Last October I attended a three-day conference called Business of Software (BoS) in Boston. AWR’s CEO Dane Collins had attended it for the past two years and I wanted to as well, but my travel schedule always conflicted. So, by year three, I was determined to go and had long beforehand blacked out the dates on my calendar.

BoS is about how to run a software business and is largely targeted towards entrepreneurs, but I did meet some other folks from Nokia and big Fortune 100 firms who were there as well. As I began meeting and networking with fellow attendees, what soon began to resonate with me was that the group around me was a bunch of “do'ers.” You know, the people who get an idea and run with it. Typically, we call entrepreneurs do'ers because they get an idea to start a company and run with it, but you can find do'ers in any facet of work and life.

I like to think of myself as a do'er. I started to blog way back in 2009 before it became popular for company execs to share their thoughts. David Vye of Microwave Journal and I were discussing social media and the idea blossomed. He suggested I write a guest blog, and I said, “OK, I’ll do it.” Now I have a guest column on MWJ and one on AWR’s website as well.

And then there was the IMS steering committee for Anaheim in 2011. In a discussion with a colleague at AWR, I was given a couple quick reasons I should join, and again I said, “Ok, I’ll do it.”  Once I got to the steering committee and found they had no one to run the Women in Microwaves (WIM) Reception, again, I said, “OK, I’ll do it.” Upon reflection, I realize I readily say, “Ok. I’ll do it.” Maybe I’m simply not good at saying no, but I think it is that do'ers like challenges -- if I like an idea, I’m willing to invest my own time and energy into it to see where it goes and make a success of it. 

In my mind, AWR customers are generally a collection of do'ers. They understand the advantages of cutting design times in half and the opportunities that can result from the time gained to take on additional challenges that add value. And who can argue against gaining back additional quality time in some facet of your own life, personal as well as professional? 

If you follow AWR (and I hope you do), our current ad campaign is entitled, “Stop Waiting and Start Designing.” I came up with this tagline a while ago when I was trying to figure out a way to get the attention not only of our current customers but also of potential customers. I wanted everyone to understand that our software cuts way back on the time you spend waiting for your simulations to finish, time you could use to be do more simulations to eek out extra performance and get a further leg up on the competition.

So here's my battle cry to all you do'ers out there... give AWR a try if you’ve never used it, or discover new ways it can help you cut time, even if it's the 100^th time you've used it this year. Try out some new features or capabilities if you are a current customer or, for potential new users, try out our demo. If you never try it, you’ll never know if it is right for you. We sweetened the deal with a chance to win an iPad monthly and that certainly enticed a few of you out there (customer and prospects alike). Nice! Glad to see when ideas are validated by positive reaction.