The Performance Tour Season 03 (2022) Episode 07 was released on July 13, 2022. if you have not seen it, view it here:
As with the last episode, the introduction segment was filmed at Bryte Payment Solutions in Jacksonville Florida. Have I mentioned that I love working with them? They make the show look so professional.
Texas Road Trip Part 1
I started out on the road the week of April 18, with my destination being Austin, Texas. However, I had a lot of stops planned in between. I headed first to the Florida panhandle, visiting Pensacola. I stayed in Orange Beach, Alabama for a couple of days. It was cold and windy as summer hadn’t quite caught up with me. It was so windy, I actually had to buy a windbreaker jacket to walk on the beach!
The next segment was through the state of Louisiana, staying in St. Charles.
A quick stop in Beaumont, Texas allowed me to check out a couple of spots – like the largest fire hydrant in the US.
I enjoyed a great lunch at Amelia Farm & Market.
Then, I hugged the coast of Texas and took the ferry over to Galveston for the night. From there, I was on the road to Austin, going through La Grange. Along the way, I discovered the Kolache – which I had never eaten before.
You can find out more about these bakery delights here.
I’ll be adding pictures to the Gallery section of the Performance Tour website so you can see more there. Here’s Pensacola and Orange Beach:
https://theperformancetour.com/blogs/perftour2022-pensacola-and-orange-beach/
San Antonio
The day before the Austin road show event, James Pulley arrived at the hotel. We decided to take a sightseeing trip to see the Alamo (and I had never been there before). The morning we left Austin to drive down, I typed “The Alamo” into my GPS and it found a target in San Antonio. It wasn’t until about a mile before we arrived at the destination that we realized the GPS system was taking us to Alamo CAR RENTAL at the San Antonio airport! Talking about needing AI to help us… Fortunately, the historical Alamo was just down the road a couple of minutes away. We arrived and had a great time seeing it and taking video.
As I tried multiple times to film my dialog for the show in front of a statue of Davy Crockett at the front of the entrance, it was clear that I was going to have to fight the demolition machinery next door. Every time I would try to film, it would just start cranking away – and it was just too loud to cover it up. This was fairly early in the morning. It proves that when you are trying to film something, there is no way to plan for everything that might happen and present a challenge. You learn that you just have to roll with it and move on – so that is what we did.
On the way back from the Alamo, we made a stop at Blacks BBQ in New Braunfels, TX. This is because it is the “Original Black’s Barbecue”, which first opened in 1932. When something has been around that long, it means it probably is something pretty good. And it was. I did not get a lot of pictures of the food because we were so hungry by that time we had eaten most of it before I realized I needed to pull the camera out. I wasn’t too worried, as I knew there was more BBQ in our near future.
I’ve added a Gallery on the site for Blacks BBQ. Check it out here.
Austin Road Show
The good folks at StormForge (stormforge.io) sponsored the meeting in Austin at the Capital Factory. They were so helpful in finding the location and handling the logistics, I am not sure it would have been as good without their help. We filmed the meeting event, and the highlights of that meeting are what you are seeing in the video. We were there for 2 hours and there was no way to show you the entire road show. It’s something you just have to attend to get the full effect for. We knew we were doing two shows, and tried to make Austin unique as well as Dallas. Each one should be a little different, and the discussion will always be different. That’s what makes them special.
The food for the Austin event was provided by Gebbys BBQ, and I have to say it was some of the best tasting brisket I have ever had. Everything on the menu was delicious, and there were no complaints from anyone there. We had food leftover so many took some extra home.
If I could have, I would have taken all of it with me. Just not enough time in the day, and Dallas is in two days – with more BBQ!
As you can tell, we love to do these road shows to get out and meet with our friends; the people of the performance testing and engineering community. It’s great to get feedback from others about what they are seeing and the things they are learning. We learn a lot from you. If we’re near your city, please come and join us if you can.
NeoLoad Again (Skit)
We filmed the song at the Bryte Studio in Jacksonville, Florida at the same time as “Technically Dumb” from the previous episode. I had been wanting to do this song with the NeoLoad lyrics since January – it was just a matter of time getting the music recorded and the preparations for the video. I had to let my facial hair grow for about two weeks to have that Willie Nelson “scruffy” look.
I used that look for all the “Bubba” shots for the “Technically Dumb” skit and “NeoLoad Again”. I had to get the signature clothing for Willie with the bandana, the braided pigtails, and his signature red, white, and blue guitar strap. Bubba was just there to provide some backup and harmonica.
J.R. McNeeley produced and mixed all the music, as well as the vocals for the song. It’s really hard to find a singer that sounds like Willie – that is for sure.
I brought in the intro phone call from Darren to put the song into context. The premise is that I am not talking enough about the sponsors, so I just dedicate an over-the-top love fest for Tricentis to let them know how much I appreciate their support. It’s all in good fun, and the truth is that Tricentis has never told me what to talk about who I could talk to. They give me the freedom I need to cover a topic how I want. I do have sponsors review the episodes, give me feedback, and approve them before they go out to the general public. I’ve never had an issue with the actual content – which shows Tricentis value though leadership in the space.
I also wanted to introduce Darren Beck because it won’t be the last time you see him as part of a skit. Just wait until the next episode. LOL!
Thanks
None of this would have happened without all the people who pitched in to help, as well as our awesome sponsors, Tricentis and QA Consultants. Thanks to all of you. I encourage our viewers to check out the links below to find out more about the people who helped me put the episode together. Thank them for their support of our community.
Links:
StormForge – https://stormforge.io
JR McNeely – https://www.youtube.com/c/JRMcNeelyMusic/videos
Luke Taylor – https://www.luketaylorfilm.com/
Dave Humphrey and Bryte Payment Solutions – https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-humphrey-19400913/ and https://bryteps.com/
Tricentis – https://www.tricentis.com/
QA Consultants – https://qaconsultants.com/
Don’t forget to subscribe to the YouTube Channel: http://bit.ly/smcllcyoutube And visit The Performance Tour web site often: https://theperformancetour.com