There are a few people in the government IT world who spur almost unified positive sentiment, but Ray Kane is certainly one of them. He has worked in the federal IT market for more than 40 years.
Well, on Friday night, I (and about 50 of his closest friends) had the opportunity to toast his 80th birthday in Tysons Corner, Va. Kane's birthday party has been something of a celebration over the years, but...80 years! And it says a lot about the person if the cream of the crop of government IT were willing to make the trek to Tysons Corner on a Friday night. Guests included GSA's Jim Williams, John Johnson, Wanda Smith, Bob Suda, Dave Boreland, Scott Hastings, Izzy Feldman, ConnellyWork's Joanne Connelly, Bob Woods, Leslie Barry...and, as they say, so many more. (I might note that all the feds were buying their own drinks.) The party was organized by Mitzi Mead, who did a spectacular job.
During a few speeches, Bob Woods said, Ray's secret is that he wakes up every day like it is Christmas morning. (He also does a pretty amazing job of making the people around him think it's Christmas too.) Woods also said that Kane has always wanted to do something new -- and he manages to do that most days.
Kane's father died relatively young, so he was raised mostly by his mother and Kane said that his family didn't have the money for a bicycle. He always wanted one, but never had one. That changed Friday. His friends gave him a very smart Schwinn cruiser complete with a horn, a license plate that said "Ray," and even adult Depends diapers right on the back. (With friends like that...)
"I never got a bike and I always wanted one," Kane said.
Congratulations to Ray Kane on 80 years. We will profile Ray with "A few minutes with..." on the FlipSide of Federal Computer Week in the Feb. 12 issue.
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