Identity can be, to some, a dry, academic topic. Some people could make it sing. They could make it so interesting, so compelling that anyone who would identity the singular most interesting topic they had ever come across.
Pat Paterson was the foremost among them. He brought such a warmth and energy to the topic.. any topic he talked about.
He has passed away and now we are less yet another amazing presence in our industry.
I knew Pat first as his blogging persona: Metadaddy. His blog was the blog in identity. Not necessarily because he wrote the most but because he connected to and referenced so many other blogs. To be mentioned in his blog, to be linked, was to be linked to the identity crowd. He was, wrongly, in my mind at the time unapproachable. He. Was. Metadaddy.
There is no way I could have been wronger. Pat was the most approachable, inclusive person. What I took as his role as exclusive tastemaker in identity was really his desire to teach and to connect.
And then, like many others in this industry, there was a phase shift. He went from the unapproachable blogging lord to a friend and colleague. His beer recommendations were top notch. His demo skills truly unrivaled.
But it was his warmth and his energy and his willingness to explain the most complex things that made him a joy to call a teammate. I had the fortune to join Salesforce when he was still part of the evangelist team there. One would want to inevitably attend every session at which he spoke, every webinar, every happy hour.
It has been a long, now tragically too long, since I talked with Pat. My heartaches for his family. I know that my circle of friends is deeply affected by his loss. And I can say definitively, that my career, my place in this industry, would not be what it is without Pat.
Find peace in your inevitable rest my friend.