Disclaimer: I recently attended Storage Field Day 22. Some expenses were paid for by Tech Field Day. There is no requirement for me to blog about any of the content presented and I am not compensated in any way for my time at the event. Some materials presented were discussed under NDA and don’t form part of my blog posts, but could influence future discussions.
Here are my notes on gifts, etc, that I received as a conference attendee at Storage Field Day 22. This is by no stretch an interesting post from a technical perspective, but it’s a way for me to track and publicly disclose what I get and how it looks when I write about various things. With all of this stuff happening (waves hands around), it’s not going to be as lengthy as normal, but I did receive a box of stuff in the mail, so I wanted to disclose it.
The Tech Field Day team sent over some stickers, a TFD tote bag, and a TFD pin, and a TFD patch. Fujifilm kindly gave me a 16GB USB drive (with both USB 2 and Lightning connectors), a webcam cover, stylus, USB charging cable, a Bluetooth tracker, a phone cradle, and a beach towel. Komprise sent over some neat socks, three Komprise-branded Titleist golf balls, and a sticker.
It wasn’t fancy food and limos this time around, but it was nonetheless an enjoyable event. Hopefully we can get back to in-person events some time this decade. Thanks again to Stephen and the team for having me back. Thanks also to my employer for giving me time away from the office to attend.
Disclaimer: I recently attended Storage Field Day 21. My flights, accommodation and other expenses were paid for by Tech Field Day. There is no requirement for me to blog about any of the content presented and I am not compensated in any way for my time at the event. Some materials presented were discussed under NDA and don’t form part of my blog posts, but could influence future discussions.
This is a quick post to say thanks once again to Stephen and Ben, and the presenters at Storage Field Day 21. I had a great time. For easy reference, here’s a list of the posts I did covering the events (they may not match the order of the presentations).
Also, here’s a number of links to posts by my fellow delegates (in no particular order). They’re all very smart people, and you should check out their stuff, particularly if you haven’t before. I’ll attempt to keep this updated as more posts are published. But if it gets stale, the Storage Field Day 21 landing page will have updated links.
Disclaimer: I recently attended Storage Field Day 21. My flights, accommodation and other expenses were paid for by Tech Field Day. There is no requirement for me to blog about any of the content presented and I am not compensated in any way for my time at the event. Some materials presented were discussed under NDA and don’t form part of my blog posts, but could influence future discussions.
Here are my notes on gifts, etc, that I received as a conference attendee at Storage Field Day 21. This is by no stretch an interesting post from a technical perspective, but it’s a way for me to track and publicly disclose what I get and how it looks when I write about various things. With all of … this stuff … happening, it’s not going to be as lengthy as normal, but I did receive a couple of boxes of stuff in the mail, so I wanted to disclose it.
The Tech Field Day team sent a keyboard cloth (a really useful thing to save the monitor on my laptop from being bashed against the keyboard), a commemorative TFD coin, and some TFD patches. The team also sent me a snack pack with a variety of treats in it, including Crunch ‘n Munch caramel popcorn with peanuts, fudge brownie M&M’s, Pop Rocks, Walker’s Monster Munch pickled onion flavour baked corn snacks, peanut butter Cookie Dough Bites, Airheads, Razzles, a giant gobstopper, Swedish Fish, a Butterfinger bar, some Laffy Taffy candy, Hershey’s Kisses, Chewy Lemonhead, Bottlecaps, Airheads, Candy Sours and Milk Duds. I don’t know what most of this stuff is but I guess I’ll find out. I can say the pickled onion flavour baked corn snacks were excellent.
Pliops came through with the goods and sent me a Lume Cube Broadcast Lighting Kit.Hammerspace sent a stainless steel water bottle and Hammerspace-branded Leeman notepad. Nasuni threw in a mug, notepad, and some pens, while NetApp gave me a travel mug and notepad. Tintri kindly included a Tintri trucker cap, Tintri-branded hard drive case and Tintri-branded OGIO backpack in the swag box.
It wasn’t fancy food and limos this time around. But it was nonetheless an enjoyable event. Hopefully we can get back to in-person events some time this decade. Thanks again to Stephen and the team for having me back.
Disclaimer: I recently attended Storage Field Day 20. My flights, accommodation and other expenses were paid for by Tech Field Day. There is no requirement for me to blog about any of the content presented and I am not compensated in any way for my time at the event. Some materials presented were discussed under NDA and don’t form part of my blog posts, but could influence future discussions.
Here are my notes on gifts, etc, that I received as a conference attendee at Storage Field Day 20. This is by no stretch an interesting post from a technical perspective, but it’s a way for me to track and publicly disclose what I get and how it looks when I write about various things. With all of … this stuff … happening, it’s not going to be as lengthy as normal, but I did receive a couple of boxes of stuff in the mail, so I wanted to disclose it.
Disclaimer: I recently attended Storage Field Day 19. My flights, accommodation and other expenses were paid for by Tech Field Day. There is no requirement for me to blog about any of the content presented and I am not compensated in any way for my time at the event. Some materials presented were discussed under NDA and don’t form part of my blog posts, but could influence future discussions.
