My First Year as a vExpert
What is a VMware vExpert ?
“A “vExpert” is not a technical certification or even a general measure of VMware expertise. The judges selected people who were particularly engaged with their community and who had developed a substantial personal platform of influence in those communities.” – Corey Romero, VMware Community Manager.
The First Year
My experience being honored as a VMware vExpert has been very good. 2014 was the first time I was recognized as a VMware vExpert. In just one short year I feel that I have accomplished so many things and a lot of this, in my opinion, is due to having this title. One of the greatest things about being a VMware vExpert had to be getting my hands on some VMware licensing to use in my home lab set up. Without those licenses there’s a lot of work that has to go on in the home lab to make the most of those 60 day trials, as most of you reading this blog post understand.
Another huge benefits of the program is having access to beta programs at VMware as well as getting the heads up when other vendor opportunities arise such as writing blog posts, access to private pre-launch briefings, and vExpert Only vendor deep dive webinars. Outside of VMware giving access to programs and licensing, many technology vendors like to join in on the festivities and give away everything from clothing to NFR license keys to extend trials of their software exclusively for VMware vExperts.
Opportunities
I believe that this little title has also helped me slowly make a small name for myself in the virtualization space. I’ve made many new friends from the vExpert forums as well as during local VMUG meetings. The networking along with the prestige of the VMware vExpert title have definitely helped boost my personal and professional career. Over the last year I’ve been able to write blogs for VMware, opvizor, Spiceworks, SmartDeploy, and also for my new friends over at VirtualizationSoftware.com, Scott D. Lowe and David Davis.
As I mentioned above, the vExpert status does not mean I am an expert in anything or everything that is VMware. It just means that I have stepped up on my soapbox to share my thoughts and knowledge with the greater virtualization community. My acts of sharing have absolutely helped me continue to give back to those in my communities and local groups.
Find out more about becoming a VMware vExpert by visiting: https://communities.vmware.com/community/vmtn/vexpert