VeeamON 2024 Being There in the Moment

Time Well Spent

VeeamON 2024 is behind us, and as always, it is time to reflect on the event and review some of the highlights.

Attending IT conferences is always special, but after experiencing the lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic, they have taken on even more meaning and significance. Often, one learns through deprivation, which was certainly the case regarding IT gatherings during the lockdowns. I remember one company that tried through a software offering to create a party event. You were given control of a little virtual person with your name and could wander around virtual rooms and approach other virtual people. When you go close to them, the software would hook the audio up between the groups, and it would be like being around a table in a restaurant. While I admired the effort and idea, the result was atrocious. It was truly artificial in every sense, and rather than decrease feelings of isolation and loneliness, it tripled them. Nothing can replace real in-person events.

Regarding IT conferences, the real deal is VeeamON!

The First Day

It is always hard to sleep the night before VeeamON. You know you must rest to be fully ready to go, yet you can’t sleep.

View from Hotel Balcony towards The Bahamas

This was my 7th VeeamON, but this time, things were different. This time, I was actively representing a vendor and had to work at a booth. I got to see the other side of the fence, so to speak.

The Object First Booth

Interacting with conference participants and sharing my insights from years of working in Data Protection and disaster recovery was very rewarding. It was fun linking the marketing materials at our booth with real situations I had encountered in the field. Thinking retroactively, if I had possessed an Ootbi during days of saving customers from ransomware, things would have been so much easier. Secure, Simple, and Powerful are not empty words for anyone dealing with data protection; they are absolutely necessary.

At the end of the first day, we all went out to dinner, and I had the pleasure of dining with not only my fellow Ootbiers (Anthony did not approve of this name!) but also one very well-known person in the Veeam/Object First world, one of Object First’s founders Ratmir Timashev.

Ratmir Timashev always strategizing 

In the Heat of the Event

The second day of VeeamON was the highlight of the conference for me. In the morning, Object First hosted a breakfast for our Community Aces present at VeeamON. Later in the day, I participated in a breakout panel session moderated by Karinne Bessette and joined by Drew Schlussel from Wasabi and Greg Tellone from CloudIBR. The panel session was fantastic, and I felt honored to be up there on the stage with those three big-league professionals.  

I also got to go behind the scenes at VeeamON Today show which, was powered by Object First and hosted by none other than Rick Vanover. You might see someone else from Veeam in the photo who you know very well.

Burke behind-the-scenes

After everyone left, I took my turn answering questions to an invisible host.

Pretending to be live on the air

During the conference, there were numerous announcements, including my favorite: VBR on Linux, which will be coming in Veeam version 13. Another gem that was further discussed and demonstrated was support for Proxmox. You can find more announcements from the conference here: https://www.veeam.com/veeamon 

It’s Party Time

Talking about VeeamON would not be complete without mentioning Object First’s whiskey-tasting party. One of our founders, Ratmir Timashev, was famous back in his Veeam years for throwing some of the best IT parties on the continent, and this VeeamON, he kept the tradition going. Veeam superstar and Object First Ace Karinne Bessette and I were lucky enough to get a selfie right at the beginning of the festivities.

Object First co-founder Ratmir Timashev with Karinne Bessette and Geoff Burke

Speaking of parties, Veeam is also continuing the tradition of the grand finale party, which has become the signature for these events. This year, we were treated to dancing, lights, food, and other goodies.

By the end of the conference, everyone was happily exhausted, which was a particularly good time to relax and enjoy the wonderful resort environment.

View from Conference Balcony

Atmosphere that speaks for itself

This was a VeeamON to remember, and I was fully satisfied with the event and experience. Thank you, Veeam!

Getting in on the badge action!