vExpert: What it means to me

This morning I was humbled, honoured, and excited to find out that I made the grade to become a vExpert for 2016. I know there are a ton of posts out there with more or less the same first sentence, but I don’t think a lot of posts go much deeper than that.

What does it mean to me?

Sure, I look forward to some of the potential benefits (I currently personally pay for VMUG Advantage as well as Pluralsight – both because I believe they are quality products), but more than that there are two things that becoming a vExpert means to me:

1) Opening a door and giving me access to great technology and even better people;
2) It is a good indicator that I am on the right track for my goals.

For years I have attended various ‘community’ type events, whether they be VMware, Microsoft, or Open Source focused. By the time I left each event I always felt like I wanted more, but rarely was more available to me (whether due to lack events, knowing about events, or funding). VMWorld 2015 changed a lot of that for me – I had that sense of community amplified 10 fold, but more than that I was amazed at how approachable everyone was. Going even further, it was upon reflection that I realized most of the folks that I had the strongest connections with were are leaders of some sort (VMUG or similar user group type leader, authors, and / or presenters). They were all folks who I would never thought I would approach or talk to because I was beneath them.

All of that sat with me made me realize that these are all people with a passion, a passion that I have as well. So what was I going to do about? I was going to focus that passion into something tangible such as a blog, a talk, or a user group.

To me becoming a vExpert is a reminder about the path I am on, and it is a humbling validation that I seem to be going about things right.