Public Speaking Schedule
Jump directly to 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.
In 2016, I spoke publicly 15 different times!
Before now, there was never a super easy way to find this information, at any time. Now this page is just one click away from anywhere at TinkerTry!
I'll be speaking at various user groups as:
- an IT Pro/Consultant.
- a Content Creator/Blogger/Founder of TinkerTry, IT @ home.
- a VMware Systems Engineer.
This one post will cover them all. Please don't hesitate to come up to me and introduce yourself at any of these free events. Don't worry, I was an introvert too!
2016
Historical list here.
2017
FEB 09 2017
VMware Hands On SociaLab - Burlington MA
Snowed out, rescheduled to May 25th, sign-up below.
FEB 15 2017
VMware Hands On SociaLab - Hartford CT - Registration
vSAN 6.2 from A to Z - 8:30am - 12pm**
by Peter Keilty and Paul Braren
New Horizons
340 W Newberry Rd
Bloomfield, CT 06002
FEB 16 2017
VMware Hands On SociaLab - Pittsburgh PA - Registration
vSAN 6.2 from A to Z - 8:30am - 12pm
by Josh Fidel and Paul Braren
ContactPointe
2593 Wexford Bayne Rd, Suite 200
Sewickley, PA 15143
MAR 02 2017
Connecticut VMUG UserCon - Hartford CT - Registration
VMware vSAN Day 2 Operations for Management and Monitoring
by Paul Braren
Connecticut Convention Center
100 Columbus Boulevard
Hartford, CT 06103
I'll also be in the VMware booth from 12pm-2pm.
MAR 08 2017
VMware Hands On SociaLab - Indianapolis IN - Registration
vSAN 6.2 from A to Z - 8:30am - 12pm
by Paul Braren
ETI Performance Improvement
8500 Keystone Crossing, Suite 550
Indianapolis, IN 46240
MAR 23 2017
New York City VMUG - New York NY - Registration
From home lab tinkering to a vSAN career: the TinkerTry journey.
by Paul Braren, Founder of TinkerTry.com, LLC
VMware vSAN in your company: how it works, and how vSAN Ready Nodes or VxRail can accelerate infrastructure deployment.
by Paul Braren, Systems Engineer at VMware
Touro College, Executive Offices
500 7th Ave (NW corner at 37th St)
New York, NY 10018
APR 06 2017
VMware Hands On SociaLab - Cincinnati OH - Registration
HOL-1708-SDC-1 – What’s New: vSAN 6.5 - 12:00pm - 4:00pm
by Paul Braren
Arden Inc
4675 Cornell Rd
Suite 175
Blue Ash, OH 45241
MAY 15 - 19 2017
VeeamOn 2017
Attending as a Veeam Vanguard, not presenting.
New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
900 Convention Center Blvd., New Orleans, LA 70130
MAY 25 2017
VMware Hands On SociaLab - Burlington MA - Registration
The registration was re-opened on May 22nd because of high demand, with an afternoon session now added!
HOL-1708-SDC-1 – What's New: vSAN 6.5 - 8:30am - 12pm - Paul Braren (FULL)
HOL-1708-SDC-1 – What's New: vSAN 6.5 - 12:30pm - 4pm - Guy Bowers (Registration)
by Paul Braren
MicroTek Training Solutions
Burlington Mall Road #204
Burlington, MA 01803
JUN 01 2017
Boston Summer VMUG UserCon - Boston CT - Registration
What’s New with vSAN 6.6 & Day 2 Operations
by Guy Bowers
(Paul Braren doing VMware booth duty, visit me to talk vSAN and get stickers!)
Boston Convention and Exhibition Center
415 Summer St
Boston, MA 02210
JUN 22 2017
VMUG Providence - Register by June 22
Triple-header!
by Paul Braren of VMware:
- How All-Flash vSAN 6.6 can work for your company, with VxRail or vSAN Ready Nodes from your favorite vendor.
The version of the deck that I presented managed to not mention that solutions based on vSAN typically save customers roughly 50% over traditional storage arrays.
by Mike Foley of VMware and of yelof.com
- vSphere 6.5 Security
by Paul Braren of TinkerTry:
- Intel Xeon D Home Datacenter, featuring a Supermicro SuperServer live M.2 NVMe demonstration with practical vSphere 6.5 tips.
