way I feel until I review my notes and appointments, and the passion wells up in me. It fuels me, it propels me. Looking at me you might wonder how a man my size can stand on his feet all day for three straight days – it is the passion that reinforces my legs; it strengthens my voice, it gets me out of bed at six in the morning when normally I am not a morning person. The passion I feel for what I do – it not only grows inside of me, I also absorb the passion radiated by those around me.
Now don’t get the idea that what I am saying adds up to Mitch never taking time off again – I am still passionate about golf and skiing, swimming, or sitting on a beach, by a pool, or in a cafe reading a good book. But if you ever feel listless and cannot muster the energy to get going, first pour yourself a cup of coffee, but then find your passion... it will fuel you and give you what it takes to go forward.
I’m going home to Toronto (yes it still sounds weird...) for the week-end and then off to Chicago for TechSelect. I hope to see you there!