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San Francisco, Here I Come!
As I compose this, we’re a handful of days from the kickoff of VMworld 2019 US. The Opening Acts panels have been set & published; the VMunderground planning is complete; we’re only scrambling around with last-minute activities.
So, as those of you who are heading to San Francisco to join the fun are wrapping up your own last-minute tasks before the weekend, the team wanted to leave you with some notes for the Sunday activities.
- Although the Opening Acts ticketing says we’re “sold out”, those are more “bookkeeping” numbers for our planning requirements than a limit or reservation. Don’t worry about having your “ticket” if you got one, and if you didn’t get one, you’re welcome to come in as well. Unless we really do get near the Fire Marshall’s capacity numbers, we’re not turning anyone away.
- The bar will be open during Opening Acts, but it is unsponsored; if we end up with too much noise being generated at the bar because of people socializing during the panel sessions, we will shut it down in order to show respect to the panelists and attendees who are participating. Please: save your socializing for the party; that’s its purpose!
- If you received a wristband from one of the sponsors, you’re a VIP guest; that wristband will gain you entrance to the party at 7:30pm, a half-hour earlier than everyone else.
- If you aren’t a drinker of “adult beverages,” we have worked with the Tabletop Tap House team to create several offerings beyond “soft drinks and water.”
- Please, please, PLEASE wear your conference badge! We won’t have nametags, and so many of us–as awesome we are with technology–are horrible at remembering names.
- The United States and the state of California have liquor laws that restrict consumption of alcohol to those 21 years and older. You must be able to prove your age with a government-issue photo ID; driver license and passport are the most common forms. Please make sure you bring that with you, too: if you don’t meet Tabletop’s criteria for “looking old enough,” you’ll have to prove it. Don’t assume that your receding hairline or creeping grey will be sufficient…
Keep an eye on the @vmunderground and @openingacts twitter feed for any important announcements we may need to share as we get closer, but for now, we’re just looking forward to seeing you on Sunday.
Safe Travels!!!
2019 US… It’s happening!
Save the date: Sunday, August 25, 2019
The crew has been working since the beginning of the year, and we’re stoked to announce that we’ll be moving back to San Francisco along with the rest of the VMworld US activities.
As we’ve done in recent years, we’ll be standing up a set of panel sessions (Opening Acts) in the afternoon, then flip the venue (TBA) for a party (VMunderground) in the evening.
Keep an eye on this space for more details, but now that registration is open–and you’re feverishly looking for a hotel room–keep our schedule in mind when you book your travel.
Looking forward to seeing you in August!
It’s that time again.
It’s on.
August 27 may seem like a long time away when you’re looking at it from March 27, 2017, but VMworld 2017 US is going to be here sooner than you think. This small band of geeks has kicked off the work that goes on behind-the-scenes in order to stand up the community’s longest-running pre-conference party…
Make your plans.
We’re planning another round of Opening Acts panel sessions. And as before, we’ll be reaching out to our community to provide direction on topics. Like 2016, we’ll start before lunch on Sunday, 27-Aug, so when registration is open, you’ll want to take that into consideration when booking flights and hotels.
We’re also planning a bit of a party. It’ll happen sometime after Opening Acts concludes, but will definitely happen on the same day. And because this is VMunderground, we’re not going to tell you where or when until much, much later.
The Community Approach to VMworld
I’ve been around the VMware/VMworld community for awhile now. Pretty much since the beginning. The community began in the very early VMworlds, when guys like myself and Jase McCarty were paired up for a lab session, and while hanging out in the beanbag chairs on the last day when a random group of us discussed the logistics of getting the beanbag chairs out of the conference center and through the airports and airplanes to home.
While I did not help to start VMunderground 11 years ago (all credit for that goes to my good friend Theron), I got involved early on and helped it grow and keep on going. During that time, several other community events got started using a similar model: create an opportunity to give vendors an opportunity to support the community. This has led to vRockstar (the European cousin of VMunderground), vBrownBag TechTalks (an amazing way for individuals to help educate attendees and non-attendees), Spousetivities (which has given so many of us, including myself, a way to try to maintain a better work-life balance even at conferences), and Opening Acts.
Two years ago, all of these groups got together to see how we could support one another. We all run on shoestring budgets (trust me, none of us are getting rich, and some are even injecting personal money), so there wasn’t a possibility of financial support. What we decided to do was to create an easier (and cheaper) path for sponsors to sponsor all of us. Thus was formed the VMworld Community Sponsorship package, with the intention to make it very simple to find and sponsor multiple events at VMworld in order to get their company name out in front of the people that have the largest collective influence at VMworld: the vCommunity.
If you are a vendor, VAR, or community group and are looking to make a mark in the VMworld community, or simply want to give back to the community for all they’ve done for the industry, this is your best opportunity.
If you are an end user, blogger, or vExpert, make sure the vendors, VARs, and community leaders you work with understand what the community really does for one another and how big a part of the VMworld experience these events are for you (and could be for them).
We’ll have more info about our events announced soon, but we’re already getting budgets set, venues picked, activities narrowed down, and most importantly, getting sponsors lined up. If you’d like to help sponsor, please let us know: sponsorship@vsquaredb.com
-Brian
Wrap-up, 2016-style
The day (and night) passed without so much as a hiccup, and VMworld 2016 US has come and gone…
We’d again like to thank our generous sponsors, without whom these events couldn’t occur.
Of course, without attendance and community interest, the sponsors wouldn’t have any reason to help out; so without further ado, photos documenting Opening Acts and VMunderground attendees can be found here.
#VMunderground 