Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're listening to the Arbery Digital Experiences podcast where strategy meets technology.
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Visit arberrydigital.com or find us on LinkedIn. Now onto today's episode.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: Welcome back to the Arbery Digital Podcast, everyone. I'm here with Tad Reeves, principal architect at Arbery Digital and the subject matter of today is the Adobe AEM Champions program because Tad, for the second year in a row has been named as an Adobe Champion. And so first off, big congrats Tad. That is a fantastic award and accolade and should be very proud of that.
But bigger question is what is the Adobe Champion program?
[00:00:48] Speaker A: So Adobe put together this program. I think it first started out in their, for all of their experience cloud products really and it started out with, with Marketo and since expanded to their other products. They've got Adobe Analytics, Commerce, AEM Experience, Platform Workfront and I think something else as well. But so, but yes, they have a champions program for each one of these major sections of the of their experience cloud products. And the whole idea is to recognize folks who have been outspoken in kind of pushing the whole product class forward, helping other people get on board, helping solution on it and also raise the next generation of engineers and architects in the field. So I've been trying my best to do all those things so to get the good word out there and try to share the knowledge wherever possible in how to do a things. So I guess that's probably the reason for the election, but that's what the program is.
[00:02:00] Speaker B: That's so cool. Just for my own personal information, do you know is there a limit on champions? How many can be selected into the champions?
Is there defining levels?
[00:02:13] Speaker A: 40, wow. 40 year, something like that. So, so and it was super, super competitive. I know a lot of people who applied this year and they, and there were some really, really, really talented people. Some people that I even would feel that are more talented than me that, that, that for some reason didn't make a cut this year. So I think they just kind of, they, there's, there's, there's a lot of, there's a lot of talent out there in the AM space or also in the analytics and commerce and so forth spaces. But yeah, I think that they limit it down to, for you piece that.
[00:02:45] Speaker B: Is, that is really impressive just to kind of put that in the scope. We're talking globally, right? This isn't just us, it's not just North America, it's globally so that's, I'm kind of shocked by that. That's, that's amazing.
And having said that, you know, kind of the theme is that Adobe Championship are, you know, really driven, really passionate about their AEM experiences and their version and flavors and products that they work with.
You know, what drives you or makes you passionate about aem, because I know you're passionate about aem, but you know, for the broader audience, you know, can you kind of explain that process and how you kind of went down that road and really got to this place of being a two time Adobe champion?
[00:03:33] Speaker A: Well, so, so first of all, like the whole thing that I love about this space is, is for the most part in aem, you're supporting marketing sites. Marketing sites are by and large the hope of every single company that they support. They are, they, they represent the future, they represent the, the possibilities of what, what a company can become. They're not only just supporting current operations and a lot of times they do support current operations.
So in some cases it's kind of like utility, but in a lot of cases it's, it represents a lot of hope. And so as a result, you, you get to, you get a lot of forward looking, a lot of, a lot of well, could we do this?
Could we attract people this way? It's, and as a result that the, you get to deal with a lot of exciting tech, you get to deal with a lot of exciting people. And I think that, that, that purpose kind of drives me along because just the whole idea of can we reach more people with this message and, and, and, and expand this company, that is a problem that I enjoy solving. So, and I enjoy solving it better. So I think that, that, that, that's kind of why I'm even in this space.
AEM as a, as a, as a product and Adobe as a company has been like, their solutions are really kind of at the cutting edge. They're used by the biggest companies out there. So, and because they're used by the biggest companies out there, you get to solve some of the most complex problems. The, there, there are some lower, I, I guess I wouldn't say lower grade. That's kind of a, kind of a demeaning way to put it. But, but there, there are, there are less complicated problems that you have to solve with smaller companies.
And, and it's just, just the problem of having a website. Whereas larger companies typically have a lot of complexity. They have a lot of backend systems, they have a lot of, they have the potential of scale that smaller companies don't have to deal with. So a lot of times you're dealing with things that are much larger than, than, you know, the, the hardware store down the street or something like that that are just not going to face the great potential of tens of thousands at a time or hundreds of thousands in a month, you know, of, of folks going to your site. That's a big problem. And, and solving a complicated problem like that is.
Keeps me engaged on a day to day basis.
[00:05:58] Speaker B: Oh, absolutely. You know, just, just knowing you and knowing your work ethic and your drive towards it as well, I, I've seen that in practice too. So it, it's been really fascinating to watch at times. But also understanding that drive makes a lot of sense. Right. You know, in any profession there is that bleeding edge where a small percentage, you know, tackle and try to get to the top of Mount Everest. Right. So that's the kind of way I've framed this in my own mind is, you know, some people look at Everest and go, I want to climb it. Others go, not for me. And we have both ends of the spectrum, but we definitely have benefited from those explorers and those limit pushers and, and that's just so cool being a two time Adobe champion. Now what, what have you liked about being a part of this program? What, what takeaways have you had from, from having gone around through this once already.
