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Category Archives: VMTN

Build your Brand with New VMTN Community Programs

At VMworld 2017 the VMTN Community team was excited to announce three major VMTN Community Program Updates, released to help you build your brand:

VMTN BlogBeat
VMTN Network Member Program
The addition of Elsa Mayer to our team, the new Blog Program Manager

VMTN Blog Beat is the new and improved Planetv12n, featuring community bloggers in a single feed. The main objective of the Blog Beat program is to enable bloggers to continue producing exceptional content by driving traffic to their posts from blogs.vmware.com, and other VMware channels. Our new blog program manger, Elsa Mayer, is working on establishing a series of benefits for community bloggers that register as VMTN Network Members:

Blogger roundtable calls featuring different blogging specialists each month
Traffic stack-ranking reports from VMware channels to your blog
Trending blog topic insights using social listening tool Radian6
Guest blogging opportunities on VMware corporate blogs like Network Virtualization and vSphere
The top 6 bloggers on Blog Beat each month will receive awesome blogger giveaways and the top 1 will get a free pass to VMworld 2018!

In joining VMTN Blog Beat, bloggers are registering to become VMTN Network Members. This is a program built for branded property owners with the purpose of leveraging the broader audience of the community ecosystem to drive traffic to VMTN Network Members’ pages. The foundation is a community object server built on an Open Source platform called Revive. It serves bi-directional community objects provided by Network Members into 1,000s of community webpages, including VMware internal blog pages, the VMTN homepage, and VMTN Netework Members’ platforms. Further benefits of signing-up for VMTN BlogBeat & Network Membership include:

An invitation to the VMTN Network beta – your content will be among the first to populate the server and your feedback will help shape the program
Automatic inclusion to the VMTN Blog Beat RSS Stream

If you’re a blogger (or a podcaster) in the VMware community ecosystem, this is a fantastic opportunity to get involved with the VMTN Community, and increase your audience. We’re looking forward to welcoming you to the Network!

Please go here to register.

If you want to learn more about these programs, here are some additional resources and opportunities:

Listen to VMware Communities Roundtable Podcast #401
Tune in to the livestream of Elsa Mayer’s VMworld Europe session VMTN6741E: Power Blogging with VMware (Wed 11:45PM PST/Thurs September 14^th 8:45AM GMT)
Follow @VMTNcommunity & @VMTNblogbeat on Twitter
Visit the VMTN Community Area at VMworld Europe
Meet Elsa on YouTube

Questions on these programs? Please reach out to the VMware Community Group at <communitygroup@vmware.com>

vExperts, Thank You for a Great VMworld U.S.

Thank you to the vExpert community for coming out to join us for our annual vExpert Party at VMworld U.S.

Each year we host the vExperts at a private event to provide a night of fun and entertainment. For this party we had food trucks, dessert truck, drinks, quarters, food & fire entertainment as well as great conversations and networking.

We held the event at the famous Las Vegas Pinball Hall of Fame featured on the History Channel. Each year we select a location for the event and this year we were approached by Carolynn Santos from VMware with the idea for Pinball and we instantly said YES, book it!

The Las Vegas Pinball Hall of Fame donates .90 on the dollar to local charities to help fight MS, Lupus and many other diseases. We were very proud this year knowing that all of the dollars we spent last night went to charity.

Some photos of the vExpert Party at VMworld U.S. in Las Vegas.

Nine Year vExperts!

The vExpert program has been around for 9 years and approaching our 10 year anniversary. I wanted to honor some of the 9 year vExperts and say THANK YOU! Thank you for your dedication to community and helping others. There are a couple that aren’t represented here that we will honor at the 10 year. Edward @texiwill, thank you for pulling everyone together for the photo.

Now this is dedication, Christopher Kusek @cxi, he will do anything to get the right shot!

vExpert Swag Bags

Thank you Gina Minks @gminks and the vSphere team for putting these together and all of your hard work. The vExpert swag bags were excellent and were a huge hit at the show. vExperts, please be sure to thank @gminks for the vExpert Swag Bags.

Swag Bag included:

Battery pack
Phone cable
Stickers
Water bottle
Branded vExpert bag

NSX Community Leader Summit

Thank you to the vExpert NSX Community as well as the NSBU at VMware for putting together this amazing event for NSX Community leaders. Chris McCain @hcmccain kicked things off in the evening and leads our VMware NSX Ninja Program.

