Happy New Years’ Eve everyone! This year has been a fantastic one, and marks the close to my 7-year run on the VMUG Board of Directors, and 2-year run as global Vice President of VMUG.
Things have been challenging over those last two years to be sure. I’d like to reminisce a little bit.
Back in 2007, I was in my first year of using VMware technologies. ESX 3.0, Virtual Center 2.0 (yes the numbering didn’t used to be the same), and a migration of physical Novell Netware servers to Virtualized SUSE Linux 9 VMs were the biggest things on my plate. I heard about this “VMware User Group” where dozens of practitioners that were in the same boat as me, were meeting up and learning. Seven years and many meetings later, I started my own chapter in Eau Claire WI, followed by joining the leadership team in Minneapolis. Yes, I was leading two VMUG’s now. 
Later that year, I attended my first VMUG Leader Summit in Palo Alto, CA — VMware’s headquarters. 
Michael Dell was on campus talking with VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger. We all know what happened shortly thereafter with Dell and VMware. It was invigorating being in the heart of Silicon Valley during a very exciting time.
During the Leader Summit, I met chapter leaders around the world and came to realize we all had that same passion. We all could tell the story of when we saw our first VMotion. I had found my peeps.
It was at that event where I met so many people that I still call friends. While at the event, we talked with product managers in every business unit, saw some pretty cool cutting-edge demos of products that may or may not have been released to the public, and saw that same infectious energy from those working at the Palo Alto campus, as we all had.
Our good friend Jeff Goodall, gave us all a tour of the campus (even though the turtles had gone to hibernation by then), and I know for a fact that we were welcomed as a community. New VMUG
Executive Director Brad Tompkins was front and center, as was current VMUG President Mariano Maluf, and future President Steve Athanas. Some of you might know the inside joke regarding the presentation Steve was giving — I think I cropped it just right.
After that year, we leveled up our Minneapolis group. Meetings had over 100 attendees, our Minneapolis UserCon was one of the 10 largest in the world, and things were going great.
Soon after that, I was nominated to run for the VMUG Board of Directors. It was a great opportunity that I didn’t take lightly. The strategic thinking of a board member was different than being a VMUG Leader. I’ll always remember the meeting, and late-night post-meeting conversations I had with folks like Dave Simpson, Steve Athanas, Martin Campbell, Bonnie Bauder, Ben Clayton. I’ll always be thankful for the opportunity.
That was right before COVID-19 hit. To be honest, VMUG dominated the year or two post-COVID. While everyone else was trying to figure out how to run events, we were making use of the
platform we already were using for Global Virtual Events. VMUG HQ were total pros and our sponsors knew it. Even though VMworld wasn’t the same, VMUG had quite the presence there – albeit virtually (pun intended!). The sessions were still great and we had some fantastic interactions among our Avatars.
A couple years later, things had changed. Folks still hadn’t returned to events at the scale we remember, but the VMUG Board continued rolling with the changes. VMworld turned into VMware Explore, and then Explore.
By 2024, I had taken on a new role as VMUG Vice President. That afforded me the opportunity to speak at countless events, in places like the Netherlands, Belgium, England, Barcelona and literally a dozen cities around the US. 
Those who we met at our events were still passionate about what we called the #vCommunity.
I was able to embark on a three-day-tour where I presented at FIVE VMUG’s. Big thanks to my friend Eric Kubla for going on the adventure with me!
Many of those folks I have met overseas are good personal friends of mine now. Several of us even took a big detour to Yosemite National Park after Explore 2025 this year. Shout out to my Belgian and UK friends in the picture to the right!
It was a great way to end a great run.
Now that things are coming to a close, I have an opportunity to look back at all the friends I have made (lifelong friends), and relish the fact that I now have contacts on 6 continents, dozens of countries, a true global network. Some of those friends have left the VMware ecosystem altogether but that doesn’t change the history we have, the times we shared, and the bond we have formed.
VMUG isn’t going away. I am confident that Brad and his staff, along with returning President Brenda Emerson, incoming Vice President Justin Sider, returning board members, and new board members Richard Kenyan and Robert Linn will take VMUG into the 2nd half of this decade and beyond. Things have been more difficult than they have in the past. The Broadcom acquisition posed a bunch of challenges. Looking at what has come out of it, I can say for certain that there are a TON of positives.
Big thanks to all my fellow VMUG Leaders, Board Members, to the VMware and Broadcom representatives (Ann Johnson, Jean Williams, Eric Nielsen), and of course the fantastic VMUG staff led by Brad Tompkins. A special call-out to my brother-from-another-mother and fellow Ned’s Atomic Dustbin aficionado Dave Simpson. We entered the board together, and leave the board together. Life-long mates to be sure!
I would also like to thank the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. I am blessed to have a job that I love, that gives me the freedom to pursue my interests. Thank goodness I get a good amount of vacation for my day job! Last but not least, I would like to thank my loving wife, Michelle.
Being a systems engineer in the public sector and higher education for almost 30 years has not led to much time away from home. Although I haven’t traveled as much as many of the road warriors I know who work for partners or vendors, my roles with VMUG have made it more than it used to be. Thankfully there have been some opportunities for her to join me on my VMUG adventures.
Any time you see someone presenting on the road, away from home, make sure to thank them. Time away from family and loved ones is a part of the equation.
What’s next for me? Well, I’ll still help out as a leader in Minneapolis VMUG, VMUG Connect is coming to Minneapolis in April as well (I hope to see you there!). I will also continue leading the Minneapolis Chapter of World of EUC. After my blog being down for a few years, I will probably get that going again — this post is a start. Along with blogging on EUC and Virtualization, I may sprinkle some cloud services in (Intune, M365, Entra, etc).
Watch closely for updates. Who knows, I might even reboot the old Blogtober: Tech Edition initiative! At any rate, thanks again to the #vCommunity who has given me so much. Cheers!
