VMworld: The Modern-Day COMDEX

It's not about the swag anymore.

• By Michael Domingo
• 08/05/2014

Remember COMDEX? I remember sitting among 10,000 or so attendees at a Bill Gates keynote decades ago, and then lugging my rolling backpack to snag my haul of tchotchkes and press kits as I maneuvered upstream through the three-ring-circus-like chaos of the exhibit halls spread across the Las Vegas Strip.

Over the years, vendors have been less inclined to use bait to get you to listen to their pitches. Technology is the giveaway, and your manager is expecting you'll hear more pitches rather than filling your goodie bag, because your colleagues at the home office are depending on you to bring back some useful reconnaissance.

VMworld 2014 is the modern-day COMDEX, a circus spread out among the sprawling Moscone Center complex, but all business. You no longer need a backpack for your day's haul, as most info is online or can be Bluetoothed to your device (or right to your cloud drive). But you're there because of the incredible relationships you make with fellow technologists and vendors.

I wonder how long these types of events will last as this world becomes more virtualized. Pretty soon, it'll all come to you, even those face-to-face meetings. On a device that fits in your back pocket.

Meet the New Boss, Same As the Old Boss
Oh, and one more thing: This is my last issue as official editor in chief of Virtualization Review. Keith Ward, who manages that site now, is returning to helm Virtualization Review, which is the magazine he started many years ago, back when Diane Green was still running the show at VMware. You can welcome him aboard and write to him at [email protected].