It’s that special time of year again – when all of the vNerds from all walks of life congregate in beautiful downtown San Francisco for one weeks’ time, and engage in all things V.
This will be my third consecutive year attending VMworld, and I don’t need to tell you how much I am looking forward to it, but I am going to anyway. For me, VMworld has always been about the technology. Where else do you get to gather with like-minded people and listen to all of the (usually) mind blowing product announcements, see new products from the ecosystem partners, and of course cash in on all of that sweet, sweet swag? While all of those things are great, the one thing I am pumped up for most at this VMworld is meeting and hanging out with people in the community. See, this community is unlike any other that I have been a part of; whether it’s Twitter, VMTN, LinkedIn or any other social media platform, you can always find a place where the vCommunity is engaging.
Being a late bloomer to the Social Media scene in general, I was fascinated when I uncovered the knowledge that was being shared so freely, after seeing how random people were willing to jump in and help out if you had a question, especially. This is what led me to begin interacting with all of these people whom I had never met before. And then VMworld 2014 happened, and it hit me; after missing one of my sessions last year, I decided to check out the Expo Hall. While I was walking down there, I happened to come across the Hang Space, and quickly discovered that this place was awesome! I walked in and listened to one of the vBrownBag Lightning Talks that was taking place, and after the session was over I had the opportunity to meet the awesome folks from the vBrownBag crew. An hour later I left to go attend my next session, and while walking through the long underground hallway, a lightbulb went off- I realized that the conversation I walked away from is actually the main value proposition that VMworld has to offer. When you attend sessions, most of the time you are listening to the people that are building or marketing the product. This is great, and I enjoy listening to Product Engineers talk in great detail about how the product works… But for us as end users, as customers, there needs to be a way where we can communicate about what we’re currently working on, or the issues with XYZ Product we just ran into, or even talking about training / strategic planning within our organizations. These are the moments at VMworld where you will learn the most, and you’ll meet some great and highly intelligent people doing it.
Now, that being said, I expect to spend a fair amount of time in the Hang Space, and plan to have as many great conversations that I can while meeting as many enthusiasts as possible. Look out for me at the following sessions. See you all in San Francisco!
STO5333 — Building a Stretched Cluster with Virtual SAN STO5336 — VMware Virtual SAN – Architecture Deep Dive NET5362 — Enabling Automated Network & Security Services with NSX and vRealize Automation NET5352 — Connecting Remote Sites with VMware NSX SDDC4593 — Ask the Expert vBloggers INF4529 — VMware Certificate Management for Mere Mortals