How to keep up with VMworld

By this time, lots of people have posted really cool blog posts about what to do, where to eat, what parties to go to and what sessions are the most important ones to attend !  I thought I would take a different slant.  Who am I kidding I’m sure others have done a similar blog post

So – if you’ve written a blog about anything around VMworld – feel free to leave a link in the comments section to your blog post.

At the end of the day there is only one absolute truth to attending VMworld.  That is “Anything that happens at VMworld, will definitely not stay at VMworld”  it will be on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Vine, Tumblr etc.  VMware has probably the most social media engaged community…like…EVER !  Honestly VMware’s Social Community is second to none. 

If you want to know anything and everything about what VMware is up to you can usually figure it out within about 60seconds on Twitter.  Same thing applies to the VMworld show.  If you don’t have a twitter account, I just died a little inside, but way to dodge this communication fad  

The best way to track real-time activities is using your Smartphone/tablet and a Twitter client (your choice, but Apple’s native twitter client is pretty good) and the twitter HashTag #VMworld.  By the way, the #VMworld hashtag is going to be a pretty active stream of information (lots of tweets streaming by REALLY fast) so I would also follow #vExpert hash tag.  It would probably be a little slower paced.  If you are not familiar with the vExpert community, you can read about it here (The value of community VMware vExpert 2013):  Essentially vExpert is a designation to a small group of people that are a little more active in the community.  It’s VMware’s way of recognizing their hard work.  In most cases, the vExperts are pretty active on Twitter so they would be a good group to follow as well.  Another fantastic community to follow would be the EMCElect team.  This is very similar to the vExpert program except this is an EMC focused group of social media community members.  There will be a small group of EMCElect at the VMworld show and they will be doing all sorts of social media stuff.  I also happen to know that they will be giving out all sorts of prizes and schwag throughout the week.  Anything from Starbucks and Amazon gift cards, to other things like iPads !  So – make sure you follow the #EMCElect hash tag on Twitter

If you don’t already have an Instagram account (Feel free to follow me on instagram – I’m under vTexan) , I would create one.  It’s really a cool way to keep up with what’s going on at VMworld just using pictures.  Yes, there will be occasional food picts but in general, it’s a great way to keep up with some of the fun and interesting moments at VMworld.  Just like twitter, Instagram uses #HashTags so make sure you do a search for #VMworld (and #EMCElect will be running contests so follow that hashtag as well) Not to mention, Facebook is so last year, Instagram is where the cool kids are hanging out now

So there you have it.  The biggest thing you can do to make the most out of your trip to VMworld is to have a twitter account and a twitter client on your smartphone.  Once you have that squared away, start following some of the people attending the show and you’ll always know what’s going on !!

By the way – make sure you are following me on twitter and Instagram   @vTexan