It was announced today that I was selected to join the Citrix Technology Professional Class of 2019 here. I have known many of the members of this group, and I am honored to be a part of this elite group. I started working with Citrix in the WinFrame 1.7 days (I know, I am dating myself). I have attended most of the iForums, the Synergy’s since the name change, the Summit’s for partners etc., and I have worked for one Citrix Partner or another for well over 20 years. In that time I have been a member of PTEC. I have contributed to Citrix Certifications and taken part in other Citrix Education and Product Development opportunities.
There are a few stories I like to share when I think back over the last 20 years of working with Citrix. The first occurred at an iForum around 2002. I don’t remember the exact year, but the closing night party was held at the Disney MGM Studios (Now Hollywood) theme park. At one point, we were lined up to move in to the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. Somehow I found myself at the front of the line, and proceeded straight down up front to sit as I wanted to be close for the show. There was a lady saving a seat for someone. Thinking nothing of this, I sat in the next open one. Soon, the VIP guest arrived and I found myself talking with Mark Templeton as we waited for everyone to file in. I asked him who had won the Dodge Viper in the contest, and he said no one had submitted an entry. I was quite disappointed to know that had I made an entry, I could have won a viper.
For the next year, whenever I would have a meeting with a Citrix customer and they asked about something I couldn’t answer, I would recount this story and tell them “Next year, at iForum, I’ll ask Mark”. The following iForum was also held in Orlando and this time we closed down the Magic Kingdom for the closing night party. A customer of mine who had heard the story was walking around the park with me that night. We rounded a corner, and who should we run in to but Mark Templeton! We said hello and talked with him for a minute or two before moving on. As we were walking away, he said to me “You really DO see him every year!”
I was involved with another customer having a meeting with the Director of IT and their salesman. We had held an hour long meeting to discuss their upcoming upgrade of Microsoft Exchange (I was a delivery engineer and had to have many skills). We had discussed the process, how long it should take, what the costs would be etc. He had voiced his concerns, and we had discussed how we were going to ensure there would not be any problems. As we were wrapping up, he asked, “Is there anything else we should consider before we end the meeting?” I asked him if he had considered using a Citrix NetScaler to provide secure access to Outlook Web Access as Microsoft no longer had a product for the DMZ. He laughed and said “I thought we were going to have a meeting where you didn’t say the word Citrix!”
I have received awards from Citrix in the past. I was named a Subject Matter Expert on the products I wrote the exams for. I received the Central Region SE of the Year award in 2013. But I have always wanted to achieve the status of Citrix Technology Professional. For that I am very grateful and I look forward to seeing everyone at Synergy 2019!