Here are my notes on gifts, etc, that I received as a conference attendee at Storage Field Day 19. This is by no stretch an interesting post from a technical perspective, but it’s a way for me to track and publicly disclose what I get and how it looks when I write about various things. And I get to show you some photos of nice food. I’m going to do this in chronological order, as that was the easiest way for me to take notes during the week.
Saturday
My wife kindly dropped me at the domestic airport so I could make my way from BNE to SFO via SYD. I managed to get into the Qantas Business Club before my flight and had a couple of Heinekens. I flew Qantas economy class to SFO. The flights were paid for by Tech Field Day. Plane food was consumed on the flight. It was a generally good experience, lack of sleep notwithstanding. I stayed at the Plaza Suites Hotel for the event. This was covered by Tech Field Day as well. I made my way to a friend’s house to spend some time before the event, and managed to take in a Warriors game at the new Chase Center. I also managed to swing by El Maguey Taqueria in San Carlos. If you’re into high-quality jumbo shrimp burritos at a reasonable price – this is the place for you.
Sunday
On Sunday evening I was fortunate to have dinner at Georgiana Comsa’s house with her and some friends. I’m always appreciative of good food and good conversation, and it was great to spend some time with them (jet lag notwithstanding).
Tuesday
On Tuesday I arrived at the hotel in the afternoon and was provided with a bag of various snacks by the Tech Field Day team. I had 3 North Coast Scrimshaw pilsner beers at the hotel bar. We had dinner at the hotel, consisting of:
Organic mixed greens, asian pear, mixed nuts, smoke maple vinaigrette
Flat iron – 100% grass-fed beef from Marin Sun Farms, salsa seca de semillas
Gelato – some kind of coconut and kale combination that actually worked
I also received a very cool book (“Feck Perfuction”) from Becky Elliot as part of the Yankee gift swap.
Wednesday
We had breakfast at the hotel on Wednesday morning, consisting of bacon, scrambled eggs, pork sausage, and pancake. I will say the bacon was pretty good, given that I don’t really like the way they do bacon in the US.
Tiger Technology gave each of us a t-shirt. During the NetApp session, I had a San Pellegrino water, and some coffee. We had lunch at NetApp, consisting of green salad, roasted asparagus with cherry tomatoes, chicken Alfredo with candied bacon, and grilled garlic butter steak. I’ve had the opportunity to eat at NetApp before, and it’s always an excellent experience.
At the Western Digital session I had a bottled water. WD also provided each delegate with a gift bag containing a 500GB USB-C SanDisk Extreme PRO portable SSD, WD-branded water bottle, and notebook. For dinner we headed to Mezcal in San Jose. I had 3 Modelo Especial beers and rice, beans, chicken, salmon, chips, guacamole, and salsa for dinner.
Thursday
We had breakfast at the hotel on Thursday morning, and I had the bacon, scrambled eggs, pork sausage, and pancake.
At the Dell EMC session, we were presented with a Dell EMC Gift Bag. This contained a PowerOne branded notepad, sticker, t-shirt, trucker cap as well as Dell EMC Storage branded:
Re-useable straws
Socks
Sticker
USB charger
WiFi smart plug
We were also given a Dell Technologies Yeti 30 oz tumbler. We had lunch at the Dell EMC office. This was a boxed-sandwich thing. I had the turkey and bacon wrap, a cookie, and bottled water.
On Thursday night a number of us had dinner at the hotel. I had the dry aged burger – an 8oz, 24 day dry-aged grass-fed beef burger with garlic aioli, arugula, crispy shallots, brioche, and tarragon butter. I also had 4 of the Scrimshaw pilsner beers before and during dinner.
Friday
We had breakfast at the hotel on Friday morning, and I had (wait for it) the bacon, scrambled eggs, pork sausage, and pancake. Weka gave each delegate a small Weka branded Victorinox Swiss Army knife and travel binoculars.
We had lunch at the hotel. This was an assemble your own burger affair, and I had the:
Brioche bun
Cheese
Tomatoes
Pickles
Dry aged beef burger
I also had some sweet potato fries with the almond, rosemary and aioli sauce. At the MinIO presentation I had a coffee and small croissant with strawberry and cream. MinIO also gave us a t-shirt and some MinIO stickers. After the MinIO session we headed to Blue Bottle Coffee in Palo Alto. I had an iced mocha courtesy of Tech Field Day. I then caught a ride-sharing service to a friend’s house in Menlo Park, courtesy of Tech Field Day.
On Friday night, I had dinner with my friend Kyle at Camper. I had 4 of the Fort Point Brewery’s KSA “Kolsch” beers. I also had the:
Artisanal Cheeses, Charcuterie, and Cured Meats; and
Akaushi American Wagyu Bavette Steak, Cluster Mushrooms, Red Garbanzo Beans, Castelfranco, and Miso.
The food was great, as was the venue. It was a great week. Thanks again to the Tech Field Day team for having me, thanks to the other delegates for being super nice and smart, and thanks to the presenters for some really educational and engaging sessions.
Disclaimer: I recently attended Veeam Vanguard Summit 2019. My flights, accommodation, and some meals were paid for by Veeam. There is no requirement for me to blog about any of the content presented and I am not compensated by Veeam for my time at the event. Some materials presented were discussed under NDA and don’t form part of my blog posts, but could influence future discussions.