Chelo's Waterfront Bar and Grille
1 Masthead Dr
Warwick, RI 02886, United States
Promo tweets here, here, and here.
JUL 11 2017
Keynote Speaker.
BNUG The Greater Boston Network Users Group - Registration
- EdgeRouter Light, Drink In The Packets on the Cheap, Do It Yourself.
Event runs from 6:30pm - 8:30pm, my presentations is from 7:15pm to 8:15pm. I may have a little swag with me, but no swagger.
MassBay Community College
50 Oakland St
Wellesley, MA 02481
JUL 13 2017
Keynote Speaker.
vBrisket Pittsburgh - Registration
- 2017 vBrisket Summer Meatup
Xeon D Live Demo with a side of vSAN storage tech
Insurrection Ale Works
1635 E Railroad Street, Heidelberg, PA 15106
See Grist House Craft Brewery on Yelp, and listen to vBrisket Prime Cuts Podcast.
JUL 20 2017
Presenter at Whalley Computer Associates breakout session on vSAN.
VTUG Summer Slam 2017 - Registration
Westbrook Performing Arts Center
471 Stroudwater St
Westbrook, ME 04092
AUG 29 2017
Here's the session description that was just posted on the VMworld Gatherings page:
Virtualization Hardware Discussion Zone - VMworld 2017 US
featuring Paul Braren from TinkerTry IT@ home
If you’ve ever visited the TinkerTry.com blog for home virtualization lab enthusiasts, come by and meet the Founder! Paul will even have one of his compact Xeon D servers with him, running vSphere 6.5 Update 1. He’ll surely enjoy nerding out with you over the latest hardware and software advances, including M.2 NVMe gumstick SSDs, and the fastest-storage-in-the-world Intel Optane/3D XPoint! Feel free to also ask Paul about vSAN 6.6.1, VMUG Advantage EVALExperience license keys, and which 10GbE networking and routing equipment he uses.
Paul Braren @paulbraren has been blogging about a variety of virtualization topics for over 6 years, has been a vExpert since 2014, and recently joined VMware as a Software Defined Storage Systems Engineer.
I can't tell you how exciting it is to talk about enterprise storage with VMware customers who are also quite interested in a change. Wait, I can tell you! Stop by and introduce yourself, and tell me about your datacenter challenges, we can talk about the wonders of the latest vSAN 6.6.1, running on whatever x86 server brand of vSAN ReadyNodes you prefer. Or we can just talk about all-things-vSpherey, like how easy the latest VCSA 6.5 Update 1 is to deploy and update, including the built in VUM that now handles vSAN too. But please be sure to stop by when I'm actually at the VMware booths. Here's my schedule, all at Mandalay Bay:
- SUN AUG 27 01:00pm-03:00pm - PEX (Partner Exchange) - Assessment Lounge
- MON AUG 28 03:00pm-05:00pm - PEX (Partner Exchange) - Assessment Lounge
- TUE AUG 29 11:00am-02:00pm - TinkerTry demo at Blogger Area of VMTN VMvillage
- TUE AUG 29 02:30pm-06:00pm - VMworld HCI ZONE
- WED AUG 30 01:30pm-05:00pm - VMworld HCI ZONE
SEP 19 2017
Break-out Presenter & VMware booth.
New York/New Jersey VMUG UserCon - Jersey City NJ - Registration
- TUE SEP 19 9:15am-10:45am - VMware Hands On SociaLab: vSAN v6.6 HOL-1808-01-HCI
by Paul Braren in Harborside II, and at the VMware booth from 11:30am-1:30pm
Hyatt Regency Jersey City
2 Exchange Place
Jersey City, NJ 07302
OCT 05 2017
Proctoring, presenting, and helping at the VMware booth.
