Category Evangelist

What exactly is this whole VMware vExpert Program and what does it mean to me?! I know that’s what you are asking, because you probably did a search of “VMware vExpert” and turned up this VMware vExpert FAQ Page, or some of these great details outlined in the vExpert Directory.

But if you haven’t read those pages, or you want a little context on exactly what the VMware vExpert Program is all about, it is extremely similar to the acclaimed Microsoft MVP Program, the EMC Elect Program, and even the rarely heard of Citrix Technology Professionals Program!  Essentially, this is an award based upon your contributions to society, community, industry.   Going above and beyond simply ‘doing your job’.    That about sums it up!

What makes the VMware vExpert Program so special

The VMware vExpert Community is very much just that, a community of likeminded professionals who come together for the betterment of society as a whole.   It may all sound sort of altruistic but there is no more accurate depiction of the truth than that.    The community is filled with people who work tirelessly to help others, who are seen as and sought after as the experts in the industry, many of which feel they don’t deserve the accolade and others who work so diligently to ensure that their impact on those around them eclipses any benefits that may be derived from the mention.    The vExperts are the authors, bloggers, podcasters, troubleshooters, helpers, friends and family which makes VMware and Virtualization such a prevalent thread it has been transforming the industry ever since its inception.

A few of the benefits ‘granted’ to the members of the vExpert community are

• Public recognition of the vExpert award with a certificate, gift, permission to display a logo, and inclusion in any public vExpert listing
• Access to a private vExpert community of your peers
• Free subscription to conference session materials on VMworld.com
• Access to exclusive events, beta programs, software licenses, and other exclusive opportunities to participate in activities with VMware. vExperts do not represent VMware and are not required to participate in any activities

But those are just the *published* benefits, here are some of the unpublished yet fully realized by members of the vExpert Community

• Priority Access to Private Betas
• Blogger Early Access Programs (Including Deep Dive Webinars with Product Teams)
• Influencer Day and Product Launch Briefings (Be on the inside track with the analysts and product launch embargoes)
• Focus Groups with SMB and Partners
• Special Opportunities presented by Partners such as Tintri, Symantec, EMC, Trainsignal, Tech Field Day, and more!
• And a particular favorite of many, private vExpert only CTO Party and Briefings with the Office of the CTO and Steve Herrod at VMworld

But it doesn’t stop there.   Some of the extra benefits realized not by all, but by many as the form of opportunities tend to be

• Special Access to Guest Blogging spots on VMTN and other blogportunities
• Community Roundtable Podcast speaking opportunities and special guest access
• VMware Press opportunities to be a Tech Reviewer or Author (They’re always looking for talent, and check the vExpert pool often)
• Other Press sources opportunities to write and review (Sybex, Video training houses, tech blogs, Windows IT Pro, Speaking Gigs, etc)
• … The opportunities are seemingly endless!

What exactly are the paths to being a vExpert

Since this is the non-definitive guide after all I can only go on what we know from the 2012 Calendar year which could possibly change.   But instituted as part of this cycle was a growth of the vExpert selection criteria to differing paths of Experts; Evangelist, Customer, Partner.

Evangelist

The Evangelist Path includes book authors, bloggers, tool builders, public speakers, and other IT professionals who share their knowledge and passion with others with the leverage of a personal public platform to reach many people. Employees of VMware can also apply via the Evangelist path.

Customer

The Customer Path is for internal evangelists and community leaders from VMware customer organizations. They have contributed to success stories, customer references, or public interviews and talks, or were active community contributors, such as VMUG leaders.

Partner (VMware Partner Network)

The VPN Path is for employees of our partner companies who lead with passion and by example, who are committed to continuous learning and to making their technical knowledge and expertise available to many. This can take shape of event participation, video, IP generation, as well as public speaking engagements.

What about the selection criteria for the vExpert Program

First let me start out by displaying what are a few caveats and considerations before I get too deeply into selection criteria.