Here was the agenda for the evening:

Welcome & Opening with Chris McCain, 30 minutes
NSX Everywhere / Modern Apps with Pere Monoclus & Milin Desai, 30 minutes
NSX for On-Prem, Cloud Native Apps and Clouds “Quick Dive” with Andrew Voltmer, 30 minutes
Break, 30 minutes
App Defense / Security with Chris Corde & Vijay Ganti, 30 minutes
AMA vExpert with Wade Holmes, Paul Mancuso, Suresh Thiru, Brian Lazear, 30 Minutes
Closing with Jeff Jennings, 15 minutes
Meet & Greet 30 minutes
NSX Summit Closing

vExperts, thank you again for such a great show and for allowing me to be part of this amazing community!

Corey Romero & the VMware Social & Community Team

A #VMTN Guide: How to Attend VMworld 2017, Without Physically Attending VMworld 2017

With VMworld quickly approaching, thousands of people around the world are checking in to flights, registering for sessions, podcasters are slating guests, Twitter & Facebook feeds are buzzing with excitement. There truly is no replacement for being surrounded by 20,000+ like-minded professionals and learning about industry disrupting technology from the VMware professionals who created it.

BUT, there is hope for those not registered. For the first year, VMTN is going to capture the VMworld magic and share it with community members at home. VMTN is going to allow you to Stay Connected throughout VMworld U.S. and Europe.

Step 1: Bookmark the VMware Technology Network homepage – visit often for:

Livestreams:
- vBrownBag TechTalk Sessions – A VMTN Network Member – Schedule U.S. | Europe
  - Including VMware {code}fest sessions
- theCUBE Interviews
News & announcements with links to relevant forums. Leverage this opportunity to discuss, network, and learn more.
VMworld-At-Home 2017 CloudCredibility.com Badge: tasks for those not in attendance. Earning this CloudCred badge will enter users into a raffle to win an Amazon Echo.
Beam Sign-up (U.S. Only): available now and throughout the conference. Visit VMvillage through video conferencing technology.
Social Visualizations: see posts around VMTN, vExpert, CloudCred, VMware {code} and more.
Blogs: any content being published on the VMTN Blog Beat Feed will be streaming here.

Step 2: Visit the VMworld Blog daily for:

Blogs from the VMworld team on Partner Exchange, Solutions Exchange, Sessions, and VMworld 2017 overall.
Social Media: find social streams of all content being published using the hashtags #VMworld and #VMware, and a map illustrating where these posts are coming from.
Blogger Resources: learn who is on the official VMworld Blogger 2017 list and where to find their content.

Step 3: Like the VMware Facebook Page for:

Video of the VMworld 2017 General Sessions
Live Video Interviews with VMware executives like Pat Gelsinger, CEO, and Sanjay Poonen, COO.
News, announcements, and resources throughout VMworld 2017.

Step 4: Subscribe to the new VMTN Blog Beat RSS Feed for:

Streaming blog updates from the official VMworld bloggers, members of the featured community blogger program, and all VMware internal blogs.
Are you a blogger? Sign-up for the new VMTN Network Program to become a featured community blogger

Step 5: Last, but not least, visit VMware.com for Livestreams of the General Sessions.

Add the VMworld 2017 General Sessions to your Calendar, and learn more.

If you are not able to attend VMworld 2017, I hope you enjoy it all the same. Stay connected.

Questions, comments, or concerns? Reach out to katieb@vmware.com.

VMworld: 8 VMTN Community Opportunities You Don’t Want to Miss

To recognize VMTN Community contributors, there are going to be 8 fantastic programs running at VMworld – including some for those who cannot attend the event. Get excited and get signed up for the following:

For the Folks at Home:

Beams (VMworld US only):

3 Beams at the VMTN Community Area.
Beams are video conferencing tools which provide the freedom to explore VMvillage from the comfort of your own home.
Sign up now!

VMTN Homepage Takeover

Featuring: livestream videos, VMworld social, live podcasts, blogs, {code}fest updates, and links to the forums with information on the latest VMware announcements.
Bookmark this page to Stay Connected.