Upstate New York VMUG UserCon - Agenda & Registration
Hyatt Regency Buffalo Hotel
2 Fountain Plaza
Buffalo, NY 14202
- 09:35am-11:05am - BYOD Hands On Lab: vSAN v6.6 - Getting Started (Beginner) - VMware
by Paul Braren - 11:15am-11:55am - What’s New with vSAN 6.6 & Day 2 Operations (Intermediate) - VMware
by Paul Braren in Regency B - 01:30pm-03:05pm - Open Q&A
by Paul Braren at the VMware Booth in the Exhibit Hall, Grand Ballroom DEFG - 04:00pm-4:45pm - Ask The Experts Panel - Participant
OCT 11 2017
Helping at the VMware booth.
New York Dell EMC Forum 2017 - Agenda & Registration
New York Hilton Midtown
1335 6th Ave
New York, NY 10019
OCT 19 2017
Helping at the VMware booth.
Boston Fall VMUG UserCon - Agenda & Registration
Boston Convention & Exhibition Center
415 Summer St, Boston
MA 02210
DEC 13 2017
Keynote Speaker.
Amherst Security Group (AmherstSec) - Registration
- 06:30pm-8:00pm - Consulting 201: Tips, tools, and stories
by Paul BrarenHaving traveled to dozens of customer sites in various industries, from pharma to federal to small business, I observed a few common elements. Companies struggle to provide tools to most effectively help their workers get work done safely and securely. Let’s discuss how significant a role corporate culture, expense reimbursement policies, and laptop security choices play. These choices also signal the value a company places on individual contributor productivity, morale, and safety. We’ll discuss hardware, software, and security, including real unique stories from the front-lines.
You’ve heard that it’s not the technology that’s hard, it’s the people. I’ll share what that sentiment has meant to me in my consulting career, and the tools and techniques I use to help others get their jobs done. It should be fun!
Paragus Strategic IT
112 Russell St
Hadley, MA 01035
2018
FEB 28 2018
Presentation participant.
Amherst Security Group (AmherstSec) - Registration
- 06:30pm-8:30pm - Meltdown and Spectre - vulnerabilities in modern processors (Robert Hurlbut)
by Robert HurlbutJoin members of Amherst Security Group to discuss the impact of Meltdown and Spectre. We will recap what we know about the problem and proposed solutions, answer questions and share knowledge to improve the confidentiality, availability and integrity of our systems and businesses. Please bring questions and answers to contribute to the discussion.
Bio:
Robert Hurlbut - https://roberthurlbut.com/about
Paragus Strategic IT
112 Russell St
Hadley, MA 01035
MAR 01 2018
Live, all-day home lab demonstration booth - CONFIRMED! Details here.
Connecticut VMUG UserCon - Registration
- All day - Live Demo of my TinkerTry'd SuperServer Bundle featuring Xeon D, 10G networking, and M.2 NVMe SSDs.
This is going to be an awesome day! There is a home lab give away this year for one very lucky raffle winner. It's valued at over $2000, and is fully sponsored by VMUG. This isn't just any server: it's a TinkerTry'd Supermicro SuperServer Bundle with a Samsung 960 PRO M.2 NVMe SSD, ready for VMware!
VMUG Connecticut USERCON
Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale
155 Temple St, New Haven, CT 06510
MAY 14 - 16 2018
Booth staff.
VeeamON 2018 - Registration
- Stop by to say hi, talk about vSAN, SSD storage tech, or HCI.
McCormick Place
2301 S King Dr, Chicago, IL 60616
Chicago, IL
AUG 26 - 30 2018
Co-Presenter, Presenter, Demo Dude, and Booth Guy, all the details in my article I'm going to VMworld 2018 US, my 7th time attending, and I get to present!
VMworld 2018
Here's a less-wordy summary:
MON AUG 27 11:00am-03:00pm - Visit Solutions Exchange exhibitors with my mic and 4K cameraMON AUG 27 03:00pm-05:00pm - VMware HCI Zone - booth dutyTUE AUG 28 11:00pm-12:00pm - VMware HCI Zone - booth dutyTUE AUG 28 02:00pm-03:00pm - Lagoon F, Level 2
The Story of How Deloitte Migrated to vSAN [HCI2993BU].
Now available, the deck, and playback video.WED AUG 29 1:00pm-05:00pm - Blogger space in VMTN VMvillage
See VMware vSphere 6.7 fly on Intel Xeon D with NVMe SSDsTHU AUG 30 12:00pm-12:30pm - VMTN Theater in the VMTN Lounge
What you need to know about running VMware w U.2, M.2, M.3 & PCIe NVMe SSDs [VMTN5611U].
