Wow, the vExpert Program is 12 years old… and might I say, it’s been awhile. How long so you might ask? Long before things reached a level of formality and structure… In 2012 I even published this, The Non-definitive guide to the VMware vExpert Program, Tips, Tricks, How to become a vExpert! So it’s definitely time to visit what’s changed, what’s changed as I’ve taken my journey throughout this program! Also since Mid-year nominations are now open for the VMware #vExpert Program be sure to get your nominations in before June 20th!
What the vExpert Program means to me
The VMware vExpert Program has had a great impact on my life which I will definitely dig into later in this article. This program was built upon the merits of the most successful and respected programs in the community, and focused on the most essential pieces of what these programs have always been about; growing the community, the technology and the people and practitioners within this space. While it has evolved and advanced over the years, a number of programs have, it has always maintained the heart of the program and the core mission behind building and strengthening the community as a whole, and it is because of that I am as proud today as I was when I first joined the program 12 years ago.
The Sub-Programs
I’ve had the honor and privilege to be a part of a number of different Sub-Programs over the years, some I would let lapse when my focus might change, and others I have had the privilege to join when they would newly start up or I can contribute to these areas to help grow and expand the community! At this time, I’m a member of a few of the Sub-Programs which I take great pride in my membership of, they include the NSX, Security and Pro programs. Mind you, there are more programs than that!
These programs have waxed and waned with the advances and growths within the technology, but for the time being, this is a snapshot of the programs that are active today! You’ll find a number of amazing rockstars in the community that will often specialize within a particular discipline within these Sub-Programs (EUC in particular rings to mind, of the number of awesome folks who eat and breathe EUC!)
In particular, I was excited when the vExpert NSX Program was first introduced as I worked with Nicira pre-acquisition, and I would give Pat Gelsinger so much flack at events he kept referring to me as the “NSX Guy”, (Hey, I was just trying to get the technology cleaned up and especially the licensing cleaned up so everyone could use it! :)) I’ll say though, my constant “feedback” resulted in a number of impactful changes in the product. Who is to say if it was ME, but who really cares, the outcome and success is what I care for, so I don’t care how we get there!
Also, this is the first year of the vExpert Security Program, and if you know how much I care about Security, you would know why this one is particularly exciting to me especially as I got my start in security in the early 90s…
My vExpert Journey Personally and Professionally
Personally my journey with VMware started long before the start of the vExpert Program, some might say I would champion for the VMware technology a good decade before there even was a program formally trying to achieve this purpose. And some might be correct on that 🙂
I apologize for the grainy look of the “Dear VMware User” letter I received in 1999. I HAVE the original somewhere, but had to instead rely upon this photo of it I took in 2011, and unfortunately cameras were not nearly as good in those days as they are today! But as you can see this journey has been quite a long and eventful one, or perhaps you might think if media and paperwork are any indicator.
You should know, that my journey was not strictly professional, as far as virtualization goes, nor as the industry as a whole goes. I went from working in the trenches to working at vendors, to being a Director, Executive, Leadership, Management to LITERALLY working in the Trenches, to come back to the States in a CTO role, and on to the next journey!
Some of you, who have known me or of me for a minute, probably relate back to your experience had at one of my many #CXIParty events hosted at EMCWorld or VMworld (The events which got their start in 2011 with half a dozen repeats in the years that followed!) Interesting little fact, for those who didn’t know, While CXI is actually a short form for my name, the CXI in CXIParty actually means, “Communities Xchanging Ideas” – This event was made so the community could connect, collaborate, meet and so forth. We can revisit that again in the future as well.
The point is though, this has been a very long journey, filled with innumerable well fortified relationships, friendships and more. The #vExpert Community has never been one merely of access to technology, or talking and writing about some of the technology, because it is the people, you, me and everyone in the community that makes this what it is.
My struggles and lessons learned
Every single year, and I spoke to this, even in my 2012 guide mentioned at the start… Every single year I would struggle to ask myself, “What did I do this year? Do I do enough to even justify my continued contributions to this community?” And usually, I would find that not only did I achieve some arbitrary minimum number of items of posts and the like, but I would also have kind of hit it out of the park. But there’s the public things I do, “Write an article” here, or “Present or speak at a conference” or go around and help usher in a new era of technologists into the community and connect them with people and technology. While these have all been very important and essential in the program (I guess? :)) where I find that I really shine has been the connections and relationships with the community, directly with members. No, I’m not saying, “vExperts talking to vExperts” but instead, something much deeper than that. At tech events, VMworld, VMUGs or other events, through forums, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or other avenues to meet or get introduced to people, I would meet new members of the community, sometimes being brand new to tech as a whole, or sometimes well into the system and might just be in a rut. Really, people fill all of the areas, and non-publicly, I would work with, mentor and something I always enjoyed, help build life-plans, career plans, roadmaps to success.
Frankly, it doesn’t matter what your age is, what your title is, or how long you have been in tech or ANY industry. Your passion, your motivation and your plans for success are major drivers, and sometimes you just need that little nudge to be able to make that life changing career move. A major factor there is “not knowing what you don’t know” and if you know a thing or two, it’s easy to cut through the unknown and get to the future you don’t even know you want yet!
So even now as I decide where I want to invest my time and what business I want to help grow, be successful, and other areas to channel my energy and passion; it is you the community who have always been at my thoughts and how I engage and work to help you grow and you be successful. I know no matter what journey I choose to go down, it will be a great one and a strong one so I am not too worried or concerned.
Call to action – Apply to be a vExpert!
So as one more reminder of a call to action! If you know someone who would be a perfect fit for the vExpert Program, or if even YOU feel that YOU are a perfect fit for the vExpert program, get your application in submitted! The vExpert Program Application is here!
And if you think you want to do it, but you’re just not sure what or how to deal with it, or you’re looking for someone who’s done it before, or someone regionally located near you, check out the vExpert Pro Directory. Reach out to one of them, they would be glad to help you get things submitted, They represent 40+ languages and countries and are here to help you with your application!
So thank you for taking the time to read even this small snippet of my journey in these 12 years. I have so many stories I’ve shared over time, and so many more stories to share (not to mention my keynotes or my literal tales from the trenches) as well as talks sitting around a proverbial, or physical fire. What did you think? Do you have any questions, any stories of your own to share? Let me know in the comments below! Thanks and look forward to seeing your applications, and joining us in the world of the vExperts!