Category Christopher Kusek

I’ll tell you, easily one of my LONGEST subject lines ever! But subject length aside, this is actually pretty awesome!

For those of you who missed this, here’s the low down from a blog post I published last October.  EMC Proven Knowledge Sharing Competition – Join Now! Abstracts Due 12NOV #EMCElect

And for what its worth, my marketing director has done an AWESOME coverage of events here Christopher Kusek earns EMC 2015 Knowledge Sharing Award!

So that got it all started… OMG A CONTEST! Well, not even so much as a contest, as it was a raw and heated COMPETITION! What it’d entail initially was submitting an abstract.   And from the Abstract alone you’d be informed whether you’d even be entitled to be ALLOWED to enter the competition.   In my case, my abstract was accepted, awesome.  But then it came down to, “Hey, it’s time to submit your paper!” Well, so there I was… writing my paper, and write it I did!   One thing in particular which was *very* cool, is the fact that the “Judges” of the papers have no idea who the authors are.  No, it’s not like they’re secluded and don’t stay in touch with industry, quite the opposite… They’re SHIELDED from who the submitters are, any type of information is shielded from them, and instead they’re judging the papers based upon the content and not the character of the authors!

Which ultimately is what brought me to this years 2015 EMC World!   I had been informed that I was a “finalist” which means, I’d be 1st, 2nd, 3rd or one of the Best of Tracks… All very secretive, all I knew was, “I WAS IN” I just didn’t know what position or place!

That is when it all fell into place! My name called, giving me the absolute honor of “Best of IT Transformation” it was an absolute blast to all happen at once!   Due to the power of… VideoLinkFail you can skip ahead to 16:45 and get to my part of the video :)  Otherwise watch it all the way through, it gives an interesting take and shares information on the EMC Proven Education Ecosystem!

That wasn’t even the half of it though! When I wasn’t on stage wearing horribly uncomfortably shoes (which looked great mind you!) and receiving an award… LOOK AT THAT THING! ITS 8LBS OF CRYSTAL!

I was spending the bulk of my time ON CAMERA giving individual interviews or group interviews or this and that!

But some of you are saying, “You know what? I don’t give a damn about any of that! Show me the money! err, Paper, I MEAN THE PAPER!”

That’s cool, totally respect that… :) Well, here are some links and copies of the paper!

Because I’m obviously a marketing whore (go me, right! :)) There’s also the Xiologix branded version which I actually like how it is formatted better… (Primarily because… I formatted it to make sure data presents on pages the way I prefer from having written a thing or two here and there!) so here are some links to BOTH versions! <3

Read Xiologix Version: Ten ways to reduce cost while modernizing your IT

Read EMC Version: Ten ways to reduce cost while modernizing your IT

To follow-up on updates to this presentation and other information around be sure to check out the updated page at our Xiologix site where we’re keeping it updated and current! Christopher Kusek earns EMC 2015 Knowledge Sharing Award!

Also there is a Presentation version of this paper which has been delivered to standing room only audiences across the Pacific Northwest (also regular sitting rooms of folks :)) So if you’re interested definitely reach out <3 :)

Keep on keeping on!

Today marks one full year since I’ve begun this journey into the Warzone and oh the many things I’ve encountered in my time here…

Before I go into some of these details I’d like to refer to some of the past posts on this, just for consolidation effort! :)

• 250 days in Afghanistan, lessons learned, experiences and OMG WTF IS THAT

• Afghanistan, it’s as American as Baseball and Apple Pie; @CXI in the Warzone Update!

• Live from Afghanistan, an Update from @CXI – WILL HE TELL US WHAT HE’S DOING?!

• Taking a stand and serving my country; or WTF is @CXI doing in Afghanistan?!?

So one full year in a war-zone that must be pretty crazy, right? Yes. Yes it is.  Over the course of this time I’ve gone through multiple military transitions (in and out) numerous base closures and as time has gone on and we prepare for “draw-down” a significant decrease in standard life services.   That may not sound like much but considering that we were already basically camping, and things have gone down from that point…. Yea, it’s been interesting. :)

Do I enjoy what I am doing? Absolutely.  I personally have a significant impact on the direction of things here and am able to take my decades of experience and put them to good use to equally ensure that our tax dollars aren’t fraudulently wasted, at least not on my watch!