Now available, the deck, and playback video.
OCT 10 2018
Presenting at this VMware EVOLVE event - This is How Tomorrow is Built.
Hartford Post-VMworld Roadshow - Agenda & Registration
Hartford Marriott Downtown
200 Columbus Blvd
Hartford, CT 06103
Don't live in New England? Don't worry, these events are happening all across the country in October and November, register for your location, and know that a VMware SE will likely be there for your technical questions.
OCT 11 2018
Co-presenting.
Upstate New York VMUG UserCon - Agenda & Registration
- 10:30am-11:15am - If vSAN Powered The Matrix | VMware
by Paul Braren and Darin Zook, Sr. Solutions Engineers, vSAN/HCI at VMware
Attendee.
- 09:30am-10:15am - Virtualizing Microservers such as the Intel NUC and MacPro with SAN and 10Gb Ethernet Connectivity Options | Community
by Eric Garrison from ATTO Technology, a local company from the Buffalo area that makes products suited for home lab use of Intel and Apple compact servers.
Attendee.
- 04:15pm-05:00pm - VMware and IoT: The Fourth Industrial Revolution | VMware
by Peter Keilty, Director, IoT and Edge Solution Engineering at VMware
Adams Mark Buffalo
120 Church St
Buffalo, NY 14202
2019
JAN 21 to 24 2019
VMware Booth Duty, vSAN + Veeam.
- Mon Jan 21 07:00pm-10:00pm Welcome Reception.
- Tue Jan 22 12:00pm-02:00pm Booth during lunch.
- Wed Jan 23 11:30pm-01:00pm Booth during lunch.
Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort
1500 Epcot Resorts Blvd
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
FEB 27 2019
Attending "Advance into Hyper-Converged Infrastructure" event.
New York, NY - What's New with vSAN SociaLab
- Wed Feb 27 08:30am to 12:00pm
MicroTek
180 Maiden Lane Suite 1102
New York, NY 10038
MAR 13 2019
Connecticut VMUG UserCon - Registration
Attending and possibly presenting, topics TBD.
POSTPONED
VMUG Connecticut USERCON
Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale
155 Temple St, New Haven, CT 06510
MAR 22 2019
Co-presenting.
New Jersey VMware User Group Q1 2019 Event
-
Fri Mar 22 11am to 3pm
- vSAN 6.7 Update 1 Technology Overview
by Darin Zook and Paul Braren.Abstract: vSAN momentum continues to build. Over 19,000 customers have modernized their business with Hyper-Converged Infrastructure powered by vSAN. In this session you'll get a technical overview of vSAN 6.7 Update 1, as well as some of the enhancements that are simplifying infrastructure operations so that IT can focus on the workloads moving the business forward.
Dave & Busters
274 Woodbridge Center Dr
Woodbridge Township, NJ 07095
JUN 12 2019
Keynote Presenter.
- See VMware vSphere 6.7 Update 2 fly on Intel Xeon D, featuring all NVMe SSDs!
Wed June 12 6:30pm-9pm Event, Presentation from 7pm - 7:45pm
MTTI - Classroom 9 - (CST/NI classroom)
1241 Fall River Ave (RT 6)
Seekonk, MA 02771
2020
Aug 20 2020
Main Presenter.
- Wed Aug 20 2pm - 4pm Eastern
TinkerTry home lab’s VMware vSphere 7.0 upgrade challenges, successes, and lessons learned.
