I'm going to VMworld 2017 US, my 6th time attending!

Posted by Paul Braren on Jul 25 2017 (updated on Aug 6 2017) in

I just got approval and booked my trip to VMworld, awesome! Last night, I was on the phone with some folks from Intel Storage, and when I mentioned that I just learned I'm going, one of my contacts there said he could hear me smile. He wasn't wrong!

VMworld 2007 / 2008 / 2012

Back at my previous IBM job, I found ways to get to VMworld 3 times, as one of those employees who tried to keep up with VMware vSphere since the VMware GSX days of the early 2000s. Even had the chance to perform dozens of hands-on consulting jobs 2006 to 2009, but honestly, at VMworld, I barely knew anybody. It was actually a somewhat lonely experience, with my focus only on education and discounted certification testing. Years later, I sure realized that the more folks I met and befriended, the more fun attending became, and the more value I got from the experience.

VMworld 2015

Later on, I got to help with the VVols announcement by doing live demos next to Eric Siebert at the top of the escalators at Moscone West, at the very last VMware Partner Exchange. Yes, that was the big vSphere 6.0 announcement, back on February 2nd of 2015.

I was responsible for training my storage hardware technical peers in all-things-vSphery upon my return, which was fun to do, and quite a challenge.
VMworld 2015 in pricey San Francisco was covered by my employer, when I was asked to do a live demo of VVols. Phew! What an honor, and a lot of fun and learning the rest of the week. Yes, I was able to present, attend sessions, and had blogger badge as well. Busy, educational, and fun!

VMworld 2016

As a continually busy content creator for my TinkerTry.com, I was again blessed with a blogger pass from Corey Romero at VMware, which wasn't exactly a secret. This pass made all the difference, relieving much of the financial strain of getting to VMworld 2016 in Las Vegas by covering the cost of the all access pass. That's right, I wouldn't have been able to attend without him, thank you again @vCommunityGuy!

At that leads us to this year, where I'm the new guy at VMware for about 6 months now. Now it's time for other non-employees to have their turn.

VMworld 2017

Yes, this time around, I won't be at VMworld as a blogger that gets to hang with Pat Gelsinger, but I'll certainly be blogging anyway. I'm mostly there to work, but as a VMware Systems Engineer for vSAN, it's great opportunity to meet with my customers too! I'm part of VMware SABU, the Storage and Availability Unit, and I know full well that a great majority of VMware employees don't get to go at all.

In Vegas, it's not quite as hard to stay safe and save money as it was in San Francisco, but it's still pretty pricey, even for VMware sending its employees. I'm one of those people that doesn't mind working at events to earn my keep, having done so many times in the past. And I actually enjoy talking to people, people I know, and new people. I'm always the AV geek fixing projectors at user groups anyway, whether I'm presenting or attending. Seeing how it all goes down behind the scenes has always interested me.

Hopefully some TinkerTry readers who are also planning to attend VMworld 2017 can make sure our paths cross at some point Las Vegas, with @paulbraren being the best way to reach me while there, or contact me by email in advance.

I'm attending VMworld 2017 US from Sat August 26 - Thu Aug 31

There are so many employees and IT heros and vendor booths I hope to try to visit, and inevitably never enough time. That's OK, more reasons to look forward to hopefully attending in 2018, when I plan to submit presentation topics for a general session, and some topic ideas to the great folks who run the VMTN/vBrownBag community area.

Given this chance to help at VMworld surfaced after the deadlines for presenting at the VMTN/vBrownBag area had passed, I won't have any gear with me this time around, but don't be shy, introduce yourself to me anyway, wherever you bump into me! I'm always happy to give out vSAN stickers, and/or do live demos of my home lab cluster, right from my phone! Who knows, I might even show you a live vMotion of an OS/2 VM. You think I'm kidding?

I'm going to VMworld 2017 US, my 6th time attending!

VMworld 2007 / 2008 / 2012

VMworld 2015

VMworld 2016

VMworld 2017

I'm attending VMworld 2017 US from Sat August 26 - Thu Aug 31

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