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Napa Trade Show blog #5
Wrapping up Day 1 - Tue, 9 Sep 2025, 7:30pm.
This afternoon I did a costume change at the trade show. During my off-shift time between 1-3pm I shaved my beard down to a mustache, ironed my arm-towel, and donned my tuxedo to become Jenkins.
The show had been extremely quiet up 'til lunch. It was busier, but not busy, at 3pm when I returned. Though right away I started commanding attention in my butler guise. People noticed me and came into the booth to talk. Or they stopped and stared from 20' away, trying furtively to take pictures with their phones, and my colleagues and I beckoned them to come in and talk to us. We even helped them take pictures posing with Jenkins.
Late in the afternoon the conference's technical sessions wound down and there was a reception in the vendors area. There were free drinks offered there— and attendees had to walk past us vendors to get to them! That's part of the logistical strategy of supporting vendors I wrote about in my previous blog.
Throughout the rest of the day, until several minutes after the 7pm closing time, Jenkins continued to be a draw. My cosplay brought people into the booth, people who work at companies we want to turn into customers, who otherwise wouldn't have come talk to us. That is why I rushed out to a fine men's wear shop yesterday afternoon and dropped $50 on a new bow tie and shirt studs.
My company has a split opinion on whether Jenkins should be part of our branding. Our marketing department, virtually all of whom have been hired in the past 2 years, are against it. To them Jenkins represents the past— even though it's the source of 90% of our revenues— and they don't want to associate the company's messaging with it.
I point out, and some of our sales leaders support me strongly on this, that not only is Jenkins the source of 90% of our revenues but it's a strong brand that people recognize. People in the DevOps industry who've never heard of our company have virtually all heard of Jenkins. They recognize the butler on site, they are entertained by seeing a real-life Jenkins the Butler, and they're way more willing to come talk to us. Then, once we get the opportunity to talk to them, we can build on our industry bona fides with Jenkins and then pivot to talking about our newer products— the products we believe represent our future. But to talk about that future we first need people willing to listen. Jenkins creates that willingness.
I emphasize this here because I worry that I am risking my job by dressing up as Jenkins. I'm literally going against the desires of at least one of our C-level executives, the CMO. And quite possibly the CEO as well! But you know what... if they want to fire me over it, it'll be their own colossal mistake.
Wrapping up Day 1 - Tue, 9 Sep 2025, 7:30pm.
This afternoon I did a costume change at the trade show. During my off-shift time between 1-3pm I shaved my beard down to a mustache, ironed my arm-towel, and donned my tuxedo to become Jenkins.
The show had been extremely quiet up 'til lunch. It was busier, but not busy, at 3pm when I returned. Though right away I started commanding attention in my butler guise. People noticed me and came into the booth to talk. Or they stopped and stared from 20' away, trying furtively to take pictures with their phones, and my colleagues and I beckoned them to come in and talk to us. We even helped them take pictures posing with Jenkins.
Late in the afternoon the conference's technical sessions wound down and there was a reception in the vendors area. There were free drinks offered there— and attendees had to walk past us vendors to get to them! That's part of the logistical strategy of supporting vendors I wrote about in my previous blog.
Throughout the rest of the day, until several minutes after the 7pm closing time, Jenkins continued to be a draw. My cosplay brought people into the booth, people who work at companies we want to turn into customers, who otherwise wouldn't have come talk to us. That is why I rushed out to a fine men's wear shop yesterday afternoon and dropped $50 on a new bow tie and shirt studs.
My company has a split opinion on whether Jenkins should be part of our branding. Our marketing department, virtually all of whom have been hired in the past 2 years, are against it. To them Jenkins represents the past— even though it's the source of 90% of our revenues— and they don't want to associate the company's messaging with it.
I point out, and some of our sales leaders support me strongly on this, that not only is Jenkins the source of 90% of our revenues but it's a strong brand that people recognize. People in the DevOps industry who've never heard of our company have virtually all heard of Jenkins. They recognize the butler on site, they are entertained by seeing a real-life Jenkins the Butler, and they're way more willing to come talk to us. Then, once we get the opportunity to talk to them, we can build on our industry bona fides with Jenkins and then pivot to talking about our newer products— the products we believe represent our future. But to talk about that future we first need people willing to listen. Jenkins creates that willingness.
I emphasize this here because I worry that I am risking my job by dressing up as Jenkins. I'm literally going against the desires of at least one of our C-level executives, the CMO. And quite possibly the CEO as well! But you know what... if they want to fire me over it, it'll be their own colossal mistake.
