Coming to VMworld 2011? Let me know so we can connect!
In my last post, I asked why you love going to VMworld, and gave you a few of my reasons – like the people, the technology, the announcements, the sessions, the labs, and the parties.
But like any business trip, it is not all fun and games, beer and skittles, rainbows and unicorns.
So why do you *not* like going to VMworld?
Like my last post, I’ll go first. Here are some things I really do *not* love about going to VMworld – as well as some upsides to take the sting off 🙂 :
- Las Vegas – Moscone at San Francisco was great, but I have been to Vegas so much now that I am getting tired of it.
- Upside: if it has to be in Vegas, I think the Venetian is the best venue in town, with the best casual dining on the strip.
- Copenhagen – Copenhagen is really expensive and hard to get to from the US, and the Bella Center is so far out of town, away from most hotels, with barely anything nearby.
- Upside: Copenhagen really is a beautiful city, and if you have a spare day you can visit the fabulous Louisiana nearby.
- The internet access – WiFi (and 3G) at VMworld is always over-subscribed and under-provisioned, though this is not surprising for such a large event. Especially in Vegas, where the casinos don’t want you to do anything except eat, drink, and gamble, I don’t expect the Venetian to be any better than Moscone last year.
- Upside: it is a great excuse not to answer that email/IM/DM from your boss!
- The conference food – let’s face it, conference food is rarely gourmet, and VMworld is no different. In their defense, when you are serving 15,000+ people you will never get Tetsuya’s, Moto, or Le Gavroche.
- Upside: both Vegas and Copenhagen have some great food – albeit outside the conference – including what is currently considered the best restaurant in the world.
- The VMworld website – well, the less said about that the better. Suffice to say, it frustrated me so much this year that I spent an afternoon redoing the EMEA hotel listings in a usable format.
- Upside: once you have registered and scheduled your sessions, you really don’t need the website anymore.
- The hangover(s) – I love the parties, but not the hangovers. So be careful what, how much, how early, and how late you drink. I try to alternate hard drinks with soft drinks so I can stay longer and suffer less (my regular is vodka & lime; my change-up is lime and soda) . It keeps me hydrated and you can’t even tell it is non-alcoholic.
- Upside: a hangover means you probably had a great night at a great party with some great people. 🙂
- The main party – I know loads of people loved them, but aged rockers Foreigner (with just one original member) were not my bag. And having seen INXS live at Sydney pubs (like the famous Manly Vale) in the 80s, why would I want to see them old and busted with no Michael Hutchence?
- Upside: This year The Killers are playing the party – at least they have had a chart hit this millennium!
But really, while I can complain about all these little things, in the end they do not really matter. I still love going to VMworld 🙂
That said – what do you *not* love about going to VMworld?