T-Shirt review from #VMworld 2017 US

So I didn’t find the time to do this during VMworld US this year, so hoping to get this out there before VMworld EU kicks off for real on Tuesday.
I didn’t get as many T-shirts as I use to, a lot of the vendors wanted you to watch a demo of their product before getting a T-shirt, which made it a somewhat slower gathering 🙂

One thing that really bugs me is that a lot of them don’t have XXL or run out of them very fast. And these are NOT US sizes. Meaning after 1 or 2 washes the XL ones don’t fit me anymore. Yes I could loose weight, but I like bacon so….

Anyways here goes.

First off I got a vExpert T-shirt from Micron, who gave out T-shirts to the first 50 vExperts who came by their stand. Unfortunately they only had XL ones. However it was Nike Golf Polo Shirt which is the ones I really prefer to wear, so hats off for that.

Name : Micron
Model: Nike Golf Polo Dri-fit
Size: XL (why oh why no XXL ???)
Quality: The well known Nike Golf polo, seems to be the best fabric for shirts, I still have my first 2014 vExpert shirt and eventhough it has been washed numerous times its still in the same shape.
Print: A very subtle Micron logo on the front is the only thing adorning this shirt.
Score:  9/10
Conclusion: If only they had had these in XXL this would have been a 10 out of 10, by far the best quality shirt there is.

 

 

 

 

 

Name :  Veeam
Model: Gildan Softstyle Ring spun.
Size: XXL
Quality: Nice and soft fabric as Gildan has been known for
Print: A simple, big Veeam logo on the front and a catchphrase on the back.
Score:  7/10
Conclusion: A very nice quality shirt, however the green Veeam color doesn’t really want to make me wear this shirt any other places than at home 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name : Dell EMC
Model: Gildan Heavy Cotton
Size: XL (why oh why no XXL ?)
Quality: A bit thicker material than the Veeam one, but still very nice and soft.
Print: A big REALIZE logo on top, and some scattered hexagons on the bottom, this actually looks pretty cool, nothing on the back
Score:  7/10
Conclusion: This would have scored higher if they had had any XXL shirts, good quality and a print thats subtle enough so you could wear this one publically 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name : New Horizons
Model: Jerzees Dri-PowerActive
Size:  XXXL
Quality:  A bit less soft than the Gildan ones, this is the first tee I’ve seen from this company. It kinda feels like this will stretch in width and creep in length though.
Print: A StarWars inspired New Horizons logo on the front, and again a StarWars inspired text on the back.
Score:  6/10
Conclusion: A reasonably fine print and a somewhat (yet to be seen) questionably quality of shirt, brings this down to 6. I could be wrong and this washes just nicely 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name : Unitrends
Model: Gildan Softstyle Ring spun
Size: XXL
Quality: Again the good and soft quality from Gildan that we’ve come to know, these washes fine, but will fade to gray after a dozen washes or so.
Print: A city background landscape and a person that stands in the foreground. This might be a movie or TV-show that runs in America, it doesn’t really ring a bell for me at least. But it looks pretty cool.
Score:  8/10
Conclusion: A good quality, right size and an ok print that could easily be worn in public brings this one up to 8 points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope this was at least a bit helpful for you, if you’re going T-shirt hunting at VMworld Europe in Barcelona next week. A surprising number of people asked me if I was going to Barcelona as well. I doubt many costumers do that, that’s more partners and vendors I guess.

[DANISH] Hør tips og tricks inden du tager til VMworld 2017 i Barcelona

Jeg var ligesom resten af Arrow Blogger boardet inviteret til at snakke om forventninger til VMworld 2017, jeg havde dog ikke desværre ikke mulighed for at deltage, men Michael Ryom, Rasmus Haslund og Frank Brix har lavet en podcast. I denne podcast kan du høre lidt om hvad du skal huske inden du tager afsted, hvad du bør se og hvor du bør være med. I denne podcast er Liselotte Foverskov også med og lærer de andre tre nogle gloser i Catalansk, førend det går løs i Barcelona.

Denne podcast er tilgængelig via iTunes og Arrows Blogger Board RSS feed.

Vi fra boardet takker Arrow og Karina Søndergaard Nielsen som har stablet dette på benene for at hjælpe de danske deltagere i Barcelona.

Jeg selv deltog i USA så tager ikke til Barcelona, men god tur til alle jer der skal afsted.

 

Links:

Michael Ryom: https://michaelryom.dk/
Rasmus Haslund: https://www.perfectcloud.org/
Frank Brix: http://www.vfrank.org/
Arrow Blogger Board: http://marketing.arrowecs.dk/web/Arrow-Blogger-Board
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/dk/podcast/arrow-podcast/id1275494966?l=da&mt=2

 

Getting ready for #VMworld – My thoughts

So it’s this time of the year again, and there’s a lot of buzz around the virtualization community because of the two upcoming VMworlds, the US one in Las Vegas starting august 26th, and the European version in Barcelona, starting september 11. This year the EU one has moved forward from the usual week 42 spot. Which at least for northern Europe is a big plus, as week 42 usually is a fall holiday.

