On my return from Research in Motion/BlackBerry’s annual Wireless Enterprise Symposium (WES), I reflected on the type of people you meet there. Firstly, like most technology conferences, it’s dominated with men. I’d say 90% at this one. ALL of my BD (business development) meetings were with men, and the only women around seemed to be the ones in the booths. So here are the types of guys at WES this year. (PS – since this blog posting is about tech, it’s likely going to have a bunch of nerdy acronyms, so will define them as I go along).
1. Young guys there to party.
At a tech conference, these guys are the minority. This is not the real estate industry. At WES, these guys hardly go to any conference sessions, and instead, spend 4 days poolside in Orlando drinking, 4 nights partying and trying to meet the 10% women at the conference (or other more “friendly” women in the city). At WES, I think most of these guys are the customers, usually not partners like us who need to put on a more serious game face. This year, some of these type of guys actually built a BlackBerry party-organizing app called “WES After Dark” to post info on where they were going to be partying, encourage others to spread the word and come out partying. I would’ve gone to one of the parties, if it wasn’t for them posting pictures from the first night at Hooter’s and other party pics that made me realize that hanging out with these guys may be a CLM (career-limiting move)! Considering it’s a recession, these guys were drinking on their expense accounts like it was 1999 – I guess mobility is the exception to the recession!
2. Tech Entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley there to pitch their product.
Aggressive entrepreneurs with lots of mojo that walk around pushing their product on anyone that they think is influential. Usually Silicon Valley or NY types that think they have the next killer app, want to partner with RIM or get bought by RIM. One of these types hi-jacked a meeting I was in with a RIM/carrier alliance person (yes, influential). He name dropped like crazy about where he used to be an exec and whose on his board of directors, yet he didn’t have business cards on him (odd!). I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one that didn’t really understand the business value of his app…
3. Tech nerds there to learn.
This is the majority of the guys at WES… serious nerds there to get their BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Server) certification, and start clapping when Mike Lazaridis (RIM co-CEO) announces some small new feature, and Mike Kirkup (RIM Dev Relations Manager) says that they’re going to start publicly tracking technical issues. These guys actually attend all the technical sessions, and get excited about being in the hands-on labs all day. These are also the guys that stand around at the parties by themselves, checking the status of their servers on their BlackBerry’s, and staring at the 10% of girls that walk by as if they haven’t seen one of us in 5 years.
4. Nerds and old guys that party once a year at WES.
These guys are hilarious because unlike Type #3, they’re nerds and old guys that aren’t shy. They think they’re like Type #1, but they’re clearly not. When they’re sober, they’re geeking out on their BlackBerry’s, and after a few drinks, they jump onto stage when will.i.am is rapping and DJ’ing and think they can break dance or balance drinks on their head. The old guys are standing near the front of the stage like it was a Grateful Dead concert, yet probably have no idea who will.i.am is. They’re just excited to be at a concert and not at home with their wives and kids.
5. Guys there to do bi’ness.
These are most of the guys that I personally met with. BD and Sales types within RIM, software/hardware partners, and carrier guys that cram in as many face-to-face meetings as possible during the week to build relationships and progress deals. Whether they’re from start-ups or huge carriers, everyone wants to capitalize on the huge BlackBerry market where there’s big opportunity and a piece of the pie for many players. We’re pretty new to the mobility and carrier game, but I’m quickly realizing that this is a club based on relationships and credibility. And the more the right people vouch for you, the easier it will be to do business with others.