• The vExpert award is based on contributions during the past calendar year. Activities earlier than the past calendar year are not considered in the awards and should not be entered on the application form.
• You can use the application form to apply for yourself, and an invitation form to invite others to apply. Everyone is strongly encouraged to apply.
• The vExpert designation is not a popularity contest. Multiple invitations or recommendations are not considered as a criteria for the award, so please do not ask multiple people to fill in the invitation form for you.
• The vExpert designation is given to an individual, not to a company. Your contributions could have been a part of your corporate activities, but your individual contribution should be clear and noted in your application.
• Designation duration is for one year. Existing vExperts are not guaranteed a renewal and are evaluated each year along with other nominees.
  A committee of VMware employees chooses the recipients of the vExpert designation.
• You must be 18 years old to be eligible for the award.

Now that we have that out of the way, here are some of the types of things they’d look for on the application in years gone past (for what would be the Evangelist path, As details of Customer/Partner and other evolutions for 2013 come about, I’ll be sure to discuss that as it comes…)

Contributions and Activities to materials such as:

• Blogs (Blog posts you’ve written re:VMware/Virtualization, and contributions you’ve made to other blogs)
• Other Writing (Newsletters, Books, Whitepapers, Articles, KB Articles, Tutorials, Guides, etc)
• Multimedia (Podcasts, Videos, Interviews…)
• Events and Speaking (Organized events, spoke at them, involvement, etc)
• Online Communities (IT Forums you’ve contributed, participated in and been involved in)
• Tools and Resources (Tools you’ve created, collected, contributed to, resources and guides you’ve created, collections, etc)
• VMware Programs (Councils, Partnerships, Betas and other kinds of contributions)
• Actions and activities having gone above and beyond (self explanatory)

For a little more context and details about what each of these lines might be asking for (this is dated) refer to this link for the 2011 Application

The vExpert Program seems amazing and I work in Virtualization but I’ll wait until next year

This is for all of you out there who have said that, or some similar version of events.   I know who you are, I’ve spoken with you a number of times.   You contribute greatly within the community, internally at a customer, or extensively through the Partner organization.   You’re familiar with the vExpert program but you say ‘eh, I’ll deal with that next year’.   If this were like a certification deciding to take action NEXT month or NEXT quarter wouldn’t be such a big deal, but this isn’t a Certification.    The VMware vExpert Program is a year-long designation based upon your actions for a calendar year.    So what does that mean?   By not being nominated or choosing to self-nominate yourself when the window of nomination opens, you are costing yourself on the opportunity for an additional 365 days.    It’s not to say that ALL those who submit are accepted because they are not, but if you’ve got what it takes and you’re a super star in your own right I cannot for the life of me justify you NOT applying.

Some people like to equate the VMware vExpert to a Certification and will often say “Eh, I’m not changing jobs any time soon, so I don’t see why I should do this”.    Yes, certainly like getting a VCP won’t make much of a different to an admin for life but an active Administrator who becomes a vExpert can gain that insight, that knowledge (and getting license keys for testing and all the worlds access never hurts!)

So if I leave you with nothing, I’d like you to take to heart a few tidbits and action items and I’ll share my own experience here

• It doesn’t hurt to apply or self-nominate into the program.   If you’re unknown to the populace at large sometimes the first person to knock on that door and shine a light on your accomplishments has to be you, this isn’t about ego (Especially if you’ve accomplished all of the things you share in your contributions)
• This is first and foremost a community, not a ‘corporate charter designated by a policy driven figurehead with stringent metrics to follow’ So what I mean there is, if things don’t go as fast as you want them to be, it is not as though this is an SLA you are paying for;  But we’re all in this together so lending a helping hand is never discouraged
• Get involved.   Even if you’re objective is not to one day earn the designation of VMware vExpert.    Our community is only as strong as its weakest link and as we all grow and become educated we continue to prosper together
• Even if you sit silent on the sidelines, get to  know the vExpert’s in the community and more precisely YOUR community.   These people didn’t become vExperts for nothing, they’re glad to help, spread the tech love and cherish and grow those around them

