What an event!
I will admit I was slightly nervous about attending my first VeeamON. From not knowing what to wear, looking at the heat and temperature for the week or what to expect. My flight there only had a 30 minute layover which was a bit concerning as well.
After getting swindled at the airport for a “TAXI” when the guy clearly took me in a Mercedes SUV, I sucked it up and paid the large fair and arrived at a beautiful hotel. (I knew the second I got in and he stepped on the gas it was going to be expensive lol) The SUV was quite nice and he got me there quick but that hurt the wallet pretty bad. I quickly installed Uber for the rest of the trip.
The view from my room was better than expected and I wandered around by the pool and had a great meal at La Cote. I believe this was the night Chris took me to CVS to get some snacks which was good as I didn’t have any clue where I was going and most likely wasn’t going to wander off solo.
Day 2 I had a coffee at the hotel and realized that going offsite for breakfast was going to be the proper financial choice going forward. $11 CAD is quite a bit for a coffee where I live. Afterword's, I went to the registration and noticed a Veeam Legend (Luis) from the last Zoom call. Little did I know this was going to become a great friendship and introduce me to many other community members.
The sessions were fantastic and I was able to learn a great amount. I found the Keynotes really kept my attention and the speakers did a fantastic job. I didn’t even know what the “Tech Talks” were when I arrived. I was very impressed at how much information I was able to get out of a 30 minute informal chat. I was able to learn a great deal from Geoff about Kubernetes and where to start my journey. Time to start doing a bit of education and building some containers. The Microsoft Azure chat I had was informative as well and may have changed my approach on our DR plan at work.
The food and meals were amazing. As someone who has to eat Gluten Free, this was by far my largest concern for the trip. Not being able to eat is a terrible feeling. The food was labeled very well, and the amount of options were fantastic. I didn’t find myself hungry at all this trip. At the after parties I was able to have some seltzers as well. (I wouldn’t be upset if a Cider was available next time lol 😄)
The Veeam Canada dinner was also great. I met some contacts who we will be keeping in touch with going forward which is a game changer at the office as we have very similar issues to overcome. I found it quite interested that they were in the same boat looking forward to meeting me for the same reasons. Thanks Stu.
I spent a decent amount of time at the community booth helping out, but also interacting with other Veeam 100 members and conference attendees. Madalina and Safiya made me feel extremely welcome from the second I met them.
On the last day I hopped in the pool with Luis and Jos before packing my bags. It was at this point I realized I had too much Swag and had to leave 1 or 2 items in the hotel for the staff lol. I really had to fight to close the zipper because I refused to part with most of it The airport wanted to open my extremely overpacked bag, most likely because of the Yetti mug I stuffed full of my chargers to save room. After returning home I was able to catch a few more sessions online and tell my coworkers about all the fun I had.
I can’t wait until the next one to reconnect with everyone from this trip. What a fantastic group of people from all around the world! I’ve already told my boss I’ll be going to VeeamON 2024.
