“Nathan, good to see you’re not dead!”, “Better than the alternative Plankers!” For those of you who know the lovely curmudgeon that is Bob Plankers you can hear his voice in this paragraph. The man KNOWS security in VMware and is a pillar of the community and the company. Just like that I’m reminded why I love VMware, and a realization that my worst fears are not true. The community is still here.

While walking around I got to talk to Jeremy Mayfield who is another great person to talk to about different issues and challenges, and just a pinnacle of a human being. Talking to these people reminded me so vividly just how VMware brought people together, and keeps doing it.

Thats right, I said it keeps doing it. I simply saw a stranger wearing a Texas Tech shirt and told them my In-laws were in Ransom Canyon, and just like that, we dove into VMware discussion about ELAs, VCF, and disaster recovery. Nothing in-depth or shocking, but in this conference, it’s like small talk, it’s like asking, “Where are you from” or “Did you see the game last night?” But the difference is the type of person you’re talking to, and what is important for them in the week.

Finally, meeting the vSpeaking podcast duo, John Nicholson, and Pete Fletcha and being absolutely flabbergasted at the transformation those gentlemen were able to achieve. It’s been 2 years since I’ve seen them, but the change they have done is amazing. Perhaps you’ve seen, but if not, these humans are amazing.

On LinkedIn I saw a friend saying he was in Explore, and I just replied to say, “Let’s meet while your here” only to see two more friends reach out to me to meet as well.

VMware is home. It may have its problems, a patchy roof, a remade kitchen that didn’t need to be touched but it’s all new anyways. And yes, the electric/water bills are way more than what you thought it was going to be, but we found a path forward, and we are all here together, figuring it out, challenging the company for their decisions, and still advocating for the company that built our career, and capabilities. Now, just like in Landman…. “Alright Monday, Let’s see what you got.”