A few words from a silent cat

I’ve been a vExpert for as long as there has been a program and every single year I sit back and look at the nomination form which asks countless questions about what your contributions were for the previous calendar year. (Submissions are usually a few months into the year, so remembering back to December let alone the previous January can be a chore!)   Every single year I look back and say, “Well, crap I don’t think I did anything, how can I justify or deserve being a vExpert for this year” and then it all starts to settle in.   In past years there’d be a request for your TOP blog posts or TOP cited reference points (limited to 2 or 3) and at first I thought ‘how am I going to find even 1 let alone 3!’ which then turns into “Ooops…. I did 20-30 things in the previous year, how am I going to pare THAT down!”   This is surprisingly a common problem within the vExpert Community of Evangelists.    Before the VMware vExpert program came to be, and long before it had broken out the Evangelist designation….  We were all evangelists in our own right.   It wasn’t our job to do this, we didn’t do this because we were trying to achieve or accomplish some targeted ‘goal’, We saw problems in the world which either needed to be solved or we solved and wanted to share our experiences.   We saw great things happening and wanted to make sure everyone around us was able to benefit.    We don’t do it because we have to, We even don’t exactly do it because we WANT to.   We do it because we are vExperts.   We are Evangelists.    We are community.     I think nothing speaks more truer to that than the VMware vExpert program having doubled year over year of number of members accepted into its ranks, and I know we look forward to that number continuing to grow with other passionate and dedicated individuals like ourselves to make Technology, this Community and the World a better place.

Aren’t you OUTRAGED by the change in Terms of Service by our good friends at Instagram and Facebook effective January 16th?  First, let’s look at the ‘changes’ in question.   These top 2 seem to be the charge of outrage by most news beat writers because they clearly got a buzz that this is what they’re supposed to talk about and be outraged at.

This is what everyone seems to be screaming about OMG INSTAGRAM SAYS THEY CAN SELL MY PHOTOS AND NOT EVEN NOTIFY ME ABOUT IT, IM NOT GETTING PAID FOR IT! After all of the whine and cheese has been appropriately distributed, and considering that some 1billion photos get posted every second, what are the odds that YOUR particular photo of a cat drinking water from the faucet was going to be SOLD by instagram in the first place? The odds, aren’t very likely, but I understand you’re outraged because they are selling something which you had no means of selling to start with, providing a vehicle to share with others on an extensive infrastructure, DAMNIT WTF WHY DIDN’T WE WRITE SOMETHING LIKE THIS OURSELVES! (Whew, glad I didn’t write this in 1999….. but I digress) But let’s focus on the real matter at hand here, okay? Those of you who are pissed off that your rights are being ‘trampled’ on weren’t long for the service in the first place.

Taking a look at the rest of the ‘rules’ in question…

Okay, you’re saying THIS IS MINE AND IF IT’S COPYWRITTEN IT’S MY FAULT AND MY LIABILITY. Okay, that’s standard legalize way of saying “uh… it’s your fault if we screw up because we said don’t publish that stuff on our site anyway! Neener Neener – Instagram” Right?  So now when you take a photo of a coke can SIMILAR to that in which another company did for pay… you have to pay ROYALTIES on it, but not Instagram them self…. okay, that’s a CYA if I ever saw one…

What isn’t clear here is what is defined as “Instagram Content” because by some of the other statements.. ALL content might be technically defined as “Instagram Content” but for the purpose of argument we’ll assume for a moment this does not equally include Content of Users– which brings us to the next point.    You may not copy/modify/display/sell any content “appearing” on the Instagram Services.   So, what is this saying?  If I took a photo myself, and shared a copy of it on Instagram that I no longer have right to my ORIGINAL SOURCE of content since it WAS shared on Instagram?   This has gotten to be some of the worst written legalize I’ve seen in some time, so either they want a blanket WE OWN YA’LL BITCHES to mean all content generated ever, or they really have no fricking idea how to write a legal document.   Either way, I stand forth, even reading into this content….

Feel free to use the content I generate and share on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook as a virtual ‘Gallery’ of my offerings, and you the general purpose world and community and welcome to Purchase under license to USE that content in a commercial context.    Though, as I addressed years ago, otherwise I’m open to a creative commons discussion for pretty much most any other purpose, and this ToS can go screw itself because it doesn’t have a gram to stand upon.   

If you find yourself fleeing the service, get over yourself if you’re that vain.    If you’re an artist and you feel your ‘property’ is going to be thieved by the man, then close the door on another opportunity to get your name and your work out there.   But if you’re an artist for the sake of art like myself who likes to stick it to the man, continuing producing content without fear of what ‘the man’ will do to us, because honestly… We are the content generators, the Service does not exist if not for us, and if they cannot ‘sell’ content to drive advertisers to pay them money, well, there’s no fricking infrastructure to run this on, so go back to your ‘paid’ services which no one will ever see your content on.

kthxbye.