In the short little time I’ve been here my responsibilities as Deputy Technical Director and Storage and Virtualization Lead for all of the efforts here in Afghanistan have been very rewarding.   I unfortunately cannot go into too many details without compromising aspects of the mission but let me just say… This has been an absolutely awesome experience the likes of which are difficult to rival.   The experience itself is not nearly as rewarding as knowing that the knowledge and skills I brought into this theater from years of work in the trenches and leading high performing teams has scaled to make this a case study for success which can be replicated immensely..

Some things which you can only truly experience while living in a warzone (or in some cases, Chicago…)

• Taking a Helicopter to get to work, with a high powered machine gun out the side…
• The incessant and regular explosions, whether controlled or by insurgents.
• [REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED] – Oh how I’d love to be able to share that…
• And more… :)

But this story is not over.   At this point I’m pretty sure I’ll fight this battle out a little longer to ensure everything is ready and in place for the executed draw down of American troops scheduled for 31DEC2014 – After which point I’m out of here and onto the next story where I can continue to do absolutely awesome things.    I get hit up regularly and I respect and appreciate that.   I’ll likely be looking to start that next story in the Nov/Dec to January time frame so if you’re looking feel free to hit me up as we get closer!

As always I’ll continue to update you in the form of tweets, facebook updates, Instagram, Tumblr and more!

Be safe, and on this wonderful Valentines Day <3 :)

Today marks 107 days in the Warzone.  Okay, it’s not a sexy number like 100, or a gross number like 144… But it is the number of today where I’m writing this!     So, some of you might be asking, “What’s it like living out there in the Warzone?!”   I’ll tell you, and I’ll be as frank and honest as I can (or shirley?!)

I bet some of you went to college before, so you know what Dorm living is like, right?   Living in rooms where you may share walls or more with others.  It’s very much sort of like that… Well, Kind of. Sort of kind of I guess, I mean, a picture says a thousand words right?

So as you can see from these beautiful photos, from the outside you can see the beautiful looks of a plywood box which I live in with 7 other people.  Awesome, right?!   And here’s a little glimpse of the ‘inside’ of the B-Hut, all 96 Square feet of space to stretch out and spend my days! (Nights!)

Clearly you’re thinking, “Damn, Ikea can make a KILLING there in Afghanistan with such lavish accommodations!”  Don’t you know it baby!

But when I’m not in my room sleeping, FaceTiming with the family, or at work, I walk down awesome pathways like this, or hide in bunkers like this!

And now I’ll hit some of the Q/A which I regularly get asked to the best of my ability!

