Security is a wonderful thing. I didn’t bring my conrey.org login information with me to VMworld, so I’ve got one big update, summing up the whole experience:
Monday, I got up early today and after picking up Andy, got out to the airport. Everything went well getting to the airport, and the flight out was uneventful. We linked up with another attendee flying in from Des Moines, and I offered to get give him a lift rather than having to get a taxi in LA. After landing, getting out luggage, and getting our rental, (and dropping off our hitchhiker) we headed off to get some food. We ended up going to a great Vietnamese restaurant, and I ordered a good meal. I stopped by a Chinese bakery afterwards not knowing what we were doing the next day for breakfast. Andy had never been to a Dim-Sum restaurant and after seeing a one that looked good, figured that we’d be back in the neighborhood.
Monday night I wanted to get out a bit, so Andy and I went up to burbank to check out the Fry’s there. I wasn’t impressed. The Frys electronics in Northern California are ALOT nicer.
Tuesday was the start of the event. The welcoming keynote was less “check this out!” and more “here’s what we’re doing”. I got my labs out of the way Tuesday, and learned alot. Tuesday Night Andy and I attended an event sponsored by a company out of St. Louis, and we met out vmware sales folks there.
Wednesday’s keynote was amazing. Great speaker (more info to follow) and real vision about where the OS is going. Alot of good classes today. and I snuck into another lab. I’m interested in getting VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) deployed out when we get back.
Wednesday Night was VMware’s big hoopla. The night started at the Hard Rock Cafe at Universal Studios, and after a couple of hours the party moved on to Universal studios itself. Vmware had rented out both for a closed party. And there was ALOT of food and drink to go around.
The numbers thinned out significantly on Thursday which made it alot easier to get seats in the sessions. After a long day, everyone was tired so Andy and I didn’t want to try and drive anywhere, so we went to a Japanese restaurant in the hotel. Great sushi. Andy decided that sushi wasn’t “bleech”, and I think I could convince him to go to Taki’s here in town.
Friday we headed to the airport and made our way back home. All in all a great trip, it’s hard to find an environment to learn so much so fast while having a good time doing it. I’m looking forward to VMworld2007, and given that it’s being held in San Francisco, I may get to see some family as well. Until then I’ll be crossing my fingers.