Across the globe, we're all gearing up for EMC World 2012: employees, partners and valued customers alike.
The pace of preparation has now reached "furious".
I almost forgot to pop my head up and share with you a few of the things we've got planned -- without spoiling any of the surprises!
After last year's extravaganza, I didn't think EMC World could get any bigger, but -- yes -- this year is shaping up to be much, much bigger in multiple dimensions.
Whether you plan to attend live, or choose to follow us on any number of online feeds, there's going to be a *lot* to talk about from May 21st through May 24th.
I thought I'd give everyone a quick rundown of what to expect -- that is, what I can share!
By The Numbers
There are three big events in the EMC ecosystem: the RSA Conference, VMworld and of course EMC World.
But it's certainly not a small event -- best guess: we're expecting at least 13,000+ to gather with us in Las Vegas during this week.
Attendees will have the tough job of choosing between the 500+ formal breakout sessions, ranging from general interest to incredible deep dives -- depending on your interests.
That's before you add the many hundreds of informal meetups that inevitably materialize as the event progresses. And keynotes -- we've got some great keynotes planned -- I've seen some of the content, and they're going to be great.
If you'd prefer to simply browse, there's always the large and boisterous exhibit hall chock full of EMC products, partners and solutions.
To help everyone follow and manage it all, we'll be offering an event-specific "EMC World Navigator" app for iOS, Andriod and (yes) Blackberry.
Events Within The Event
Besides the overall event itself, we've got a number of "events within the event".
For starters, rumor has it that we'll be announcing a few (?!?) new products at EMC World itself. I think that could be justifiably classified as an event in itself.
The Momentum show continues as an integral part of EMC World -- we're expecting over 1,000 folks for that alone. And I know they've got some great things to talk about.
This year, we're holding our first-ever Global Partner Summit (something I've wanted to do for a very long while!) and are looking forward to hosting over 2,000 participants from our many partner communities. If you're going, I'll be presenting at that one.
Last year, we held our first-ever Data Science Summit -- an amazing event with no shortage of fascinating discussion. We're repeating it again this year, only at a larger scale.
We're also using the opportunity to bring together selected CIOs for a small, intimate summit where we can discuss some of the newer challenges facing IT leaders.
Chad's World Live is a don't-miss event, to be sure. I'm counting on a boatload of his trademark face-melting demos.
And more than a few live-without-a-net slip ups just to keep things entertaining ...
My favorite? I know my boss Jeremy Burton has a few extra-special events planned. I can't spill the beans, but I'm going to make every effort to be there :)
Technology Previews
Over the years, EMC World has become an excellent venue to learn about the things we're working on down the road. We've gone from a handful of technology previews in past years to several dozen this year -- scattered around different booths and breakout sessions. The best part? You'll get to meet the engineers who are actually working on the new tech.
Why? We want our customers and partners to know and participate in what we're working on.
Many of the previews will be on familiar topics (e.g. recent flash announcements), but some of it will be decidedly esoteric :)
If you're the hands-on type, EMC's vLab will be there in full force, where participants can get direct experience in any of 4,800 different scenarios in a self-service environment.
The vLab cloud will be using some nice toys as well: a peak capacity of 41,000 VMs using 66 UCS blades, 12.5 TB of RAM and 125TB of storage. No, you can't have it for your home lab.
It's Not All Work at EMC World
When we get together as a community, we want to celebrate and reconnect with each other -- and there will be plenty of opportunities to do just that.
In addition to the plethora of partner-sponsored events, there's the big Maroon 5 concert to look forward to, as well as all sorts of games, contests and social media activities.
If you don't come home with a big pile of freebies, you're not trying hard enough ...
In addition to the ever-popular Blogger Lounge, we're sponsoring a number of new BuzzTalks on specific topics where you can meet and engage with like-minded people.
Also nice: Crystal Lowe has once again added Spousetivities to the mix, so your significant other can have some decidedly non-tradeshow fun while us techno-types are doing our thing.
My Advice?
If you're fortunate enough to attend, my only advice is "pace yourself". And be sure to drink plenty of water.
There's so much to do, so many things to see, so many people to talk to, etc. -- you can get pretty burnt out by Wednesday. If you were wavering back and forth as to whether you wanted to attend -- go!!
It'd be wonderful if I could attend some of the informal meetups, but -- this time around -- I find myself with 23 (yes!) face-to-face meetings scheduled during the event. Yikes. I think Red Bull will be my new best friend by the end of the week.
If you can't join us, it's easy enough to follow along -- and participate -- from wherever you might be. We'll be continually streaming live content on a variety of platforms -- or you can simply follow us on Twitter at either @emcworld or the broader #emcworld hashtag.
Either way, there's going to be plenty to talk about :)
Hi Chuck - it seems to come around faster every year (it will be my 10th year going). For those of your audience that can't make it to the conference in person, wanted to let them know that they can catch your live interview on SiliconAngle's theCUBE at 10:30am PT on Tuesday, May 22nd on http://SiliconAngle.tv
We're excited to broadcast (Mon-Wed) for the 3rd year - including an extensive preview of the Data Science Summit on Tuesday.
Posted by: Stuart Miniman | May 10, 2012 at 07:07 PM
Just want to point out that the vLabs run on VNX storage with FAST Cache. With great power comes great storage!
Posted by: Drew | May 10, 2012 at 07:16 PM
Hi Chuck - looks like it is going to be a busy week, I have already created my agenda for the week and seem to have managed to pick stuff that starts at 8am in the morning :o)
Really looking forward to attending as am currently building the vision for a global customer that is wall to wall EMC so should help me cement my ideas.
Posted by: Dominic Cody | May 11, 2012 at 05:31 AM