Elevating Through Helping and Supporting: Chronicles of the Nutanix Technology Champions with Angelo Luciani — EP004

Angelo Luciani, Community Manager of Nutanix shares with us how he developed the Nutanix Technology Champions program over the past three years. The NTC program now has 151 very active and engaged members that enjoy helping and supporting one another.

Editor’s note: This podcast was recorded in early 2017; at the time had Angelo recently taken a new role with another company, but has since returned to Nutanix. Thanks to Angelo and to Nutanix for sharing with us on the podcast!

In this episode, we have a fun chat with Angelo Luciani on his experiences with the Nutanix Technology Champions (NTC) program. Angelo is the Community Manager at Nutanix, and he and another colleague run this program, which is in its third year. There are 151 members in the program, and Angelo’s traits of being hardworking, proactive, and helpful, certainly help give it the right recipe for success. We have known Angelo for many years, going back to the early VMware days. Angelo puts his heart and soul into his projects, and it is reflected in the way people feel about the NTC program, and what makes it a deep technical relationship between company and community to get their insights and feedback, rather than just a service group meant for only marketing the company.

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Key Takeaways

This podcast was recorded in early 2017; at the time had Angelo recently taken a new role with another company, but has since returned to Nutanix. Thanks to Angelo and to Nutanix for sharing with us on the podcast!

[1:20] Today we are talking with Angelo Luciani, Community Manager at Nutanix. Angelo manages the Nutanix Technology Champions program, also known as the NTC. He manages the social media and community at Nutanix.

[3:20] NTC is made up of about 151 members of IT professionals with a diverse background, which serves to help the group learn and grow from one another.

[3:53] The true value of these programs is people helping each other, which sometimes may take a little time to emerge. This was Angelo’s dream when starting NTC.

[5:11] Another goal of starting NTC was that it would serve as an ear to the ground of the community, and they could hear firsthand what challenges and suggestions customers or members of the community are having, that they could help with or change.

[7:48] To build the best program possible, ensure that you have strong management commitment internally, because it does take resources and time. Also, have a roadmap of activities that you plan to involve NTCs in, so they know what to expect.

[9:58] There are two running the program, one other individual besides Angelo.

[10:31] Some of the benefits in the program include: early access to software, access to key people, and almost immediate responses at the company through the Slack channel, exclusive briefings before released to public, access to conferences, lunches and sessions with engineering and product management employees. Peer to peer “unconferences” with a webinar with the NTCs.

[13:23] Swag includes nice NTC Polo shirts and Amazon dots.

[14:46] The NTC community is made up of a diverse group that bring fresh perspective and conversations to the table. Applications are open to anyone, and the amount of applicants can be overwhelming! The applications are opened in October, for about a month; then they announce in December. January spent is onboarding new members and also welcoming back previous year members.

[18:32] Angelo doesn’t see NTC as a niche sub-community, he sees everyone as part of the V-Community. (Virtualization / technical community)

[19:31] This is NTC’s third year, and there are currently 151 members.

[20:25] He has a colleague, Valeria, that helps deliver content and looks for things NTCs are asking for. He spends 70% with the NTCs on larger structural items and she spends 30% on the tactical end of things.

[21:37] Angelo feels like one of the benefits of the programs is immediate feedback on product and platform.

[23:49] Sometimes they extend the opportunity to some of their vendors who may want to beta test their software.

[26:34] Angelo does see the program growing, but wants to keep it manageable and make sure everyone participating keeps getting value. The current group is very active in the online community, which helps elevate the entire platform.

[28:22] Angelo and John were part of the same V-Community many years ago, and he was an early listener of John’s podcast and did the show notes. He was then a mentor in the VMug community, and then saw a need and filled it, instead of waiting for an opportunity to come his way.

[30:42] Angelo would like to do more speaking, outreach, and evangelism for the current platform, and a forward view on things of what he thinks is coming next.

[32:49] Looking back lightning round! If he could go back in time, he would figure out how to deliver swag in a self-service model, vs. having to personally hand it all out.

[33:40] He is amazed at the level of interest in the program and proud of how the NTCs give back and support one another.

About our guest, Angelo Luciani

I’m now the community manager over at Turbonomic and advocate for building communities that engage, enable and equip. I’m always looking for ways to give back to the vCommunity and was fortunate to start the Silicon Valley and Toronto VMware user groups, join the VMUG Board of Directors and be a mentor. I am the co-founder of the first online IT reality show called Virtual Design Master — challenging system administrators who want to develop their skills. I enjoy connecting with people and always have time to hear a good story. I blog at virtuwise.com and hope to connect with you at an event or meetup. Don’t be shy!

Mentioned In This Episode

• John’s Twitter: @jtroyer
• Kathleen’s Twitter: @DailyKat
• To Join the IMC or for more information: info@influencemarketingcouncil.com
• Nutanix
• Angelo Luciani’s Twitter: @angeloluciani
• Nutanix .NEXT conference

The Influence Marketing Podcast is brought to you by the Influence Marketing Council, an industry council for B2B brands who innovate in influencer, advocacy, and community marketing. Your hosts, John Mark Troyer and Kathleen Nelson Troyer, are co-founders of the IMC. The Influence Marketing Podcast is part of the research program of the IMC. For more information, go to influencemarketingcouncil.com.