{"id":615,"date":"2014-04-23T18:14:37","date_gmt":"2014-04-23T18:14:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/?p=615"},"modified":"2014-04-23T18:22:42","modified_gmt":"2014-04-23T18:22:42","slug":"how-long-can-you-be-a-unicorn-technical-evangelist-episode-45","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/2014\/04\/how-long-can-you-be-a-unicorn-technical-evangelist-episode-45\/","title":{"rendered":"How long can you be a unicorn technical evangelist? Episode 45"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_617\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-617\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/jim-morrison.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-617 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/jim-morrison-300x198.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"198\" srcset=\"http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/jim-morrison-300x198.jpg 300w, http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/jim-morrison-210x139.jpg 210w, http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/jim-morrison.jpg 540w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-617\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Do technical evangelists, like rock stars, burn out early?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>So you&#8217;re a technical evangelist. Where does your career go from here? This week we talk with Brian Gracely about career paths, working remotely from the corporate headquarters, and surfing the\u00a0waves of change\u00a0within the tech industry.<\/p>\n<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_6656\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-615-2\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/geek_whisperers\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/How-long-can-you-be-a-unicorn-technical-evangelist-GW-Ep-45.mp3?_=2\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/geek_whisperers\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/How-long-can-you-be-a-unicorn-technical-evangelist-GW-Ep-45.mp3\">http:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/geek_whisperers\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/How-long-can-you-be-a-unicorn-technical-evangelist-GW-Ep-45.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>\n<p>Brian makes the point that a technical evangelist\u00a0(rockstar?) is at some level a field overlay position with a goal of spreading a new idea out to the world. Eventually this new idea is no longer new and the overlay position isn&#8217;t needed. That&#8217;s when you\u00a0have to\u00a0reinvent your job role.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The blog post that started us off: <a href=\"http:\/\/itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com\/cloud-computing-enterprise\/fear-and-loathing-in-cloudvegas\/\">Fear and Loathing in Cloudvegas<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Brian was previously on the podcast with his Cloudcast.net partner-in-crime, Aaron Delp, in Episode 13, <a href=\"http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/2013\/07\/podcast-13-how-to-create-a-successful-podcast-with-thecloudcastnet\/\">How to Create a Successful Podcast with @thecloudcastnet<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Chad&#8217;s Army aka the vSpecialists were an overlay group at EMC that helped evangelize\u00a0VMware solutions with the EMC field. They&#8217;ve since been reorganized to spread their knowledge throughout the EMC technical specialist\u00a0organization. Here&#8217;s a <a href=\"http:\/\/virtualgeek.typepad.com\/virtual_geek\/2010\/03\/welcome-new-vspecialists-and-vce-members.html\">2010 post from Chad Sakac<\/a> that gives you a flavor of the vSpecialists in their heyday. Many of the folks listed in this post remain strong members of the\u00a0cross-vendor IT community that the Geek Whisperers play in.<\/li>\n<li>In times of great change, the Unicorn skill set is needed.<\/li>\n<li>Does a CTO just make PowerPoint presentations?<\/li>\n<li>Tying your career to be a\u00a0part of a corporate function or program.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Making the trade-off: location, amount of travel, and money<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Asking your boss: does location matter?<\/li>\n<li>Amy lays out her strategies for working remotely<\/li>\n<li>People who want a lot of money, a big title, and no travel<\/li>\n<li><strong>The people who are successful have figured out what is important to them and what they are willing to give up<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>You can&#8217;t rest on your laurels &#8211; you have to keep proving that you are valuable in this privileged position<\/li>\n<li><strong>You often have to give up\u00a0your old identity<\/strong>: Reinvention can be\u00a0 a necessary career\u00a0step<\/li>\n<li>Working on a\u00a0side hustle: &#8220;You&#8217;re got to do something for free, as a hobby, because you like it, or you want to learn something new&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Getting caught in a time of transition: working for Blackberry or Nokia<\/li>\n<li>Parents don&#8217;t understand current career paths<\/li>\n<li>The special dilemma of the technologist: going deep for now but staying relevant over time<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Nothing is wasted on the writer&#8221; &#8230;or the unicorn. You don&#8217;t have to flame out.<\/li>\n<li>Dislike of the term\u00a0rockstar as diva<\/li>\n<li>John idolizes <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/petercoffee\">Peter Coffee<\/a>, although he has never met him<\/li>\n<li>Realize that you don&#8217;t become the superstar VP overnight. Most people that are successful have had interesting twists and turns in their careers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_619\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-619\" style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/briangracely.