Seven reasons to join us at VeeamON 2023

As we find ourselves quickly coming upon the start of what I’ve come to think of as “IT Conference Season”, one conference that I’ve been a fan of for years in VeeamON. Granted, I’m biased given that Veeam is my current employer, but I’ve long felt that VeeamON is a conference done right. The content has always been strong, technical experts always abound, and the amount of organized social activities seems just right (whereas things can be overwhelming at VMware Explore).

With that in mind, I wanted to share seven reasons why VeeamON is one of the conferences that you won’t want to miss.

1) Learn from the experts

Who better to learn from than the experts? When it comes to making sure the right folks are there, VeeamON excels at this. Quite often, you’ll find sessions being delivered by folks who have unmatched experience. In many cases, you’ll find yourself listening to folks directly from the Product Management team. There’s no better way to provide feedback, ask questions, or get an answer when you get it right from the folks responsible for the product.

2) Most external speakers ever

VeeamON has always been a great event for customers and prospects to see and hear what products can do. When I was a customer, I always loved hearing from other customers about how they solved problems or implemented solutions. At VeeamON 2023, we’ll have the largest number of external speakers thus far for a VeeamON event. You’ll hear how real-world customers solve real-world problems straight from them.

3) Connect with peers

Along similar lines, it is a fantastic chance to connect with peers. We all enjoy a great presentation, but there is so much to learn from our peers. Whether it is folks you’ve known for ages or new acquaintances, the “hallway track” is something everyone should participate in. It’s a great way to have informal conversations, talk specifics, and just see what others are up to, both personally and professionally.

4) Hands-On Labs

Buckle up for LabWarz! Whether you are a long-time Veeam user who knows every advanced configuration or are new to it and looking to kick the tires, LabWarz has your back. For those of you not familiar with it, LabWarz is a scenario-based competition where you have chances to compete against peers. Those who complete the scenario with the lowest time will make the leaderboard with the chance to win prizes.

5) Tech Festival

Personally speaking, for far too long, I did not grasp the value that could be had with regard to vendor exhibits at larger conferences. Initially, I viewed them as a roundabout way to get free swag in exchange for getting added to an email list. That changed when I realized that a lot of vendors at these conferences send their best and brightest. Whether you are looking to have deep technical conversations or perhaps a quick demo of a product, be sure to talk to the various engineers and product managers who will be in attendance

6) Hear the latest news

With V12 being launched earlier this year, we will likely see some great forward-looking conversations, whether as part of the keynotes or individual sessions. Like my previous point, many partners routinely take such opportunities to make their own announcements. One of the biggest benefits of being on-site when new announcements go out is the ability to immediately being able to ask follow-up questions you may have.

7) Expand your knowledge

If training is something that you have been on the fence about, VeeamON is a perfect time. Personally, I always prefer in-class training as it puts me in the right mindset and minimizes distractions. If you’re like me in that regard, be sure to check out the training opportunities available on-site. The best part: training takes place before the conference, so you won’t miss anything.

Bonus Reason: Come and find me

I’ll be in full swing, with multiple sessions as well as some other floater duties during the conference. I’ll have a few sessions focused on:

• Career growth
• What the first 100 days of being a new Veeam Backup & Replication customer can look like
• Protecting workloads that aren’t just VMs

Feel free to find me, ask questions, or maybe grab yourself one of the limited number of Coffee Crisps that I may or may not have on hand. 😊

The full conference agenda and catalog are now online and available at https://www.veeam.com/veeamon/agenda/. If you haven’t registered yet, you can use the promo code VOMIAMI1001 to take $100 off the standard registration cost.

I hope to see you in Miami!