Microsoft! I know, right? It was 10 years ago that Microsoft tried to be funny (poker chips, look it up, not the smartest marketing idea ever…) and ended up home alone. Luckily, 2018 is a different time! Microsoft and VMware are both in very different parts of their cloud-based journey, and both companies have something to offer customers who are looking to find the best way to adapt and grow their IT environments.
I’ll admit, after moving to Microsoft in June, I was bummed at the prospect of missing VMworld. I’ve been to every US event since 2009, and have only missed a couple of the EMEA ones. I’ve been working with vBrownBag and VMunderground/Opening Acts for years, and was disappointed when I realized I wasn’t going to be able to attend.
Instead, not only will I get to be there and participate with the communities that I’ve belonged to for so many years, I have arrived during a very cool phase of the relationship between VMware and Microsoft. I’m excited to have the opportunity to bring information about how VMware customers can leverage Azure to build a hybrid infrastructure, and that’s what we’ll be focusing on this week.
I’m not going to go over all the sessions Microsoft is participating in since Liam Kamrat already did that here and here. Poummala Schmitt also gave her take on the sessions here.
The sessions are great, and I’m going to do my best to attend all of them that I can, but I’ve been pretty clear that my goal is to help the VMware community figure out where Microsoft fits into the always-expanding ecosystem of partners. I will be spending a lot of time in the community lounge, in the booth, and with every VMUG leader I can find and buy a drink for. To make that a little more painless, we have put together some pretty cool (I think anyway) giveaways for everyone.
First up, is a little bit of a laptop sticker scavenger hunt!
There will be 12 completely new stickers (drawn by the incomparable Ashley McNamara!) featuring the Azure Advocate mascot “Bit” given out at the show. For folks who collect all 12, there’s a special piece of art that can be used to either complete the collection, or make a really cool standalone piece of swag on it’s own. Everything is limited in availability (50 of each sticker, 25 of each special art piece) so first come, first served… Here’s where each one can be found:
Sticker #1 – Available in the MSFT booth
Sticker #2 – Available in the VMvillage on Monday, August 27th
Sticker #3 – Available in the VMvillage on Monday, August 27th
Sticker #4 – Available in the VMvillage on Monday, August 27th
Sticker #5 – Available in the VMvillage on Tuesday, August 28th
Sticker #6 – Available in the VMvillage on Tuesday, August 28th
Sticker #7 – Available in the VMvillage on Tuesday, August 28th
Sticker #8 – Available in the VMvillage on Wednesday, August 29th
Sticker #9 – Available in the VMvillage on Wednesday, August 29th
Sticker #10 – Available in the VMvillage on Wednesday, August 29th
Sticker #11 – Only available from Phoummala Schmitt (@ExchangeGoddess)
Sticker #12 – Only available from me! (@jdooley_clt)
Collector Poster #1 and Collector Poster #2 will be available to the first 20 people who collect ALL TWELVE STICKERS!
I know they are only stickers. I promise that we’ll try and up the Microsoft swag game at future events, but I really do love these characters that Ashley has created, and am excited to share them!
For all of you travelling to Vegas this weekend, get there safely and I’ll see you at the show!