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-619 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/briangracely-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/briangracely-150x150.jpg 150w, http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/briangracely-300x300.jpg 300w, http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/briangracely-210x210.jpg 210w, http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/briangracely.jpg 512w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-619\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brian doing &#8220;blue steel&#8221;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_620\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-620\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Screen-Shot-2014-04-23-at-10.44.03-AM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-620 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Screen-Shot-2014-04-23-at-10.44.03-AM-300x182.png\" alt=\"Brian as Dr. Tweeter\" width=\"300\" height=\"182\" srcset=\"http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Screen-Shot-2014-04-23-at-10.44.03-AM-300x182.png 300w, http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Screen-Shot-2014-04-23-at-10.44.03-AM-210x127.png 210w, http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Screen-Shot-2014-04-23-at-10.44.03-AM.png 704w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-620\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brian as Dr. Tweeter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I&#8217;m not sure if the rest of the Geek Whisperers realize this, but when it&#8217;s my turn to write up an episode, I try to find the most embarrassing picture of our guest that I can find, at least in relation to how well I know them. Since Brian is a friend of ours and of the podcast, here&#8217;s Brian\u00a0starring in a YouTube video with our own Amy Lewis as the psychiatrist &#8220;Dr. Tweeter&#8221;. Link to the video redacted to protect the innocent.<\/p>\n<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_6655\"><!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-615-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/geek_whisperers\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/How-long-can-you-be-a-unicorn-technical-evangelist-GW-Ep-45.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/geek_whisperers\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/How-long-can-you-be-a-unicorn-technical-evangelist-GW-Ep-45.mp3\">http:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/geek_whisperers\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/How-long-can-you-be-a-unicorn-technical-evangelist-GW-Ep-45.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\">Podcast: <a href=\"http:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/geek_whisperers\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/How-long-can-you-be-a-unicorn-technical-evangelist-GW-Ep-45.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/?powerpress_pinw=615-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/geek_whisperers\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/How-long-can-you-be-a-unicorn-technical-evangelist-GW-Ep-45.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"How-long-can-you-be-a-unicorn-technical-evangelist-GW-Ep-45.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_subscribe_links\">Subscribe: <a href=\"http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/feed\/podcast\/\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_rss\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe via RSS\" rel=\"nofollow\">RSS<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So you&#8217;re a technical evangelist. Where does your career go from here? This week we talk with Brian Gracely about career paths, working remotely from the corporate headquarters, and surfing the\u00a0waves of change\u00a0within the tech industry. Brian makes the point that a technical evangelist\u00a0(rockstar?) is at some level a field&#8230;<\/p>\n<div class=\"more-link-wrapper\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/2014\/04\/how-long-can-you-be-a-unicorn-technical-evangelist-episode-45\/\">Read All Show Notes<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">How long can you be a unicorn technical evangelist? Episode 45<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_6657\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-615-3\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/geek_whisperers\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/How-long-can-you-be-a-unicorn-technical-evangelist-GW-Ep-45.mp3?_=3\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/geek_whisperers\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/How-long-can-you-be-a-unicorn-technical-evangelist-GW-Ep-45.mp3\">http:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/geek_whisperers\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/How-long-can-you-be-a-unicorn-technical-evangelist-GW-Ep-45.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\">Podcast: <a href=\"http:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/geek_whisperers\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/How-long-can-you-be-a-unicorn-technical-evangelist-GW-Ep-45.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/?powerpress_pinw=615-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/geek_whisperers\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/How-long-can-you-be-a-unicorn-technical-evangelist-GW-Ep-45.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"How-long-can-you-be-a-unicorn-technical-evangelist-GW-Ep-45.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_subscribe_links\">Subscribe: <a href=\"http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/feed\/podcast\/\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_rss\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe via RSS\" rel=\"nofollow\">RSS<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=615"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":624,"href":"http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615\/revisions\/624"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/geek-whisperers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}