Here are my notes on gifts, etc, that I received as an attendee at Veeam Vanguard Summit 2019. Apologies if it’s a bit dry but I’m just trying to make it clear what I received during this event to ensure that we’re all on the same page as far as what I’m being influenced by. I’m going to do this in chronological order, as that was the easiest way for me to take notes during the week. Whilst every attendee’s situation is different, I was paid by my employer to be at this event.
Saturday
My wife kindly dropped me at the airport on Saturday evening. I flew Emirates economy class from BNE – DXB – PRG courtesy of Veeam. I had a 3 hour layover at DXB. In DXB I managed to locate the Emirates Business lounge and eventually found the smoked salmon. The Emirates lounge at BNE is also super nice compared to the Qantas one (sorry Qantas!).
Sunday
I landed in Prague Sunday afternoon and took a taxi to my friend Max‘s house. We went for a wander to Hanga’r Bar where I had 3 beers that Max kindly paid for. We then headed in to the city centre so Al Rasheed could drop his luggage off. We then dropped by Restaurace Mincova and had some sausage, pickled cheese and a couple more beers. Al kindly paid for this. We then returned to Max’s house for dinner with his family. Max’s family also put me up for the night.
Monday
On the way to the hotel (the Hilton in Prague Old Town) Monday, Max and I stopped by the Macao and Wok Restaurant for lunch. I had a variety of Chinese-style dumplings and 2 beers. I then caught up with the other Aussie Vanguards (and Drew). We stopped at a place called Sklep Na Porici and I had 2 Pilsner Urquell unfiltered beers. At the hotel before dinner Steven Onofaro bought me a beer in the hotel bar.
For dinner we had a welcome reception at T-Anker. It was a rooftop bar / restaurant with stunning views of the city. The staff were a little surprised that we all wanted to eat our meals at the same time, but I eventually managed to get hold of a chicken schnitzel and mashed potatoes. I also had 4 beers. We stopped at a bar called Potrefená Husa (?) on the way back to the hotel. I had another beer that David Kawula paid for. At the hotel I had another beer, paid for by Shane Williford, before heading to bed.
Tuesday
I had breakfast at the hotel, consisting of eggs, bacon, chicken sausage, and a flat white. The beauty of the hotel was that it didn’t matter what coffee you ordered, it would invariably be a flat white. Matt Crape gave me a 3D-printed Vanguard thing before the sessions started, and I picked up a Vanguard pin as well.
During the break I had coffee and a chicken, ham, and cheese panini snack. Lunch was in the hotel, and I had beef, fish, pasta, roast vegetables and some water. During the afternoon break I helped myself to some coffee and an apple tatin. Adam Fisher kindly gave me some CDs from his rock and roll days. They were really cool.
For dinner a few of us went to the Restaurant White Horse in the Old Town Square. I had a few beers and the grilled spicy sausage. I then had 2 beers at the hotel before retiring for the night.
Wednesday
For breakfast on Wednesday I headed to the hotel buffet and had mushrooms, bacon, scrambled eggs, yoghurt, cheese, ham, and 2 flat whites. During the morning break I helped myself to a bagel with smoked salmon and cream cheese and some coffee. Lunch was in the hotel, and I had basmati rice, chicken, perch, smoked salmon, water, and chocolate cake.
During the afternoon break I had some coffee, a small cheese cake tart, and a tiny tandoori chicken wrap. I had two beers at the hotel bar before we caught a shuttle over to the Staropramen brewery. There I had a 5 or 6 beers and a variety of finger food, including a beef tartar, dry egg yolk, capers, onion, mayo and bread chips served in bone. From there we headed to The Dubliner bar for a few more beers.
Thursday
I skipped breakfast on Thursday in favour of some sleep. I had a light lunch at the hotel, consisting of some pasta, rice, and beef. When I got back to my room I found a gift glass from Staropramen Brewery courtesy of Veeam.
For dinner about 10 of us headed to a Mexican restaurant called Agave. I had 3 Coronas, a burrito with prawns, and some guacamole. The food was great, as was the company, but the service was pretty slow.
Friday
On Friday I had breakfast at the hotel, consisting of mushrooms, bacon, scrambled eggs, yoghurt, cheese, ham, and 2 flat whites. I then walked around Prague for a few hours, and took a car service to the airport at my expense. Big thanks to Veeam for having me over for the week, and big thanks to everyone who spent time with me at the event (and after hours) – it’s a big part of what makes this stuff fun. And I’m looking forward to sharing some of what I learnt when I’m a little less jet-lagged.
Disclaimer: I recently attended Pure//Accelerate 2019. My flights, accommodation, and conference pass were paid for by Pure Storage. There is no requirement for me to blog about any of the content presented and I am not compensated by Pure Storage for my time at the event. Some materials presented were discussed under NDA and don’t form part of my blog posts, but could influence future discussions.
Here are my notes on gifts, etc, that I received as an attendee at Pure//Accelerate 2019. Apologies if it’s a bit dry but I’m just trying to make it clear what I received during this event to ensure that we’re all on the same page as far as what I’m being influenced by. I’m going to do this in chronological order, as that was the easiest way for me to take notes during the week. Whilst every attendee’s situation is different, I was paid by my employer to be at this event.
