Vexpert

In the most recent round of vExpert sub-program applications, I was asked to help review applications for the vExpert Cloud Management track. As part of the CMBU and a long-standing vExpert it made sense for me to help out, and I was happy to do so. I reviewed ~60 of the applications that were in my area - automation. The experience was an eye-opener. What follows is a distillation of what (not) to do when you’re writing your application.

TL;DR - the first 50 vExperts to sign up on this google sheet and then make a donation to my fundraiser here or another charity of your choice will get a nice shiny new vExpert 2020 sticker!

A few weeks ago, I entered a StickerMule tweet contest to get some free holographic sticker prints - and I won! While I was thinking about what to do with my newly donated sticker trove, I figured why not use it to bribe the vExpert community in exchange for some charitable giving?! And, given there were over 50 likes and 40 comments in response to my initial tweet, it seemed like vExperts were up for a little bit of paying it forward!

So it being 2020 now I thought it would be a pleasant exercise to quickly glance over the previous ten years and reflect a little. Before I even begin I will say I have never been happier in my career and work/life balance (which is always an on going effort to keep appropriate)

I am going to break it down in a yearly format and then summarize at the end.

It has been a few years since I read (and lost) a great article on career progression and personal insight. That article helped me relax into who I am from a professional point of view, but it also challenged me.

I have been in IT for over 20 years now and in truth the first 10 years were not so great (perhaps a story for another time) but it was when I stumbled upon the vCommunity by way of Twitter and then subsequently I attended my first VMUG (in London) which completely challenged and changed my way of thinking and approach to my career. Talking to and observing peers whom I respected gave me a lot of inspiration to re-evaluate what I was doing in my career, why I did what I was doing and perhaps most importantly of all was I really being the best I can be?

Having missed last years VMworld I feel very ready for attending the EMEA VMworld in Barcelona.

I almost felt annoyed about missing last year as the big announcements really caused a stir in the community and wider afield. (VMware on AWS) The announcements from the US VMworld this year were equally exciting so I am very keen to hear what else VMware has planned to reveal in a Barcelona.

I have put a good deal of effort into planning what I will be doing and attending to maximise my time there without burnout (Veterans I hear you laughing)

I’m not sure if I’ll take advantage of the cheap certifications this year - in previous years I’ve take VCIX-NV , VCP-NV and VCAP5-DCD all with great results, so it’s something I’d consider, although at this point I’m not 100% sure what exam I’d take (I’ve done a lot of betas recently!)

It was with great honor both Sam and I were awarded vExpert 2014 (my first and Sam’s second award!) we are both proud to be listed alongside so many others in the vExpert programme.

You can view the announcement and the full list here -  http://blogs.vmware.com/vmtn/2014/04/vexpert-2014-announcement.html

One of the many perks of being a vExpert is the cool vexpert.me URL shortener provided by Darren Woollard (@dawoo). There are several ways for vExperts to use it once they’ve signed up – there’s a PowerShell script by Jonathan Medd (@jonathanmedd) and Maish Saidel-Keesing (@maishsk) and now even a GUI interface based on the PowerShell.