For the Show-Goers:

vBrownBag TechTalks – A VMTN Member

vBrownBag – a VMware Technology Network Member is hosting lightening fast TechTalks in the VMTN Community area in VMvillage.
Register to attend these talks in the US and Europe on ScheduleBuilder now!

Closed Booths Available for Podcast, Vlog, or even Webinar creation

US: 2 booths | Europe: 1 booth.
No qualifications needed, but it is BYOAV (bring your own AV).
Reserve a slot in US or reserve a slot in Europe.

Blogger Program

Blogger tables will be set-up to provide a space for bloggers to write, charge, and network.
VMware Blogger Program Manager, Elsa Mayer, will be manning this area in the US and Europe to introduce her plans for the program and hand-out SWAG do nothing else… Don’t miss the opportunity to stop by.

{code}fest

Come visit VMware {code} program manager, Tim Bonnemann, at his VMware {code} in the VMTN Community Area to learn about the program, sign-up, and get more SWAG do nothing else.
{code}fest sessions available for registration in the VMworld US and Europe.
Sign up for the {code} fest Hackathon on Monday night at VMworld U.S. and VMworld Europe.
Amazon Echos will be given away at the VMware {code} booth, at Hackathon Training Sessions, and at the Hackathon.

CloudCred

CloudCred will support the VMware Hands-On Labs by running the CloudCred, Hands-On Labs Challenge.
Each lab and workshop will have its own unique, corresponding task on the CloudCred website.
Every day, CloudCred & the Labs will award Amazon Echoes, along with other prizes to those people landing in the top spots on the CloudCred, Labs Leaderboard
Visit CloudCred community manager, Noell Grier, in the Hands-on Labs area at VMworld US or Europe, to learn more.

vExpert Party

Each year, vExpert Advocacy Manager, Corey Romero, hosts all of the vExperts for an after-hours event at a fantastic location near VMworld. Inside-scoop: this years US party will be held at the Las Vegas Pinball Hall of Fame.
If you are a vExpert, watch your email for invitations to both the US and Europe parties.

And that’s a wrap! I will see you folks either virtually, or in person at the VMTN Community Area in VMvillage in just over a month.

For further information or questions around these programs, email the VMTN Community Manager, katieb@vmware.com.

vExpert 2017 Second Half Announcement

Thank you to everyone who applied for vExpert. I’m pleased to announce the list of 2017 Second Half vExperts. Each of these vExperts have demonstrated significant contributions to the community and a willingness to share their expertise with others. Contributing is not always blogging or Twitter as there are many public speakers, book authors, script writers, VMUG leaders, VMTN community moderators and internal champions among this group.

I want to personally thank everyone who applied and point out that a “vExpert” is not a technical certification or even a general measure of VMware expertise. The judges selected people who were particularly engaged with their community and who had developed a substantial personal platform of influence in those communities. If you feel like you were not selected in error, that’s entirely possible.

The judges may have overlooked or misinterpreted what you wrote in your application. Email us at vexpert@vmware.com and we can discuss your situation. We looked at all of the 2015 and some of 2016 activities to determine the voting results.

If you were selected as a vExpert 2017 Second Half, we will be conducting on-boarding this week. You should now have the welcome email in your inbox which will explain the entire program and what you need to do to be enrolled in our private vExpert community as well as listed in the vExpert directory. We will use the email address provided in your vExpert application. We will extend the vExpert Reception invite to you for both VMworld US in Las Vegas as well as VMworld Europe in Barcelona. Congratulations to all the vExperts, new and returning.

We’re looking forward to working with you. Command + F away and find your name if you can’t wait for the welcome email.

Corey Romero, and the VMware Social Media & Community Team

Note: The list below are the newly added vExperts only. This is not the complete vExpert list.

