The Fotis Rogkotis MVP Award
Honouring the memory of someone who was a symbol of everything HackFu stands for
Each of us has the opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of those around us. There are many ways we can do this, but none is more powerful than living the values that we believe are important. Then there are the people who’s impact is felt more widely than others, and no-one’s impact on those around him was greater than Fotis’.
Very early on in the planning of HackFu: Community Edition we decided to create an MVP award to be voted for by all the event participants. We’ve used this approach at previous events and have found that it’s a great way to recognise the efforts of a participant who gives the most back to the other participants. Someone who embraces the values of the event and demonstrates them through their actions. At HackFu these values are all about sharing knowledge, techniques, approaches and mindsets with others.
In our planning sessions we also made the decision to honour the memory of someone who embodied these values at previous events and throughout his own life.
That’s why we’re proud to announce that the MVP award at HackFu: CE will be known as the ‘Fotis Rogkotis MVP Award’.
For those of you who knew Fotis you will already know his understanding of the importance of personal development and of inspiring others to think similarly. For those of you who were never fortunate enough to meet Fotis we’ll share a few of our memories of him with you now.
Fotis came over to the UK from his home in Greece to follow his passion for cybersecurity. He worked as a security consultant and penetration tester and loved his job. Never was this love more evident than when he was at HackFu, an immersive cybersecurity learning and development event.
After attending his first event he decided that just being a participant wasn’t enough, he wanted to give back to the event by creating challenges for the next one. Not only that, he wanted to encourage other people to do the same. And these weren’t just empty words, shortly before the next event he sent us his completed challenge that we were able to successfully run for all the participants. An action that shows what the spirit of HackFu is all about.
This spirit is also about pushing to become better version of yourself. Although there were some things that didn’t come naturally to Fotis, he never let that stop him trying to develop and to grow. Nowhere was that more apparent than in his other great love, sailing.
In Greece he had learned to sail at the age of 7. With his father and brother they would sail the Greek islands in a 1979 Ketch that his father had rebuilt. As an adult he started sailing catamaran dinghies with his brother, but once in the UK he set his sights much bigger. And with the backing and support from JUMPSEC, he set himself the goal of completing the infamous Fastnet Race in 2017. And more importantly in Class 40, one of the elite classes where he would be sailing with and against experienced professional offshore sailors.
The Fastnet is an offshore sailing race around the South West coast of the UK and across the sea to the Fastnet rock off the coast of Ireland. It is one of the great tests of a sailor’s ability and at over 600 nautical miles the race involves close quarters racing, coastal navigation and open water sailing. More importantly, it requires a crew to communicate effectively, work for each other and to solve problems in pressured and sometimes dangerous conditions. For Fotis the race would not only require learning to sail a high performance racing yacht but also to find his role on the crew.
At the start of this challenge Fotis himself would be the first to acknowledge that to be successful he needed to develop his sailing skills and his confidence. Once again he showed that he was up to the task and set about learning new skills while building new friendships. After months of hard work he took his rightful place on the crew of Fortissimo on the starting line in the Solent. A race that they would complete with teamwork and skill.
When Fortissimo crossed the finishing line in Plymouth Sound the crew had achieved a collective victory but everyone onboard also had their own individual successes to celebrate.
For Fotis that victory was one of growth as a sailor but more importantly as a trusted crew mate and as a leader. And these weren’t just things he applied to his sailing, he also applied them in his role back at work. This transference of knowledge and experience from one context to another is another embodiment of what HackFu is all about.
Tragically Fotis passed away in 2018 after a short illness. However, the impact he had on those around him lives on. With the naming of this award in his memory we know that his attitude, determination and passion for learning will live on.
At HackFu his enthusiasm and spirit will now continue to positively impact the industry he loved and the people he cared so much about.
Martyn is a founder of chronyko who have over 10 years experience creating and delivering immersive learning solutions.
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