Saturday
My wife kindly dropped me at the airport. I flew Qantas economy class from BNE – LAX – AUS courtesy of Pure Storage. I had a 5 hour layover at LAX. I stopped at the Rolling Stone Bar and Grill in the Terminal 7 and had a breakfast burrito. It wasn’t the best, but anything is pretty good after the smell of airplane food. When I got to Austin I was met by a driver that Pure had organised. I grabbed my suitcase and we travelled to the Fairmont Austin (paid for by Pure) in one of those big black SUVs that are favoured by many of the limousine companies.
I got presentable and then went down to the hotel bar to catch up with Alastair Cooke and his wife Tracey, Matt Leib, Gina Minks, and Leah Schoeb. I had a gin and tonic, paid for by Alastair, and then took the hotel courtesy car to Austin City Limits with Matt to see Joe Russo’s Almost Dead. It’s not the sort of gig I’d normally go to, but I appreciate live music in most forms, the crowd was really into it, and it’s always great to spend time with Matt. Matt also very kindly paid for my entry to the gig and bought me a beer there (a 16oz can of Land Shark Lager). I had a second beer and bought one for Matt too.
Sunday
I hadn’t really eaten since LAX, so I hit up Matt to come to lunch with me. We went for a wander downtown in Austin and ended up on 6th Street at Chupacabra Cantina y Tacqueria. I had one of the West Coast Burritos, a huge flour tortilla stuffed with refried beans, green chilli rice, jack cheese, crispy potato, lettuce, tomato, onion and chicken Tinga filling. It was delicious. I also had two Twisted X Austin Lager beers to wash it down.
In the afternoon I caught up with Matt and Chris Evans in the hotel bar. I had 3 Modelo Especial beers – these were kindly paid for by Emily Gallagher from Touchdown PR.
The Tech Field Day people all got together for dinner at Revue in the hotel. I had 3 Vista Adair Kolsch beers, some shrimp gyoza, chilli wonton dumplings, and okonomiyaki. This was paid for by Tech Field Day.
Monday
On Monday morning I had breakfast at the hotel. This was a buffet-style affair and I had scrambled eggs, huevo rancheros, bacon, jalapeño sausage, charcuterie, salmon and cream cheese, and coffee. This was paid for by Pure Storage. I received a gift bag at registration. This included a:
340g bag of emporium medium house blend cuvée coffee.
For lunch I had beef brisket, BBQ sauce and some green salad. I also picked up a Pure FlashArray//C t-shirt during the Storage Field Day Exclusive event.
Before dinner I had a Modelo in the hotel – this was paid for by Tech Field Day. We then attended an Analysts and Influencers reception at Banger’s. I had 3 beers there (some kind of Pilsner) and a small amount of BBQ. I then made my way over to Parkside on 6th Street for an APJ event. I had 4 Austin Limits Lagers there and some brisket and macaroni and cheese. I should have smoke-bombed at that point but didn’t and ended up getting my phone swiped from a bar. Lesson learnt.
Tuesday
I skipped breakfast in favour of some more sleep. For lunch I had beef tacos in the Analysts area. Dinner was an Analyst and Influencer and Executive Program reception at the hotel. I had 3 Modelo beers, some dumplings, and some beef skewers. I turned in relatively early as the jet-lag was catching up with me.
Wednesday
For breakfast we were in the Solutions Exchange area for a private tour of the Pure setup. I had a greasy ham, cheese and egg croissant, some fruit, and 2 coffees. After the keynote I picked up some Rubrik socks.
In the afternoon I took a taxi to the Austin PD to attempt to report my phone. I then grabbed lunch with Matt Leib at P. Terry’s Burger Stand downtown. I had a hamburger and a chocolate shake. Matt paid for this. Matt then paid for a ride-sharing service to the local Apple Store where I picked up a new handset. We then took another car back to the hotel, which Matt kindly paid for.
We had dinner at Banger’s with the remaining Tech Field Day crew. I had 3 Austin Beerworks Pearl-Snap beers, boiled peanuts, chilli fries, and jalapeño sausage. It was delicious. This was paid for by Tech Field Day. I then headed to Austin City Limits for the Pure//Accelerate appreciation party. Weezer were playing, and I was lucky enough to get a photo with them (big thanks to Stephen Foskett and Armi Banaria for sorting me out!).
I had 3 Landshark Lager beers during the concert. After the show we retired to the hotel bar where I had 2 more Modelo beers before calling it a night.
Thursday
On Thursday morning I ran into Craig Waters and Justin Warren and joined them for a coffee at Houndstooth Coffee (I had the iced latte to try and fight off the heat). This was paid for by Craig. We then headed to Fareground. I had a burger with bacon and cheese from Contigo. It was delicious. This was also paid for by Craig.
Returning to the hotel, I bumped into my old mentor Andrew Fisher and he bought me a few Modelos in the bar while re-booking his flights due to some severe weather issues in Houston. I then took a Pure-provided car service to the airport and made my way home to Brisbane via LAX.
