VMworlds Scheduled Close Together -- The Right Move
One of the things I love about virtualization is that the virtualization community aspect is so well defined. I particularly enjoy also that the VMworld events are a manifestation of the community, and that was repeated this week in Copenhagen for the VMworld Europe show. In years past, VMworld Europe has been at a polar opposite on the calendar from the VMworld event in the U.S.; which finished up in early September in San Francisco.
By having the events so close together, VMware and the partners can control timing of news as well as releases. It is an incredible feat to pull off an event the size of VMworld, much less having to repeat the ordeal a mere six weeks later in Europe. By having the same message, announcements, labs and other components that make up VMworld; there is an incredible logistic efficiency obtained.
After VMworld in San Francisco, I had a discussion about the logistics of one, two or even three events recently on the Virtumania podcast. A suggestion was raised to have more events, and I quickly chirped in saying that it is way too much work to put on an additional event of this level. This leads to my biggest complaint about VMworld, the fact that the US events are always in the Western part of the country. There are plenty of destinations in the central part of the US, but the most compelling reason is for the attendees. Given that there is not a VMworld for the Asia/Pacific region, a VMworld event needs to be accessible for those attendees. The Western cities of San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and others do that nicely.
For my own VMworld attendance strategy, next year I am going to try to attend both events. This will allow me to fully take in everything that you miss between the two events. Believe me, there is plenty to take in. If you are borderline on attending VMworld and have never done so before, I recommend you do it. There is something for everyone at the event, and as a blogger I find this as an important way to meet up with other bloggers, tech companies and the readers.
Until next year, the craze that is VMworld will get quiet. As for the whole cloud thing, well, we'll work on that.
Posted by Rick Vanover on 10/14/2010 at 12:48 PM