VM /ETC

Dear non technical Friends on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Plaxo, and all other social media services,

You probably think the volume of virtualization “geek speak” from me is already loud, but with VMworld 2009 starting in a little more than a week it is about to become overwhelming and deafening. I realize some of you chose to follow me for reasons that have nothing to do with virtualization, and you have silently endured my VM /ETC blog RSS feed up until now. This is my early apology for what is about to happen, and my plea for you to keep me as a friend and contact through what I know will be a tempting time for you to do otherwise.

Maybe I can make you understand what all the fuss will be about and that will help ease your suffering.

VMworld 2009 is the largest virtualization conference in the world. Once a year, 10 to 15 thousand geeks like myself make a pilgrimage to the event. (Yes, my 15 thousand friends an I consider virtualization a religion.) This year the Mecca happens to be in San Francisco, CA at the Moscone Center, but it has been held in various other cities over past years. VMware is the corporation that holds the event and showcases all of their products. VMware lets their competitors come too, and amazingly enough allows them to peddle their virtualization alternatives. There is some tradition of spirited debate between vendors at this conference. Chances are there will be this year too.

Maybe you’ve heard of VMware Fusion for running Windows on the Mac? Perhaps you’ve heard others talking about cloud computing and going green in the data center? Did you know virtualization is good for the planet and can even offset cow flatulence? These technologies are just the tip of the VMworld iceburg. I could go on but I bet I’d start to lose you. Let’s just say by “friend-ing” me you bought a ticket on a virtual Titanic this time of year.

I am lucky enough to be a featured blogger at VMworld, so I will be providing coverage in the form

of live blogs, daily photos, possibly some video, and random tweets and Facebook updates. Sometimes the social media content will seem like a giant alien instant messaging conversation to you, but every once in a while you will get a glimpse of some amazing events, gatherings, parties and various San Francisco locations. The web 2.0 madness will all build to a frenzy until the VMworld 2009 Party mid week when rock legend Foreigner will be the featured band.

If you really want to play along at home I suggest you check out Tweetgrid. Although a lot of us do have Facebook and various other social media accounts, we mostly seem to use Twitter. The good thing about Tweetgrid is that it is a web page ad you don’t have to have your own Twitter account to watch. Since VMworld will be a common keyword (hashtag for those that speak geek) among tweets you can watch many, many others besides me as well. I’ve even made a custom VMworld 2009 Tweetgrid just for you.

If none of the above appeals to you then I’ll give you the same advice I gave an old high school friend on Facebook about my technical content. Please treat my VM /ETC feed and the VMworld content like you treat the Sun. If you have to look at it, do so quickly but look away before it hurts your eyes.

P.S. VMworld is also VM /ETC’s birthday, so it’s a pretty big deal to me!

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