VMware Explore Europe 2022 — A Recap
All good things come to an end. And such a good thing was VMware Explore’s European conference in Barcelona, Spain.
It was held at the Fira Barcelona Gran Via conference center from the 7th until the 10th of November, with the 8th and 9th being the main days when the most interesting sessions, keynotes happened and the expo was opened. I was lucky enough to be in the center of this multi-cloud universe from the 7th until the 9th of November.
As a first time attendant I can’t really compare with past years, but indeed you could feel a nice energy and a lot of friendly faces everywhere you would move in that big space.
The sessions
Fira Gran Via was buzzing. There were some rumors that ~8000 attendees had registered. More often than not there were lines for sessions at their entrances, as either some of them had quickly filled up their attendance list or appeared a tad later than the initial release of the agenda late September. But walkins could still attend a session if they queue up 15 min early.
Content wise, I found this fellow attendee’s All the Major Announcements from VMware Explore Europe and US! — esxsi.com write up covering it nicely.
Also, the VMware social media people were also doing a great recap of all that was going on at the conference/expo. You can check them out here for Day 0/Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3.
The keynotes were the ones that I had planned on skipping as I assumed they would be recorded and if there were any huge announcements I would still find out about them by opening my Twitter. On the other side, there was talk that most of the sessions would end up being available on-demand in the event page. But so far I have only found the VMware Communities and Code Theater’s sessions on the channel vBrownBag.
I would like to single out my absolute favorite sessions that stayed with me and I wish have lasted longer:
- #90DaysOfDevOps — The DevOps Learning Journey [VMTN1979EUR]
- Advanced Troubleshooting of ESXi Server 7.x for vSphere Gurus [CXS2145EUR]
- VMware {code} Intel NUC Home Lab with vSphere, Tanzu and Smart Sensor [CODE2769EUR]
A small remark I have, if someone from VMware ever reads this, is that it would be nice for the future events if the speakers offer to share slides with the attendants, to just have an option in the mobile app to opt in to receive the slides from the presentation.
Swag
An unavoidable part of a conference seems to be to collect swag memorabilia. If you have the full event pass, at registration you are getting these awesome backpack, T-Shirt and water bottle for which you can read in detail here.
As part of the expo days, you could have picked up fun swag at other companies booths and learn about their latest product offerings. Other than T-Shirts from different vendors, you can check below some of the other random swag offered this year.
Awesome vExpert gift
If you have the vExpert status, there are separate gatherings where you get to know or catch up with other vExperts. This year there was the vBeers at The Old Irish Pub, which was the most genuine experience for me there, and a vBreakfast, which I’m sad to say that I missed. But the cherry on top for vExperts was a very thoughtful gift, a Maxtang NX6412–4Lb11(review) courtesy of Corey Romero (vExpert Program manager), Vmware and Cohesity. I think the whole community of vExperts can’t thank them enough for this nice addition to our homelab.
Conclusion
All in all, it was an amazing event to attend. Despite being overwhelming at times, at least for a first timer, you learn how to take a breather and enjoy this irreplaceable opportunity where you can learn and meet/discuss fun topics with like-minded people.
Adios VMware Explore y espero que nos encontremos otra vez!
P.S. Just a recommendation for some fellow Explorers’ takes on the event that I stumbled upon:
P.P.S
Check out my other posts “Why should you attend VMware Explore?” and ”VMware Explore 2022 — Europe” where I wrote about other aspects of VMware Explore.
