EMC World 2011: Day 3 and Final Thoughts

First off, my apologies for not having this final EMC World post out sooner. Traveling and lack of sleep has pretty much kept me away from writing until now. Day 3 was the last full day of EMC World and it was just as packed as before.

Today was EMC Proven day at EMC World. Attendees that had received a proven certification were given an orange shirt and asked to wear it to show their support. After hearing news that Matt took 3 different exams yesterday, I decided it would be a good idea to take one as well. Being that it has been over a year since I started in NAS support, I should have retained enough knowledge to pass the NAS Specialist exam. Apparently I wasn’t the only one to have this idea because the line to register was out the door and it took over a half hour to get signed up for my exam. This also meant that all the timeslots were taken and it was standby only. The people at the proven center were well aware of this surge to pass exams, so a second testing room was opened up and my wait time was only a few minutes. This whole experience was well worth it as I passed my NAS Specialist exam.

We also had our #nerdherd today and it was a great experience. While several people joined us on camera, even more joined to watch, or participated via twitter and the live chat. All sorts of topics were discussed like the keynotes at EMC World, the vLabs, the VNXe, local #nerdherd meetings, and many other things. One of the comments that were brought up was the notion that “EMC eats its own dog food”. Taken out of context, this sounds like it has a negative connotation, but it really doesn’t. What was meant by this statement was that we use internally the same thing we are trying to sell to customers. We have a very large VDI deployment that works very well.

The day closed out with the final keynote, Chad’s World Live. Hopefully most of you already know the Chad’s World videos, but if you don’t, you should check them out. The venue was full of beer and laughs and it was a great time. The tech demos on stage were great.  They powered on 100 Wyse thin clients only to reveal that it was powered by the new Iomega PX6 (I want one of these). My only concern with this was the time. The performance was right after the sessions and show floor ended, so people were being pumped full of beer on an empty stomach. This did cause a lot of noise to be coming from the back of the room.

Las Vegas is a great place for a conference. Everything is within walking distance and there are plenty of things to do when you’re not on the show floor. You can take in an after party, a club, some great food, or a performance. When you are ready to unwind, the view can be incredible. I had an incredible time at EMC World. Len Devanna made a great place for a blogger like myself to get work done while at the show.  Thanks to everyone who made this an event to remember and I can’t wait to go to EMC World next year.

EMC World 2011: Day 1

In my previous post, I talked about the pre-conference festivities. Today was the official kick off of the show. After a quick breakfast, I started my day in the Blogger’s Lounge at Social City. If you have not seen this place, you should check it out. EMC’s Social Media team has provided an amazing space with plenty of couches, chairs, power strips, WIFI, and a Cappuccino Machine. They have made this a great place to sit down, have a great conversation, and do some blogging.

The morning kicked off with two great keynotes by Joe Tucci and Pat Gelsinger. I could go on and on about what was talked about, but everyone is covering that information, so you’ve probably already read about it. If not, feel free to check out the press releases on the EMC Website.

One of the first areas of EMC World that I checked out was the vSpecialist vLab. This is a great way to give customers a hands-on approach to trying out several of EMC’s different products. The lab setup has a large number of dual screen terminals powered by Wyse thin clients. This allowed the actual desktops and lab terminals to be thousands of miles away in Research Triangle Park. Leveraging this virtual setup, the lab can actually be deployed anywhere which will cut down on cost and setup time for future conventions.

Lunch was very good and efficient. The convention staff has really brought order to the chaos that is feeding 10,000+ people. I really have to give it up to them as there were no problems getting food and finding a place to eat.

After Lunch, since the Solutions Pavilion was not open yet, it was time for some breakout sessions. EMC World has a wide variety of presentations and hands on labs available to customers and it ranges from introductory level to advanced topics. Along with all the breakout sessions, the EMC Education Services staff are here and offering exams for half price. This is a great way to become proven and I plan on taking a specialist exam while I’m here.

Towards the end of the day, the solution pavilion opened and I was able to check out all that our partners had to offer. There is a lot going on in the area with demos of all the great products. Almost everyone is giving away an iPad 2 or a shirt. I didn’t spend too much time there at first, but I will be making another round before I leave Las Vegas.