Traffic Management 101

May 8, 2024

Over the next few months, I could easily fill my schedule with events.

We have two right here in Convention City: Microsoft Build at Seattle Convention Center Summit, May 21-23, and Microsoft TechCon365 & PWRCON at the Seattle Convention Center Arch, June 3-7.

I've been to both events before -- not as an attendee, but as an Admission Attendant. I was checking badges, giving directions, and wondering what I was doing with my life.

Then there's the European Power Platform Conference in Brussels, 11-13 June, which I'm sure would be a wonderful opportunity to build a global network.

My last visit to Brussels was in 2008 for a global payments conference followed by a visit to the HQ of my client, a global interbank financial network, for whom I was producing a multimedia website demo.

The big Power Platform event for the year is the second annual Power Platform Community Conference in Las Vegas, September 18-20.

I can win it all back, double or nothing.

Attending any of these events would be out of my own pocket. Right now, that's a big gamble for me.

I've taken that kind of gamble in the past.

In 2007, I started a custom marketing content business. I traveled to Sibos, AFP, and other financial industry events and landed some very big clients. Whales, even.

How did I do it? It was easy -- people already knew me. They knew me from my bylines with a B2B trade magazine for bank executives. They knew me from conferences, at which I would fill my entire calendar with meetings, pay attention, and ask good questions. They knew me from my commentary in a weekly email newsletter. And most importantly, the indefatigable Bank Systems & Technology sales team acted as my hype squad throughout the industry. (Thanks, Peter McManus and crew!)

I had left the publication on good terms. All that exposure paid off.

You may be wondering why I'm not still writing about fintech, or why I closed a profitable custom publishing business. The short answer is that I fell into a comfortable rut.

I had found the perfect anchor client writing and producing newsletters for TCS BaNCS, a strategic business unit of Tata Consultancy Services. They highly valued my work, and it only got really busy a few times per year. I'd fill in the gaps with smaller clients, a whitepaper here and there, but I wasn't hungry enough to make a big push for new business. Things were fine as they were.

With work on autopilot, I directed my creative energies into other areas. I started drawing and painting. I set up a digital audio workstation and played guitar. I published a peer-reviewed academic article about Don Quixote's dog. I put together a book of my father's stories.

The pandemic exposed the fragility of my business model. I cut prices to stay afloat. That worked exactly as hoped -- but it was twice the work for the same money.

I had been working on publications with my mother, Tamara Schneider, former art director of Seventeen, Ladies' Home Journal, and Forbes Custom Publishing. My clients had been getting a bargain at the old price. At the lower price, my mother was keen to go back to illustrations (like the ones you'll see each week in this newsletter). And when I looked at what it would take to find someone at her level willing to put in the work on my budget, it became obvious what to do next.

I shut it all down.

At Microsoft Build 2023, I had only been an Admission Attendant for a few months. The boss asked if I was interested in cross-training as a Transportation Attendant. I'd pick up more shifts that way.

I asked: "Who's good at the job?"

He answered: People who can think on their feet, who can talk to different kinds of people, who can solve problems.

I asked: "What would I learn?"

He answered: Traffic Management. Back-of-House.

I was there to learn. I accepted the offer. They gave me a red shirt and a yellow vest. I would sit at the top of the ramp with a radio. When a vehicle arrived, I'd radio the deck below. "Box truck." "Semi." "Sprinter van." If the ramp was clear, I'd send it down.

That's how I learned Traffic Management.

Last December, I earned the PL-900 certification for Power Platform Fundamentals.

This summer, I'll take the exam for the PL-200: Power Platform Functional Consultant certification -- using the free voucher earned as a graduate of the Microsoft Power Up program.

The Power Platform journey culminates in the PL-600: Power Platform Solution Architect Expert exam. This one isn't on the calendar yet, as it only makes sense after I've done a few projects.

And that's also why I'm not planning to hit the entire conference circuit this round.

Sure, I enjoy conferences. I would learn all sorts of things, make valuable new connections, and get a better understanding of the industry. It's fun talking shop with people who use the same tools.

But at this stage, it seems more important to focus on the work itself. Complete my portfolio. Get reference clients. Have a story to tell.

It's Traffic Management 101. Make sure the ramp is clear.

During a sunset kayaking trip on Lake Washington, I saw a blue heron, a juvenile eagle, and a dinosaur. From the water, you can see the outlines of a skeleton of a T-Rex in the lakeside home of Nathan Myhrvold, former Microsoft CTO and founder of Modernist Cuisine. Check out his recent interview on FoodScience.org.