I've just nipped out to the hotel bar area to catch up on some email, and thought of something worth sharing. My wife is happy with her pina colada on the sun terrace, so 5 minutes on the blog I should just about get away with. Shhh... no, that's not the thing that's worth sharing.
A couple of weeks ago I got a mail from someone I admire a great deal. Since I've started blogging, he has encouraged me, let me pick his brains when he's got far better things to do, and coached me around some pretty tricky subjects, including his recent departure from a pretty high profile job. Why did I need coaching around HIS departure? I hear you ask. Who the hell are you talking about? I hear you cry. Well, if you stop talking a minute, I'll explain.
One of my very first entries on this blog mentioned how I'd followed Rich Mogull for many years. I still do wherever possible, although Gartner had made that difficult with their "gagging" of analyst blogs. I still regularly make comment entries on his blog however, just so he doesn't forget me. I guess I pestered him enough to talk to me, and when I joined my current company he very graciously agreed to speak to me about what I was doing.
I've still never met Rich in the flesh, we've never been in the same country at the same time since he's known who I am, to my knowledge. However, when Rich handed in his notice to Gartner a couple of weeks ago, he emailed me to let me know. "You may have already heard..." he started. I hadn't, so I was pretty startled to be getting an email of what must have been a pretty personal event. I imagine, therefore, that a few others in the security community got a similar message.
Quick as a flash, with my reporters nose for a story, I asked if I could write something about it. He asked that I keep it quiet until he announced it himself. Someone at Ziff Davis had scooped it already, which was somehow roundly ignored by everyone in the SBN (maybe because Rich emailed us all). But now the covers are off! For 2 weeks I have been biting my tongue and wanting to tell everyone. Well Rich, I managed to keep it secret. My wife knew, but not being in security and although she was interested to meet a rich mogul, I think she was thinking more Hollywood.
As a concession to not getting the scoop, and being good with secrets, I blackmailed Rich into giving me an "exclusive" of my own. When I get back I will be printing a short interview with His Mogullship, which I am genuinely excited about.
That's just one of the exciting pieces of news to come in the next 2 weeks. It doesn't get much better than this, but it should remain interesting...
Mrs. N's just finished her cocktail, so I'd better be off.
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