In my Preparing for the VMworld Pilgrimage post last week, I went over some things, namely hotel and airfare, which you should have confirmed by now if you are planning on attending VMworld 2010 in San Francisco. I have heard through the grapevine that there are going to be around 15,000 people in attendance this year so it is shaping to be another great event. This post is going with the assumption that your travel, logging, sessions and labs have been booked and taken care of. With that said, what is the best way to stay current and get the most out of the week? I would like to present the thought that the VMTN Community Lounge / Blogger Area is a good place to start. If you are looking to meet some of the most active individuals in virtualization, this will be a place that you should consider checking in periodically throughout the week.
“Twitter is your friend.” There is no truer statement than this. Most all of the active people in virtualization are also very active on Twitter. There will be a lot of ad-hoc updates and such that will only really happen on Twitter. If you do not have a twitter account then now would be a good time to look into getting one. Once you have an account find some of the people that interest you the most and friend that person and his friends to get you started. If you also set up a search for things like #VMTN and or #VMworld you will get a feel and a look at the people that are involved with the event. Don’t be shy, reach out to some really great people that will share your passion for virtualization and technology in general. Networking is one of my primary goals of the event. This is one of the few places I get to meet up with a lot of my peers as well as get the chance to met new and exciting people. The stories you will get to share with friends long after the event itself… Priceless. For everything else there is MasterCard.
You need to plan on walking at least a couple of miles a day. Comfortable shoes will be must. Do not go out and buy a new pair of shoes for the event because you will really start hating yourself during or shortly after the first day. Please learn from my past mistakes. I have been fortunate enough to have presented at all the past VMworlds from 2005 on and one year I got some new outfits and shoes to do my presentation. I was not a very happy camper after a few hours of walking around and I am not sure if my feet have ever forgiven me for that event. Make sure you have the right shoes to be walking around in and consider gelling through the event. Your feet will thank you for it.
The last I heard, is the VMTN Community Lounge is going to be near the bookstore. A lot of the virtualization authors will be attending this event and their books will most likely be available at the book store. In past years there have been book signings and I would imagine that to be the case this year.
Visit our Sponsors at VMworld 2010. For booth, announcement, and give-a-ways click here.