[00:06:56] Speaker A: So, so one of the things that I've gotten exposed to a lot as a part of this is other folks who are really good.
And one of the things that I've come to realize is that there is a lot of talent in this space.
[00:07:09] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:07:10] Speaker A: And if not just. And it's a lot of varied talent. Which is the other thing that, which is really interesting because you have. Because of the breadth of solutions that people have to do because of the fact that you're supporting, sometimes you're supporting an airline, sometimes you're supporting a media site, sometimes you're supporting an accountancy, sometimes you're supporting, you know, a medical devices company like whatever, whatever it is. There's, there's a massive breadth of solutions and as a result that the smart people who are smartly solving these problems are end up going down rabbit holes that you've never been on.
You know what I mean? So, so sometimes. So just to have a.
That well of people to kind of dive into is we as a part of. One of the perks of, you know, getting invited into the program is you get on the slack of, of a slack channel of all these other AM champs and slides so you can fire out with these questions that you know, sometimes makes you look smarter because you're like, because you're just like okay, hey, does anybody else run into this, you know, really weird weird thing and that somebody will have. You know what I mean? Like so it's, it's so that, that, that well of people to kind of to. To. To. To. To. To mix with and, and to. And to. To. To draw from and so is, is good and sometimes all you need is just their encouragement because they all, they all know what it's like to deal with just really ridiculous problems that.
Okay, yeah I guess you are the only one that's going to have to solve that problem. You know, power to, you know, see what a devil's doing. I hope you fix it.
[00:08:47] Speaker B: Like.
Oh yeah. And sometimes it's just a pat on the back rather than actually jumping in and solutioning alongside them. It's like you go ahead.
[00:08:56] Speaker A: Yeah, that's right. That's right. Yeah. Some of that. What I should also say though I should also say is, is that, is that part, part of it has been a lot of access to, to Adobe Personal and that's the other thing is, is that, is that so Adobe and this is, it's kind of an interesting thing about the history of the company is, is that they started out of creative software and they moved into this whole digital experience end of things and as a result they've had all these different acquisitions of startups really, you know, amateur and, and, and day software and so forth. I think these are, these are in a workfront and marketo and all these big, these big things that, that, where, where they were bright people that, that designed solutions for major enterprise web experience problems. And as a result in Adobe Engineering there's some crazy talent of people who are there to solve these problems. And so to be able to have connections to that then and be able to kind of tap into that a little bit, you get to see how much talent there really is there to be able to solve things of your.
[00:10:00] Speaker B: Absolutely. And you know, coming in from an outside organization or consulting group, you know, being able to have that line of communication and really getting feedback and, and partnership through that I'm sure helps. Right. Instead of wondering well what if or if only I could speak with someone, you know, how many times has that occurred where now you actually have that bridge of communication to where you might bring things to Adobe that they never thought of. Right. So it's a two way street and it's, it's a really nice synergy. And that's one of the things that I take away from this program in general is opening up, you know, that company to its, its users and its network and really strengthening its product through the partnership and through the program.
[00:10:48] Speaker A: Right, right.
[00:10:50] Speaker B: What advice would you give someone that is looking to level up their career and possibly end up as an Adobe Champion? You know, do you have any tips or suggestions or methodologies to go about it or to even build that network out to where, you know, they can kind of penetrate that bubble and, and make it into that exclusive group?
[00:11:09] Speaker A: Well, I think that the biggest takeaway is that it's not exclusive.
I think the thing that you'll find if you just pop open the, just Google the webpage for this and just, and pop it up and then just start looking up the people in the AM Champs program on LinkedIn and make some connections, you'll find that almost every single one of them, if not every single one of them, would go way out of their way to help you get started on something, to answer your questions and so forth and say, good, I, I'm looking to level up, I'm looking to, to get better at this. I mean, we just, we're, we are all benefited by, by increased talent in this space. We can tackle better, bigger and better problems. We, we can, we can, can tackle projects that, that we're lacking personnel for. We can, and, and, and just, it's going to advance the field as a whole. So I think that would be my biggest thing is just talk, just ask. And, and because I know, I know so many of the people on this list would love to help.
[00:12:19] Speaker B: And that's, that's a great point, you know, because there are a lot of times, say, for a new developer, a new architecture, whatever role you're filling in and towards whatever, you know, bend of the program you're aimed at, there can be some hesitancy to say, knock on the door of someone that you hold in a higher regard and think maybe, you know, assume, well, they don't have time for me or they're not going to respond to me. So that's very encouraging because I agree with you that that can only help and benefit the entire community itself because you're strengthening the knowledge base at a broader level too. Right. So that's really great to hear and I hope that whoever is watching this, if, if you do have questions about the Adobe Champion program, you do take that advice and go, you know, try to connect with them on LinkedIn and offer up your problem and see if they have some guidance for you, because that, that's a really great way to strengthen the community.