First Name	Last Name	Twitter
Max	Abelardo	@mabelard
Charles	Adams	@whitehattechs
belal	adel
Hammad	Alam	@vcdx248
Muhammed	Ali	muhammedali275
FERNANDO	ALVAREZ MARTINEZ	@bolooo
Mehmet	AYDIN	diaboliksword
Adrian	Begg	@AdrianBegg
Uma	sanker Panda	@UmaPanda81
Preben	Berg	@poulpreben
Julien	BERTON	Julien BERTON
Rob	Bishop	@rob_a_b
Christiaan	Brinkhoff	@Brinkhoff_C
Yamato	Sakai
Hans	Kraaijeveld	@hanskraaijeveld
JOHN	DE ARAUJO	@johncostaaraujo
Gilad	Broun	@giladbrown
Douglas	Brown	@douglasabrown
Brian	Bunke	@brianbunke
Saurabh	Chandratre	SC_vNextGen
Luis	Chanu	@LuisChanu
Todd	D’Amore
Noel	Lacayo	@noel_lacayo
Saadallah	Chebaro	@s_chebaro
Jack	Cherkas	@jackcherkas
Chris	Colotti	@CColotti
Manuel	Serrano de Haro
Alex	Schenck
Celia	Cristaldo Cantero	@celiacri
Barry	Schiffer	@barryschiffer
Rhian	Cross	@rhiancohen
David	Davis	@DavidMDavis
Ivan	de Mes	@ivandemes
Prabhu	Barathi	@prabhu_b
Mike	Dent	@mikedent13
Dillon	Doxey	VCDX229
Pawel	Drazkowski	@_Drazkowski
Hamza	El Fajjaj
Jad	El-Zein	@virtualjad
Peter	Flecha	@vPedroArrow
Mike	Gelhar	@mikegelhar
Andrew	Gerrie	aegerrie
Matthieu	GIOIA	@notmg
Joao	Grade	@j_grade
William	Grismore	@grizzamore
Brett	Guarino	@Brett_Guarino
John	Hague	@jhague10
Jeremy	Hall	VMjhall
Rhys	Hammond	@HammondRhys
Faisal	Hasan	@FaisalHasan80
Derek	Hennessy	@derekhennessy
Jorge Luis	Hernandez	@swatcat666
Jose Manuel	Hernandez Benitez	jos3mhb
Todd	Horne	@RVAVMWARE
Joseph	Houghes	@jhoughes
Kevin	Howell	@kevhowla
Alton	Ingram
Yohei	Ishihara
Darshana	Jayathilake	@darshanajayathi
QIYAN	JIANG
Britton	Johnson	vcixnv
Spas	Kaloferov	@SpasKaloferov
Byounghee	Kim
Arron	King	@cybersylum
Nick	Korte	@NetworkNerd_
Deepak	koshal	@deepakkoshal
Veli Kadir	KOZAN	@velikadirkozan
John	Kozej	@vcdx245
Vijay	Kumar	@jaysheezzy
Rajeev	Kumar	@rajeevc64867759
Michael	Leahy	@mikeleahy1234Ba
Ariel	Liguori	aliguo
Naresh	Madiraju
Dukagjin	Maloku	DugiDM
HEURTIN	Manuel	@manul63
Wesley	Martins Silva	@wesmrt
Ángel	Muñoz Guerrero	@AngelMGTech
Ken	Nalbone	@KenNalbone
Michael	Noone	Yinzvirtual
Paul	Parmentier
Mark	Plettenberg	@MarkPlettenberg
Alexandro	Prado	https://twitter.com/alexandroprado
John	Putnam	@putnajoe
James	Rankin	0
Martez	Reed	greenreedtech
Joerg	Roesch	oergman
Rodrigo	Rovere	@blogciscoredes
Hussam	Sawaged	@HussamSawaqed
Michael	Schroeder	@Microlytix
Romain	Serre	@RomSerre
Ryan	Shellenberger
Herman	Silva	bighermWPB
Harjit	Singh	@pmlogs
jitendra	singh	@jitendra12singh
Jitendra	Singh	@Jitendr87037334
Gerard	Slotboom	@slotboom
Dennis	Smith	@DennisMSmith
Iakov	Sovluk
Christian	Stankowic	@stankowic_devel
John	Statt	@john.statt
Andy	Syrewicze	@asyrewicze
Dusan	Tekeljak	@mavatko
Aidan	Thomson	@thebigbluebin
Aung Zaw Zaw	Tun
Paul	Twomey
Colin	Westwater	@cwestwater
Gary	Williams	@garyw_
Geoff	Wilmington	Geoff Wilmington
Bram	Wolfs	@bramwolfs
Paul	Wynne	@vdiallstar
Tayfun	Yaban	@tayfunyaban
Chip	Zoller	@chipzoller
Mischa	Buijs	BeVirtualnet
Christopher	Frenz
Akira	Koda

Congratulations to #VMTN Community Warrior: @jfrappier

Submit a nomination for the next VMTN Community Warrior. In 2017, this program will be recognizing and rewarding 25 users who commit time and energy to engaging in community discussions and capturing the values of VMware Technology Network. Learn more.

