Every year many of the #vCommunity members find themselves wanting to attend VMware Explore, but their companies don’t have the budget to spend on the trip. In this blog, we thought we would take a look at how one could attend VMware Explore in Vegas this year and keep the cost to yourself at around 2.5K, not bad for a business week in Vegas.
There are always some challenges when considering how to get to Explore when you have to pay for things yourself. Here are the traditional costs:
Flight Costs, Hotel Costs, Food Costs, Conference Pass
This year, we took a look at ways community members could have a quality experience for under 3k.
Flights: Vegas costs from different places in the USA will average from:
DC, Atlanta, New York =. 169.00 (Round Trip Spirit/Frontier).
Ohio, Wisconsin, Texas = 188.00 (Round Trip Spirit/Frontier).
Colorado, Seattle, SF =75.00. (Round Trip Frontier)
Hotels:
Treasure Island is a beautiful hotel right next to the Venetian
Nightly Rate: 69.00 + 45.00 Resort Fee, Taxes 14.00 = 128.00 per night * 4 = 512.00
Food: There are events every night and your Conference Pass covers Breakfast and Lunch
Monday – Thursday: Breakfast and Lunch is free
Monday Night Light Dinner: Explore Kickoff Reception, Free food/Hackathon Food
Tuesday Night Light Dinner: VMUG/vExpert Community Party
Wednesday Night Dinner: Explore Party, Free Food
Daily Snacks: Hub and Rewards Espresso Machine
Conference Pass:
VMUG Advantage Pricing: $2,295 (Rate Valid through August 24th)
Total Cost for VMware Explore 2024 Vegas:
Sunday – Thursday 2,976.00
Monday – Thursday: 2,848.00
Monday – Thursday (Split Room with Friend): 2656.00
So there you have it, nothing extreme other then eating and drinking free food at the parties and flying on Frontier Airlines. If you bring a friend and share a room (which I have done) you can get out the door easily under 2,800.00. This does assume you are a VMUG advantage member, which “EVERYONE” should be. =). Given you get a fun week in Vegas and if you plan correctly, should get some nice pool time, this is a great way to invest in yourself, getting out of the office, and helping your mental state of mind. Considering you probably will save 300.00 in spending at home (Fuel, Coffee and a few Dinners), you really will only be spending 2500.00 extra for so so much.
Hope to see you there, either on your own dime, or your companies.
