I’m currently sitting at RDU International waiting to board my flight to Las Vegas for VMworld 2018. I can’t believe that I’ve actually made it to this point, as the last week has been jam packed with an amazing team building experience, a full day AWS training class, and multiple trips to the doctor and prescription medication going around my household. I guess if there is any silver lining, I’m already a bit prepped for another crazy week!
I’m hoping that I will have enough time to get a good number of VMworld blog posts out during the week, but in anticipation for a busy week ahead, I wanted to lay out some of the highlights that I’m really looking forward to.
I was invited to sit as a delegate at Tech Field Day VMworld on Tues, Aug 28th. Dell EMC will be presenting to us from 10-12 PST and it will be live streamed on the Tech Field Day website. This will be an amazing opportunity for me to interact with others in the community that I have been following for a while. That I will be able to officially call myself an “influencer” is fairly mind-boggling to me, but I’m excited to embrace it at VMworld 2018.
Another community event that is happening tomorrow is Opening Acts VMworld (livestream link here). If you won’t be in Vegas, you can stream the community panel sessions live. Another great option for those not attending in person is the live stream of the VMworld General Sessions. These sessions set the tone for the conference and the future direction of VMware, so they are always great to catch even from home. On top of that, Malala Yousafzai will be the keynote speaker at the Tuesday General Session, which is likely to be an inspirational event not to miss.
One of the great things about VMworld is #vBrownbag Tech Talks Live. I found out about this at last year’s VMworld, but not until later in the week. These are 10-15 min sessions given by community members on a wide range of topics. They also live stream during the conference, so if you aren’t attending, definitely check it out if you have some down time.
Every year brings a huge VMworld party with some kind of big name act. This year’s party is a bit of a change from the past. Dubbed VMworld Fest, it will offer four different themes, which will offer a little variety rather than just one huge gathering. The “headliner” for VMworld Fest is Royal Machines. While I know some attendees may be disappointed in the lack of a big name, it looks like it should be a great time. Royal Machines is a cover band “supergroup” consisting of some fairly well known rock-stars, with none other than Josh Freese on drums! Josh is one of my all-time favorite drummers and has played for tons of great bands (A Perfect Circle, NIN, Sting, Devo, Weezer, Sublime…) and has tracked drums for artists all across the musical spectrum. I will definitely be camped out to watch him play.
Needless to say, it will be a great week ahead. About half a season of Mad Men from now I will arrive in Vegas ready to join the rest of the community at VMworld 2018!
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