This week EMC hosts their annual educational forum and technical conference, EMC World in Las Vegas. I'm not breaking news when I state the storage industry is a competitive landscape. What some may not realize is within the storage industry consists a large technical community of professionals and from this community friendships abound. These include friendships between those who compete with one another during their day job.
Over the last several years I have been invited to attend EMC World by a number of my friends at EMC. Each year for one reason or another my attendance wasn't possible… that is until this year!
This evening EMC World attendees witnessed the world premier of 'Cloud Freaky' The video is simply an awesome jam! It featured features the fearless leader Chad Sakac along with his crew of Fred Nix, Wade O'Harrow, Craig 'Chappy' Chapman, Aaron Skogsberg and of course the pesky gorilla who somehow always seems to make it into EMC videos.
Did you know that the gorilla has been finding his way into EMC videos since 2010 when he crashed the EMC video 'vSpecialists Delight'?
Tonight the man in the gorilla suit was unmasked!
Did you catch who it is?
Maybe you missed it, due to the dizzying barrage of moves Chad unleashes. I was blown away, that man has moves! You need to watch the video again and stay for the credits as that's where the gorilla is finally unmasked.
Surprise, the gorilla is me!
Recall when I said I was attending EMC World? I guess I should have specified that I wasn't attending in person but doing so would have ruined the surprise.
To all my friends at EMC and those attending EMC World, here's to a stellar event. While Chad & I may not always see eye to eye, we do share a common goal, to deliver the best storage platforms and data management technologies to our customers. If you believe as I do that passion fules competition, competition drives innovation, and innovation advances the market. There's no one I would rather compete with than my good friends at EMC.
To Chad, Thank you for allowing me to virtually crash the party. You and your team are great! Maybe next year I'll attend in person. Thanks again and make it a great show!
Vaughn – hope everyone takes it in the manner it's meant – fun, good humor. It's great to work together, it's great to compete – and man, you're a good sport!