1. Wow, as a vegan it must be really hard to eat out there. Do you find it difficult?
1. I believe the technical answer is, HELLS YEA BITCHES.   I look forward to breakfast as it tends to be the most consistent meal of the day, and even that can be spotty often times.   I intentionally carb-load and over-eat while I’m here as “Winter is coming” or so my body needs to predict… as I don’t know when a vegan famine may be upon me, and it’s up to me to protect my well being!   There tends to be on average 2-3 items to eat per meal for a vegan, out of >50 items, those metrics aren’t something you can set a clock to…
2. I see you tweet at times about rockets and mortars, SRSLY? IS THAT HAPPENING?
1. Yes. Yes it does happen. I’ve been fortunate that the closet ROCKET to me has been a little over a mile away, which is fortunate considering the small rockets have a blast radius of 50 yards, I’d ideally like to stay as far the hell away as possible.    I’ve become a little jaded at Television special effects since being out here as I watch an explosion of say, an oil tanker 50 feet away have no impact on TV/Movies, yet a TINY IED goes off 3 miles away and it shakes the building I’m in? Yea, movies are totally ruined for me!
3. Hey, Seriously WTF, why the hell are you in Afghanistan?!?!
1. So, I covered a bit of that in this blog post here but on an added note.  I’m no warrior, I’m not strong, I cannot carry a weapon, nor perform physically bearing activities.  But I had the opportunity to do my part to serve our country, and serve our troops and do what I do best.   Help bring them home and make the technical environment which runs a warzone theater as Afghanistan as stable and solid as possible.  It just so happens I also carry with that a pretty hefty load of responsibility, but I’m no stranger to responsibility and leading.  So it suits me. :)
4. Do you have any crutch music/movies to help get you through the days?
1. Why yes I do.   I will often find myself watching Portlandia and Flight of the Conchords, and just trying to stay current on my regular Television as it airs.   I did watch Scott Pilgrim vs the World the other day, and I could watch that again and again.
2. Musically, I will often be listening to Taylor Swift, Erasure and at this very moment as I type this, I’m listening to The Birthday Massacre.  My musical library obviously extends far beyond that; such that depending upon the analytical research I may be doing that is a perfect opportunity to blast The Ataris, Taking Back Sunday or Greenday in my ear holes!
5. Asked by @nekosensei : What do you do while you’re on base to keep yourself entertained?
1. This one may come as a surprise to a lot of you, but I *love* working. I always have, and being that I work 12 hours a day, I’m no stranger to the opportunity to work!   But when I’m not working and I’m not talking with my family on FaceTime (Skype sucks out here) I am watching shows, listening to music, or reading (or writing respectively).   It may not sound too glamorous, but it’s a good way to center yourself…
6. Asked by @nekosensei : What locations have you been able to visit in the region when you were given the chance to get off the base?
1. Honestly. I avoid leaving the base if I can help it (Exception while going on leave)   But as far as the places I’ve visited here in Afghanistan and in the region, here’s a breakdown…
1. Kuwait – I visited Kuwait when I first got here, it’s where we flew in to.   I didn’t mind it too bad, dust storms and the weather wasn’t too bad but it was ‘winter’, apparently, it’s hot as all hell now, so not being there is ideal I figure.   The accommodations were a ‘nice’ transient tent with mice and food options which left much to be desired.  But it wasn’t too bad.  My time spent there was relatively pleasant.
2. Kandahar – Wow. What can I say. I HATE Kandahar!   A lot of people may be surprised by that, but I was in a constant ‘transient’ state waiting to fly out of there and being promised a flight only to be disappointed constantly.  My time spent there, over 3 days was spent in a constant state of conscious/unconscious, but no sleeping.. I was never really ‘asleep’ as that might infer I was resting.   I slept on benches which hobos would laugh at in a PAX Terminal which a week prior had been hit directly with a mortar.   Let’s just say, I escaped from that without any scratches and I’m glad.
3. Camp Bastion / Camp Leatherneck – This Marine base was a resort compared to where I’m at now!    The streets were laid out, well.. like streets. It’s as though they planned what they were doing (They did to some extent) it was well coordinated, and organized.  Albeit, they hadn’t had a rocket attack for ~18 months prior to my arrival, and on the day I arrived, there were like 6 rockets fired on us.  No one was hurt, so win!
4. Dubai, UAE – The United Arab Emirates can be an interesting and cool place.   It is a Muslim country with a very strict and odd set of laws, but you must respect the laws of the nation you’re in, and I respectively did that.   I shared a lot of the photos, of both the Futuristic and advanced side of Dubai while at the same time I got a glance at the ancient ways things have been done for hundreds or thousands of years, poverty and royalty living side by side.   Whenever I leave or enter Afghanistan, it is always through Dubai so I’ll be no stranger to that place.
5. Bagram – My ‘home’ away from home, where I live now and for the unforeseen future.    This is an old soviet base which they abandoned during the Soviet-Afghanistan war in the 70s or something? I can see why they abandoned it though.   To give you a sense of how it is here… The sun rises around 4am, it’s SUNNY and HOT by the morning, and it only gets hotter by the evening. We’re ~5000 feet above sea level, so we’re pretty close to the sun!   By around 7PM it gets dark and when it gets dark it gets COLD and WINDY.  It’s crazy, and the sand, dust and flour-like substance of dust/sand gets in everything.  If it’s raining a little bit, your hair will be plastered like cement.    So there ya have it!

Hopefully this gives you a little insight into life in Afghanistan,  and a brief idea of how things are for me.  Stay tuned to my Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for regular updates on activities, photos and you name it!

