I have had a great time as the Principal Engagement Manager focused on the EMC Elect. In the past 6 months I have had the chance to go to a few more events than normal and that gave me the opportunity to meet a lot of new and awesome people in the Elect program, the tech community, and within EMC. We have had great conversations and hope to continue to grow those friendships. I have been mainly focused on the influencer marketing side of things (Elect). I have thoroughly enjoyed being solely focused on just the Elect program, but what I didn’t expect is how much I would miss the actual involvement in shaping and evolving the community itself.

Which brings me to the purpose of this post, as of today (March 23, 2015) I will be taking on a new role at Brocade as a Branding Manager. Oh no, it sounds like a marketing position right!? Well it is, but my definition of marketing is a little different than others. The primary goal should be to give you (the customer) all the [correct] information you need to make a decision that will benefit your business. Through the community that is what I will strive to do. My main responsibilities will be vision and long-term strategy for the Brocade community as well as overall health of the community as a whole. This will allow me to get back into the heart of the community and drive conversations, create content, and watch the community grow. During the past few weeks I have had the chance to talk to the leadership team at Brocade and can tell that they definitely have a passion for community and are willing to take a chance on some of the crazy ideas I have J.

*Caution the next paragraph may cause feels*

My time at EMC was short, but I am truly grateful for the friendships that I made and lessons that I learned. I was overwhelmed with the DM’s, texts, and calls that I received from friends while looking for a new position. Whether you contacted me to pass on a lead or just to see how things were going, I am genuinely appreciative and cannot thank you enough!

I can’t express how excited I am for this new opportunity and I invite all of you to join me in the Brocade community and be part of building something special! Of course you can always find me here, on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+ (I think people are still there).