Congratulations, and welcome to the VMTN Community Warrior Hall of Fame @Jfrappier. It is an honor to put the spotlight on you, because you deserve it. Check out the nomintation Jonathan received the following nomination from Community Warrior: @arielsanchezmor:

Jonathan is a veteran of the vExpert and EMCelect communities who has been a big influence in the Boston virtualization groups and has been an integral member of vBrownBag. He has also led the charge in publishing content that bridges the devops tools integrations with vSphere (out of his own time, this is not his job role) at jfrap.com and has helped many in the vCommunity as a mentor and sounding board. Unusually quiet in person, yet one of the funniest I know, my main reason for nominating him is that I know (from being a vBrownBag crew member) that Jonathan is the engine that keeps vBrownBag running, always scheduling people with ample time and doing the hard work of choosing a new topic and getting presenters for it. He takes care of all the little jobs that are needed, and also finds time to regularly present when he is asked to. I have only seen his impact in the last two years, and yet I know he has been doing this for a long time.

I think Ariel captured why Jonathon was chosen to receive this badge. Jonathan is not only active on VMTN, but as Ariel says, he is a vExpert who is heavily involved with the vBrownBag organization. Beyond that, the man is also active on GitHub, he recently delivered the keynote at the annual Virtualization Technology User Group (VTUG) Spring Forward meetup, is active in the Boston VMUG, is constantly tweeting, blogging, sharing, learning, and LIVING the foundational principles behind a great community. He even had a book published.

Let’s learn a bit more about this warrior…

K: You are clearly a VMware community guy – what is the unique value for you in each?

J: None, and any…all at once. I am less interested in any particular vertical community and more interested in meeting other people. Since my interests are spread across technology I just choose to meet smart, open, people who are interested in helping others with positive feedback. If that person is a SQL DBA – cool, I’ve played the role of SQL admin before. Network admin? Yup, done that. Developer – I just want to hear more from those people as I think our world is headed towards “everything as code.”

K: How are you going to get involved with community at VMworld?

J: I will be in the hang space (VMvillage) almost the entire event, I’ll pop down to the vendor place but otherwise I’ll be connecting with people and helping vBrownBag produce TechTalks.

K: Do you want to tell me a bit about the vBrownBag TechTalk you will be delivering?

J: At VMworld US I will be doing a vBrownBag Tech Talk on using the vSphere 6.5 REST APIs though an Ansible playbook. I’ve long been a fan of Ansible and being able to use to automate and manage the configuration of my vSphere environment combines two products I enjoy working with.

For those that haven’t worked with APIs before, don’t worry because we will be kicking off a vBrownBag series on APIs right after VMworld US with a ton of great presenters and topics.

Thank you, Jonathan – and congratulations again!

To check out Jonathan’s TechTalk at VMworld U.S., register for VMTN6616U on ScheduleBuilder. To get in touch online, you can reach Jonathan here:

Do you see someone frequently answering questions in your favorite forums? Did someone provide server saving support to you recently at a VMUG or over Twitter? Any community involvement counts. Head to the Community Warrior page to nominate a user, or email katieb@vmware.com.

VMworld 2017: Closed Booths Available in the VMTN Community Area

This year, VMTN is making it a priority to empower podcasters, vloggers, and content creators. At our VMTN Community Area in VMvillage we will have booths available to enable the VMware community to produce quality audio content in a quiet area. This means, when you’re sharing news and opinions, you won’t have to share the background noise of 9,999+ people walking around a convention center.

In the U.S. there will be 2 booths and in Europe there will be 1. These booths will have four walls and a ceiling to optimize audio within the booth. Time within these booths will be allocated in a first come first serve basis. To reserve a time please fill out the following form:

RESERVE YOUR TIMESLOT HERE:

Europe: https://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-35674

U.S.: https://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-35644

*There will be no AV tools provided. Please bring your own recording devices if necessary.