by Paul Braren, Founder of TinkerTry.com, LLCCome see Paul Braren’s latest adventures in workbench testing of “TinkerTry’d” home lab Xeon D servers. His close look at the vSphere 7.0 upgrade process has produced numerous revelations about VMware licensing (vExpert/VMUGAdvantage/Essentials) and support, and about various upgrade techniques. Many of his challenges were of the self-induced variety, others were related to unusual use-cases. Once the rough edges were resolved, he used the lessons-learned to finalize his configuration on his 4th node, the 12 core production server. This crucial always-on system is where his VCSA 7.0b, automated backups, and Windows 10 workstation VM all reside, used heavily for all content creation at TinkerTry including vSphere 7 articles and videos, even 4K video editing on triple monitors! He’ll cover automated graceful ESXi shutdowns, UPS battery failures, brutal Folding at home workloads, router and network issues, and long shipping delays that all conspired to slow progress. Come along for this deeper dive into exactly what went down during Paul’s relentless evening and weekend tinkering, and also learn exactly how he ultimately prevailed over some small and not-so-small issues with audio support and GPU passthrough quirks. Along the way, you’ll see the variety of simple tools he’s come to rely upon in the 15 years since his first VCP, part of his planned live demo of his compact and efficient home datacenter, now running the latest VMware ESXi 7.0b hypervisor on all 4 nodes!
Online Only - Virtual Event - Register free here, wherever you live.
Nov 12 2020
One of 3 main guest presenters.
- Thu Nov 12 9:30am - 10:30am Eastern
TinkerTry home lab’s VMware vSphere 7.0 upgrade challenges, successes, and lessons learned.
by Paul Braren, Founder of TinkerTry.com, LLCCome see Paul Braren’s latest adventures in workbench testing of “TinkerTry’d” home lab Xeon D servers. His close look at the vSphere 7.0 upgrade process has produced numerous revelations about VMware licensing (vExpert / VMUGAdvantage / Essentials) and support, and about various upgrade techniques. Many of his challenges were of the self-induced variety, others were related to unusual use-cases. Once the rough edges were resolved, he used the lessons-learned to finalize his configuration on his 4th node, the 12 core production server. This crucial always-on system is where his VCSA 7.0 Update 1, automated backups, and Windows 10 workstation VM all reside, used heavily for all content creation at TinkerTry including vSphere 7 articles and videos, even 4K video editing on triple monitors located in another room, 20 feet away, keeping his office quiet and cool. He’ll also cover automated graceful ESXi shutdowns, UPS battery failures, brutal Folding@home workloads, router and network issues, and long shipping delays that all conspired to slow progress. Come along for this deeper dive into exactly what went down during Paul’s relentless evening and weekend tinkering, and also learn exactly how he ultimately prevailed over some small and not-so-small issues with audio support and GPU passthrough quirks. Along the way, you’ll see the variety of simple tools he’s come to rely upon in the 15 years since his first VCP, part of his planned live demo of his compact and efficient home data center, running the latest VMware ESXi 7.0 Update 1 hypervisor on all 4 nodes!
Nov 17 2020
- VMUG Advantage Day
Main presenter.
Live event, with Q&A all day. Sorry, there's no replay, but you can follow the fun tweets at #ADVTinkerTryTakeover, sorry missed out on the swag.
Paul Braren's closing tweet:
Yay, time slot #2 worked out, that’s a wrap!
This was my first broadcast using an iPhone 11 Pro Max’s 802.11 ax (WiFi 6) on my new eero Pro 6, wired to my gigabit internet connection to my Cox Gigablast DOCIS 3.1
@ARRIS CM8200 cable modem!
#ADVTinkerTryTakeover
2021
Oct 27 2021
Co-presenter.
2021 Boston In-Person VMUG UserCon - Agenda & Registration
(search for "USB" to find the session)
2021 Boston Virtual VMUG UserCon - Agenda & Registration
(search for "USB" to find the session)
- Wed Oct 27 12:15pm - 1:00pm Eastern
The future of USB/SD in the vSphere Data Center and Home Lab
by Paul Braren and Matt KozloskiVMware’s move away from USB and SD boot devices for ESXi hypervisor has posed some challenges in both the work place and in the home lab. While vSphere 7.0 Update 3 allows USB for ESXi, it’s not recommended. Matt and Paul will discuss why, and what they are doing to prepare for the next major vSphere release when USB or SD boot devices won’t be supported at all. Other home-lab tips include the use of USB-based NICs with ESXi, and the care that should be taken when selecting M.2 NVMe SSDs for your home lab.
The Westin Boston Seaport District
425 Summer St
Boston MA 02210
Nov 11 2021
Co-presenter.
2022
No plans for public speaking yet.
Future tentative/unconfirmed plans may also show here, stay tuned! Most event announcement and schedule changes also tweeted from @paulbraren.
