So two Mondays ago I took a drive to Chicago.   I haven't been there for months and I always like going there (minus the driving!).   I was going to a Roadshow event for Microsoft to help promote virtualization.   The event had many sponsors (it was free to the public) and a hall of vendor tables.   The lab had around 40 computers and two other proctors.   We got to wear €œCertified Veek € shirts, though no one was 100% sure why.   Presumably we were (V)irtualization G(eek)s or something like that.   Oh well, we wandered around and helped people.

There were about a dozen labs for people to go through to get used to Hyper-V, SCVMM (Virtual machine manager) and various scenarios.   They were pretty well put together and ran with few hitches.   I got to help people when they had problems with the labs or computers, and answer general questions.   Of course there were a few problems due to forgetting or not quite understanding something, but there were also quite a number of good questions about how to do things in specific situations.

Really, for anyone facing real-world problems, these events are ideal for talking face-to-face with experts.   It's a heck of a lot cheaper than working with a consultant!   In some cases it turned out that virtualization wasn't really the right solution.   In other cases it almost seemed like the textbook example.   It felt good helping people to see the point to it all and how to apply it in ways that added value to them and their companies.

One of the proctors coincidentally used to work for the company that I currently work for in Oregon.   The other proctor does consulting work in the Chicago area, especially in the virtualization arena.   It's a bit of a niche, but I'm guessing a pretty lucrative one.   The Iowa City area couldn't support specialization like that, although it could fit into a skill set nicely.   He also does presenting at a local training center from time to time.   This sounds good to me.   I really like presenting and it's good for me to get out of the house sometimes to do it!   It's nice to get a chance to meet people and have some in-depth technical discussions in-person.

I need to keep my blog updated with my €œappearances € better.   It's a good record for me, and if anyone wants to discuss a certain technology with me, it's a good way to get together.