Don’t be a stranger! I’ll be home eventually! :)

A lot of you have been asking about this.  So I thought it about time to finally share just what is going on!    An interesting opportunity presented itself recently to allow me to serve my country in a way I am capable of and more importantly, allow me to do my part to help bring our troops home.     Allow me to provide a little background and context.   I am no warrior, I am no soldier.   I can barely even carry the gear that is the bare minimum used for protection, I can’t even begin to imagine just what the weight of the weaponry involved is!

Allow this visual depiction of my experience of getting blood drawn for putting my DNA on file to give you an example of just how non-capable for soldiering I am!   And why yes I did pass out during the blood draw, really it wasn’t the blood draw so much as the WHERE IS THE VEIN, I KNOW, LETS MAKE HIM PASS OUT! It wasn’t the first time, and I warned them up front this was bound to happen if they didn’t find the vein the first time!

But with all that said and done, I am still physically fit to actually BE here, and apparently, strong enough to at least WEAR this gear when time calls for it!

Though I’m far more accustomed to just wearing a jacket and take photos of myself after not having slept for days and days – Oh, where would I not sleep for days and days? Probably some place like this PAX Terminal which often receives mortar attacks…

But I digress a little.   Back to what I am doing here.   I am no warrior, I am no soldier… I am a technologist, I teach, educate, evangelize, enliven, and solve problems and let me tell you, <REDACTED> <REDACTED> <REDACTED>, Pretty awesome, right?

I’ll be honest, due to the sensitive nature of what I am doing here, what and where I am working on, etc; I am unable to really share a whole lot of what I am doing or what it entails but I can via obfuscation share that I am helping spread the good word, will, and journey of all things that are Storage, Cloud, Applications, Virtualization, Security and more.   You know, all the kinds of things you often enjoy my expose’s of and the like!   The real and ultimate goal of this journey is doing my part to help bring our troops home safely, and ensure that the the infrastructure which helps support and save lives sustains.

This world is a very secretive one but there are parts of that experience often never shared that I’ll be able to reveal as I serve my time here.

Many of you have asked how you might go about sending me letters, care packages, whatever or the like; provided below is my APO for those wondering.

Christopher Kusek
Trace Systems
JNCC-A Task Force Signal
APO, AE 09354

I also have a DoDAAC which is pretty awesome for FAST delivery, but that’s not really needed at all!  A conversation on facebook revealed that USPS has free shipping materials for APO addresses.   Honestly, I really don’t think I need much, I mean I try to be a pretty easy person; albeit vegan food options out here are quite difficult and interesting to say the least…

I do apologize I haven’t been on Twitter much, Internet connectivity here SUCKS and I cannot get to twitter from my work machines, though Facebook works fine, thus I’ve been being as regular there as I possibly can respectively. :)    I cannot stress enough how having a max 5k download speed at times really means, it makes Skyping challenging enough as it is at times. :)

I’ll keep you all updated on my journey, and new and interesting lessons learned from the Warzones, consider me the eyes into this world which often is shrouded from our very eyes in media reports and beyond.    I hope you all are well, and I take steps to ensure my safety on the regular so I’ll be able to return home in this mission to help return home our troops and do my part in the United States drawdown from Afghanistan.

Be well, and I hope this revealed enough to comfort or alleviate any thoughts some of you may have been having! :) Comments, letters and beyond are always welcome! :)

What exactly is this whole VMware vExpert Program and what does it mean to me?! I know that’s what you are asking, because you probably did a search of “VMware vExpert” and turned up this VMware vExpert FAQ Page, or some of these great details outlined in the vExpert Directory.

But if you haven’t read those pages, or you want a little context on exactly what the VMware vExpert Program is all about, it is extremely similar to the acclaimed Microsoft MVP Program, the EMC Elect Program, and even the rarely heard of Citrix Technology Professionals Program!  Essentially, this is an award based upon your contributions to society, community, industry.   Going above and beyond simply ‘doing your job’.    That about sums it up!

What makes the VMware vExpert Program so special

The VMware vExpert Community is very much just that, a community of likeminded professionals who come together for the betterment of society as a whole.   It may all sound sort of altruistic but there is no more accurate depiction of the truth than that.    The community is filled with people who work tirelessly to help others, who are seen as and sought after as the experts in the industry, many of which feel they don’t deserve the accolade and others who work so diligently to ensure that their impact on those around them eclipses any benefits that may be derived from the mention.    The vExperts are the authors, bloggers, podcasters, troubleshooters, helpers, friends and family which makes VMware and Virtualization such a prevalent thread it has been transforming the industry ever since its inception.

