Why you should register for one of the last seats available at #vmugbe

What does the VMware User Group means to me?

Well it is already more than a decade ago since I visited my first VMUGBE. I have seen the event grow from 15 visitors to more than 200. The last couple of years it is hosted in the LAMOT event center in Mechelen which is a superb venue. Ever since the first time I only missed a couple due to other obligations but when I attended I took home a lot of info, knowledge and new visions. Going to VMUGBE throughout the years have made me grow due to the sessions and the peers available.

A couple of years ago I met @kim_bottu who engaged me in becoming a #vExpert. Now two years in a row I am awarded being part of this vExpert community and VMUGBE facilitated this in a way. A lot of the Belgian vExperts come year after year and are very open people ready to chat.

These are a couple of the vExperts that will be attending this year:

  • Erik Schils
  • Stijn Depril
  • Tom Vallons
  • Maarten Van Driessen
  • Frederiek Van Hoornick
  • Luc Dekens
  • Jose Cavalheri
  • Maarten Caus
  • Niels Engelen
  • Alain Geenrits
  • Jurgen Van de Perre
  • Wouter Kursten
  • Hans Kraaijeveld
  • Johan Van Amersfoort
  • Harold Preyers
  • and …

Why should you attend?

It is a FREE #vCommunity networking event with top speakers. There is top relevant content available from CNA to Horizon View and VMware Cloud on AWS to VMware Blockchain and IOT. It is all VMware related and there is some marketing stuff yes (which make the event FREE) but most is community driven and real world examples.

There are 16 sessions in total, 3 parallel tracks with 4 sessions in the morning and 4 in the afternoon. There will be a small breakfast, a free lunch, a free BBQ and a chance to win a smartphone.

What sessions am I looking forward to?

Maarten Van Driessen (@mvandriessen) will share his knowledge from the field about VVOLS. I have never worked with VVOLS so I’m curious. My lab has Synology based storage and sadly Synology does not support VVOLS. I’m personally looking forward to this session.

Maarten is blogging at brisk-it.net

https://www.vmug.be/sessions/unlocking-the-power-of-spbm-with-traditional-storage-arrays/

Our very own Luc Dekens (@lucd) will tell you about PowerCLI. Even if you know everything about PowerCLI this is a session to attend. I have been at several Luc his sessions and for me these gave me new insights about challenges I had.

Luc is blogging at lucd.info

https://www.vmug.be/sessions/powercli-the-power-of-code/

Johan van Amersfoort (@vhojan) is an easy to listen to speaker which has his session right after lunch. He will tell about a project where they used the VDI infrastructure to do a whole other thing during the nighttime. Don’t miss out on this session. I have missed this session twice so I will be now. Third time is a charm.

Johan is blogging at vhojan.nl

https://www.vmug.be/sessions/sponsor-itq-vdi-by-day-compete-by-night/

Last but not least the #vExpert Community session led by Stijn Depril (@sdepril). This sessions is one of the last sessions and will try to highlight why you should become a #vExpert. I will be on the #vExpert panel during this session so if you want to see me sweat (it is my first public speaking session) you should attend this session. We will share a lot of personal views and insights during this session.

Stijn is blogging at vmusketeers.com

https://www.vmug.be/sessions/vexpert-community-session/

I could go highlight a lot more sessions but that content is all available on https://www.vmug.be/

Key takeaways and tips:

  • Be there on time as the opening keynote speaker is Joe Baguley (@joebaguley) from VMware and last year it was a cool story to hear.
  • If you are attending, take the time to come to speak to me. I still am a shy guy.
  • Step out of your comfort zone, take your lunch to a table and start to chat.
  • Knowledge is about sharing.

Thanks

I want to thank @erikschils for all his efforts in organising the VMUGBE all these years.

I also want to thank those who have attended the previous VMUGBE events and those who will be attending this year. You are the ones that make these events a success.