My IT Bucket List: Speaking at VMworld
Ten years ago, I attended my first VMworld conference. Even back then it was awe-inspiring to sit in a room with thousands of people and watch the leaders and superstars speak to us about the latest in technology, innovation and the direction the industry was headed. It was then that I decided, “Someday, I will be on that stage!” This is the story of my journey to and experience of speaking at VMworld.
Working as a consultant for the VMware professional services organization I discovered that we could submit sessions based on customer success stories and other technical topics to present at VMworld. This was the spark I needed to write my first submission. With a strong wind in my sail and determination, I clicked send.
Just when I thought my patience had worn out I received the email from the submissions team, “Thanks, but no thanks.” I was crushed, disappointed and felt defeated. I would learn from my colleagues that over the years the number of accepted sessions submitted from folks in our groups was staggeringly low. They had long since stopped trying as the disappointment was too great. I was feeling the same way. Then I remembered a saying my Dad often said to me, “If you don’t ask the answer is always No!” And another quote from Mikey Walsh, “Goonies never say die!” The following year I submitted for two sessions. #Declined, #Declined. Strikes two and three, right?
Not so fast, third time (or year) was the charm. I went back to the drawing board and picked a topic and theme that I felt would resonate with both the IT community as well as the review board. My submission was a customer success story for a project that I had worked with and followed for over 2 years. The company, Sentara Healthcare, is a major healthcare organization on the East coast. I reached out to their IT team as well as internally to VMware influencers in that vertical and quickly started getting a great deal of attention for the session. I would later work closely with Sentara’s Principal Technical Architect, Chris Poyner. He and I were part of the original team that started their project over 2 years back.
After another eternity of waiting, the email arrived.
Dear Joe, Congratulations!
We are happy to announce that your session proposal(s) has/have been accepted for VMworld 2019 US, taking place in San Francisco, from August 25 – 29!
It happened, it finally happened! I was picked and headed to what I consider “The Big Show” I was going to get on a stage and speak to my colleagues and fellow tech peers at VMworld!
The next thing to happen was an influx of email communication from the VMworld committee and review team. I was given access to the Speaker Resource Center. This online portal would provide me with everything I needed to get started preparing for my session.
There was a PowerPoint slide deck chock full of templates and slides that branded the sessions for this year’s conference. They were really slick and in no time, I was building what would be a simple, yet powerful presentation.
#PracticeMakesPerfect.
While the PowerPoint was being finalized it was time to start practicing. Being on the road for the majority of the months leading up to VMworld 2019 made practice a bit of a challenge. Many nights were spent in front of a Marriott wall mirror talking to myself. I have to say I am my best audience but when even I started heckling myself, I knew I was ready.
The night before my flight felt like waiting for Christmas or your birthday as a kid. A short flight and San Francisco greeted me like an old friend. I checked in and headed over to the room where the presentation was to be delivered. It was eerily quiet, of course as there were no attendees, but it gave me the opportunity to think. I walked to the stage, climbed the stairs, and looked out over the chairs that would soon be filled with eager attendees. Needless to say, my nerves were at an all-time high. #YouCanDoThis!
Monday, August 26, 2019! The day had arrived. Our session was set to begin at 12:30p, right in the middle of the lunch hours. While there was some concern that folks would be more interested in getting something to eat, we were very glad to see over 100 attendees ready and eager to hear the presentation. While my part was brief, only the first 10 minutes of the session, it was the setup for the session, told the client’s story and got the crowd fired up for the client’s part. There were definitely some nerves getting started and a stutter or two but once I got talking (as is usually my case) the rest of my part flowed really well. After the client presented their solution, a good ten minutes early too, we ended up in almost 25 minutes of Q/A with the crowd and it was amazing. We learned quite a lot from them as well as share our experience and knowledge.
This was by far one of the most amazing experiences I’ve had for work and in my career as an IT professional. It has opened to me a new avenue to interacting with people and putting myself out there in the world. I hope to spring-board this into other speaking engagements and keeping in touch with the community at large and being a helpful and fun part of it.