Hey everyone out there!   I hope this finds you well and your holidays are off to a festive start.   I find no better gift to you within the community than the motherlode and brainshare of information I’ve collected, assumed, and delivered throughout the years and even a rare ‘sighting’ of my own delivery of said material in case there is ever anything you’re wondering about the what, the where and so forth!

A little bit about this source material; The emphasis and focus on this is intended to be around virtualizing Exchange and SQL.   And while some of you hardcore VMware zealots expect me to only discuss VMware it does take into heavy consideration and discuss the materials at hand on how to go about addressing this within the body  of work that is Microsoft Hyper-V as well – So happy holidays to all virtualization! :)

To start I’d like to focus on my most recent delivery of this presentation material for our good friends at Windows IT Pro, Power IT Pro, and more specifically the instance of the discussion was with VM Tech Pro!

There by clicking on the handy dandy image, or even by this embedded link you will have access to the live presentation I delivered for the folks over by there and the some ~130 or so attendees who were on the line (submitting questions, so on and so forth).   As most of you know this is something I’m particularly passionate about (Virtualization, Best Practices, Mission Critical Apps) all of that, and I do love to share my body of work to help make your day to day jobs even easier.    I definitely encourage you to go through the link to check out the live version of events (slides can only tell so much of the story, and I share a lot of stories not reflected directly in the slides) but I also encourage you to check out the links below which will have the original source material and SPEAKER NOTES OMG THE SPEAKER NOTES!  Those are filled with every ounce of material you need to help make your case and continue to make your case when it comes to virtualizing and driving your story home; it’s something you won’t regret having on hand. :)

I do encourage you to use this material to help make your case, if you’re going to publicly share the slides or use them in your own source (as many have done) I appreciate a reference or just letting me know (sometimes I update material and I’d hate for you not to have the latest material :))

Also anyone who wishes to contribute back into this living body of work, don’t hesitate to in the comments.   We’re only as good as our information and any chance to improve that I’ll be sure to reference back to you as well!   Thanks, and here is the rest of it! :)

Slides delivered for the Virtualization Strategies session (Hyper-V material had been hidden)

Slides delivered for The Experts Conference 2012 #TEC2012 – Best Practices for Virtualizing Mission Critical Applications

Slides delivered for The Experts Conference 2011 #TEC2011 Session (material was later updated in 2012, but I am full disclosure :))

… And just for good measure since I’m sharing… here for a little of storage is…

Slides delivered for The Experts Conference 2012 #TEC2012 Session of Storage, Backup, Recovery for HyperV

… And the holidays wouldn’t be proper without adding one last mini-gift! My Post-VMworld 2012 Update – Cherish :)

Slides delivered for the St Croix Solutions community with the Post VMworld 2012 Recap!

So a hearty happy holidays to you and your kind, as we launch into a brand new year… Oh the exciting things we will have to share when that time comes! :)

Stay tuned :)

Wow. VMworld is a Week away! 7 whole days! (Unless you count events on Sunday then 6, or when I get there on Saturday, then 5!)

But what does this mean?! Are you ready? Are you prepared? Have you gone back in time and read my Previous Posts on the subject in how to prepare?!

Disclaimer: Be SURE to go back and read at least the VMworld Tips/Tricks post as I’m referring and citing data from there, but not replicating it

• VMworld Tips, Tricks and Prize winning #vmworld
• Recruiting Virtual Talent: Tips and Tricks to hire and get hired at #VMworld

I know some of you felt all of the content wasn’t entirely relevant to San Francisco compared to that of Las Vegas, so here goes … the Definitive Guide to Prepare for VMworld 2012 in San Francisco! I’ll try to cover everything which is important… Transportation, The Food, The Parties, the Crazies.  Yea. All of it.

Packing

It’s a whole week away, who’s thinking about packing now? (I know @StorageMistress is already packed!) and likely so should you begin planning for this!