Big thanks to Pure Storage for having me over for the week, and big thanks to everyone who spent time with me at the event (and after hours) – it’s a big part of why I keep coming back to these types of events.
Disclaimer: I recently attended VMworld 2019 – US. My flights and accommodation were paid for by Digital Sense, and VMware provided me with a free pass to the conference and various bits of swag. There is no requirement for me to blog about any of the content presented and I am not compensated by VMware for my time at the event. Some materials presented were discussed under NDA and don’t form part of my blog posts, but could influence future discussions.
Here are my notes on gifts, etc, that I received as an attendee at VMworld US 2019. Apologies if it’s a bit dry but I’m just trying to make it clear what I received during this event to ensure that we’re all on the same page as far as what I’m being influenced by. I’m going to do this in chronological order, as that was the easiest way for me to take notes during the week. Whilst every attendee’s situation is different, I was paid by my employer to be at this event.
Saturday
My wife kindly dropped me off at the airport. I flew Qantas economy class from BNE – SYD – SFO courtesy of my employer (Digital Sense). My taxi to the hotel was also covered by my employer. I stayed at The Fairmont on Nob Hill. This was also covered by my employer. On Saturday night we went out and fought valiantly against jet-lag.
Sunday
On Sunday I went to the conference venue and picked up my VMworld backpack (containing a notepad, pen, and water bottle). I was also given a VMworld-branded pop socket because I’d uploaded my photo for my badge to the portal earlier.
On Sunday afternoon I attended a VMware Cloud Provider Technical Advisory Board (TAB) Meeting. Lunch consisted of rice, chicken, fish, and salad. My manager saved the day by fetching real flat white coffees from Bluestone Lane. During the break I had some coffee and a choc-chip cookie. As we left we were all given a VMware cloud provider platform polo shirt and Keen wireless charging desk clock.
That night there was an attendee welcome reception in the Solutions Exchange. I had 2 Sapporo beers, some shrimp and some cheese. I also picked up:
I then headed over to the VMunderground party at Tabletop Tap House. I caught up with a few people and helped myself to 2 Coronas, 1 Firestone 805 and some bruschetta.
Monday
Before the general session I grabbed some coffee and a muffin from the Square. I also managed to grab a vExpert gift bag, consisting of one of those drawstring bags, a vExpert 2019 pin and sticker, and a Raspberry Pi 3. I then swung by the VMUG stand and picked up my VMUG leader gift – a nice leather notepad folio.
For lunch I had one of the boxed turkey sandwiches.
For dinner a group of use met at Osha Thai Restaurant. We convinced them to let us share plates from the set menu, and I had a bit of everything. For appetizers we had:
Kobe beef wasabi roll with carrot, celery and mint
Miang Kham Shrimp – lettuce wrapped with shrimp, ginger, lime, roasted coconut, peanut, fresh chilli, and coconut herb caramel.
Vegetarian crispy roll – silver noodle, shiitake mushroom, cabbage and carrot served with sweet and sour plum sauce
Tuna Tower – yellow fin tuna tartare with mango, avocado and sriracha sesame oil
There was also a really tasty Shrimp Tom-Kha coconut soup. And for the main course they served:
Volcanic Beef – wok-fried grilled premium USDA flank steak with Thai basil, bell pepper in lava sauce
Chu-chi salmon – pan-seared salmon fillet served with “Chu-Chi” fragrant and flavourful red curry
Pad Thai – Classic Pad Thai noodles, tamarind reduction, peanut with choice of chicken or tofu
Country chicken – stir-fried lightly battered chicken with cashew, onion, garlic and honey-ginger sauce
It was all really nice. These people put down their credit cards to pay for it:
Thanks to Keith Townsend for organising the evening. I also had 3 Singha beers. I took a ride-sharing service paid for by Stephen Foskett and walked from his hotel back to mine.
Tuesday
On Tuesday morning I was fortunate enough to be selected to attend a vExpert breakfast with Cohesity CEO Mohit Aron at Grill in the St Regis hotel. I had 2 cups of coffee, and the “Local Farm” egg sandwich, with a scramble of organic Petaluma farmed eggs, Hobbs smoked black pepper bacon, cheddar cheese, and sourdough bread. We were also given a Cohesity mug that surprisingly survived the flight home. Regular readers of the blog will know I’m a fan of Cohesity and this was a great opportunity to learn more about Mohit.
After the general session I did another whip around the Solutions Exchange and picked up:
I had the box lunch again, which consisted of a chilli rubbed beef torta sandwich with avocado, black been puree, grilled onions, roaster tomatoes and cotija cheese on teller bread, a lemon bar dessert, and an apple. Later in the afternoon I stopped by Super Duper as I knew I wouldn’t have much time for dinner in the evening. I had the Super Burger with cheese, and a Pilsner. My arteries did not thank me.
I then headed over to the Dell Technologies Cloud & VMware VeloCloud MeetUp at The Grid on 4th Street. I had 2 Holy Ghost Pilsner beers and Dell very kindly gave me a DJI Osmo Pocket camera and 32GB Sandisk microSD card. Big thanks to Konnie for having me along.
