Take Five With Tom Fenton

Tom Lists Five Reasons You Need to Attend VMware Explore Europe 2022

• By Tom Fenton
• 10/06/2022

VMware Explore Europe 2022, replacing the conference previously known as VMworld, will take place in Barcelona at the Fira Gran Via Nov. 7-10, 2022. Earlier this year, VMware held VMware Explore US in San Francisco, which I had the opportunity to attend.

VMware has yet to release the attendance numbers for the conference, but as near as I could figure there were about 10,000 attendees. Although the head count was off from recent VMworld conferences, the people that I spoke with seemed to enjoy it. With that said, from what inside sources tell me, this may be the first time that the attendance of Europe event surpasses that of the U.S. event.

In this article, I'll look at the top five reasons you should attend VMware Explore Europe 2022.

1. Big Announcements -- While many big announcements were made and new products were released at the event in San Francisco, VMware tends to hold back others for their Europe event. With all the changes being made to VMware as it embraces is multi-cloud strategy, I fully expect that they will be dropping some powerful news and perhaps some new products in Barcelona this year. In the past, VMware has tended to make announcements around its EUC products at their Europe event, so it will be interesting to see it they follow suit this year.
2. Fresh Sessions -- There were lots of great sessions at VMware Explore US, but VMware Explore Europe features a different batch of sessions in addition to the most popular ones from the US event. The catalog has about 400 sessions, so no matter what you are interested in, there is sure to be a session for you. I am fortunate enough to work for ControlUp and will be involved in a couple sessions which you can find here.
3. Meeting Like-Minded People -- Many of us haven't had a chance to attend any conferences or interact in-person within the tech community for the past two years. VMware Explore will be a great place to reacquaint yourself with people with similar interests. At this event you, will be able to chat with people in the hallways, during meals, at the local bars and at the great after-hours events!
4. Show Floor -- One of my favorite parts about attending conferences is spending time on the exposition floor. You can spend time talking to the best and the brightest VMware employees about their products, but what I like to do most is spend time on the sidelines of the Expo Hall where the smaller companies are located. I find that they are the ones with the flexibility to come up with innovative solutions and enhancements to VMware's main product lines.
5. Great Location -- Barcelona is a great place to hold a conference as it is a relatively (compared to San Francisco) short plane ride from anywhere in Europe and offers a wide range of hotels to choose from, ranging from inexpensive to five-star grandeur. Note, however, that if you stay in the heart of the city you will need to get a ride to the conference, but taxis are plentiful, or if you prefer you can catch a bus to the Fira Gran Via. The city has many bars, tapas, and other ways to spend your time off-hours (there is a great blues bar by the waterfront that I always try and hit when I am in town. For the more culturally and historically minded, there is the Sagrada Familia, Park Güell, & Casa Batlló, and my favorite the Museu Marítim (Maritime Museum). Heck, there is even a cool little automobile museum near the center of town. You can see a previous article of mine for more information about things to do while in Barcelona.

Regardless for your reason for attending, I am sure you will have a great time at the event, learn a lot and meet some great people. If you do see me, be sure to stop by and say hola!

A full event pass for VMware Explore Europe is €1,475 with a discount for early registration.