This time of the year is a busy one for the technology industry as we move into conference season. But are these events worth your while, or are they just an excuse for a few days off and a good time?
I suppose the answer lies in how you spend your time, there is no doubt you can attend these events and just have them as time out of the office and a chance to catch up with friends over a few drinks. But, if you treat these events as that, I think you are missing out.
For me, I always see them as huge opportunities. I can hear a vendors mid and long-term strategy, understand their direction and critically, whether that direction continues to remain relevant to my business and the challenges that I’m facing.
It’s also a great opportunity to educate myself, to learn more about a technology, from an introduction to deep dive and over 3 or 4 days, a chance to learn about a wide range of technologies in a way that a more traditional training course just cannot offer.
While I don’t suggest you spend all of your time in a bar, the chance to network, spend a few days with friends and peers in the industry, to understand the latest challenges they are facing, how they are overcoming them and what’s next, is a priceless part of the event investment.
In this week’s podcast, we explore the value of one of the industries largest conferences VMware’s annual VMworld event. Run over two weeks, one in Las Vegas and the European event in Barcelona, VMworld is one of the largest gatherings of customers, partners and technology vendors in the industry.
Over the next two shows, I get a cross-section of views from those who attended Vegas and Barcelona to hear what they thought of the event, what VMware covered and how well that fits in with their needs and those of the wider enterprise IT market.
In this first show, I talk to 4 attendees about their experience and what they learned.
Becky Elliot – Becky is a Senior Systems Administrator for a US government contractor, this was Becky’s first VMworld, we discussed how she took the practical approach, taking time to attend sessions with a day to day relevance to her job, as well as having a great time testing her skills at the Hackathon session.
You can follow Becky on twitter @beckylelliott
I also catch up with two regular guests, Michael Cade (@MichaelCade1) from Veeam and Mark Carlton (@mcarlton1983) of Concorde IT, both also attending their first VMworld’s, we discuss the strategic messages from the keynotes, look at how VMware is evolving, as the world they have built their success on continues to change and whether the changes they are making are the right ones.
And finally, I chat with Barry Coombes – Barry is the Operations Director at Computerworld Group and unlike my other guests caught up with the Vegas show online, before heading off to Barcelona. We discuss the major announcements from the keynotes as well as the technology he is looking to find out more about in Barcelona. We also talk about Barry’s unique approach to note taking! 
You can find Barry on twitter @VirtualisedReal check out his show note doodles here http://www.definetomorrow.co.uk/blog/2017/9/9/vmworld-us-2017-doodles and finally look out for Barry’s own excellent podcast by finding Define Tomorrow in your favourite podcatcher.
Next week I get more views from VMworld, including chatting with VMware’s Pete Flecha for the VMware view of VMworld 2017.
To find out more about VMworld, you can check out their website https://www.vmworld.com/en/us/index.html
To catch the next show then please subscribe, you’ll find Tech Interviews in all good homes of podcasts.
Techstringy 
One thought on “Was it good for you? – vmworld 2017 – Ep41”