VMTN will also promote your podcasts should you opt in. At the top of the above documents, there will be a link to a form. Should you choose to fill out the form, your podcast will be added to our featured podcasts list on VMTN.

See you at VMworld 2017!

Congratulations to #VMTN Community Warrior: @rajeevsrikant

Submit a nomination for the next VMTN Community Warrior. In 2017, this program will be recognizing and rewarding 25 users who commit time and energy to engaging in community discussions and capturing the values of VMware Technology Network. Learn more.

I’m happy to announce, and extend my congratulations to VMTN’s new Community Warrior @rajeevsrikant. Welcome to the Community Warrior Hall of Fame! For those that have been to the VMTN NSX page in the past three years will recognize @rajeevsrikant’s handle. What makes him special is he gives as much as he gets.

Not only does @rajeevsrikant answer customer questions, but he asks them. He leverages VMTN as a place for support, while providing support to others. He takes time every day to improve the community ecosystem for VMware customers, and that makes him a Community Warrior. Thank you and congratulations!

Let’s learn a bit more about this warrior…

K: How were you originally introduced to communities and what inspired you to stay involved?

R: Initially when I was very new to NSX technology, I was looking for open communities where I can learn, share & find answers to queries/problem. VMTN provided the exact platform which I was looking for which is helping me to learn something new every day. It helped to interact with people of multiple skill sets, share their experience & knowledge which is very useful.

K: So, you leveraged it as a platform to learn. That’s great. What have you gained through your involvement with VMTN?

R: VMTN is a knowledge warehouse & it provides easy & fastest way to address any real-time problems. It helped me in acquiring adequate knowledge about the technology & which was useful for my work. It also provided me a platform to share the experience & knowledge to other members.

K: What has your NSX journey been?

R: My NSX journey has been a fun ride. As a pure hardcore networking guy I was assigned to work in the network virtualization project using NSX with not much experience on VMware platform in the past. Completely new to this technology, HOL provided me the best platform to learn about NSX & gets hands on. Knowledge gained through VMTN & HOL gave me huge confidence during implementation NSX in an enterprise environment in large scale deployment. I am proud to say that I am VCIX-NV certified.

K: The ultimate question: would you recommend NSX to other networking professionals?

R: Yes, I do recommend NSX as this is the future of networking. The features, functionality, flexibility & ease of deployment which NSX offers makes it stand out among its competitors. NSX is the game changer for Data Center networks.

K: And finally… Tell us a fun fact about you!

R: I am a friendly character & I love reading.

Thanks for sharing @rajeevsrikant! If you are interested in making any book recommendations, learning more about his NSX experiences, or making a friend – message or follow him on VMTN. He is always posting great content like:

NSX Edge Gateway – On Demand Failover

Congratulations again and thanks for all of your community engagement!

Do you see someone frequently answering questions in your favorite forums? Did someone provide server saving support to you recently at a VMUG or over Twitter? Any community involvement counts. Head to the Community Warrior page to nominate a user, or email katieb@vmware.com.

Discover VMTN: 3 Remarkable Reasons to Come to Communities for Support

Blog 3 – series predecessors: VMTN Global Forums, 7 Ways to Gain Points

VMware Technology Network is a communities’ platform comprised of 3.2 million members and only three, as of today, can boast that they host this badge on their profile.

What makes these 3 users remarkable? They are a part of VMware’s Global Services team – they are Knowledge Champions* – and they have integrated into the VMTN ecosystem to spread that knowledge to whoever is in need. These users are committing time to ensure that any query that is not addressed with peer-to-peer support within a reasonable window receives the attention it needs to reach a resolution.

*At VMware, the title of Knowledge Champion is given to those responsible for coordinating with engineering and the technical support team to publish accurate internal and external knowledge base articles. Communities is a hot bed for content – as they support VMTN, VMTN inspires them!

Meet 3 of the great reasons VMTN should be your go-to site for VMware support:

Knowledge Champion: @AishR

IT experience of 10 years, where she worked as an SE on various domains – hardware and software. She is passionate about resolving customer queries and validating technical documents.

Main VMware areas of Interest: Virtualization, Networking, Data center technology

Technical Certifications: VCA-5, VCP-5

Other Certifications: Six sigma Green belt, Certified Scrum Master

Fun fact: Dancing makes one smarter and it worked for me 😊

Knowledge Champion: @mhampto

Previously a TSE in the Sysops group prior to being a Knowledge Champion.

