VMworld: What's In It for You?
VMworld, now less than a month way, is a trade show that has something for everyone. Since I represent a vendor, most of my time will be spent on the show floor trying to be available to prospects, analysts and friends as they stop by to say hi and find out what we're up to. For others, the draw is the sessions and hands-on labs dedicated to the technology ecosystem VMware has helped create. And of course when you bring together so many smart and dedicated people who are passionate about a particular technology, the networking opportunities are limitless. Many of the top virtualization bloggers will be there, as well as many of the "vRock Stars" from various vendors that you may have heard about or follow on Twitter.
Then, there are the parties.
Like any large IT conference, there are plenty of parties all week long. The trick is getting an invitation, since many of them are sponsored by vendors. If you work for a Fortune 500 company, invites are typically easy to score, for obvious reasons. If you don't work for one of these giants, it still shouldn't be a problem, so long as you're a prospect about ready to spend several hundred thousand dollars. Not spending wads of dough with the vendors? Then it'll require a little work on your part...
Be sure to keep up with the official VMworld Blog and communities to stay informed about what's going on during the week. If you're not on Twitter (yet), I'd recommend giving in for just this one week to follow @VMworld and your favorite vendors -- no doubt, as the show gets closer, more events and parties will be announced. And if you just aren't ready to give into Twitter, then you should at least be checking out the VMworld Twitter Search and keep up as best you can. Keep your ears open in the weeks leading up to the show and, who knows, a vendor just might blog about their party and explain in detail how you can get invited.
One party that is for everyone -- no matter what kind of IT budget you may (or may not) have -- is the VMUnderground Party on Sunday night before VMworld. I'm proud to say that my company, Veeam, is once again a sponsor this year. It's a great way to network and meet fellow vnerds. There are some rules for the party and you shouldn't expect to drink for free all night long, but you can definitely expect to have a great time. There will be giveaways and, mercifully, each of the handful of sponsoring vendors is limited to a very short (1 minute) pitch.
Finally there's the official VMworld party. At the time of this writing it is unknown who the band will be but there is a contest going to guess the band. Being the official party for VMworld, you can expect a big crowd and some great entertainment.
I hope to see you there! Feel free to come by the Veeam booth to say hi!
Posted by Doug Hazelman on 08/06/2010 at 12:49 PM