Fair warning, a post like this reflects a large ego by its very nature, but it comes from a committed champion of WISPs none-the-less....For God's sake, please don't post any "thanks for your efforts" type replies. I'm not fishing for them or public appreciation in general, though I do appreciate the thoughts of those so inclined. Those inclined to be critical, go for it, but offlist is best as this post is gag-worthy as it is. I just wanted to fully explain why I do what I do, wrong or not.
So after all this rancor and railing, I wanted to close today with a post about some of things I love about this business and WISPs in particular. Let me explain it by telling you that for me it is not unlike when I was an enlisted soldier in the Army (alas, too many years ago). In the military one lives among people from all walks of life; it was the rule, not the exception, that even in a unit as small as any one platoon I'd be among former inner-city gang bangers, cowboys, country boys, beach bums, suburban college drop-outs (I was one of those at the time), hillbillies, former refugees, and a few Puerto Ricans and Samoans. Outside of the service, we had little in common, or less. But there we all wore green. We all toiled in the paradoxical boredom of maintain gear and training, largely in the hope that we'd really never need to use those things we kept squared away. My brothers-in-arms could get on my nerves second only to my little brother, and I often found myself apologizing to the locals overseas in the wake of my peers' youthful boorishness and cluelessness about offending our host nationals. But put those guys together and they could do anything, they could build a machine from the dirt; they could solve any problem. I discovered among them artists, musicians, and any number of wonderous talents. I would have fought alongside with any of them (well, almost) and Lord knows I broke up more fights than I can remember many a late night out, as happens when young, fit and hard-partying men get bored and get stupid. But because I loved and respected them, I challenged them and did what I could to pull out their excellence. The camaraderie and sense of mission we shared was indescribable, as were the frustrations and conflicts engendered by the nature of tasks and mission. This market and WISPs are not unlike that to me. I have the great joy of meeting, knowing, and working with some of the most interesting people imaginable. WISPs are people that by sheer force of their will and stubbornness create their own realities. You are not corporate automatons working just some job to earn your 3 hots and a cot. You genuinely care about your communities, and with rare exceptions, you are not just looking for the quick hit off the backs of those your service. I get that, have always gotten that and I get enormous professional and personal satisfaction knowing I am playing and have played a not inconsequential role in literally nurturing this market. I've had the joy of witnessing and participating in the growth of many, many WISPs regardless of their vendor affiliation - complex and passionate people like John Scrivner, aka Scriv, from his first moments in this business to his current role as WISP sage and literal grandfather. This market and my work have earned me the friendships of a fantastic cast of characters that enrich my life on a daily basis. I live here in the vendor world though, and while I appreciate you may have perspectives to which I cannot have, I am also daily witness to what is happening in the other sides of this business, the really big money rolling in. And while I know many of you are happy to remain small, and there is zero wrong with and nothing to disparage about that, some of that money IS going to some of your peers who have who have decided they want to break out of the I'm-just-a-little-guy mindset enough to actually do it. Nothing but you prevents any of you that would like to do the same from doing it. It is all about your choices and your desire. That should be empowering. Your success is NOT in the hands of the FCC or any other entity; it's in your hands. I've been here a long time in this space and I watch with some measure of pain as the WISP community at large has a hell of a time learning from its mistakes. I have my very first posts archived about an FCC I intentionally started on the old isp-wireless list (there was no other) back in April of 2000 and the issues are just the same. The same characteristics that makes WISPs can-do and self-sufficient is the same thing that fosters a fatal flaw - that's an abject refusal by so many to accept authority or otherwise conform to certain norms. WISPs are sort of like guerillas and in the event you can manage to organize long enough to defeat the disciplined forces that threaten you, or at least carve out a solid niche, your nature makes you prone then to again factionalize (like we've seen happen before). I want to do what I can to lift WISPs out of that and to become a disciplined force in your own right, a goal I know WISPA shares (which was why I was the first paying vendor member). I know I've a none-to-small arrogance and ego to even make this sort of post. But the fact is you I care enough and respect you people enough to tell it like it is from my learned view, for better or worse. I know first hand that most of my peers have long since been told by their employers, "Stay off the lists!" out of their company's perceived self-interest and because they don't have the stomach for it. In my view it is a credit to my company that it allows me this unfiltered dialogue with you. I will not tell you what is comfortable, but untrue, just to schlep another radio. I'm here to build an industry and to drive that industry to the fore of telecom. The part of that industry I've chosen is all WISP all the time. YOU have my full attention. And while I'm no altruist, I damned sure don't do this (engage WISPs at this level of commitment) just in the hopes that one day I can plant an Alvarion flag atop WISP Mountain. I do this so that one day I can look back with sinful pride and say, if only to myself, "Look at what I helped to build!" and that I did it with total commitment, honor, and fearlessness, no stone left unturned in the effort, no idea left untested. And if that occasionally means trying to wrestle some of you into being more professional operators (yes, in my subjective, but knowledgeable judgment), NOT into submission, then I'm going to try from time to time. Have a good night. Tomorrow I'll keep it light. Patrick Leary ****A V P W I S P**** Markets ************************************************************************************ This footnote confirms that this email message has been scanned by PineApp Mail-SeCure for the presence of malicious code, vandals & computer viruses. ************************************************************************************ -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