I then headed back to my hotel and Howard Marks swung by in a cab to take me to The Orpheum to see Hamilton. I now understand what all of the fuss is about. Big thanks to John White at Expedient for the tickets. I took a ride-sharing service back to the hotel – this was paid for by Becky Elliot.
Wednesday
On Wednesday morning I walked down to the venue with Becky. We stopped at Starbucks and I had an egg, bacon, and cheese sandwich – it was just what I needed. I attended two Tech Field Day Extra sessions in the morning, and had 2 coffees and some extremely tasty Baklava (provided by Al Rasheed). For lunch we had Mexican, consisting of corn tortillas, rice & beans, house made carnitas, cheese quesadillas, sour cream, guacamole, salsa, and house made churros.
After lunch I headed back to the Solutions Exchange for a final walk around and picked up:
A Druva shirt;
Some stickers, a cable organizer, and a glasses cleaner from Apstra;
Some more Gorilla Guides and stickers from ActualTech Media; and
I then attended a 3-hour VCPP APJ Roundtable event at the W Hotel. I helped myself to some bottled water while I was there.
For dinner I caught up with some of the Tech Field Day crew at Thirsty Bear. This is a taps-style place, and I had devilled eggs, pulled pork empanadas, buffalo chicken empanadas, bacon and corn flatbread, and bacon-wrapped shrimp. I also had 3 Kolsch beers. We then retreated across the road to the bar at the W Hotel where I had 1 Cal Lager. This was paid for by Stephen Foskett. I then took a ride-sharing service back to the hotel with Becky Elliot. This was paid for by Becky.
Thursday
On Thursday my colleagues and I attended a NetApp EBC in Santa Clara. NetApp paid for our transport to and from the city. We had breakfast there, consisting of coffee, potato gems, bacon, quiche and a muffin. We were also given a NetApp-branded notepad and socks. For lunch we had 6 cheese mac and cheese, beef short rib, grilled chicken, mashed potato, salad, and water.
I had 2 Stella Artois beers and some crumbed prawns during the happy hour. We then headed to Birk’s Restaurant for dinner. I had 3 Firestone Pivo beers, blackened ribeye and mashed potatoes, and a shrimp cocktail for dinner. This was paid for by NetApp.
When we returned to the hotel we checked out the Tonga Room. I had a Fog Lifter cocktail, which seemed to have a lot of rum and crushed ice in it. This was paid for by my colleague.
Friday
We went for breakfast at Lori’s Diner and I had the Blues Burger. The blue cheese worked pretty well I thought. We then headed over to Pier 39 to check out some of the tourist shops and ended up having lunch at the Barrel House Tavern in Sausalito. I had the Tartare Tacos consisting of four wonton tacos (2 ahi tuna and 2 salmon tartare) with avocado mousse, summer slaw, chili oil, soy lime vinaigrette, and chili aioli. It was really nice. I also had 3 Kolsch beers. Once we were back at the hotel I took a cab to SFO and flew home via LAX. Please now enjoy this photo of a baseball card with my likeness on it – thanks Rubrik!
Disclaimer: I recently attended Tech Field Day 19. My flights, accommodation and other expenses were paid for by Tech Field Day. There is no requirement for me to blog about any of the content presented and I am not compensated in any way for my time at the event. Some materials presented were discussed under NDA and don’t form part of my blog posts, but could influence future discussions.
Here are my notes on gifts, etc, that I received as a conference attendee at Tech Field Day 19. This is by no stretch an interesting post from a technical perspective, but it’s a way for me to track and publicly disclose what I get and how it looks when I write about various things. I’m going to do this in chronological order, as that was the easiest way for me to take notes during the week.
Sunday
My wife kindly dropped me at the domestic airport so I could make my way from BNE to SFO via SYD. I had ham and cheese in the Qantas Club before my flight. I flew Qantas economy class to SFO. The flights were paid for by Tech Field Day. Plane food was consumed on the flight. It was a generally good experience, lack of sleep notwithstanding. I stayed at the Plaza Suites Hotel. This was covered by Tech Field Day as well. I made my way to a friend’s house to spend some time before the event.
On Sunday evening I was fortunate to have dinner at Georgiana Comsa’s house with her and some friends. I’m always appreciative of good food and good conversation, and it was great to spend some time with them (jet lag notwithstanding).
Tuesday
On Tuesday I arrived at the hotel in the afternoon and was provided with a bag of various snacks by the Tech Field Day team. I had 3 Firestone Lager beers at the hotel bar. We had dinner at the hotel, consisting of:
Panzanella, with plums, cucumber, nduja vinaigrette, burrata, and brioche
Gazpacho, with shoyu-marinated heirloom tomatoes, and avocado creme fraiche
Artichokes, consisting of Monterey grilled artichoke halves, and mint-chutney mayo
Bavette, with 100% grass-fed beed from Marin Sun Farms, and pistachio leek chimichurri
Chicken, with mixed nut puree, summer squash, and harissa
Asparagus, à la plancha, with Romesco sauce
Homemade gelato, in some kind of banana and miso flavour.
I also had a Firestone lager and some pinot noir. It was all very delicious. I received a very cool wooden sign from Alastair Cooke as part of the Yankee gift swap. Emre also gave each of us some real Turkish Delight.
