One of the recent trends that I've noticed (and have come to appreciate) is that smaller technology companies are no longer waiting on the sidelines for others to setup conferences to bring together many of its current and future users. Rather than simply sponsor a 10x10 piece of real-estate at one of these larger conferences in the hopes that they will be allowed to speak or have the chance to interact with customers or prospects, these companies are instead launching their own conferences. And so far, many of them have been doing a fantastic job doing just that.
Last year, VMblog was excited to participate in VeeamON, Veeam's data center availability event which will come back around next year in 2017. And just last week, we told you about another upcoming event, ZertoCon, the business continuity conference being brought to you by Zerto in May. And the trend continues...
Zenoss, the Austin, TX based software company that produces a powerful yet easy-to-use monitoring solution, is another one of those smaller vendors that has decided to create its own conference to educate and celebrate its customer base.
In 2015, they kicked off their inaugural entry into the world of conferences by launching Zenoss GalaxZ which I was fortunate to attend. And for a first time event, it was a pretty big success in my opinion.
Last year's keynote came from Dr. Michio Kaku, a Japanese-American futurist, theoretical physicist and
popularizer of science. Kaku is a Professor of Theoretical Physics at
the City College of New York. And when he spoke, I hung on every word. He was a great get for Zenoss and GalaxZ attendees, and he helped make for a very edutaining keynote.
“By 2100, our destiny is to become like the gods we once worshipped
and feared. But our tools will not be magic wands and potions but the
science of computers, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence,
biotechnology, and most of all, the quantum theory.” ― Michio Kaku
The event must have proven successful to Zenoss as well, because GalaxZ is happening again, taking place May 10-12, 2016 at the JW Marriott in downtown Austin. And like the Six Million Dollar Man, I expect Zenoss will build this year's event to be better, stronger.
The GalaxZ16 agenda will feature dynamic keynotes from industry visionaries along with
breakout sessions led by Zenoss customers, partners and IT innovators.
Sessions will be led by the best and brightest in ITOps & DevOps.
There will be hands-on technical training by Zenoss experts,
networking with peers,
and groundbreaking solutions in the
Partner Showcase.
When describing last year's event, I said it was pretty evident that Zenoss really cares about its customers. And this year, they did something that really reinforces that sentiment to me. As part of GalaxZ16, Zenoss introduced a free rocket ride to the show by offering travel scholarships as part of its first ever Zenoss Scholarship program. Lucky recipients received:
- A free registration to GalaxZ '16
- 2 nights stay at the official GalaxZ hotel, JW Marriott
- $250 in air or ground travel reimbursements
We'll keep Austin weird. Let Zenoss keep people educated and entertained.
Click to find out more information about GalaxZ and get registered. And I'll see you there!
In the mean time, take a quick look at last year's GalaxZ event: