[TriLUG] visiting Red Hat HQ

[Jeremy Portzer]

The receptionist isn't the right person to talk to.  You would get the 
same reaction from a receptionist at most medium to large public 
companies.  If you are a blogger as someone else mentioned, why not talk 
to the public relations department first?  Or find someone else within Red 
Hat who might give you a tour?  There are several RHAT employees on this 
list who are interested in PR, such as those who handle our monthly 
meetings.

Plus, having been to the Red Hat HQ several times for TriLUG meetings and
other functions, I can't say you're missing much.  It's just an office
building.  The server rooms are inaccessible, and even they weren't, it's
just a server room (and most important servers are at other sites anyway).  
As far as I know they don't have a "gallery" or "museum" or anything of
that sort that would be of interest to fans.

If you are a potential client - e.g. someone who is seriously interested
in purchasing the products and services - the sales department is another
great way to organize a visit.  Call your salesperson and organize a sales
presentation or other meeting of that sort, and explain you'd be
interested in visiting the HQ.

--Jeremy

On Wed, 7 Feb 2007, WA Brown wrote:

> I talked to the receptionist until I was blue in the face! No deal. The only 
> way I could talk to someone was to have an appointment. They just dont care.
> 
> WA Brown
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Cristóbal Palmer" <cristobalpalmer at gmail.com>
> To: "Triangle Linux Users Group discussion list" <trilug at trilug.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2007 7:48 PM
> Subject: Re: [TriLUG] visiting Red Hat HQ
> 
> 
> > Ouch.
> >
> > How about calling their front desk and asking for a tour? Given the
> > history between redhat and oracle, I'm sure they'd jump at the chance
> > to impress a blogger who blogs about working with oracle products on
> > linux.
> >
> > Introduce yourself as the blogger that you are (and tell them what you
> > blog about) and ask who you should speak to.
> >
> > There are plenty of redhat employees on this list--maybe one will be
> > generous enough to be your host/hostess at redhat while you're in
> > town.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > CMP
> >
> > On 2/7/07, WA Brown <brownwa at ftc-i.net> wrote:
> >> You will be frowned at. They dont care about individuals. Dont expect any
> >> help either. I went by there when I was in Raleigh last year and this is
> >> what happened. You cant even talk to anybody unless you have an 
> >> appointment.
> >>        You would think that they would meet people with open arms. How do
> >> they expect to grow if people dont like them or their products. Or at 
> >> least
> >> get some help. If they would start helping the individuals and act like 
> >> they
> >> care when you go there, they would grow faster than they ever have. They
> >> must not like business.
> >>
> >> WA Brown
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> ----- Original Message -----
> >> From: "Kevin Otte" <nivex at nivex.net>
> >> To: "Triangle Linux Users Group discussion list" <trilug at trilug.org>
> >> Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2007 7:22 PM
> >> Subject: Re: [TriLUG] visiting Red Hat HQ
> >>
> >>
> >> > Catherine Devlin wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> In other words, if a general Linux enthusiast shows up at the doors of
> >> >> Red
> >> >> Hat HQ, will she find anything particularly rewarding there?  Will I 
> >> >> be
> >> >> embraced by cuddly penguins, who will give me a flipper and lead me
> >> >> inside
> >> >> to a world of Linuxy goodness and wonder?  Or will a receptionist just
> >> >> frown at me and ask if I'm a bigshot executive with an appointment?
> >> >
> >> > Quite likely the latter.  Red Hat has gone very corporate, and HQ is
> >> > nothing but a cube farm.  You'd have to sign an NDA just to see the
> >> > server room (and once you've seen one, you've seen 'em all).  I speak 
> >> > as
> >> > someone who worked there for two years and things were already going
> >> > away from the "goodness and wonder" when I got there.  I did not post
> >> > this reply to the list as some see my views as bitter rants rather than
> >> > a representation of reality.  I leave it as an exercise to the reader 
> >> > :)
> >> >
> >> > As I look at the blog mentioned in your signature, it occurs to me that
> >> > I have seen you at the last two Ohio LinuxFests.  I'm looking forward 
> >> > to
> >> > going again this year for the 5th anniversary celebration.  Should be
> >> > quite a blast!
> >> >
> >> > --
> >> > - Kevin
> >> > http://www.nivex.net/
> >> > --
> >> > TriLUG mailing list        : 
> >> > http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug
> >> > TriLUG Organizational FAQ  : http://trilug.org/faq/
> >> > TriLUG Member Services FAQ : http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> TriLUG mailing list        : 
> >> http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug
> >> TriLUG Organizational FAQ  : http://trilug.org/faq/
> >> TriLUG Member Services FAQ : http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/
> >>
> >
> >
> > -- 
> > Cristóbal M. Palmer
> > UNC-CH SILS Student -- ils.unc.edu/~cmpalmer
> > TriLUG Vice Chair
> > "There are many roads to enlightenment, and thus many roads back to
> > the One True Debian" --crimsun
> >
> 
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> 
> > -- 
> > TriLUG mailing list        : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug
> > TriLUG Organizational FAQ  : http://trilug.org/faq/
> > TriLUG Member Services FAQ : http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/ 
> 
> 
> 

-- 
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| Jeremy Portzer        jeremyp at pobox.com      trilug.org/~jeremy     |
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