Wednesday
Wednesday morning was breakfast at the hotel, consisting of scrambled eggs, sausage, pancake, bacon, and coffee. During the pre-TFD delegate meeting, I was given some OpenTechCast, VirtualBonzo.com, and TFD stickers.
During the Ixia session I had a coffee. At NetApp I had 2 still spring waters. Lunch at NetApp was an antioxidant salad with feta cheese and pomegranate vinaigrette, braised short ribs with chilli citrus marinade, grilled salmon with feta and olive, and grilled asparagus. I also had a chocolate chip cookie after lunch. We had the dinner / reception at Faz Restaurant in San Jose. There was a variety of finger food on offer, including Mediterranean Bruschetta, black sesame encrusted Ahi Tuna with wasabi, vegetarian spring rolls with teriyaki dipping sauce, crab cakes with chipotle aioli, and fire-roasted beef mini-kabobs. I had 3 Modelo Especial beers, and 2 Firestone lagers at the hotel.
Thursday
Thursday morning was breakfast at the hotel, consisting of scrambled eggs, sausage, pancake, bacon, and coffee. At Automation Anywhere I grabbed a bottle of water before our session. Automation Anywhere also provided us with lunch from Dish Dash. I had a chicken shawarma wrap, tabouli, leafy salad, rice, falafel, and water. They also gave us a branded water container and phone pop socket.
At Druva we were given some personalised gifts by W. Curtis Preston. This was the first time I’ve had a particular tweet about a dream become a reality.
Thanks Curtis! (and thanks for signing my copy of your book too!)
We were also each given a Holy Stone HS160 drone and personalised coffee mug. I really like when sponsors take the time to find out a little more about each of the delegates. After the session we wandered over to Philz Coffee. I had a large iced Mocha Tesora with dark chocolate, caramel, and cocoa. For dinner we went to River Rock Taproom. I had 2 Russian River Brewing STS Pils beers from the tap (there are about 40 different beers to choose from). We also had a variety of snacks, including:
Bruschetta, with tomatoes, herbs, onions, garlic, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, parmesan cheese on toasted baguette slices
Sliders, consisting of creamy habanero beef with caramelised onions and cheddar cheese
Garlic French Fries
Buffalo wings and creamy habanero
Popcorn shrimp served with orange chilli garlic
Candied bacon with caramelised steakhouse bacon served on toasted bread
By that stage jet lag had really caught up with me, so I retired to my room for an early night.
Friday
Friday morning was breakfast at the hotel, consisting of scrambled eggs, sausage, pancake, bacon, and coffee. At the VMware office I had a coffee, and picked up a vROps ninja sticker, Indy VMUG sticker, and VMware Cloud Assembly sticker and key ring. We had lunch at VMware. It was Mexican, and I had a tortilla, rice, refried beans, grated cheese, guacamole, sour cream and salsa, and some water.
At the finish of proceedings some delegates made their way to the airport, and the rest of us hung around for one last dinner together. I had a Firestone lager at the hotel. We then walked to Faultline Brewing Company for dinner. I had 2 Kolsch beers, and the Brewhouse Bacon Cheeseburger, consisting of an 8 oz. Angus beef patty, sharp cheddar cheese, applewood-smoked bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, red onion, roasted garlic aioli , a brioche bun, and kettle chips. I then had 3 Firestone lagers at the hotel bar.
Saturday
I was staying a little longer in the Bay Area, so on Saturday morning I had breakfast at the hotel, consisting of scrambled eggs, sausage, pancake, bacon, and coffee. I then took a car to a friend’s house in the Bay Area, courtesy of Tech Field Day. It was a great week. Thanks again to the Tech Field Day team for having me, thanks to the other delegates for being super nice and smart, and thanks to the presenters for some really educational and engaging sessions.
Disclaimer: I recently attended Dell Technologies World 2019. My flights, accommodation and conference pass were paid for by Dell Technologies via the Media, Analysts and Influencers program. There is no requirement for me to blog about any of the content presented and I am not compensated in any way for my time at the event. Some materials presented were discussed under NDA and don’t form part of my blog posts, but could influence future discussions.
Here are my notes on gifts, etc, that I received as a conference attendee at Dell Technologies World 2019. This is by no stretch an interesting post from a technical perspective, but it’s a way for me to track and publicly disclose what I get and how it looks when I write about various things. I’m going to do this in chronological order, as that was the easiest way for me to take notes during the week. While everyone’s situation is different, I took 2 days of unpaid leave and 3 days paid to attend this conference.
Sunday
I took a ride sharing service to Brisbane International Airport. I had some sausage and eggs in the Qantas Club before my flight. I flew Qantas economy class to LAX and then American Airlines to LAS. The flights were paid for by Dell Technologies. Plane food was consumed on the flight. It was a generally good experience, lack of sleep notwithstanding. I stayed at the Palazzo Hotel. This was covered by Dell Technologies as well. I took a taxi to the hotel. I’d been provided with some discount codes for a ride-sharing service by Dell Technologies, but faffing about with the app whilst I had limited WiFi didn’t really appeal.
On Sunday afternoon I headed down to Registration to pick up my conference badge. I also received a backpack, some random bits of paper from sponsors, an Intel eco-straw, a notepad, and a $25 discount card at the on-site store for being a Loyalty Member. We didn’t get a backpack last year, so that was nice.
