Just a quick reminder that the first London VMUG for 2012 kicks off on Thursday 26th January.  It’s been a while since I have been able to attend the London VMUG, but everything going to plan I will definitely be along to this one.  If you haven’t attended a VMUG before I definitely recommend it as it an excellent opportunity to find out about VMware and partner related products and services, and very importantly is an excellent platform to meet and chat with others also working in the VMware space.  Click here for more details.

Hope to see you there!

This week see’s the first ever UK VMware Users Conference.  Although here in the UK we have a couple of regional (ie: Northern and Southern) VMUGs this is the first large scale national VMware Users Conference to take place.  As you’d imagine there are a number of useful and informative sessions being offered from the likes of Duncan Epping and Lee Dillworth along with many other talented folk including Mr PowerCLI, Alan Renouf, who will be running a PowerCLI Hands on Lab, with Jonathan Medd also being around, to answer any PowerCLI questions you may have.

This UK VMware Users Conference promises to be a good one so with no cost to attend so there is little excuse not to attend – of course, assuming you’re based in the UK and not snowed under with work.    For some more information, including local hotels, click here.

So when does all this UK based VMware goodness happen I hear you say…

When:

Thursday, November 3, 2011

8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Where:

National Motorcycle Museum
Coventry Road
Bickenhill, Solihull, West Mids, England B92 0EJ
Click here for driving directions

This event will feature:

• Wednesday night pre-event networking reception/vBeers beginning at 7:00 p.m. at National Motorcycle Museum – hosted by Veeam Software
• Keynote with Joe Baguley – VMware Chief Cloud Technologist
• Exhibitor area with:
  • VMware partners
  • Power CLI Drop In Area
  • Expert Bar

Hope to see you there, click below to register…

Meeting Agenda

It’s almost time for another London VMware Users Group (VMUG) and this next VMUG falls on July 14th (2011).  If you haven’t been to a VMUG then I highly recommend you (work allowing) head along as it is an excellent way of bringing yourself up to speed on developments in the world of VMware and also find out more on various products from VMware partners.  In attending you also get to network and meet new and like minded people who work with/in the world of IT and virtualization where real value is often gained through swapping stories and experiences.

The VMUG is free to attend and as always will have a VMUG vBeers gathering afterwards. Here are the details and CLICK HERE TO REGISTER – see you there! 

The London VMUG Steering Committee are delighted to invite you to our next event. Following on from the success of the new format unveiled at the May 12th VMUG, we will continue with multiple tracks and a vCOPS focused lab, along with a Genius Bar from VMware GSS to answer any burning issues you might have.  Details are below and we are grateful to our sponsors – Arista Networks, Embotics and Vision Solutions.

Please Note: If you wish to participate in the lab, you MUST bring your own laptop/client device please! You will need View 4.6 client installed (or admin rights to install it).
 
Agenda
 
Plenary sessions in Capital
10:00 a.m.  – 10:15 a.m. – Welcome, Alaric Davies, Chairman
10:15 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. – Cloudvision for the Virtualised Environment, John Peach, Arista Networks, Sention System Architect
11:00 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. – Private Cloud Management Made Simple, Martin Sajkowski, Embotics, EMEA Operations & Colin Jacks Senior Solutions Specialist
11:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.  – Break in Sponsor Expo
12:15 p.m. – 13:00 p.m.– Double-Take by Vision Solutions – Christian Willis, Technical Director: Meeting the Availability Challenges of physical, Virtual and Geographically Dispersed Systems
13:00 p.m. – 14:00 p.m.– Lunch in Sponsor Expo

Track 1                                                                                                                              

14:00 p.m. – 14:50 p.m. – vCOPS Advanced, Mark Stockham, VMware 
15:00 p.m. – 15:50 p.m. – SRM Futures, Mike Laverick                                              
16:00 p.m. – 16:50 p.m.- Cloud: Can You Compete? Mark Craddock

Track 2

14:00 p.m. – 14:50 p.m. – Thinking, Building & Scripting Globally, Julian Wood
15:00 p.m. – 15:50 p.m. – Managing IT as We Evolve to Cloud Computing, Colin Fernandez, VMware
16:00 p.m. – 16:50 p.m. -  How to Save your Time With PowerCLI, Jonathan Medd

17:00 p.m. – Close
17:00 p.m. – Onward Drinks at Pavilion End

Please note the agenda is subject to change

Ok folks, we have a special vBeers event this month that is definitely worth attending.  Firstly however just to confirm, the schedule of the vBeers London event being the first Thursday of every month still stands though after speaking with my friend Mr StorageBod he informed me of an extra special Storage Beers (#StorageBeers) event this week which sees the Infosmack crew, Greg Knieriemen and Marc Farley over from the good ole US of A.  In fact there is talk that an episode of Infosmack may be recorded live from this get together which will no doubt be entertaining.

After speaking with StorageBod further it was decided that this was a good opportunity to also bring the virtualization community into the mix and incorporate a vBeers at the same time.  So keep the following date, time and bat channel free to come meet, mingle and chat with your fellow Storage, Virtualization and Infosmack enthusiasts.  As always vBeers is an open invite for anyone to attend including vendors (leave your sales hats at the door). 

See you there!

When: Thursday 24th March

Where: The Golden Fleece (City of London)

Map: (Click to enlarge)

Twitter Hashtag:  #vBeers

Hey Folks, it’s that time of the month again when there is the opportunity to mix, mingle and chat with your fellow virtualization fans/geeks/enthusiasts (delete where applicable) at the London vBeers!

With Cisco Live London on this week it was tempting to move it to earlier in the week though there was the risk that such a move would create a disturbance in the force, and more likely confuse everyone.  Also with the long show hours (eg: 8pm closing on the Tuesday) there was a strong possibility that many people wouldn’t be able to make it to later leaving the vBeers attendance a little fragmented.  So to head off any such confusion and to keep things simple the London vBeers are definitely on this week, at the same Bat Time and on the same Bat Channel.  Of course, like most things, if there is enough demand to move it to earlier in the week for this month then please shout out via the comments below.

There is also a Dutch vBeers happening on the same day in Amsterdam which will also no doubt prove to be a great event, check out Simon Long’s blog for more info.

For details on the when and where for the London based vBeers click on this link or picture below..  Hope to see you there.