Max Day 1 or Evangelists are People too

I sat in on the Air Boot Camp yesterday that was being presented by Duane Nicull (fellow Canadian) and James Ward. After the session I had the pleasure of chatting with both James and Duane with a few other Evangelists and speakers over a beer before the "birds of a feather" session.

During the birds of a feather session I came to the realization, albeit a bit late, that the Evangelists are people too, not simply robots towing the party line. They have their likes, dislikes and naturally evangelize the products they feel strongly about, and likewise know little about the products or technologies that they don't care about.

To be honest I was a bit surprised by this and now that I have had a bit more time to think it over it's really obvious. I too am an Evangelist in my own right because I preach the technologies that interest me. I would be insulted if my company or boss told me to push a product or technology that I'm not really interested. How could I get other people excited about something that I'm not excited about. That is, after all, what makes an Evangelist good; the ability to infect other people with their excitement and interest in the product they are preaching.

So thanks Duane and James, and the rest of the Evangelism team for being so very different and finally showing me that even Evangelists are people too.