A few of the benefits ‘granted’ to the members of the vExpert community are

• Public recognition of the vExpert award with a certificate, gift, permission to display a logo, and inclusion in any public vExpert listing
• Access to a private vExpert community of your peers
• Free subscription to conference session materials on VMworld.com
• Access to exclusive events, beta programs, software licenses, and other exclusive opportunities to participate in activities with VMware. vExperts do not represent VMware and are not required to participate in any activities

But those are just the *published* benefits, here are some of the unpublished yet fully realized by members of the vExpert Community

• Priority Access to Private Betas
• Blogger Early Access Programs (Including Deep Dive Webinars with Product Teams)
• Influencer Day and Product Launch Briefings (Be on the inside track with the analysts and product launch embargoes)
• Focus Groups with SMB and Partners
• Special Opportunities presented by Partners such as Tintri, Symantec, EMC, Trainsignal, Tech Field Day, and more!
• And a particular favorite of many, private vExpert only CTO Party and Briefings with the Office of the CTO and Steve Herrod at VMworld

But it doesn’t stop there.   Some of the extra benefits realized not by all, but by many as the form of opportunities tend to be

• Special Access to Guest Blogging spots on VMTN and other blogportunities
• Community Roundtable Podcast speaking opportunities and special guest access
• VMware Press opportunities to be a Tech Reviewer or Author (They’re always looking for talent, and check the vExpert pool often)
• Other Press sources opportunities to write and review (Sybex, Video training houses, tech blogs, Windows IT Pro, Speaking Gigs, etc)
• … The opportunities are seemingly endless!

What exactly are the paths to being a vExpert

Since this is the non-definitive guide after all I can only go on what we know from the 2012 Calendar year which could possibly change.   But instituted as part of this cycle was a growth of the vExpert selection criteria to differing paths of Experts; Evangelist, Customer, Partner.

Evangelist

The Evangelist Path includes book authors, bloggers, tool builders, public speakers, and other IT professionals who share their knowledge and passion with others with the leverage of a personal public platform to reach many people. Employees of VMware can also apply via the Evangelist path.

Customer

The Customer Path is for internal evangelists and community leaders from VMware customer organizations. They have contributed to success stories, customer references, or public interviews and talks, or were active community contributors, such as VMUG leaders.

Partner (VMware Partner Network)

The VPN Path is for employees of our partner companies who lead with passion and by example, who are committed to continuous learning and to making their technical knowledge and expertise available to many. This can take shape of event participation, video, IP generation, as well as public speaking engagements.

What about the selection criteria for the vExpert Program

First let me start out by displaying what are a few caveats and considerations before I get too deeply into selection criteria.

• The vExpert award is based on contributions during the past calendar year. Activities earlier than the past calendar year are not considered in the awards and should not be entered on the application form.
• You can use the application form to apply for yourself, and an invitation form to invite others to apply. Everyone is strongly encouraged to apply.
• The vExpert designation is not a popularity contest. Multiple invitations or recommendations are not considered as a criteria for the award, so please do not ask multiple people to fill in the invitation form for you.
• The vExpert designation is given to an individual, not to a company. Your contributions could have been a part of your corporate activities, but your individual contribution should be clear and noted in your application.
• Designation duration is for one year. Existing vExperts are not guaranteed a renewal and are evaluated each year along with other nominees.
  A committee of VMware employees chooses the recipients of the vExpert designation.
• You must be 18 years old to be eligible for the award.

