So you’re off to VeeamOn 2019?

In a little over 2 weeks time, Veeam will be holding their global Cloud Data Management conference, Veeamon (https://www.veeam.com/veeamon) in Miami, May 20-21st 2019. This event brings together Veeam, it’s partners and users together to showcase existing features/uses, as well as announcing upcoming features/products.

As a member of the Veeam Vanguard program, I have been fortunate enough to have attended 2 VeeamOn events (2015 Las Vegas and 2017 New Orleans) and I’ll like to pass on some tips, tricks and information about what to expect and how to get the most of the event, if this is your 1st time attending.

It goes without saying that the following tips can equally apply to any large vendor event.

6 P’s

Prior, Planning and Preparation, Prevents Poor Performance ……well it’s actually 7 P’s but as this is a family show, we’ll leave out the profanities. You get the idea though, plan your days. There are sessions galore, 61 breakout sessions alone, so plan your days. An invaluable tool to help you plan out your days is the event app (Top Tip #1https://event.crowdcompass.com/veeamon2019

Google Play store
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.crowdcompass.appsaHHl0dVko

iTunes
https://itunes.apple.com/app/id986366221?mt=8

this will contain all the sessions and allow you to plan out your days. Sessions will cover a range of topics, from Alliance Partner sessions to Deep Technical sessions. Just remember to allow time to get from one session to another (Top Tip #2)

Take it Easy

These venues are usually large conference centres, to accommodate the number of attendees. As such you’re quickly going to reach you daily Fitbit 10K steps pretty quickly. So pace yourself, no need to pack your days with session after session after session  (Top Tip #3). You’ll soon hit the wall, especially if you’ve travelled any great distance to attend (Jet lag ..ugh!!).

It’s ok to take say a couple of hours to just sit, process what’s going on. These events usually have a quieter area or you’ll find them a little quieter when the sessions are on. It’s ok to leave gaps in your schedule.

Remember these large venues are usually well air conditioned but make sure you keep hydrated. Vitamin and zinc supplements can help keep energy levels up and fight off cold bugs that usually come with large concentrations of people in these areas 🙂 Even try and get outside the conference venue, it is Miami after all, plenty to see and sunshine 🙂

Talk is cheap

If you are taking a little break from the sessions, why not use the time to speak to someone new? (Top Tip #4 ) I guarantee you’ll not only come away learning something but you’ll also have set up an invaluable connection…maybe make a new friend on the way. I have made so many excellent connections and established networking opportunities at these events.

This also goes for the vendors, don’t just take their swag and run. Stay and have a chat, you may learn something new or pick up a valuable contact along the way. Just make sure you let them know you’re interested in technical discussions and you have no real purchasing power ….unless you do 🙂

Gear Up

Making sure you have all the right cables, connectors, chargers, devices, notepads, pens and whatever can help you worry less about how you’re going to make 12% battery last all day and more concentrating on the cool content (Top Tip #5). I’d recommend the Anker PowerCore 20100 power bank. I bought one of these for my Vegas trip back in 2015 and it’s never let me down since. Don’t rely on the power banks vendors give away at their stands, unless you’re in dire need.

I know lots of you will use your digital devices for note taking etc, but there really is no substitution for a good old fashioned pen/notebook. Keep one in your backpack as a fallback, or pick up plenty of pens/notepads from vendors (just make sure you stay and have a chat with them)

Sharing is Caring

If I had to pick one absolute top tip ….share share share your experience/findings (Top Tip #6) Whether social media is your thing or blogging, let others know. The vCommunity is a great place to share that knowledge.

Just remember to add the #VeeamOn2019 or #VeeamOnMiami to your tweets/Instagram posts.

Party like it’s ….well 2019

Do attend the legendary VeeamOn party. This year’s guest is none other Flo Rida, so it’s sure to be a blast. There will be food/drink a Plenty (capital P!!), just remember to pace yourself and eat between drinks (Top Tip #7). It’s very easy to find yourself on the dance floor having drinking races with shots of Jack Daniels and vodka ….not that that ever happened to me.

And there you have it, some top tips if this is your 1st time attending a VeeamOn event. Unfortunately, I couldn’t be there myself this year, but I look forward to following along with all the announcements, tweets and posts throughout the event.

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