Month: July 2018
Ticketing 101
Howdy, folks! We’ve kicked Eventbrite to the curb, both due to increasing costs as well as some problems many have expressed with their terms of service. In 2018 we’ll be using TicketLeap to handle registration and ticketing for the Opening Acts and VMunderground festivities at VMworld 2018 US.
Due to some of the ways TicketLeap differs from Eventbrite, we’ve set up the two events as… well… individual events. It may sound weird, but in previous years, we’ve done the reservations for Opening Acts and tickets for VMunderground under the same umbrella event, and while it seemed to have worked well for most people signing up/purchasing, we still had a little bit of confusion, plus the organizer reporting tools were a disaster.
This year, with individual events, our reporting will work, but TicketLeap also allows for a “shopping cart” experience, so you can get tickets & reservations in the same transaction: just select from multiple events and checkout using your shopping cart!
We’ve already posted the access to the free reservations to Opening Acts; we really want those more to get a headcount than any sort of restrictions, so opening them up now isn’t much of an issue. (Yes, we know it defeats the purpose of the shopping cart, but you can always wait if you want to get it done in one visit)
The party tickets will become available on Monday, July 23, 2018 at noon Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7).
I think.
This whole timezone thing for event planning is often unclear in how they’ll be applied…but that’s the plan.
At any rate, just head over to https://vsquaredb.ticketleap.com/vmunderground-2018/ to buy tickets when they become available.
Finally: as in previous years, we’re limiting tickets-per-transaction. There’s limited space in the venue, and if we run out of general admission tickets before you get a chance to buy one, there’s always our amazing sponsors who will have the bulk of available tickets for distribution. Hit them up; they’re the reason we’re able to do this at all.
We’re also asking some additional information to give to our sponsors. As always, we DO NOT divulge contact information, but we’d like to let them know—in aggregate—who attended by providing employer type and what sort of role you play in relation to VMware/VMworld attendance.
To wit: we’ll be asking you to select a role (decision-maker, influencer, user, etc) and provide a free-form answer for your employer’s industry when purchasing VMunderground tickets. Please take the questions seriously: good data makes it easier for us to sell sponsors on the value of putting their money into these activities.
Thanks, and we’ll see you in Las Vegas at the end of August!!!
Hello 0x7E2
As of this writing, it’s only seven (7) weeks until VMworld 2018 US? Seems like seven (7) weeks is still plenty of time before we need to pack our kit and head to the airport…
But by other metrics, it’s going to get here faster than anyone wants…including the team here at Underground Central. We’ve got our homework still cut out for us: finding additional sponsors, announcing committed sponsors, finalizing session topics, populating the panel membership, coordinating with the venue for catering and audio-visual, etc.
But no worry…we’re veterans at this (this is our twelfth year!) and plan to have everything ready & in place for you when you arrive at Beerhaus on Sunday afternoon.
That’s right: We’re essentially “reverting to snapshot” from last year, doing pretty much the same venue and timing. Like last year, we’ll be starting the Opening Acts sessions at 1pm, running them back-to-back until 4pm. The kitchen & bar at Beerhaus will be open, but remain unsponsored for the panel sessions: you’re on your own to pick up the tab. If you’re not interested in eating there, best plan is to do lunch prior to arrival…and there are many, many options in the vicinity of New York New York Resort and Casino, the major landmark near Beerhaus.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Opening Acts: 1pm — 4pm PDT
VMunderground: Evening PDT
Beerhaus (at the Park)
3784 S Las Vegas Boulevard
Las Vegas, NV 89109
The evening VMunderground party will start after the staff resets the venue space from the panel sessions; we’re still coordinating the exact time for the doors to open, but you can plan on it being after 7pm and no later than 8pm…
As mentioned in the first paragraph, we’re still seeking sponsors, so we aren’t planning on being able to commit to a zero-cost ticket for the party (as always, Opening Acts is a free event for all participants, but we’ll be requesting you to register for free reservations to help us get an idea of how full the venue will be). Like the last few years, we’ve needed paid tickets to “get us over the finish line.” so we’ll be selling party tickets once we’ve been able to finalize the sponsor slate.
And on that note, we’ll also begin announcing our committed sponsors this week; they’re the ones that really make this all possible, and will be an alternative option to purchasing party tickets. Keep an eye on the @VMunderground Twitter feed for new announcements–as well as the 2018 Sponsors page on this site–for more news on sponsors.
#VMunderground 