Must Have Items to Pack and Consider:

• Comfortable Shoes:   I cannot stress this enough (I feel like I’ve said it before, and I have, and I’ll say it again, Oh and again.) BRING COMFORTABLE SHOES!.  Whether you’re sticking ENTIRELY to the show floor or you walk outside anywhere (a lot of the events are OFF-Site at times) you’ll find yourself walking.   Not only walking streets, but hills and environments the likes of which Cable Cars were designed for! So bring your comfortable shoes; You can thank me later!
• Bring Business Cards: I know who you are, I met you, you’re the guy who has a QR code! You’re all SCAN MY QR CODE TO GUARANTEE WE’LL NEVER TALK EVVVEEEEEEEERRRRRR!!!! It’s true, it’s serious. People don’t exchange QR codes and remember each other.  You don’t enter that random contest to win an iPad or a Nexus 7 by giving them your QR code in a bowl.   You exchange Business Cards. Deal with it. Oh and PACK SOME BUSINESS CARDS!
• Laptop:   If you don’t need your laptop because you’re not going to be working while at the show, leave it at home.   If you bring your laptop because you need to work (like me) and you want to accomplish anything of relevance, LEAVE IT IN YOUR ROOM.  The last thing you need to do is worry about where your laptop is, especially because once you bring it, you will NEVER take it out of it’s case when you hit the show floor, less than 3% of people do. (Exceptions: Blogger, Analyst and other folks who specifically are demoing and using the laptop at set intervals) Save yourself grief though and leave it in the Hotel room, or leave it at home.
• Clothing:    If you’re a suit guy, bring suits.  If you’re a T-shirt and Jeans guy, bring that.   This is a conference like any conference so you’ll likely end up with random T-Shirts, random this and that’s.  (Oh if you’re job hunting here… Dress above your station, Seriously, no SERIOUSLY DO IT. ;))    Pack appropriately don’t over-pack, per se, but be sure to pack adequately.   If you can survive with Carry-On only (My Preferred way to live) you will WIN!   If you find yourself needing to buy things once you hit the ground it’s not a major problem, but consider San Francisco’s Sales Tax is 9.5%….
• Cell Phone:   I added this at the last minute.   If you find your ATT Phone doesn’t work to save your life for Data. I heartily welcome to you San Francisco.   … Mobile will be a challenge in every case, if it’s improved you are a lucky beast! If it doesn’t work, just operate on that expectation!

Transportation

Whether this is your first VMworld, or your 50th VMworld; your First time in San Francisco, or you’re an old school native… Transportation is an IMPORTANT one to address.   – All of these rules apply especially going TO or FROM the Airport, so find some buddies and group up!

Options:

• Taking BART:   A lot of you say “Yea, I’m gonna take BART and I’ll be all good”   Don’t get me wrong. BART is a great idea.  If you have time to burn, I highly encourage it.    Whoa, Whoa, hold on a minute, are you openly bashing public transportation?   Yea, kind of, but not exactly.    Allow me to explain :)
  • If you are within 1 Mile of Moscone staying at the JW Marriott, Renaissance, Marriott Marquis, Serrano, Inter-Continental and so forth?  WALK. ONE FOOT IN FRONT OF THE OTHER.    Yea, You should be walking, it’s not a difficult task.   If you have a lot of stuff to carry, or there’s a bunch of you staying a mile away and you’re lazy (What?! Lazy people in IT? WHERE?!) Then hop in a cab, it’s semi-efficient.   But otherwise, WALK.    But wait, what about hotels farther away?!
  • If you like a lot of very sad folks are staying at the SFO Marriott (~15 miles away) Get a car and car-pool, it’ll be cheaper.    Consider the following calculation.    Taking BART from the SFO Marriott only costs $5 One-Way! However it entails a 60 minute one-way trip, including walking 1.5 Miles all-in.    If I’m in San Francisco on my own dime and I have time to burn this is a great idea.   However, I like you are here for a fixed amount of time, and the burden taking public transportation losing a minimum of 2hrs a day in transport with walking 3 miles a day guaranteed is no way to spend your extremely valuable time.
• Renting a Car:  WTF? WHO RENTS A CAR IN SAN FRANCISCO!??! No one.  Unless you’re staying at the SFO Marriott, and I suggest ONE of you rents for every 4-5 people you have in a group or party. (Or find some friends! :))  FYI, the time/distance by car is ~30 minutes.   Which means you lose an hour of your day traveling, but at least it is on YOUR terms.   There is no “Last car of the day” and Parking in/around Moscone seems fairly reasonable
• Taking a Taxi (~1-2M):   If you’re within ~1-2 miles of Moscone, sure, take a taxi if it’s fitting… Sometimes we all have deadlines we need to support, I respect and understand that!
• Taking a Taxi (~15M):    If you’re staying at the SFO Marriott for example and you take a Taxi, That is a $45 one way trip.  If you have that kind of money to burn, I have a bridge to sell you (and potentially some licensing… HAH!) But seriously, That CAN work out if you load that car up with 4-5 of you and group together, but do not do it solo.