Now that we have that out of the way, here are some of the types of things they’d look for on the application in years gone past (for what would be the Evangelist path, As details of Customer/Partner and other evolutions for 2013 come about, I’ll be sure to discuss that as it comes…)

Contributions and Activities to materials such as:

• Blogs (Blog posts you’ve written re:VMware/Virtualization, and contributions you’ve made to other blogs)
• Other Writing (Newsletters, Books, Whitepapers, Articles, KB Articles, Tutorials, Guides, etc)
• Multimedia (Podcasts, Videos, Interviews…)
• Events and Speaking (Organized events, spoke at them, involvement, etc)
• Online Communities (IT Forums you’ve contributed, participated in and been involved in)
• Tools and Resources (Tools you’ve created, collected, contributed to, resources and guides you’ve created, collections, etc)
• VMware Programs (Councils, Partnerships, Betas and other kinds of contributions)
• Actions and activities having gone above and beyond (self explanatory)

For a little more context and details about what each of these lines might be asking for (this is dated) refer to this link for the 2011 Application

The vExpert Program seems amazing and I work in Virtualization but I’ll wait until next year

This is for all of you out there who have said that, or some similar version of events.   I know who you are, I’ve spoken with you a number of times.   You contribute greatly within the community, internally at a customer, or extensively through the Partner organization.   You’re familiar with the vExpert program but you say ‘eh, I’ll deal with that next year’.   If this were like a certification deciding to take action NEXT month or NEXT quarter wouldn’t be such a big deal, but this isn’t a Certification.    The VMware vExpert Program is a year-long designation based upon your actions for a calendar year.    So what does that mean?   By not being nominated or choosing to self-nominate yourself when the window of nomination opens, you are costing yourself on the opportunity for an additional 365 days.    It’s not to say that ALL those who submit are accepted because they are not, but if you’ve got what it takes and you’re a super star in your own right I cannot for the life of me justify you NOT applying.

Some people like to equate the VMware vExpert to a Certification and will often say “Eh, I’m not changing jobs any time soon, so I don’t see why I should do this”.    Yes, certainly like getting a VCP won’t make much of a different to an admin for life but an active Administrator who becomes a vExpert can gain that insight, that knowledge (and getting license keys for testing and all the worlds access never hurts!)

So if I leave you with nothing, I’d like you to take to heart a few tidbits and action items and I’ll share my own experience here

• It doesn’t hurt to apply or self-nominate into the program.   If you’re unknown to the populace at large sometimes the first person to knock on that door and shine a light on your accomplishments has to be you, this isn’t about ego (Especially if you’ve accomplished all of the things you share in your contributions)
• This is first and foremost a community, not a ‘corporate charter designated by a policy driven figurehead with stringent metrics to follow’ So what I mean there is, if things don’t go as fast as you want them to be, it is not as though this is an SLA you are paying for;  But we’re all in this together so lending a helping hand is never discouraged
• Get involved.   Even if you’re objective is not to one day earn the designation of VMware vExpert.    Our community is only as strong as its weakest link and as we all grow and become educated we continue to prosper together
• Even if you sit silent on the sidelines, get to  know the vExpert’s in the community and more precisely YOUR community.   These people didn’t become vExperts for nothing, they’re glad to help, spread the tech love and cherish and grow those around them

A few words from a silent cat

I’ve been a vExpert for as long as there has been a program and every single year I sit back and look at the nomination form which asks countless questions about what your contributions were for the previous calendar year. (Submissions are usually a few months into the year, so remembering back to December let alone the previous January can be a chore!)   Every single year I look back and say, “Well, crap I don’t think I did anything, how can I justify or deserve being a vExpert for this year” and then it all starts to settle in.   In past years there’d be a request for your TOP blog posts or TOP cited reference points (limited to 2 or 3) and at first I thought ‘how am I going to find even 1 let alone 3!’ which then turns into “Ooops…. I did 20-30 things in the previous year, how am I going to pare THAT down!”   This is surprisingly a common problem within the vExpert Community of Evangelists.    Before the VMware vExpert program came to be, and long before it had broken out the Evangelist designation….  We were all evangelists in our own right.   It wasn’t our job to do this, we didn’t do this because we were trying to achieve or accomplish some targeted ‘goal’, We saw problems in the world which either needed to be solved or we solved and wanted to share our experiences.   We saw great things happening and wanted to make sure everyone around us was able to benefit.    We don’t do it because we have to, We even don’t exactly do it because we WANT to.   We do it because we are vExperts.   We are Evangelists.    We are community.     I think nothing speaks more truer to that than the VMware vExpert program having doubled year over year of number of members accepted into its ranks, and I know we look forward to that number continuing to grow with other passionate and dedicated individuals like ourselves to make Technology, this Community and the World a better place.