“Wayne, I know you, even though you may not remember me,”
he said as he walked up to me.
“Uh, oh,” I thought to myself, “What have I done now?” I cannot begin to tell you the thoughts that ran
through my mind upon hearing those words…
Let me take a step back.
We are planning a project for
2017 to upgrade our ERP system, the last upgrade was 2008, about 4 software versions
ago. When I was a consultant, a number
of years ago, it was easy to learn about the progress on software as part of
our business. As a corporate employee, I
find that I do not have the same direct access to that same information. As part of the planning process, it made
sense to get up to speed on what is new and attend an annual conference. This would provide an opportunity to talk to
people, listen and learn from everyone’s different experiences, and the chance
for some personal and business development.
Aside from various classes to
provide functional training, discussion groups to share thoughts on our
individual projects and information sessions on upcoming product enhancements,
there is a large vendor exhibition section.
In the exhibition, we have a chance to meet potential vendors, ask about
their products and services, and, of course, have an opportunity to “schmooze”. When I walked into the exhibition room, there
were already a few hundred people there. This is the first time I have been to
this annual event and, naturally, wondered if I might bump into anyone I knew
from my consulting days, aside from the vendors I currently deal with. Generally, I space out in crowds, feeling
slightly overwhelmed. As I walked
around, I stopped in front of one of the booths and was greeted by one of the
women working there. We talked a few
minutes about their product, then I asked a semi-technical question, at which
point, she turned to flag down the expert.
“Wayne, I know you, even though you may not remember me,”
he said as he walked up to me smiling.
My mind begins to swirl…trying
to remember. As with all of us, my life
has many chapters, some, which I remember well, and others, which I remember
less well. As he relates his story, I
realize that he definitely knew me. Slowly,
it came back to me and I did remember working together on a project at Merck
(after they purchased Medco), prior to my leaving that company. That was a little over 20 years ago.
Once again, I was reminded,
that even in a short period of time, we have the ability to impact other
people. Whether in word or in action,
everything we do, every day of our lives, can touch someone else, no matter how
big or how small the time spent together.
Later that night, when we happened to meet up again, he asked me if when
he said he knew was I scared first. I
admitted, yes a little, it was a bit freaky for me to not remember someone that
knew so much about me. I also admitted
that after we talked I felted humbled that he remembered me.
The thing that made the
impression? He said it was talking about
the way that I communicated with my brother Brian, who was going to school in
California, and how I felt this was the thing of the future…email. While we all use email today, 20 years ago,
typing out memos and manually distributing was the norm. Outside of work, it was writing out “old
fashioned” letters and sending them using the good old post office. The email service that I was using was WebCrawler,
which was less than a year old at the time.
Email has become so engrained in our lives, we sometimes forget that
there was a time before it existed. As
my wife said to me after I retold this story, “You were cutting edge!” Maybe…
The trip, overall, was a
success, both in terms of business and personal development. As surprised as I was, it was great to see
someone I (sorry) forgot about and catch up.
It was great to catch up with other people that I used to know and meet
new people and connections. Lesson
learned - Always remember to wear a smile, come with a good attitude, be open to
ideas and be careful what you say and do, as you know who you might run into.
No comments:
Post a Comment