Taking a Shuttle:

Many of you may not have known about this, it seems to have been a hidden fact for some so I wanted to ensure the details are documented here for you!

The secret fact:

• Here are the hotels which will HAVE shuttle Service (According to VMworld Registration Support Team)
• Hilton San Fran Union Sq; Hotel Adagio; Milano; Monaco; Nikko; Palomar; Triton; Hyatt at Fishermans Wharf; Hyatt Regency; Intercontinental Mark Hopkins; Intercon San Fran; JW Marriott; Marriott Union Sq; Omni; Palace; Parc 55; Prescott; Ritz Carlton; San Fran Downtown Courtyard by Marriott; Mariott Marquis; Serrano; Sir Francis Drake; St Regis; Stanford Court; Westin San Fran Market St; Westin St Francis; Villa Florence; W San Fran;
• Interesting facts I’d like to note:
  • This list is in Alphabetical Order for your convenience
  • This list DOES NOT INCLUDE SFO/AIRPORT HOTELS
  • This list does include the W. (Have you ever seen the W? It’s ACROSS THE STREET FROM MOSCONE) 
  • Take this list with a grain of salt.   I’ve heard conflicting opinions that there aren’t shuttles and yet I got this list… so find a good transport plan, commit and roll with it.

  Transportation
  VMworld shuttles between the airport and hotels are not provided. Conference shuttle service will be provided at select VMworld 2012 official hotels to Moscone West.  Service offered every 20 minutes during the following AM and PM Peak hours of the conference:

Shuttle Drop Off: Moscone West Convention Center
Shuttle Pick Up: Information on shuttle routes and pick up locations can be found at select VMworld 2012 hotels and at the designated drop off location at Moscone West.

Networking and Sessions and Labs

No, this section is not about Nicira or SDN. :)   

For those of you who are veterans to VMworld or if you’ve never seen the inside of a conference session before.   This section applies to you, regardless.

• Networking is KEY.     Chances are if you want to do something, someone there has already done it before and can share their experience.   Some people are sad and lonely and are looking for others to talk to about how they backup their Virtualization environment.   Let’s be honest.  You’re all geeks in one way or another and you have your particular area of focus, of interest, of… whatever.    And there’s bound to be at least a dozen more of you there who share the same interests, so it’s important to FIND each other, Exchange business cards and “buy” each other a drink at some Vendors Party    – Not sure who’s doing what you want, or on and so forth? Find ME. I know all of you and can help ‘matchmake’ you SDN guys with you other neurotic vCloud guys. :)
• OMG I WANT TO ATTEND THESE 3 SESSIONS ALL RUNNING AT THE SAME TIME.
  • You guys know that the sessions are available after the fact in video+PDF format, right? Seriously? You know that right?!?!  Don’t kill yourself to attend a session which is full or 2 1/2 miles from where you are that you forgo eating just to get there on time….
  • I said this last year, and guess what. It still applies.  So don’t kill yourself for the sessions.   If you have to choose between two sessions which are applicable to your business, choose the one more likely to involve ‘interaction’ instead of rote lecture.    Or pick the one with the full-er room :)
  • I list a bunch of other very good reasons on this in VMworld Tips, Tricks and Prize winning #vmworld so go back and read it :)
• LABS LABS LABS!!!    Some of you don’t have access to labs, or nearly the comprehensive set of labs they have here.    Since I’ve found it a challenge to get access to these labs Post-VMworld “Hey, we’re fixing that … yea I’ll believe it when I see it” – I encourage you to spend time going through the labs, learning the material… Camping out in the Lab room and just getting into the material deep! The Lab Proctors are GOOD guys who’ve been in the game a long time and can help you out with more than just your lab (shhh… don’t tell them I told you to do that ;))    So get your LAB ON!

