vForum Seoul (Nov 19th, 2019)

Odyssey made its debut in Seoul on the 19^th of November. Located at the very center of the venue, vForum attendees gathered around the area to watch the contestants compete. Round 1 was on vSphere, Round 2 on Horizon and the last round was centered on vSAN.

Here is a sneak-peak into the event.

Congratulations to the winners – Rockets! Team Rocket was from a VMware partner in Korea. We hope to see you again next year.

Watch the recap of the entire event in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecDnAoJmQgs

vForum Mumbai (Nov 19th – 20th, 2019)

Next stop on week two of the Asia pacific vForums was vForum Mumbai. Contestants could register on the event day to compete in the Odyssey tournament. A total of 5 tournaments were held using the entire scope of VMware products – vSAN, vSphere, NSX, vRealize Automation and Horizon.

vForum Beijing (Nov 21st – Nov 22nd, 2019)

Our final stop of vForum APAC (Asia Pacific) 2019 was Beijing. The event started on November 20^th with a soft launch online for users to test their skills and take the vSphere Odyssey lab.

The in-person event was on November 22^nd jammed packed with excitement and momentum. The Bejing local team organized two separate standalone tournaments focused on vSphere and vSAN content. Recruiting a total 56 customer and partners forming a total of 28 teams, 14 teams for each tournament. Making it the biggest number of team formations to date, compared to 24 at VMworld US and Barcelona.

The event kick-off in the morning with the vSphere tournament and in the afternoon the vSAN tournament began. The competition was fierce with multiple teams finishing seconds away and finally finishing with a record win!

Congratulation to team 野狼队 (Wild Wolf) for winning the vSphere tournament and to the team 及时雨 (Timely Rain) for winning the vSAN tournament and setting a new record of 7:23, 0:44 faster than VMworld Barcelona.

Once again, thank you to Intel for sponsoring Odyssey for all of these fantastic events.

Also thank you to our readers. Happy new year!

Straight after VMworld Barcelona, the excitement of Odyssey continued at the vForums in APAC (Asia Pacific).

What are vForums?
VMware vForum’s are smaller sized replications of VMworld that are held in major cities around the world. At vForums, attendees can meet face to face with VMware product experts and learn more about navigating through digital transformation.

vForum Tokyo 2019 (November 11^th – 13^th)

The first stop on the journey was Tokyo where VMware Odyssey was center stage at the solutions exchange. The venue was filled with excitement and enthusiasm.  In total, there were 46 customers and partners, forming 16 teams of 2-3 people. The tournament format took place across two days between November 12^th and 13^th.

Day 1: Round 1 and Round 2  
Day 1 of the tournament began on November 12^th with a total of 16 teams participating in Round 1 and Round 2. They were tested on vSAN and vSphere. Within the teams, there was a great amount of teamwork as participants worked together to complete the required tasks.

In addition to the tournament, attendees at the event could play as a single-player and take the vSphere Performance Odyssey lab. The top 3 people on the leader got a chance to win prizes. Congratulations to the winners!

Day 2: Semi-final and Final

On Day 2, the semi-final and final round tested all participants on their knowledge of Horizon and NSX-T. The players screen was mirrored on larger displays above each station. There was a lot of interaction with the audience as they cheered for their favorite teams and friends.

Congratulations to the vForum Tokyo 2019 Odyssey Champions: the Galaxies! With an impressive time of 10:46, betting the VMworld US record by 4 minutes and 16 seconds.

Want to learn more? Watch the interview video with the winning team
https://players.brightcove.net/1534342432001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6109456568001

vForum Singapore 2019 (Nov 14th.)

Next stop on the journey was Singapore.

The excitement continued in Singapore with 16 teams competing to become champion. Starting in 2018, Singapore is the first country that hosted a Hands-on Labs tournament of which grew into Odyssey. For those who would like to trace back to the epoch of this journey please read this blog post. 

The Singapore team took their 2019 tournament to another level by adding a special round for female participants called ‘Voyagers of Venus’. In tandem with VMware’s diversity and inclusion initiative, during this round female participants in each team were given a chance to compete and gain an advantage that could help them advance to the next round.

And here are the proud winners of Odyssey at vForum Singapore. Team Flying Saucers of Singapore!

vForum Sydney 2019 (Nov 19^th)

Last on the list is vForum Sydney – where VMware customers had a chance to play single player game mode of Odyssey. Participants could register on-site to take part in the race to the top of the event leaderboard. Here’s a customer that was the first to take part in the game:

Congratulations and thank you to all the participants!

Tune in again next week for a recap of Week 2 at APJ vForums: Seoul, Mumbai, Sydney and Beijing.

All the Odyssey lab content has been released online. Try the Odyssey labs now: https://www.vmware.com/try-vmware/try-vmware-odyssey-labs.html

The Hands-on Labs team has been working hard to make sure your experience this year at VMworld is the best! We’ve created a list of things you need to know about before you pack your bags for Las Vegas.

Find Labs That Fit Your Schedule

Take as many labs as you like, as many times as you want. The Hands-on Labs are flexible to fit your schedule. Here are of few options available at VMworld:

• Self-Paced Labs: Interact with the latest VMware products at your own pace at a traditional workstation. Labs are delivered in a first-come, first-served fashion and do not need to be scheduled in advance.

• Expert-Led Workshops:  Access to VMware product experts in an engaging, instructional environment in English, Japanese, Spanish or Portuguese. To attend an expert-led workshop, you must sign up in advance through the VMworld 2018 Content Catalog. 

• Hands-on Labs Tours: 30-minute behind-the-scenes peek at what it takes to run our Hands-on Labs. Get to meet lab creators and engineers running our multiple clouds. Make sure to book your tour at the HOL Tours Check-in desk.

What’s New?

Discover the new things that will be happening this year at VMworld Hands-on Labs.

• Hands-on Labs ON AIR: Hands-on Labs will be live streaming on Facebook Live and YouTube Live. Follow the action from any location and interact with us in real-time. Check out our blog to view the list of live streaming activities.

• Augmented Reality Content Wall: On-site iPad will be available to use and bring the Hands-on Labs Content Wall to life uncovering, more lab details.

• Hands-on Labs Connect: The nerve center of the Hands-on Labs room, stop by the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) area to take a lab on your own devices and interact with the new touchscreen Command Center Wall.

What about Prizes?

Don’t worry we got you covered and this year we are making it more interactive than ever! Here are a few ways to qualify to win.

• Hands-on Labs Lightning Labs: Are short, concentrated modules that are designed to maximize your time. In as little as 15 minutes you can learn something new, in the last two hours of each day to increase your chances of winning an Oculus Go 3D VR Headset.

• The CloudCred, Hands-On Labs Great Labs Game: Score your CloudCred points for EVERY lab and workshop. Follow the QR code at the end of your lab or session for CloudCred points to BIG PRIZES!!

• Code Coin: Earn 25 Code Coins for up to four labs taken, and 50 additional Coins by completing select CloudCred tasks. Code Coins can be spent on lattes & more in the VMTN Communities Lounge

Check out The CloudCred blog post for more details.

We look forward to seeing you at VMworld 2018.

Want more information? Check out these two videos on VMworld Hands-on Labs 2018.

Tips for Attending VMworld Hands-on Labs 2018

What’s New with 2018 VMworld Hands-on Labs