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Join Tech Field Day at ONUG Fall 2015 in New York City

Next week, Tech Field Day travels to New York City to participate in the bi-annual Open Networking User Group (ONUG) Conference. Luminaries from the networking community like Martin Casado, Ken Duda, and Dr. Douglas Comer will be speaking about the latest advances in open networking. Attendees will get a chance to hear about industry changes that will affect the way they do their jobs in future.

Tech Field Day and ONUG have been working together since 2013
Tech Field Day and ONUG have been working together since 2013

We will also be producing our on-site Tech Field Day Extra event. Our select group of delegates from the networking community will get an opporutnity to dive deep into technologies from exciting new companies like Versa Networks and OpenSwitch, as well as hearing updates from great Networking Field Day presenters like CloudGenix and Cisco.

Tech Field Day Extra, as implied by the name, is a way for companies to gain extra engagement from industry event such as ONUG, Interop, and many more. The delegates that take part in Tech Field Day Extra represent some of the best and brightest voices in the community. Their expertise and viewpoints are very valuable perspectives for any company to consider.

Each one-hour Tech Field Day Extra session is recorded and the session videos are posted to the popular Tech Field Day Youtube channel. This helps continue community engagement after the event by increasing the reach of the message after a big annoucement. Tech Field Day Extra can help your company continue to be a community conversation long after your presentation.

ONUG Registration will be open through the event. It starts with ONUG Academy on November 3 before the main ONUG Conference on November 4 and 5.

This event marks our fourth collaboration with ONUG, dating back to 2013. We have been pleased to see the event grow and adapt as “open networking” moves from the lab to the datacenter, and always look forward future events. In addition to sharing video from our own Tech Field Day Extra presentations, we are working with the ONUG organizers to share video of some of their sessions for the first time. We expect that this additional visibility will help grow the event in the future.

We invite the public to stay tuned to our coverage of the ONUG Conference as well as Tech Field Day Extra at ONUG. We will be posting videos next week from our presentations as well as sharing the thoughts and observations of the delegates on our event page. We will also be using the event hashtag of #ONUGFall15 and #TFDX during the week, so please feel free to join in and add your voice to the conversation!

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The Power of Negative Publicity

Wouldn't you rather buy based on a review with negatives as well as praise?

Basic logic tells us that negative opinions have a negative impact on our perceptions. If a man leaves a restaurant complaining about the service, he’s likely to drive other customers away. But this is not always the case: even negative reviews provide publicity and visibility, and a good can outshine the bad.

The Curious Case of the Envy 100

Last month I went shopping for a new computer printer after my trusty HP Photosmart give up the ghost. Being an iPad user, I decided to look for one that supported Apple’s AirPrint functionality. This left me looking once again at HP’s product line.

As I so often do, I spent some time familiarizing myself with the various products before heading out to the store. I quickly discovered that no one had yet analyzed only those printers that support AirPrint. Since I was interested in the topic, I decided to write up my experiences for my blog.

I was initially impressed by HP’s sleek and shiny Envy 100 all in one printer, but further investigation revealed the basic printer engine underneath. I concluded that the Envy 100 was not a good value for the money, and instead purchased the plain but functional Photosmart Premium FAX model instead.

But a funny thing happened since I posted my review. Of the tens of thousands of unique visitors my series on HP’s AirPrint compatible printers generated, dozens of people clicked through my links the Amazon to purchase one of the models listed. Surprisingly, HP’s Envy model is the top seller among those who purchased based on my series of reviews.

Credible Means Fair and Balanced

Why would someone rush out to buy after reading a negative review? Perhaps the answer lies in the review itself. Although I concluded that the Envy 100 was not a good value, I did praise its good looks and features. I also pointed out that fashion-conscious Apple buyers (who incidentally make up a large portion of my audience) would find the printer appealing. In short, my review was fair rather than negative.

I have found that fairness, mixing the good with the bad, yields much better results than effusive praise. This is especially true on the Internet, where credibility matters above all else. Clearly, my readers felt that my review was a fair depiction of the product and made their buying decision based on this unbiased view.

Lesson Learned

Corporate marketers can learn a lot from this experience. Although it can be upsetting to see the negative aspects of your product called out in public, it may not be the catastrophe you anticipate. It is difficult to let go and allow social media and unbiased reviews to stand, but they are your best advocate. Don’t get too upset when the commentary goes negative, as long as the overall tone is fair.

You might also want to read 4 Steps To Respond When Social Media Goes Negative and Always Punch Above Your Weight