Friendships Forged in Fire and Wine

VMworld is not just about Virtualization, Learning, Sessions, Labs and Networking.   It is about Friendships Forged deep, often over some kind of spirit and intensive conversation.    Battles will be fought, People will transition from Company to Company, Customer to Partner, Partner to Vendor, Vendor to Competitor; but with all said and done.   We are still friends.    And we stick together and get the opportunity to share in each others experiences again.    You are not excluded from this category.    If you walk away from VMworld without having met at least 5 new people, or forged some ridiculous potential life long relationship; You have Failed.  Yea I said it. FAILURE.    If you’re on a distribution list that I created and Managed for this event for internal communication and you don’t take advantage of the mindshare of folks attending in person to get to know each other and do business… You are failing your future, upwards!     So take those moments.   See your friends, Meet and Make New Friends, Think outside of your box and reach outside of your comfort area.    And if you need a push in the right direction, Find me – I’ll nudge you, introduce you and more.

#CXIDinner, Cat Ears, and my Schedule

This has been a question of CONTROVERSY for quite some time OMG IS CXI THROWING HIS FABLED #cxiparty this year.   The official answer is; no.    Why? Because San Francisco is RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE OMG.    And I would never wish that burden upon ANYONE, And I seriously mean ANYONE. NEVER, NOT THAT BURDEN.    You think San Francisco is Expensive, Imagine at SCALE (#CXIParty had >1200 people last year, where the hell do you store that many people in this city?!)    So, no, I will not be throwing an official #CXIParty at that level of scale like seen in Las Vegas last year (You can count on it in Vegas again though ;))

That said though.    Here is what you can count on.    VMworld 2010 in San Francisco gave birth the creation of #CXIDinner – It’s very informal, very comfortable, very much a different kind of event, usually after all is said, done, and settled (starting anywhere from 10PM to 2 or 3AM… really depends on what we’re doing is over)    So you’re more than welcome to find out WHERE the #CXIDinner will be hosted on any given night.    None of them are (officially) Partner sponsored at this time, so you’d be catching your own tab, but we keep it honest, practical, affordable and friendly.    So if you’re a late night guy who is hungry like we all are, I encourage you to monitor twitter for updates on where #CXIDinner will be happening, or my regular @CXI Feed…

FYI: #CXIDinner will be a daily activity occurring at some random variable time – No registration, just show up / notify / txt (630.362.1320), whatever. :)   Hopefully #CXIDinner veterans such as @HPStorageGuy will be there too! :)

Speaking of Cat Ears; Yes I will have *many* of my fabled cat ears, my new Brain Wave controlled cat ears, and even a CUSTOM set of ears I’ll be unveiling early (These will also be my ears to celebrate my birthday coming in September.   – Let’s celebrate my birthday at VMworld… and again in Chicago on September 8th! :))

Some of you may wonder “You keep saying come find you, but WTF how am I supposed to do that!@!@!@”  – Well, here is a copy of my schedule to make that a TAD easier… :)

As you can see I took advantage of the “Personal Time” which most likely involves me being on the Show Floor or diagramming something using random sticks or something somewhere, but either way… you *might* be able to find me in those locations at those times… In theory of course!    As far the “After Hours” goes… I’m playing that by ear.  It’s been awhile since I’ve NOT been organizing or throwing some kind of event so I like the freedom to do whatever the hell I’d like in those circumstances. (Yes I’ll be at the #VMUnderground on Sunday, you don’t have to worry about that! ;))

Oh and I’m bound to head over to Chinatown for Foot and Hand Reflexology at the place which is hands down the best I’ve experienced, even across China and Asia!  So come on down – I’ll also be doing some vegan meals at random points too if you want to experience pure OMG.

But wait, that’s not all!   Last but not least (Yes, as you’ll see this is an area OFTEN left as an after-thought…)

Security and Safety

First of all I want to introduce you to John Troyer, the gem of Virtualization.   (No, I’m not equating John to Jem and the holograms!)

But it is time to get serious now.   John is often portrayed in the community as Chewbacca, but unbeknownst to popular belief he is actually a tad more related to John Solo.    Although even through this brief history of time, I’d like to share with you my impressions of John over the years, how I’ve seen him and the community grow to foster what is today one of the most well formed and well knit communities on the globe.

