Long time no blog post => symptom of EMC World :)

The problem with EMC World is that although you are working your tail off, you are not doing your regular job, hence getting slammed when you return to normality! Well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it :)

Anyway, it's been madness. But not without achievement. First off let me share a personal achievement. I'm a crew member of the Bantry Inshore Search and Rescue Association. http://www.bantrylifeboat.com/

As part of the skills required we have to be assessed for our boating competence.  I'm pleased to report I passed my Level 2 boat handling assessment on the 21st May. So I'm qualified to drive a Power Boat. Which might be a relief to some, maybe a worry to others :)

Now on to other stuff. Work wise, we are finalizing the preparations to opening the EMC Community Support Forums. I'm delighted and relieved this is culminating. And I may be biased, but I firmly believe it's going to be a huge success for EMC. For evidence of that, check out our Support Forums MVP meetup at EMC World's Social City. https://community.emc.com/videos/1737.  

To continue unbridled self promotion, here is me talking about how EMC eSerivces is changing Support, from a pod cast I did recently.

All of the above in my humble opinion is testimony to the benefits of the Support Forums Community and that opening the Forums will be fantastic!

Now  for some humility and thanks to people who we in the Support Forums Community  could not have succeeded without. Thanks to Kimberly Greco and Chris Ferdinand of EMC Careers for providing the You Tube podcast. Thanks to EMC'ers  Len Devanna, Brace Rennels, Susan Shapiro, Alan Zenreich for giving us the opportunity at Social City and continuing to put up with us on ECN )

And once the Forums are open the bus does not stop. Multilingual Support Forums is moving down the track, another vital part of Social engagement and we are taking on that challenge head on. It's crazy busy, almost overwhelming at times. That's why it's important to pause and take in the distance traveled and the landscape. But not for too long.  

Slan Las Vegas!

Well, I am sitting in McCarran Airport awaiting my double leg flight home. I can't wait to see my wife and kids. I have missed them so much. I have been contemplating the last week of EMC World. from the perspective of my role, it was a heck of a lot of fun and extremely rewarding for the Social Comunity I represent. I take my hat off to Len Devanna and his team. The Bloggers Lounge and Social city were a tremendous asset. Particularly I owe a debt of gratitude to Susan Sharpiro, Alan Zenreich and Ray Havey for their stellar support and facilitation of the Support Forums MVP's and Judges meet up.

The value of that panel discussion is continuing and has caught the attention of our marketing team already. Social City has proven the infrastructure and value of online video discussions like these. Don't be surprised by EMC using events like these in the future. I know I will be pushing our team to leverage it for a number of initiatives next quarter.

This is not to to say EMC World ran smoothly for me. I really did not get to blog as much as I wanted to at the event. My laptop just cdid not want to cooperate with me at all. Thankfully I have an iPad now, which I am blogging from right now in fact. If I do get to go to EMC World next year at least accessing the network via mobile devices won't be an issue for me anymore. Another resource hog was the Online Support booth. I don't mean that in a bad way. I mean that we were very busy talking to customers. It was surprising to meet so many customers who were not aware that we had Support Forums. they were really happy to see them, to be shown how to use them, and delighted they would be opening up soon. It's just a shame that Powerlinmk navigation is so cumbersome. But never fear the next generation of Powerlink. Is in bevta and due for general release very soon. It will certainly put an end to an awful lot of navigation issues for searching for the right content.

Overall, EMC World was a tremendous success. Now roll on my flights home.

It's Proven Day today IN EMC World :)

Well, just over half an hour before our Meetup of the ECN Support Forums Most Valuable Players. I still can't get my laptop on the wireless network here, so thanks to @AlanZ of ECN for the loan of his Ipad 2, of which I am rather envious.

All is going superbly well here. On my side of things, we have had tremendous feedback from our customers about the Support Forums. It's nice to meet customers and help them in person. It's been a frenetic pace, but our Team has really engaged our customers. At our booth, in the Solutions Pavilion
 
Here's what's been happening:
 
U.S. Trick Shot Pool Champion Chef Anton is dazzling the crowds with his exciting show.  Nobody goes away emptyhanded!

Live Demos of the following are being done.
 
