Take Me to Your VMUG Leader

Just a little over two years ago I joined my local chapter of the VMware User Group in Houston Texas. I joined the VMUG as a regular member under the free subscription as I was not expecting much nor did I know that value I was about to experience. I quickly convinced my boss that we should go to this meeting and check it out to see what this whole user group experience was about. Plus it was hosted at Top Golf so why wouldn’t we try to get out of the office and have a little bit of fun in the afternoon?

The meeting was great, the vendor presentations were very well put together, and the leadership team of James Bowling and Emad Younis guided the afternoon in a very “non-boring fashion”. At the end of the meeting door prizes were awarded and my boss had won the give-a-way of a VMUG advantage subscription. He quickly gifted this subscription to me because as a software developer he couldn’t see himself attending VMware meetings as much I was about to. And that’s how it started, I was in the door with a VMUG Advantage subscription and quickly addicted to communicating through the the VMUG Workspace as well as attending as many meetings as possible.

James and Emad quickly noticed my passion for the user group and community and brought me on board as a member of the steering committee late in 2014. Read more about this process & my experience in this blog post from last year: “How Do You VMUG?”.

What Just Happened?

Fast forward to our last meeting in Houston on March, 25th. During the opening speech from Emad he quickly informed all VMUG attendees that he had accepted a new job opportunity which would move him from Houston, Texas to the California Bay Area within a matter of weeks. Next to my surprise, he then proceeded to inform the Houston VMUG of their new leadership, Nigel Hickey, the new leader of the Houston VMUG. I was quite surprised but also very excited and honored that James and Emad both trusted me to be part of this leadership team for Houston.

I know that I have a lot of work ahead of me to help keep the Houston VMUG running as smooth as James and Emad did over the years, but I am ready. During his relocation out West, Emad will continue to assist me in this transition as will James, and Jason Harrison who heads up our VMUG Steering Committee. Once again I’m very excited to be part of this leadership team representing the 4th largest city in the United States.

Thank You

Thank you to every single one of my Houston VMUG members and dedicated attendees as well as the vendors who have presented over the last two years that I have been involved with this group. All of you have been welcoming as well as very supportive of our group. I plan on keeping this group informed as well as entertained during my time in this leadership role. I hope to continue to grow our attendance in Houston as well as help provide relevant content for each member, every meeting.

I would also like to say special THANK YOU to the following people of which I had the opportunity to meet with after our VMUG on the 25th. You all rock for supporting me in this new endeavor! THANK YOUs: Jad El-Zein, Brian Knudtson, Brad Christian, Gina Minks, James Burd, Mike Wilson, Ms. Polly, and John Nicholson.