Freshly minted VMware vExpert
April 9th 2014 was an interesting day, with Heartbleed distractions, lots of work, and a nifty email I received in the early evening. Yes, it's an email from Corey Romero:
Welcome to the 2014 vExpert program and thank you for your contributions! The response this year has been amazing along with overwhelming but in a very positive way. It's been a pleasure emailing and chatting with many old and new vExperts. This year after appeals and late entries there are a total of 767 vExperts.
While the VCP certifications have been my thing since VCP2 days, becoming a demonstrated contributor to the virtualization community is what the vExpert Program is all about. It's an acknowledgement from VMware that I've helped make a small dent in the ever expanding virtualization universe. Ok, maybe I have been watching too many Cosmos episodes. For applicants like me, since my employer, IBM, is a VMware Partner, a VMware employee nomination was required. See also my closely-related Feb 6th post. VMware's Scott March kindly filled out the forms, who I also want to thank for:
- getting me in touch with other area VMware enthusiasts at his Stamford CT vBeers events over the past few years,
- creating vmworldz.com, which inspired me to start this site,
- the opportunity to finally get to meet local IT Pros like me, making me feel a lot more connected at VMworld 2012, with familiar faces in the crowds.
Thank you Scott! I should also point out that TinkerTry was created completely separate from my day job, with a focus on IT topics applicable to the home lab enthusiast. My focus is on hardware and software that I've purchased, used, and abused, myself. Now back to Corey's surprise email:
The external vExpert directory is hosted at https://communities.vmware.com/vexpert.jspa. This is a public listing of the 2014 vExperts... Thank You, Corey Romero & The VMware Communities Team Be sure to follow @vExpert for program updates.
joining the 767 other vExperts out there. Time for a new business card. Looking forward to the free jacket too, just in time for spring!
Related links:
April 1 2014 Announcement of new vExperts Information on the vExpert Q2 2014 program: http://bit.ly/MtDKff
Applications for the 2014 Q2 vExpert program are now open. Applications will be accepted up until June 8th at midnight PST. Applications received after the June 6th deadline will roll into the Q3 nomination & voting process.
Recommend someone apply to become a 2014 vExpert: http://bit.ly/1bobFfF Geek Whisperers Podcast - A podcast that brings social media and community to enterprise IT, with VMware's John Mark Troyer, and the guy I happened to meet at a recent VTUG, Matthew Brender, along with the always insightful and equally witty Amy Lewis.
May 04 2014 Update:
Jacket hasn't arrive yet. Meanwhile, I made a post to the VMware Community Forum recently, and spotted the new designation. Nice touch!
May 21 2014 Update:
In my comment above, I failed to mention the potential for access to beta code, as one of the many nice perks of the vExpert program. Another update to this story is the email from Corey Romero at 8:39pm eastern time, giving vExperts a heads-up that their Certificates are ready. Just fill in the name field in his (privately provided) PDF. I suppose you could dub this a virtual diploma. Here's a 700 pixel wide version of my new wall decoration:
In recognition and thanks for your signficant contributions to the VMware virtualization and cloud community.
Apparently Iceland has the highest population density of vExperts on the planet, blog.vmforsp.com/2013/05/2013-vexpert-group-by-the-numbers.
Feb 05 2015 Update:
VMware vExpert 2015 recipients have been named, and I'm relieved to see I've made the list again this year!
