We all know how it feels to come back to a few thousand emails.😀 After finally catching up with everything that happened at work while I was gone, and getting over a nice amount of sick I caught on the flight home, things are back to normal and I figured I’d recap the Veeam100 Summit for 2025.
Until you go to one of these, there is really nothing to compare it to. Sure, it’s sort of a conference, but it’s also a bit like attending a course, it’s also sort of like hanging out with your friends, and there is also some parties, and everyone's in really good moods and having fun, and you get to experience some really cool events, and you also find out things that Veeam has coming in the red content. and…. you get the point.
As there are many other posts on this years event, there is no need for me to give a play-by-play of every session. I’ll instead discuss a few and some of my personal experiences.
Being my second time to Prague this time was very different. I was much more comfortable, and recognised some faces immediately upon arrival. I also took some of my free time to explore a few areas I had missed the time before. One new thing was checking below street level on the underground tour shown below.
As far as the 100 Summit, lets start with the low hanging fruit which is the AMA. Of course it was amazing and is always everyone's favorite. This year was no different and there were more questions than there was even time for. This could last an entire day I’d imagine if it wasn’t controlled. Both the questions and answers were great, and it’s always exciting to get real, honest, unfiltered answers from the employees. I was happy to ask my annual question to Dima and Hannes about archiving, and as Rick mentioned I may still have the record for one of the larger VM’s being backed up.😁
One of the 2 sessions that stuck with me was Kollect, Other special projects and Flings. Not only did I learn a decent amount, or realize stuff I need to go learn, but it was great showcasing what some of the Veeam employees can do. The skills and drive of some people is special and if you attend the Summit you see why.
Another one I attended as AI-Powered Veeam context. I’ve already started putting some of the stuff I learnt on this trip to use, and am going to dive into the AI journey. Actually watching these guys set it up, and show us connecting things like MCP servers and explain it in a way I could grasp it was pretty amazing. It also opened my eyes to some use cases, and things to use AI for at my work. I should mention that even though they explained most of this in a way I could understand, their knowledge of this topic is incredible, and they knew the audience. This may have stole the show for me as I’m already applying some of the stuff I picked up here, only at a “noob” level.
Finally, we obviously had to end it off with a great event that included live music from a Veeam employee, a cool tour, arcade games, and more. Once it was done, as always, we required a quick stop at a local “historic” site on the way back to the hotel.
I took more photos the last time I was in Prague, but still got some shots in the few days I was here as it’s one of my favorite places I have been.
Following this, A quick trip to Belgium and Bruges was in order. 20k steps a day for a week were adding up but it was time to keep going. Bruges was beautiful and Belgium had some great history and old churches.
The canal trip was a great experience and I got to see Bruges from a different perspective. The next stop was Rotterdam, and having a local friend as a tour guide opened it up to things we would not normally see. We got to see many of the usual sites, some unique sites, but also the perspective of a local and a real feel for the city.
Finally a train ride to Amsterdam and a few more days of walking. It’s crazy how different the vibe is only an hour away from Rotterdam. It’s a totally different experience, but I did enjoy the view from the hotel. Unfortunately when the front desk guy gave the “upgrade” to the top floor as a friendly gesture, none of us expected the elevator to go out for the remainder of the trip. Those stairs were narrow, steep, and there was plenty of them haha.
This was a crazy nonstop 2 weeks I’ll never forget. I was sad to leave, and it’s always sad saying by to friends for an extended period because you live on opposite sides of the world. At least the feeling when we get together feels like only a few days have past.
A huge thank you to the Veeam Staff, Event Staff, and the community leaders from Veeam who make these crazy events happen. It is easy to see that it’s a ton of work, and we all get to benefit from it.
Thanks
