vExpert

VMware vExpert for 2013

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This is a bit of a delayed reaction to the vExpert 2013 announcements late last month, but I have been very busy and didn’t have time to finish posting the below on the day…

I woke up this morning to a flurry of tweets announcing the vExpert 2013 nominations. I was honoured to have received this title for a second year running now. Four of my colleagues at Xtravirt also received the title, as did 25 or so fellow London VMUG members. In total there were 500 or so people that received this title for 2013, out of 850 applicants. Congratulations to all who were nominated this year around!

Along with the flurry of activity on twitter came the inevitable blog posts. Two of my favourite so far are from @dawoo and @rimmergram.

Jane’s post rang true for me as one topic she covered was the perceived negativity to the announcements from some. I had also noticed a little bit of negativity from others on twitter around the announcements and the greater number of vExperts this year. Of course everyone is entitled to their own opinions. For me, I was just honoured to be able to keep the title for a second year around. This means I was able to keep at my quest for sharing knowledge in 2012 – my main platform being this blog.

Going slightly off topic, I did a look up on Google Analytics the other day, and Shogan.tech has been running for 5 years now! In that time it has received almost 300 000 page views.It started off as a really old version of WordPress running on a humble Dell Optiplex PC at one of my previous abodes, running on top of a VMware Server 2.0 VM (uBuntu Server with Apache, mySQL and PHP). After 6 months of PC issues and website outages, I decided to go the hosted route. It is a great feeling to know that many people have benefited from the content of my blog, and I hope to continue this trend throughout 2013.

For those interested, the official VMware vExpert 2013 announcement blog post and list of people awarded can be found here.

The vExpert 2013 applications are now open – apply now

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Applications are now open here: http://blogs.vmware.com/vmtn/2013/03/vexpert-2013-applications-are-now-open.html

 

The vExpert 2013 applications are now open. This is a great group to be a part of, so if you have been an active contributor to the VMware community, I highly recommend applying! There are three tracks you can follow though for application, so follow the link above for more information and guidance on applying. This last year I was lucky enough to be awarded the title, and I hope to be able to retain it this year – as such I have been blogging as regularly as possible and have also released some cool little utilities, scripts and other bits and pieces to the community. Hopefully this will all pay off and I will be able to retain vExpert status through 2013 🙂

Over the past year, John Troyer has done a sterling job keeping the group going and organising events and other collateral, so much thanks go to him and the other vExperts who have of course helped out where possible.

Good luck on the applications and don’t forget to keep contributing. This is what makes the community stronger!

vExpert spotlight

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The vExpert title is given out to those who have provided a significant contribution to the VMware community over the previous year. Individuals lucky enough to be awarded this title may receive it for a number of different reasons. For the 2012 title, there were three paths possible to become a vExpert.

  • Evangelist path
  • Customer path
  • VPN (VMware Partner Network) path

Having created and run Shogan.tech over the last four and half years or so, providing content to the community around VMware, automation, and scripting (as well as a couple of small little utilities), I was lucky enough to receive the title on the evangelist path this year.

Gregg Robertson (from thesaffageek.com) has kindly been helping out with organising and publishing the vExpert spotlight entries. After finally managing to find a bit of time, I managed to get my entry together a few weeks ago and submitted it. It has just been posted up on the VMware VMTN blog: http://blogs.vmware.com/vmtn/2012/12/vexpert-spotlight-sean-duffy.html

 

 

vExpert for 2012 (Thanks!)

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After being put through what some would only describe as torture this morning (interval training with my wife at gym), I arrived home to relax and check my e-mail. My mailbox was filled with Twitter notifications and upon closer inspection it seemed apparent that I had been awarded the title of vExpert 2012! This is an absolutely huge honour for me, and I must say, it caught me completely off guard.

 

I just wanted to send out a huge congratulations to all the new and returning vExpert awardees for 2012! There are so many talented individuals out there putting out an immense amount of great content, discussion, and effort when it comes to all things VMware. I must say, it has been a great year – I have learnt so much from the community, and thoroughly enjoyed being a part of it.

 

A special thanks go out to two people in particular who spring to mind when it comes to the VMware community, namely; Alex Maier and John Troyer. Thanks to you guys for managing and being the driving force behind the whole community! I would also like to send a special shout out to, and congratulate three of my work colleagues at Xtravirt who were also awarded the vExpert 2012 title today – Gregg Robertson, Darren Woollard and Paul Wood. It is Paul and my first year being awarded vExpert status, and Darren and Gregg’s second. Well done all!

 

To finish off, here is the official list of vExperts for 2012, as well as a definition of the vExpert title/award from VMware

 

  • vExperts 2012
  • The VMware vExpert Award is given to individuals who have significantly contributed to the community of VMware users over the past year. vExperts are book authors, bloggers, VMUG leaders, tool builders, and other IT professionals who share their knowledge and passion with others. These vExperts have gone above and beyond their day jobs to share their technical expertise and communicate the value of VMware and virtualization to their colleagues and community.

 

So here’s to another fantastic year ahead for the community and many more to come!