John Troyer – The Man, the Legend

In the beginning.   There was investment into social media by VMware.    Yea that is how I remember it.  The first time I saw John Troyer was there were these little live interviews going on at VMworld broadcast to the world via uStream.   It was a very adhoc activity… not officially or formally planned, very thrown together, filled with problems, antics and everything you might expect, but all at the same time, amazing!   Everything really seemed to come a fold in 2008 (Maybe VMware decided to really start investing in the community in 2008… or make John went full stream ahead, either way, VMworld Videos, VMware Communities Podcasts, everything started to unfold from there)

All of a sudden.    VMware had a face.   An adorable face, a human voice, someone who can roll with the punches of trying out new things have problems with people flushing toilets on live recorded podcasts and STILL come out of it stronger! [BTW John, it doesn’t classify as just doing your job especially when you do it so well :)]

John Troyer – Just doing my job

As we got to know John just like we got to know VMware we became to notice various similarities.    WOW [VMware/John] helps me do my work easier!  I no longer feel I’m alone because I suddenly know of others out there just like me! A true sense of community started to form with John as the catalyst.     A little backstory. *I* [CXI] have been working with Virtualization [VMware and others] since VMware was founded as a company.   And honestly, it wasn’t until you got involved John that it went from just being ‘Technology’ to actually having a ‘Community’ If that is just doing your job, point 1: Well done! but it didn’t stop there.    It’s one thing to be responsive and reactive to someone within the Virtualization communities needs, but time and time again you would go above and beyond.    In fact it almost felt like ‘above and beyond’ was the defacto norm; and that is definitely true because of what a total Rockstar you are, character, personality and beyond.    I’ve seen more lives change as a result of interaction with you than you may ever realize [Though hopefully you’ll get to glean and learn some of stories out of these blog posts :)]

Where your Job ends and where John Troyer begins

3 Tips you’re doing your job well

• The virtualization community continues to grow and prosper
• Through education and awareness the mission of VMware focused virtualization is spread
• VMware initiated go to market strategies are executed on

3 things John Troyer has done instead

• Built and fostered not just a community, but a family of virtualization focused overlays; bridging the storage, networking and security communities to Virtualization, even in spite of your own efforts it continues to grow!
• Encouraged individuals and created through no fault of your own [though highly influenced] not only a huge stack of bloggers and often self-made rock stars, but Authors.   Helping foster some of the largest publisher stake investment and drive in a technology ever.
• Brought together the industries best virtualization experts under the guise of vExperts – which the program itself would never have gotten where it is today without your Guidance, Direction, and Brand ownership.   [Some might say that’s a VMware success, but without you in the seat, it could just have easily fallen off like similar programs under other company offerings]
• Side bar: The vExpert Program continues to receive industry recognition and is seen as a OMG MUST HAVE Accolade.    And that accolade is DIRECTLY changing the lives of those in the virtualization community.  Feel free to do an analysis of just the careers of those who hold the designation and what directions and impact it has made on them as people and their future [I’ve done the analysis. Result: John you rock! ;)]

So, when I would have discussions with you and you’d be saying “Oh, I’m just doing my job”.  Yea I too am just doing my job, and we all work when we’re desperately under the weather and our voices get so low and deep we can rock it out with some Barry Manilow Karaoke.   But merely ‘doing your job’ ‘doing a great job’ and where the “John Troyer” effect come into play make the difference between Lightning and Lightning Bugs!

The John Troyer Effect

I want you to know John that I’ve put a lot of time and research in to this and you are an absolute rock star.  The virtualization community would NOT be where it is in strength, numbers and closeness today if it were not for you.   This is not just some mild passing idea or concept, this is a FACT.    Virtualization will come and go, but John Troyer, the connections you foster and grow, the way you enable others to prosper and grow on their own.   Your going above and beyond and BEYOND the call of duty (All claiming it to be in the name of just doing your job)   You my friend ARE Virtualization and the Cloud.     You Life vMotion simply admins and architects and bring them to a transformational journey where they come out of it a better person, a stronger communitarian, and they begin to continue to pay it forward carrying the cycle above and beyond again.

So on behalf of the virtualization, storage, security and cat ears wearing community.  We love you John and we cannot thank you enough for every single thing you do each and every day!    Keep up the OMG amazing everything and have a Happy Birthday!

And last but not least a few words in the heat of the storm.