Main VMware areas of interest: certifications, and history

Technical Certifications: VCP4 and 5, six in progress. Specialize in vSphere (ESXi, vCenter Server)

Fun fact: Enjoys riding motorcycles in the Rockies

Knowledge Champion: @parmarr

Rahul spent 7 years in the Support Industry, working on product releases, content editing, and the VMware Licensing Support Team, before joining the Knowledge Experience team.

Main VMware areas of interest: licensing & account management

Technical Certifications: VCA-5, VSP, VTSP, Working on VCP-6

Fun fact: People friendly 😊 I like to meet and know new people.

We’re happy to welcome these folks on board as catalysts for customer success. Follow them on communities to track their progress, message them to welcome them to our thriving community ecosystem, and follow @VMTNcommunity on Twitter for updates on the program.

And don’t forget to bookmark communities in your browser: VMTN Communities.

NOTE: these additions to the ecosystem do not cannibalize our Community Warrior program, or our VMTN User Moderators, both of whom volunteer their time to make our community great.

For further information on status/badge levels, visit the Community Rewards Points System FAQ or for questions around this program, email the VMTN Community Manager, katieb@vmware.com.

Congratulations to #VMTN Community Warrior: @iiliev

*Submit a nomination for the next VMTN Community Warrior*

I’d like to extend my congratulations a full 6,500 miles to our newest Community Warrior… In Sofia, Bulgaria. Thank you @iiliev for your contributions to VMTN and to VMware as a Staff Engineer. Welcome to the Community Warrior Hall of Fame!

How did @iiliev get here? He was nominated by Hazenet, twice. Once in February when the program started, and once more this month. He was also nominated by tschoergez who said:

He is the most active member in the vRealize Orchestrator forums https://communities.vmware.com/community/vmtn/vcenter/orchestrator?view=discussions, Answering questions quickly and with super high quality information.

After gaining a whopping 6,120 points in this one community, I’d have to agree. You are a vRealize Orchestrator community star @iiliev.

I would also like to take a second, before letting @iiliev speak for himself, to reflect on the current Community Warrior ratio:

2 U.S. based users
1 New Zealand resident
6 Europeans

VMTN: Stay Connected… To other customers near and far. *pause for chills*

Moving on… The VMTN team had the privilege of talking to @iiliev about his experience on VMTN in more detail. Check it out:

K: How were you originally introduced to communities and what inspired you to stay involved?

I: I subscribed to VMTN back in 2009. Initially, I wasn’t very active, but later I started to contribute when I gained more knowledge about the product, inspired by other active contributors (cdecanini_, Burke-, and tschoergez, to name a few). I believe having a friendly and helpful forum/community is essential for every successful product.

K: I completely agree! What have you gained through your involvement with VMTN?

I: VMTN forums turned out to be a direct and fast way to get in touch with the customers, and to find out what their real problems are with the product. It is surprising how often you can learn something new while trying to answer a seemingly easy question. And it is always rewarding to see happy customers whose day has been saved by your answers.

Sometimes, it could also have more direct impact; eg. spending 10 minutes educating the customer how to troubleshoot an issue or writing a sample code snippet could prevent opening an official SR costing your team several days/weeks to resolve.

K: Interesting – what is your job at VMware? Is answering community questions a part of your job description?

I: I’m part of vRO R&D team, working on developing the future versions and supporting the current versions of the product. Answering community questions is not a strict requirement for my job, but I think all VMware engineers should be encouraged to do it. It is beneficial for both parties.

K: Why do you believe vRealize Orchestrator is an amazing product?

I: Who is saying this? 😊 vRO definitely has some rough edges, but it is also a very powerful and flexible product, and if you don’t mind getting your hands dirty, it could do almost everything related to automating/orchestrating tasks. And it is free (sort of)! Everyone loves free stuff, right?

K: Wise words! Thanks for your time and congratulations again.

If you are interested on picking @iiliev’s brain on vRealize Orchestrator, VMware, or VMTN, you can follow him here:

VMTN: @iiliev

Posting great content like:

Technical Preview version of VMware vRealize Orchestrator plug-in for vAPI