Interview with Jay Mellman of HP

Interview with Jay Mellman of HP at Gestalt IT’s Networking Tech Field Day 2010. This was recorded at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA on September 16, 2010.

Jay Mellman, Senior Director of Marketing for HP’s Networking Division, shared his company’s approach and experience during their participation in the Networking Tech Field Day. HP aimed to build stronger relationships with influential technology bloggers and engineers who are deeply involved in the networking space. Mellman acknowledged that this audience is less receptive to typical marketing messages and far more engaged with technical content and innovation from vendors. The company observed that these bloggers and engineers were curious about real technological differentiation and the potential benefits HP’s networking solutions could offer, such as saving time, money, and resources for enterprise customers.

Throughout the session, the HP team noted heightened interest when discussions became more technical, particularly around their intelligent network management tools and security solutions like the TippingPoint intrusion prevention system. These topics sparked lively and in-depth conversations, sometimes even heated debate, which Mellman saw as a positive indication of meaningful engagement. The feedback provided by the participants revealed both interest in and scrutiny of HP’s offerings, reinforcing the idea that this audience values detailed explanations and real-world application of technology over high-level business messaging.

Mellman reflected on how events such as Networking Tech Field Day are shifting from traditional public relations and analyst-focused engagements to more organic, authentic interactions with the broader technical community. He stressed that beyond promoting HP’s solutions, these events are valuable learning opportunities for the company to understand what truly resonates with engineers and practitioners. Mellman expressed optimism about continuing these conversations—not only through online communities but also at future industry events—signaling HP’s commitment to fostering more genuine, two-way dialogues with the tech community.