VMworld 2012 - Some Happenings
Last year was my first VMworld and it was slightly overwhelming. I had never attended a conference quite like it. This year will be another new experience for me and I can not wait! Here’s an outline of some of the events going on during the week that I’m hoping to attend. I’ll do a separate post on sessions I’m hoping to attend.
One thing to note. I’ll be spending a great deal of time working with the vBrownBag crew at the Community Lounge doing TechTalks. We have a fantastic lineup of guests and topics for the whole week. Make sure you come out and join the audience! I have also been asked to work again as Cisco’s Roving Reporter for VMworld. I’ll be going around the conference looking for stories to share just like I did at CiscoLive. Only this time I have a little more experience and a better camera! :)
Saturday 8/25
I’ll be arriving a few days early this year which is going to give me some time to look around San Francisco and spend some time with my vBrownBag brothers. Main event for Saturday is vBeers VMworld
5:30pm http://www.vbeers.org/2012/08/07/vbeers-tweetup-vmworld-san-francisco-2012/
Sunday 8/26
This is going to be a busy first day for me. I’ll be starting the day with TAM day. If you qualify to attend this event it is an excellent opportunity to access top people at VMware. I’ll be showing up with questions and looking to learn.
12:00-5:00pm VCDX Boot Camp
I hate that I won’t be able to attend the entire boot camp but Mark Brunstad and John Arrisjid appear to have a great session going Sunday early afternoon. I’m hoping to get some great preparation tips for VCDX. I’m still gunning to complete it but it will definitely be 2013.
4:00-6:00pm v0dgeball
http://tweetvite.com/event/v0dgeball
This annual fund-raising event raises money for the Wounded Warrior Project. Fred Nix (@FredNix) of EMC does an amazing job planning this event and I’m looking forward to leading Cisco’s Team B.A.C.O.N. to victory alongside co-captain Ron Valente (@RonaldValente). Regardless of who comes out on top of the tournament the real winner will be the Wounded Warrior Project. If I’m not mistaken ~$15,000 was raised last year!
8:00-?? vmunderground party
This Warm-up party as a Service has become an annual must attend. Tickets were limited and I feel fortunate that I was able to get one. Looking forward to seeing a ton of vExperts and community folks looking to have a great time before the real show begins. I’ll admittedly be taking it very easy this night given how much I have happening on Monday.
Monday 8/27
It’s my son’s 3rd birthday! I’m sad to not be at home but this day will keep me pretty occupied. The big start of the conference marks the beginning of sessions and of course most of the social events. I’ll list out some of the sessions I’m hoping to attend in another post.
It’s a good thing I took it easy on Sunday night because the opening General Session has Paul Maritz and Steve Herrod starting up at 8:30am. While I have had “some” preview of what’s to come I have been so busy I’ve missed most of my early access previews. That being said, expect that any blogging from me during the week to be fresh perspective on things. I kind of like it better that way anyways!
#vBrownBag TechTalks at the Community lounge starts!!! More on that later! http://professionalvmware.com/2012/08/vbrownbags-vmworld-and-you/
4:00pm #VSP1856
This will mark my first appearance as a VMworld speaker and I’m VERY excited. My coworkers are probably tired of my questions and feedback about portions of my presentation. Only about 200 seats left at last view means that there will be a huge crowd for this session. I’m humbled and hope that I do a great job for everyone. Learn how to “Be a Rock Star with PowerCLI and vCenter Orchestrator”
After my session there are several events going on that I’m hoping to spend some time attending. The times overlap so much I have no idea how this is going to work :) I just know I’ll be ready for a drink after the session.
- vExpert Meeting
- VMUG Leader Dinner
- Technology Leader Reception w/ Cloud Physics and Fusion-IO
Tuesday 8/28
This will be an awesome day. Hopefully I took it fairly easy last night to handle the day. The vBrownBag crew will be kicking off our awesome brown bag VMworld survival kit. This thing is going to excellent! Details provided http://professionalvmware.com/2012/08/vbrownbags-vmworld-and-you/ but suffice it to say this small brown bag is going to have essentials to help many people survive the week!
VMUG Leader Lunch! I may miss the dinner so the lunch may be the best chance to meet up with fellow VMUG leaders. Looking forward to seeing you all!
Evening - Lots of great parties going on this night.
8:00-11:00pm - Veeam Party
Larger space this year means more people able to party with the cool Veeam folks! http://go.veeam.com/vmworld-2012-party.html
9:00-11:00pm - vBacon Tweetup
Cable Car City Pub with @CiscoDC and Amy Lewis (@CommsNinja) - http://tweetvite.com/event/vBacon Amy put on one heck of a tweetup at CiscoLive and my money says this one will be on par, if not better!
Wednesday 8/29
5:00-7:00pm - vCloud Tweetup - http://twtvite.com/VMworldTweetup
10:00pm-2:00am - vStogies http://twtvite.com/vStogies2012
Thursday 8/30
Sessions, interviews, and recovery :)
I haven’t included sessions yet but suffice it to say this is going to be a great week! I know I’ve probably missed a few items so please feel free to let me know if there’s an event that I need to check out. Make sure you bookmark the following page so that you have a listing of all the events and parties. Hope to see you at some of these! Thanks for reading.
