Pushing a Super-tanker up a hill

[swatts]

Hello Darlings,

In article 207 - The LabVIEW Eco-system I laid out how I saw a healthy relationship in the LabVIEW eco-system and we have been working to filling in the gaps ever-since. So let's review the eco-system diagram and I'll explain all my manipulations..

From the top and going clockwise let's see where we stand compared to when I wrote this (November 2022).

Bringing New People into the Eco-system

My personal motivation for starting CTI was to enable people to affordably conduct hands-on events as introductory material for new users. This was almost completely non-existent in 2022. There is now a lot of talk and some real action, through CTI, and Emerson distributors.

This feeds out into Academia and STEM type training.

We can serve multiple masters here and that's great. I'm currently focussed on LabVIEW in a box, I think this will have ramifications in the hobbyist space as well as for Academia.

Successful first projects lead to more experienced people

Part of Eli Kerry's job is judged on re-invigorating the LabVIEW User-group scene. This is an excellent and cost-effective way for someone with little experience to connect with experienced people in their local area. This support group is a massive boost when that first project becomes difficult (and it will).

At GDevCon#5 we had 60% of the audience that had not been to a LabVIEW conference before. We still think we cater for an "expert" audience and would like to find ways to entice new users into the fold. Expect changes for GDevCon#6 with this in mind. 

Good quality feedback will lead to better products being developed

The most wonderful thing has happened in the last few months and that is that Emerson(NI) is now along for the ride, this makes everything easier. I'm very grateful for the efforts of the current Emerson team (and also all their predecessors who had to battle a disinterested ,or even hostile corporate!). They invested a lot of important peoples time and no small amount of corporate money bringing internal LabVIEW R&D engineers to our event in Stuttgart. I can't emphasise enough what a massive boost this is!

My hope is that the R&D guys found it enjoyable, I would be interested in any feedback on this!

Good products will lead to new people wanting to join the eco-system

People will put effort into a career that they think will last and where they can really make a difference. To become good at a software language takes a considerable effort, so the quality of the support, the community, the training and the events has a massive impact on these commitments. This is probably where I can feel most positive.

Welcome back to the community NI (Emerson), your absence was noticed, your presence is helpful.

And why did I call this article "Pushing a Super-tanker up a hill"?

Because that is what it has felt like for the last few years and it now feels as if it might be moving.

By the way GDevCon#5 in Stuttgart was fantastic fun, met so many lovely people and the team got a standing ovation at the end (I'm not crying, you're crying!). As always I didn't get enough time to speak to everyone, but 3 days worked very well for us I think. It felt less rushed.

Lots of Love