Let’s be honest — if you’re a VMUG member, you get quite a few emails from VMUG and probably delete them without looking or quickly scan it and then delete it. I tend to do the latter but the one I received this morning caught my attention and quickly turned to excitement and I wanted to do my part to promote what I’m expecting to be a very beneficial event.

Lately I’ve spent a lot of after hours time working on my own professional development and specifically focusing on leadership as I feel that my future roles in technology will require that skill. But it’s also an important skill in my role as father raising 3 children.

The upcoming VMUG virtual event’s keynote speaker will be VMware CEO, Pat Gelsinger, where he will share his “Five L’s of Leadership.” The event will also include 5 members of the VMUG community that will share their experience ranging from broad topics such as resume writing, networking, and public speaking as well as deeper topics to help you identify your brand and use it for your future success.  I’m looking forward to hearing each of the following speakers:

• A Public Speakers Guide to Public Speaking, Chris McCain, Director of Technical Certifications @ VMware
• Soft Skills, Resume Building and Networking are Some of the Toughest Areas to Master, Paul Nadeau, Sr. SD-WAN Systems Engineer @ VMware
• Tips and Habits to Advance Your IT Career, Ariel Sanchez, Sr. Technical Account Manager @ VMware
• Growing From VI Admin to SRE, Michael Roy, Product Line Marketing Manager @ VMware
• Achieving Happiness: Building Your Brand and Your Career, Amanda Blevins, Sr. Director & Chief Technologist @ VMware

Over my 15 year career in IT, all of these skills have been extremely important to plot a course, go on a journey, and execute on those goals. The two latest journeys I’m taking are public speaking and building my brand. I’ve been fortunate to have found the VMware community through social media nearly 10 years ago and found industry experts to follow and learn from but I’m making an concerted effort now to raise my voice and share my ideas. 

I hope you’ll join me along the way. To join the VMUG virtual event on September 19 from 9 AM – 3 PM, register here: https://vmugvirtualseptevent.vfairs.com. Let your voice be heard too! Share what you learned at the event on social media and your plan to sharpen your skills.