I’ve been in IT for almost 20 years. Over that time, I’ve worked across just about every layer you can think of… servers, endpoints, networking, WiFi, VoIP, solutions architecture, product management. Pretty much everything except software development.
And I’ll be honest… I cannot code. I’ve tried. My brain just doesn’t work that way.
But what I am good at is problem solving. That’s really what makes someone strong in IT. Not knowing everything, but being able to figure things out. Over the years, I’ve become both an IT leader and a people leader, and I’d say I have a bit of a unique style. I like to move fast, keep things simple, and help people get unstuck rather than bury them in process. Funny enough, that’s almost exactly how you have to work with AI.
Lately I’ve been diving deep into AI. Not just using it casually, but actually learning how to work with it. The best way I can describe it is this… AI is like managing a really smart 6-year-old. It can do amazing things, move fast, and surprise you, but it needs direction, structure, and constant refinement. If you’re good at managing people, you can get really good results out of AI, and that realization led me down a path I didn’t expect.
I started building apps using AI the way I manage teams… by giving direction, iterating quickly, and refining until it works. Five years ago, this wouldn’t have been possible for someone like me. Today, it’s not just possible, it’s fast. I’ve been using tools like Replit (if you want to try it: https://replit.com/refer/novaknetworx) to build simple applications that solve real-world problems I deal with every day.
My career has taken me back into the convention network world, managing wired and wireless networks across multiple convention centers in the U.S. These are high-stakes environments supporting tens of thousands of users. Exhibitors are paying serious money to be there, and everything needs to work. You’d think the hardest part would be the network itself, but it’s not. It’s the hospitality, making sure customers are taken care of, and something as simple as getting a booth floorplan from the customer.
Most of the time, we get nothing at all, a rough screenshot, a messy PDF, or a picture of a cocktail napkin with arrows drawn on it. Meanwhile, my teams are trying to install dozens or even hundreds of internet lines in a very tight window, while booths are actively being built and carpet is going down. Having a clear floorplan makes everything easier, but most exhibitors don’t provide one, not because they don’t want to, but because it’s not easy to create.
The other night around 10pm, I had a simple thought… this shouldn’t be this hard. I can build something for this. So I sat down and started building a simple web app that lets anyone create a booth floorplan. Drag and drop, mark where things go, and export it into something usable. By 2am, it was done. A working app. Something that traditionally would have taken weeks or months with a developer team.
I’d like to introduce BoothPlan.
👉 https://boothplan.simpleapps.us/
It’s a free tool I built to make creating booth floorplans fast, simple, and actually useful for convention teams. You can drag and drop everything onto a scaled grid, including internet drops, power, switches, and equipment, using the same shorthand convention teams expect. You can add tables, chairs, displays, custom elements, and even drop notes anywhere, including just outside the booth for labeling entrances or instructions.
When you’re done, you can export a clean, professional PDF that’s ready to upload directly into a convention center ordering system, or just share a live link with your team or vendors.
This really isn’t just about floorplans. It’s about what’s possible now. I’m not a developer, but I understand the problem, the workflow, and the pain points. That, combined with AI, is enough to build something real. The combination of domain knowledge, product thinking, and the ability to guide AI is incredibly powerful, and it opens the door for people in IT, operations, hospitality, and beyond to start building their own tools without needing to become developers first.
If you’re thinking about trying this yourself, start small. Pick a problem you deal with all the time and try building something using Replit. You’ll be surprised how far you can get.
At the end of the day, this app is simple, but it solves a real problem and makes life easier for a lot of people. Exhibitors can create better plans, convention teams can execute faster, and everyone wins.
👉 BoothPlan: https://boothplan.simpleapps.us/
I’ll keep improving it and probably build more tools like this, because honestly… this is just getting started.