-        Live Chat
 
-        Support Forums/Community (my piece of the demo)
 
-        Service Request Management
 
-        Search Support
 
-        Support by Product
 
-        VNXe Unisphere
 
-        Powerlink / Web Support user help and registration.
 
It's been going down a treat, to say the least. When I get a chance, I'll post photos of the experience. Yesterday was a blast, I got caught for a live interview on EMC TV. Apparently it jarred a colleague to see my Face in huge on the big screen :) Today is our last day at the booth. A lot of people walking around in orange shirts. (EMC Proven Professionals). More Later.. Oh yeah, did I mention, the Fray are playing for us tongiht :) Awesome.

Taking 5 at the Blogers lounge in Social City

Thanks to @nerdblurt for the loan of his iPad for this post. my laptop refuses to join the wireless network. Rather petulant :).

Anyway brief post to let people know the Support Forums Luncheon was a great success. It was so good to see our Comunity members in person. I got to meet @SandipNanda in person. Seeing him and the other MVPs receive their awards for their contribution was very satisfying. So to our VP Julie Larsen sharing that we are opening the Support Forums and launching multilingual Forums, starting with Chinese and Japanese. What was also shared and I'm delighted to repeat here is the news that the Support Forums MVP program and ECN Experts Program are rolling up to new program that will be focused on the entire ECN Community. More on that will be revealed in time. EMC World continues to be an awesome event and rightfully is making the news for all very good reasons. I've made many new friends and
Caught up with old ones. It's been awesome. More from me later with photos etc, when my laptop decides to behave itself.

Viva Las Vegas!

Well I'm here! It was an awfully long Journey, not helped by the fact that direct flights from Cork to Vegas do not exist. And so that journey to Heathrow through the gamut of bus changes to get to T5. Then the 10 hour haul, stuck in the middle of the middle on a full flight. Ugh, it was not pretty. Getting used to the time difference now.

Funnily I thought getting through immigration check at Las Vegas airport was reminiscent of Ellis Island :) It was packed and slow going. But it was all good natured. I think everyone on that flight is attending EMC World :)

Anyhow, checking in to the Venetian  was crazy following a quick cab ride. Multitudes of people checking in, all seemed to be for this Conference :). Thankfully after settling into my room I caught up with @nerdblurt  and crew.  It's always good seeing Luigi, every time I meet him he introduces me to someone new who's a Social Media guru or champion. In any event, it's early in Vegas, 8am to be exact. I intend going out and catching the early morning and some exploring. Then in the afternoon I'll be registering and heading in to help setup stuff for EMC World.

It's been a crazy couple of weeks of final planning for our eServices and ECN part of EMC World this year. That with our regular job makes for fun frenetic times.

For my part here is what I will be helping happen from an Event Point of view for EMC World  for eServices and ECN.

On Monday, May 9th, from 12:30 - 200pm (PDT)  we are hosting EMC Support Forums Luncheon. This will be a luncheon for Community members to meet Network and help us celebrate the ECN Support Forums Most Valuable Payer winners for 2010. http://bit.ly/mpzogp 

On Wednesday, May 11th, 10:30 - 11:30 a.m, at EMC World's Social City, Meet the MVP's in person or online. The MVP's and judges will be part of a discussion panel, discussing their experiences with the Support Forums and the EMC Community Network . There will be a live video broadcast and online Q + A. http://bit.ly/lKwt6n

Along with this I will be in the Solutions Pavilion with my colleagues at the Powerlink/Online Support booth. See the schedule for the Solutions Pavilion here: http://bit.ly/cuYC02


I'll also be at the Bloggers Lounge near Social city from time to time. http://bit.ly/eSJU36 

I'll be about, if you're in Vegas or not, follow me on twitter @MabroIRL. 


EMC World is a crazy time, networking and meeting peers, making new friends. It's a fabulous event And I'm looking forward to it. Especially sharing the news of opening the EMC Support Forums very soon. Reaction to that just from last night in general chat has been overwhelmingly positive, and the theme of the response is "finally and awesome" in the same breath. So Yee Haw!!! Now to settle my nerves with a walk through Vegas and then this afternoon the real fun begins :)


See you out there! I look forward to meeting you.