When going to VMworld there’s a couple of options for planning your week. I used to spend a lot of time in the Hands on Labs, but since these has been available afterwards the buzz about these has gone away. The main problem about this though is that getting the time to actually do the labs when you get home, usually is a problem. So if possible, do schedule a few hours for the Hands on Labs.

There’s of course also a lot of sessions to attend, and again in my first few VMworld I had a fully booked schedule, which leaves you running around a lot. Getting from one session to the next could have you walking more than a kilometer. My record was more than 30 km’s in one day (Vegas hotels are HUGE).

This year I’m focusing more on meeting with people, I have been lucky enough to be able to get meetings with a few product managers of some of the cooler stuff VMware creates, and a such I think I’ve only scheduled 10 or so sessions.

This also gives me ample room to wander the Solutions Exchange talking both with big vendors but also a lot of small new startups are present, and there are usually a few really cool ones, that you can see and demo. Especially coming from Europe there are a quite a few companies that seems to be US only.

This will be my 8th VMworld, having participated in 3 European ones and 4 US ones, I have to say I prefer the US ones. First of it is 1 day longer (at least), and all the right people are here. Working with VMware at Scale there are a lot more US companies at 20.000+ VM’s than there are in Europe. Usually most of the sessions do get repeated in Europe, but it not all, and its cramped in to 1 day less. Having been 3 times to San Francisco and once to Las Vegas, I must say I’d much rather go to San Francisco. It’s a way more European town. Vegas is fun to experience, but after a week your head is spinning and you can’t wait to get home 🙂 For a list of gatherings head here: https://blogs.vmware.com/vmworld/gatherings

Around both conferences there are a lot of happenings, all from morning breakfast meetings, to late night parties, and again these are excellent places to meet new and interesting people from the community. Most of the “superstars” of the community are usually attending some of these and they easily approachable. Don’t be afraid to walk up and say hi. People like Duncan Epping, Frank Denneman, Cormac Hogan and Rawlinson Rivera are really down to earth and easy to talk to.

There will be a ton of blogs covering all the new and fancy things that are presented at VMworld, so I’m thinking I’ll do another round of T-shirt reviews this year.

The vExpert 2017 Applications are now open!

Just to let you all know that you can now apply for the 2017 vExpert.

Hop over to http://blogs.vmware.com/vmtn/2016/11/vexpert-2017-applications-are-now-open.html to fill out your application.

I have already filled out mine, and fingers are crossed until February 8th when they announce the new vExperts for 2017.

I can only encourage you to apply, the vExpert community is truly outstanding and have made quite a few new acquaintances through this.

Good Luck

 

#VMworld T-shirts Review 2016 – Part 2

So here’s the second and last part of this T-Shirt review for this years VMworld. And as before I hope you can find this useful for Barcelona.

 

Name : Platform 9
Model: Next Level Apparel 60% Cotton 40% Polyester
Size: XL (why oh why no XXL ???)
Quality: Feels really nice and soft and guessing the 40% polyester will help it stay better in shape than 100% Cotton.
Print: A city landscape with a Platform 9 blimp on it and a few different technologies that they support I guess, pretty low-key and thus usable elsewhere than home.
Score:  6(8)/10
Conclusion: I would have given this shirt an 8, but by not having XXL sizes I have to drop them down a few points. I mean why not bring XXL and since this was the US XXXL as well. I was almost tiny compared to some of the people there, and XL wont last more than 1 or 2 washes then they shrink 😦

 

Name : Nimble Storage
Model: C Port and Company 100% Cotton – Ring Spun
Size:  XL (Why do you only have XL in the US ????) and these are not US sizes
Quality:  Somewhat stiff version of this shirt, again have to wait and see whether or not this Ring Spun cotton does anything for shrinkage when washing these T-shirts.
Print: The Nimble Logo and then an kinda ugly red version of the vExpert logo both on the front and back. That would have been better with the normal White on Black.
Score:  5/10
Conclusion: Both the vExpert and only size XL drags this shirt down.

Name :  Cortado
Model:  C Port and Company – 100% Cotton
Size:  XXL
Quality:  A bit thicker than the other T-shirts from C Port, but otherwise seems quite ok. Guessing it will warp some when washed.
Print: A superman like version of the Cortado logo, but very stiff and you can feel that on the inside of the shirt.
Score:   6/10
Conclusion: What brings this shirt down is the Stiffness of the logo, which you can feel like plastic on the inside of the shirt.

 

Name : Dell Software
Model: The Concert Tee – District 100% Pre-shrunk Cotton
Size: XXL
Quality:  First T-Shirt I’ve seen from this company, but being pre-shrunk it should hold up good when washed. Very soft and thin T-shirt
Print: A print that’s supposed to make it look like you have a clock on a gold chain around your neck. and a message that’s continue on the back.
Score:  6/10
Conclusion: The shirt is nice and soft and pre-shrunk should help a lot. But the print makes this another shirt I wouldn’t wear in public, but can be used around the house 🙂

 

That’s it for this year. As I wrote in the first post, I haven’t had much time in the Solutions Exchange and therefore didn’t get to grab that many T-Shirts this year.

I hope you still found this funny/useful/whatever 🙂