With all the T-shirts and swag handed out, Dell EMC World gets boxed up for another year. Over the four day event we heard announcements for XtremeIO, IoT, Hello Alice, DTUG and others. Many things, this post won’;t be touching on :).
I attended the event with vBrownBag to produce Tech Talks and even film some podcasts. The recordings are found on the vBrownBag YouTube Channel.
vBrownBag
For the event, the vBrownBag crew consisted of Alastair Cooke, Jeremy Powers and Myself. Together over 3 days of filming we produced 23 videos. Including podcasts for Speaking in Tech and Greybeards on Storage.
vBrownBag was setup near the Intel Energy Zone in the main lounge. Which introduced some challenges with back ground noise. Thankfully the microphones used were able to filter that out while the presenters were talking.
As standard with vBrownBag recordings we were uploading to YouTube as quick as we could after the recording concluded. More to the point, as quick as conference WiFi would allow.
I would like to thank everyone who took the time to present a tech talk for vBrownBag. Your talks provide excellent material for many people and provide value back to the community.
The Social Side
For myself, the big appeal of these events is the social meetings that take place. Being on the other side of the equator from many of the people I follow provides limitations in meeting them.
I was lucky enough to receive invites to several influencer social events and dinners. Unlike a traditional vendor party, these provided plenty of opportunity for discussion. Including, getting to know people outside of their online persona.
The list of people I have to thank for providing social opportunities is long and at risk of missing names on the list. I’;ll just say thanks to all those who all those involved, I greatly appreciate the opportunity to socialise with you.
The VMUG and DTUG Announcement
VMUG HQ announced VMUG will be part of Dell Technlogies User Community (DTUC). DTUC would form an umbrella over various User Groups, such as VMUG, VCE and EMC User Groups.
Due to the limited information provided to the VMUG leaders this announcement, was as well received as a kick in the nuts. The vExpert slack channel lit up and to be honest, it wasn’;t a positive reaction. VMUG HQ had failed to inform the local VMUG leaders of the changes; nor provide a enough information. The result was the spread of FUD throughout.
vBrownBag was able to provide a platform for Brad and Ben Clayton (VMUG President) to record a message for the VMUG Leaders. To provide enough information and prevent the spread of misinformation.
Solutions Expo
Due to vBrownBag commitments, I was not able to spend a much time in the Solutions Expo. The expo hall was light up like a 15 yr olds gaming computer, with bright flashing lights everywhere.
I made my around the smaller stands to learn about vendors I hadn’;t heard of before, or only knew by name. Picking up new bits of information to help determine what companies are trying to achieve.
Some companies showed some good innovations, while others didn’;t give that impression. The booth staff were friendly and happy to answer the questions asked. Even when the answer wasn’;t favourable to their brand. There were minimal booth babes and I was able to talk nerdy with the first person I spoke to, which is great to see.
Summary
I had a great time at Dell EMC World and hope to have the opportunity to attend next year. From the vBrownBag perspective, this was a great event to produce content and target new parts of the technology space. Hopefully we can build upon this year and be bigger next year.
I got a great deal of value and have added many people to my list of ‘follow and met’;. I learnt a great deal and have a lot to follow up on, which isn’;t always a bad thing.
It’;s time to pretty for Interop ITX and do it all again in a couple of days. Until then….