A group of us had dinner at Grimaldi’s in the Palazzo. I had 2 Samuel Adams Unfiltered beers, and a variety of different pizzas. This was paid for by Stephen Foskett.
Monday
I had breakfast in the Media and Analyst lounge. This consisted of fruit, yoghurt, and coffee. I couldn’t bring myself to consume whatever it was that was lurking in the greasy paper they had stacked on one of the trays. At the first media briefing we all received an eco-straw in a little much that you could, theoretically, wear on your belt. You can read a bit more about Dell’s work on that sort of thing here.
I had lunch in the Media and Analyst lounge. This was coleslaw, red wine soaked chicken, vine-ripened tomatoes, and some bread.
I then scooted off to meet with Brandon Schaffer at Starbucks to discuss all things data protection. He kindly bought me a flat white. It wasn’t really like an Australian flat white, but it did the job. I then caught up with one of the good people at Dell EMC who look after me in my day job. Let’s call him Bill. He bought me 2 Perroni beers. I’m often amused how I seem to only catch up with people who live in the same country as me when I’m overseas.
I went back to the lounge in between sessions and grabbed a choc chip cookie to sustain me until dinner.
In the evening I went to the Media and Analyst welcome reception at LAVO. I had one Stella Artois beer there, along with some bruschetta, a small bite of pizza, and an alarming amount of shrimp. It was a nice venue, but heaving with people. From there I went to Yardbird Southern Table and Bar with Chris Evans and Enrico Signoretti. We met up with Stephen Foskett and Karen Lopez. I had 3 Tenaya Pilsner beers and some house fries. This was kindly covered by Stephen.
Tuesday
On Tuesday there was a tour of the Solutions Expo organised for media and analysts. They served breakfast beforehand, and I had a green chilli pork burrito, some melon and pineapple slices, and coffee. The burrito was surprisingly good. As I toured the expo, I picked up a reusable bag and some PowerProtect-badged sunscreen.
Lunch in the lounge was:
Shaved radicchio Belgium endive and wild arugula salad;
Roasted fillet of Branzino, English peas and braised fennel with lemon on a mint vinaigrette; and
Beef pot roast with crunchy vegetables in red wine demi.
It was really quite excellent.
I then headed over to Nutanix’s Xperience event at TAO. My primary motivation was to see Magic Johnson speak, and I was also keen to hear about what Nutanix had been up to. I had thought I might be too late to get in, but there seemed to be enough space for everyone. I had some shrimp and some bottled water. We all headed upstairs to be seated for the talk with Magic. Not a lot of people were sitting in the front row, so I sat there. It turned out to be a good move, as I was able to get a photo with the man himself.
If you ever have the opportunity to hear him speak, it’s worth listening. Besides the fact that I’ve been a Lakers fan since my youth, I found his perspective on business to be super interesting. And he was pretty good at telling tales about Larry Bird too. I also picked up some Nutanix-branded socks. Thanks to Nutanix for putting this on.
Back in the village I was given a Dell Luminaries Yeti 10oz Rambler. I did a quick whip around the Solution Expo in between meetings and picked up:
Wood Grilled B.B.Q. Burger With Crisp Applewood Smoked Bacon, Cheddar Cheese, Tempura Onion Rings, Pickles, Mustard and Special B.B.Q. Sauce
The burger was really quite good. Here’s a photo of how good it was.
Wednesday
Breakfast was in the lounge again. I had the:
English muffin, provolone, scrambled egg patty, chicken sausage patty and apple sage compote;
Vanilla yoghurt;
Coffee; and some
Artisanal meat and cheese.
Konnie gave me a Dell Technologies water bottle. One of those ones you can put additional things in with the water. Apparently cucumber is a popular option.
I had lunch at Treasure Island as part of the Tech Field Extra event. This was pretty decent fare as well, and I had:
Classic Caesar salad with croutons and fresh parmesan cheese;
Fafalle and Pesto Cream Sauce;
Pan-flashed Tilapia with Fried Capers and Lemon;
Italian Sausage with Peppers and Onions; and
Fig-glazed pork loin, roasted peppers, spinach and rosemary jus.
During the three sessions I also helped myself to 2 coffees and a granola bar. Before dinner I had a Sapporo beer at the Players Lounge bar at the Encore. This was paid for by Enrico Signoretti. We had dinner at Wazuzu. I had a variety of sushi, some edamame and 2 Asahi beers. The food tasted great but the service was fairly slow. We split the bill evenly seven ways. I then randomly bumped into Bill again so we headed to Stripburger and Chicken for a few beers. I had 3 Pabst Blue Ribbon draught beers. This was covered by Bill.
Thursday
On Thursday morning I had a late breakfast at Morels with Max Mortillaro. I had the smoked salmon eggs benedict, a cappuccino, and some orange juice. Max very kindly picked up the tab. I went to lunch with Bill at Bonito Michoacán. I had chicken sopes and a coke. I could barely finish half of it. We then visited the Las Vegas South Premium Outlets to do a spot of shopping and Bill dropped me at McCarran airport to start the trek home.
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