Why YOU should become a VMware vExpert EUC

I’m a VMware vExpert EUC since 2020. So, four times in a row. Often, people say and ask: “Nice, but what does that mean? And does it bring anything extra to you?”.

The answer is really simple: “YES!”. But what is it?

In this short blog post I will summarize my point of view of what the VMware vExpert EUC program and community has brought me so far, and is still bringing.

Introduction

The VMware vExpert program is a world-wide evangalism and advocacy program that recognizes and awards individuals that make their contribution to the community with a focus on VMware’s ecosystem.

Contributions to the community can be delivered in various forms and are often ones that extend your daily work or job. You can think of blogging, participating in or initiate a podcast, speak at events, write or publish books, participate in forums, etc. One or more of these activities may lead to receiving the VMware vExpert award… if you apply of course. 😉

A very good resource to get a head start on your VMware vExpert 2024 application is written by Corey Romero, Senior Community Manager at VMware, and can be found here.

Besides the general VMware vExpert program, there are also specific VMware Expert programs, called subprograms, that are focused on specific areas. Currently these areas are:

• Application Modernization
• Avi
• Cloud Management
• Cloud Provider
• EUC
• Multi-Cloud
• NSX
• PRO
• Security

Once you are a VMware vExpert, you can apply to one or more of the available subprograms.

VMware vExpert EUC Community Subprogram Lead

The VMware Expert EUC subprogram is lead by the enthusiastic and talented Holly Lehman, Senior Community Program Manager at VMware, and Jenn Godwin, Marketing Program Manager at VMware.

Both are just a couple of months on their way leading the VMware vExpert EUC community subprogram, and are doing a great job at organizing calls, events and just making sure the people within the VMware vExpert EUC subprogram get the right support for delivering their contributions to the community.

The perks

So, “What’s in it for me?”, you may think. Here’s a (shortened) summary of what you may (currently) expect:

• Slack
  • Besides the standard (useful) Slack channels from the VMware vExpert program, you get exclusive access to a dedicated Slack channel for EUC vExperts. This allows you to talk with like-minded members of the VMware vExpert EUC subprogram about anything (VMware vExpert) EUC-related topics.
• Licenses
  • You will receive a limited amount of licenses to run VMware products in your own (LAB / non-production) environment.
  • There are also licenses for third-party products and services.
• Digital Workspace Proving Ground (DWPG)
  
  • You will receive a Digital Workspace Proving Ground testdrive environment to test the latest and greatest EUC services in the cloud. This is exclusive to VMware EUC vExperts.
• Monthly EUC update call
  • A monthly online EUC update call is organized by the VMware vExpert EUC community leadership team to give updates about the program and organize exclusive (NDA) updates on VMware EUC topics, products and services.
• Exclusive events and talks
  • Exclusive events and talks are organized specifically for VMware EUC vExperts at various locations and/or events. One example is the tech talk meet-up at VMware Explore, where you get (NDA) updates on VMware EUC products and services and the opportunity to talk to product managers and established VMware EUC people.
• Community
  • One of the most important things is that you get connected with people within the VMware EUC community. You can ask each other questions and reach out for help, which is very valuable.

My personal favorites are the events and talks that are exclusively organized for the VMware EUC vExperts, the availability of the licenses and the DWPG environment. I use the DWPG environment a lot to test out use cases and learn a lot of new stuff. But for me, the most valuable thing of being a part the VMware vExpert EUC community is the connection with the other vExperts. It gives you the opportunity to ask (direct) questions and solve issues together.

How to become a VMware vExpert EUC?

What can you do to become a VMware vExpert EUC? There is no single path to becoming a VMware vExpert EUC. If people ask me, I always say: “Just start with whatever you feel comfortable with.”. Some activities you may look at are:

• Present and/or talk at (online) events
• Write blogs/articles
• Help the community
  • Participate in (online) (technical) forums, like VMTN
  • Help in community events
• Author/write books
• Hosting podcasts
• Etc…

Apply for the VMware vExpert program, and once you achieved that, apply for the VMware vExpert EUC subprogram!

Need help?

If you have any questions or you need help getting up to speed on how to aim for becoming a VMware vExpert or specifically a VMware vExpert EUC, reach out to one of the VMware vExpert PROs, including myself. I also wrote an article about how I think I can help you with becoming a VMware vExpert (EUC), which you may find here.

For the VMware vExpert EUC subprogram, you can also directly reach out to Holly Lehman or Jenn Godwin.

With that, I hope that I got you enthusiastic about the VMware vExpert EUC subprogram and that you will be the next one to join!