My Experience and Guide of VMware Explore 2022

Last year I had the pleasure of attending the VMware Explore 2022 event held in Barcelona. Thanks to my current employer – Kyndryl, a VMware partner, I was able to attend such a conference for the first time in my career. In this article, I would like to share my experience of this event, as well as a small guide for anyone who is going there for the first time.

Registration

The event starts on Monday, while registration opens on Sunday afternoon. Upon arrival in Barcelona, please go to the registration desk to collect your badge, backpack and t-shirt. The number of these gadgets is limited, so the sooner the better. Fira Gran Via is a really huge place, so it’s worth mentioning where to go for registration, right here:

I arrived in Barcelona late on Sunday evening, registration for the day was already closed, so I went there on Monday morning. If you plan to go there in the morning, be there early because there are huge queues later. Once you’ve claimed your badge, you should keep it visible the entire time you’re at the event. There were about 10,000 people there so all the stuff and security people ask to show your badge. Take care of your badge and don’t lose it, there is a fee for losing your badge during the event. There is a QR code on the badge that is scanned when you participate in any training, Hands On labs or visit any company stand. It is used to register your attendance, but you can also be added to the newsletter of the company you visited. You can receive emails about their products later. Don’t worry, you can unsubscribe at any time.

Training sessions & planning your day

It is not possible to participate in all trainings as part of this event. Mainly because there are several sessions at the same time that you might be interested in, but also they are in different parts of the building. Sometimes you have to walk from one building to another, which can take up to 15 minutes. That’s why it’s important to plan your day. Choose the sessions or labs that best suit your interests. This is where the VMware Explore app comes in very handy. It is available for iOS and Android. In this application you can find all the sessions and locations, you have your schedule, you can find all the necessary information and frequently asked questions. Luckily, all the training sessions were recorded, so you’ll have access to them after the event, as well as the hands-on labs. If you miss a session, don’t worry.

Here are some of my favorite sessions from the event:

  • General Session
  • VMware Cloud on AWS: The Fastest, Safest Path for all your VMware Workloads
  • The Future of DR Cloud Protection
  • VMware Cloud Foundation – What’s New and Operations
  • Breakthrough Multicloud Strategies for Your Workloads With Dell and VMware
  • VMware Aria Unified Multi-Cloud Management
  • Disaster Protection with Azure VMware Solution and VMware Site Recovery Manager (Hands-On Lab)
  • All the Hands-On Labs that I managed to finish

What to wear

You will walk a lot at this event – 10k-15k steps or even more is absolutely normal. Make sure you have comfortable shoes. The dress code is Business Casual, so you don’t have to wear a suit, but try to wear something smart. The weather in Barcelona is mostly sunny. I recommend having a backpack with you for the day, it can be useful for storing any gadgets, food, drinks, laptop, whatever you need. Also take this into account when planning your luggage, leave some space for an extra backpack, gadgets and anything else you want to bring from Barcelona.

Food

Breakfast and snacks are served every day at the event, coffee, tea, water, fruit, everything you need is there. Tables with food and drinks are located in many places in the buildings. So from the morning you can just grab a coffee, sandwich and go explore. Lunch is served from the 2nd to the 4th day. There are different types of food, so you will find something suitable for your diet.

Transportation

Mostly I used taxis and the subway. Especially the subway, because after registering at the event, you can pick up a ticket entitling you to take 10 trips by subway. Enough for a daily drive from the hotel to Fira. You can order a taxi using the mobile application, a phone call or just take one that is waiting next to Fira. There are plenty of them waiting for the customer.

I took a taxi from the airport to the hotel. There is also a shuttle service provided by VMware from the airport to Fira Gran Via, but it is only available at certain times, see the VMware Explore app for details.

Friends network & Social Media

This event is not only about trainings. It is also an opportunity to meet many people who also work with VMware and Cloud products. You can make many new friends and meet experts from various companies. You can talk to engineers, learn new things, discuss your daily problems with their products or services. There are sponsor companies at this event, such as Microsoft, AWS, Dell, Lenovo, Google, every top IT company in the world. Each of them has its own stand where you can talk, learn, watch and even take part in a competition and win a prize.

Thanks to this, you can expand your contacts on LinkedIn, Twitter or any other social media. If you plan to add any post or photo to social media, make sure you use the right hashtags to reach more people. This is how you promote yourself and your employer. If you are at this event on behalf of your employer, you will likely represent them as well. It is good to have this clarified before the trip.

Sometimes there are also special attractions at the company’s stand, for example Rubrik invited Mark Webber, a former F1 driver, to his stand. I was able to shake hands and take a picture with Mark! As a F1 fan, I couldn’t missed that.

Receptions

After a whole day of trainings and meetings, everyone wants to chill out. You will be invited to receptions and meetings “after hours”. Depending on whether you are a vExpert or not, and what partnerships your employer has, you will receive invitations to parties in different locations. Some of them are located in Fira, some in other places in Barcelona, such as pubs, clubs, etc. If you receive an invitation to a party from a partner company, you must have a badge with you, even if the event takes place outside of Fira. So make sure your badge is secure. Parties are again a great time to make new friends, chat with experts, and so on.

At the end of the third day there was an official party, which was my favorite. Lots of great food and good music. I’ve also been to partner receptions sponsored by Dell, Rubrik and Veeam. They were all great, sometimes inventive, at Veeam reception everything was green!

Summary

The event was absolutely fantastic. Being there gave me a lot of motivation to expand my knowledge in Cloud solutions and gain new experience with VMware products. It’s really worth being there, meeting new people, learning, challenging yourself in labs and competitions. I wish every IT enthusiast, everyone who works with VMware and Cloud products, to be there at least once.

VMware Explore 2023 Barcelona is now confirmed and will take place November 6th to 9th.

VMware Explore 2023 Las Vegas will take place August 21st to 24th.

Save the Date for VMware Explore 2023 Barcelona

Save the Date for VMware Explore 2023 Las Vegas

I hope this guide will help anyone who is going there for the first time.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Thank you for reading! Here are some links you may be interested in:

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