When I took the utility co-chair job a couple years ago, I was working at PacifiCorp. My management there was very supportive, which I appreciate. I managed to invest a significant amount of effort in the CIM Users Group without impacting our group's performance, or my own.
When the smart grid breeze started to pick up, I started to feel much like I did back in 1997. Netscape's browser was at v1, it seemed like the web's potential was practically unlimited. I felt like I couldn't afford not to get under the hood. I joined a company creating e-commerce sites - just to get inside the slipstream.
Well, a lot of people are saying the smart grid is bigger than the dotcom era - and it is. For the same reasons I was restless back in '97, I got restless earlier this year. I needed to find higher ground. And now I'm no longer at PacifiCorp.
I joined Gartner as an industry analyst on Sept. 8th, and I'm enjoying it - as much as you can enjoy getting pounded by a heavy surf. There is a lot going on, and I'm not always on top of the action.
So since I'm not with a utility any more, I've been heading toward the exit. That involves recruiting a replacement for my co-chair role and wrapping up loose ends, all the while organizing the Charlotte event. We will be electing a new co-chair.
We're only a week away from opening the Charlotte meeting. I hope to post some thoughts between now and then. That might be my observations on where this organization is at, and where it could go in the future. I might need to point to work in progress, so it doesn't get abandoned in place. Or, prepare to slay a few sacred cows on my way out. ;-)
[ right turn signal ]
