I came back from my first WLPC (in Europe) and it was a memorable one. I always take some extra time when attending a WLPC in US or EU as it is happening far from where I live (AU). This is a conference focused on people, Keith always says “It is all about the people” & truly it is. You will find enough time to network with WLAN Pros. Yes, you will get enough learning opportunities from other WiFi pros too (you can watch all sessions from the past event here). However, networking with people is getting me there every time and you cannot do it virtually.

I met Indika (a fellow Sri Lankan) through the cisco support community when he reached out to me (Oct 2020) to know how I stay as a top contributor to the Cisco community for many years. He was also interested in the 10-day silent meditation practices I am doing. After that initial connection, I encouraged him to go for a 10-day retreat and keep a chat with him regularly. Then I encouraged him to learn about WiFi (He was already a CCIE-R&S#65119) and started teaching him WiFi 101 (his brother Sasanka also joined those sessions). Fast forward 2 years, he has done many 10-day retreats and continues his wireless studies & now actively working towards wireless CCIE. When the WLPC Prague event was announced I wanted to spend some time seeing them in the UK. He took time to pick me up from the airport and gave me accommodation at his place prior to the conference. We decided to do 2-day volunteering (dhamma service) at the meditation center before I go to Prague, that was a great experience and more satisfying. I had the opportunity to meet a few of my University friends on the way to the meditation center. On the way back from Prague as well he wanted me to take some rest at his place prior to the 20hr+ flight back to AU. Here are some of the moments in the UK.

When I was tweeting about attending WLPC Prague, David reached out to me asking if I would like to catch up with him as he is based in Prague. David is not new to the Cisco community, he is a fellow Cisco VIP & Cisco champion I met him a few times during Cisco Live US event. He came to the airport (even though my arrival in Prague was close to midnight) & took me to the hotel. The next day, he took me around the City of Prague. When you go to a country first time and some person welcome you like that makes me wonder how you deserve such a warm welcome, he told me when he came to the Czech (He is originally from Venezuela), no one was there for him and he does not want his friends to feel like that. What a compassionate mind

David had his friend Peter Palúch (one of the most humble people I ever met through the Cisco community, met him a couple of times during Cisco Live US) visiting him during WLPC time. I was lucky enough to catch up with him joined by fellow Cisco VIP Karsten Iwen (Karsten was at WLPC) & Martin (a WiFi colleague of David)

During the event, I met a lot of people for the very first time. I tried to build new friendships and strengthen existing ones. Most of them knew me (virtually) through my blog, but never met in person. Some of the people are close friends, you meet them yearly during the WLPC event

I had a great close-off of the event by spending time with people looking around. Prague is one of the most beautiful cities I ever visited. Definitely I will be back at WLPC 2023 in Prague

My advice to you is, please help the community and spend time with others the way you would like others to spend time with you. Naturally, the law of Karma (cause & effect) in action, whatever thoughts, or energy you put out, you get back (good or bad)

Looking forward to the next meet-up of WiFi friends in WLPC in Phoenix 2023.