[00:13:09] Speaker A: Oh yeah. I mean, we're none of the people in this program are like ivory tower professors who are just high and mighty or something like that.
We are a bunch of folks who have, who have had some successes and we've also failed on some stuff pretty hard. So we, we have lessons that we have learned over time of, of how best to implement solutions based on, on Adobe gear.
[00:13:32] Speaker B: Absolutely. And that again, that's just refreshing to hear because from my perspective that that is the way I would ideally like to see a lot of different professions and disciplines carry on. Right. Instead of, you know, gatekeeping that information and really insulating yourself and going, no, I'm going to hold on to this. And that makes me unique.
You know, I think it's more unique the ability to spread and disseminate that information and make it digestible at a large scale. Because again, the goal and hope is that the Adobe product line, you know, keeps doing what it has been doing, which is being a global leader for many different businesses and industries.
And it's just really fantastic to hear and I've, I've really appreciated your insight on the Adobe Champion program. I knew very little about it, speaking frankly, but again, you know, having that availability to it and the information from it, and I know that there is a lot of different pieces of social media that come out and videos just like we're making here. So anybody that is watching this, again, try to go find all that you can on the Adobe Champion program and really dig into it. And as Tad said here, you know, if you have that question, link up on LinkedIn, put your question out to them and really try to see if you can get some feedback on that.
[00:14:56] Speaker A: Yep, we'll do our best.
[00:14:58] Speaker B: I do have one final question. Do you get any cool swag for being in the Adobe Champion program?
[00:15:03] Speaker A: So, you know, a couple years ago they had, they had AM Champion Chuck Taylor's that they, There you go. I would, they're bright hot red AM Champion Chuck Taylors and they, they didn't have them last year. I'm really hoping for that because rocking some of those, that Adobe Summit, I'd be like, like get it on. I mean, I, I, I, I got, I got some other random, you know, definitely cool stuff. They gave me this like kind of wacky jacket and stuff like that, which is, which is awesome. Nice and a rather excellent polo shirt. But, but aside from, I'm really hoping they bring back those checks that's awesome.
[00:15:44] Speaker B: Hey, one question about that as well from, from Adobe Summit. I know having gone this last year, there was some activities involved around the Adobe Champions. Can you speak to that a little bit at Summit and what, what role the Adobe Champions play if they are in attendance?
[00:15:59] Speaker A: Well, yeah, I mean, so, so they they definitely try to get as many AM Champions to Summit as possible and, and definitely discounted tickets are are, are a perk to, to being an, an Adobe Champion. But one of the things that, that is kind of expected of you when you're there is to hang out in the Adobe booth and, and answer questions. And so we try to do as much of that as possible. I ended up there quite a bit more than I thought I was going to be and not at a requirement just because there's a lot of really great conversations that I ended up in with a lot of different folks. So, so the Adobe booth in the center of Adobe Summit, yeah anybody never been there, is pretty massive and it's got all the different Adobe solutions that are all over the place. Your analytics guys and your customer journey analytics guys and your, all those different folks that are all over the place. And so at the, at the booth there we were just full on answering questions, which is, which is always fun. Just, it increases the, the, the volume of of different different problems that we get exposed to also. So, so just just that obviously is, you know, just kind of, you know, tickles the right itch that, that, that I've got in, in general, which is, which is, you know, creatively solving difficult problems with with, with, with websites. So you know, there's, there's all manner of different ways that you can be creative. I mean a lot of folks look at, look at like a website and look at all the pretty graphics or the videos and stuff like that. And that's the, that's the only way to be creative. But there's, there's, basically there's, there's there's art in, in every end of, of, of making a, a piece like that go. So absolutely to make it not have an error message when a million people go to the website. That also takes creativity. So.
[00:17:48] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. I mean my analogy for that would be music. You know, you can listen to the end song, but you don't realize the engineers and the people that were designing the microphones or the guitars or, you know, there, there's a lot of hidden art like you're saying within that most people don't take into account. So I, I find that very interesting as well. And would completely agree.
Well, fantastic. Tad, I appreciate your time and insight on the Adobe Champion program today. I hope that everybody gets a good takeaway from this. And I would love to see all the Adobe Champions at Summit this year again. And anyone that's watching this video, please make your way out to that conference.
[00:18:30] Speaker A: Awesome.
[00:18:31] Speaker B: All right, good.
[00:18:31] Speaker A: Appreciate it, Justin.
[00:18:32] Speaker B: Absolutely. Take care.
[00:18:33] Speaker A: Yeah.
