In Memory of Alan Weinberger, founder of The ASCII Group
I was sad to see that Alan Weinberger, the founder of The ASCII Group, lost his battle with cancer. Friends can leave notes of remembrance at https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/legacyremembers/alan-weinberger-obituary?id=58760497.
Alan will be remembered for always doing whatever is in the best interest of our industry and the IT consultants that make it go. In many ways, our industry has been taken over by larger and larger interests that continue to want to squeeze out the players who are actually at the center of what makes it great. Alan was an advocate for the true IT consultant - whether they were called VARs, resellers, solution providers, managed service providers, ITSPs, or whatever else.
My fondest memories of Alan are meeting at events and talking with him and his wife, Lauren, for an hour or more on every topic under the sun. When people met him for the first time, they were always taken by his friendly, low-key manner, his vast knowledge, and the fact that he took time for them. So many "dignitaries" flit around trying to give thirty seconds to every person in the room.
The ASCII Group is a great organization and Alan will always be remembered as the one who built one of the first and greatest organizations to serve our industry. I salute him personally. And I will miss him at the shows.
My heart goes out to the folks at ASCII who worked with Alan day after day and year after year. I know they will miss him and I know they will continue his work and make him proud.
.
Sad news. Great guy who started an amazing niche business. RIP.
ReplyDeleteVery sad news! Alan was a great guy and proponent of the MSP industry! I had many conversations over the last 20+ years with him at various conferences around the country, will definitely be missed!
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteIn 2008, Alan first became my boss. Soon after, he became my friend — and later, someone I loved.
We worked together for 15 years, many of those with offices right next to each other.
We worked together, traveled together, and — what I remember most — we laughed together almost every day, whether in person, on the phone, or over email.
Alan always made time to listen, offer advice, and coach me—whether it was about sales strategy or everyday life. His unique perspective, paired with the classic clichés he loved to use, always drove the message home. “Sell the sizzle Trevor- not the steak” was one of my favorites.
Alan had a laugh that was bigger than life itself and every time I heard it for me it was contagious. That’s what I’ll miss the most.
Godspeed, my friend.