Travel

As many of you probably already know, my wife Crystal is in the midst of planning another round of activities for spouses attending VMworld 2009 in San Francisco, CA, later this year. Last year in Las Vegas, Crystal was joined by a number of other ladies for some great activities that included a tour of the Grand Canyon and a visit to the Hoover Dam. Their itinerary was much more packed with fun and enjoyment than mine, that’s for sure!

Looking to replicate her success from last year, Crystal wanted me to outline the general plan for this year:

• One day will be spent on a tour in Napa/Wine Country.
• One day will be filled with sightseeing (Coit Tower, Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park, Pier 39, Ghirardelli Square, Bay Bridge) and shopping.
• One day will be organized around a tour of Alcatraz.

Similar to last year, Crystal is investigating several options for an all-in-one pass like the Las Vegas PowerPass. Early recommendations include the Go San Francisco Card and the San Francisco City Pass; these will get you transportation around the city and entrance to a number of attractions and activities. She’ll make a final recommendation on which of these cards to purchase very soon.

Also like last year, the purpose in organizing the spouse activities isn’t necessarily to make all spouses attending participate in the same activities, but rather to connect spouses with others. So, if you’re not on board with the activities that Crystal has tenatively planned, that’s OK—come to the “Get to Know You” brunch on Tuesday and see if there are others who may be interested in the same activities as you. Crystal certainly expects that some spouses may be interested in activities other than what she has planned—and that’s completely OK.

However, Crystal is doing a few things differently this year than last year. First off, she’s going to need to know well in advance who is planning on attending, as Alcatraz tours sell out weeks in advance. Second, she’ll need to know who’s planning on bringing kids, so that she can plan accordingly. Third, rather than using the comments here on the site as the primary way of communicating, she’s established a dedicated e-mail account for all communications. If you are interested in participating, send an e-mail to vmworldspouses@gmail.com and let her know. Posting a comment to this article won’t really help you; you need to contact Crystal via e-mail.

So, once again, if you are interested, be sure to contact Crystal via e-mail at the e-mail address listed above. She will include you on all the communications from that point forward. Thanks, and we look forward to seeing you in San Francisco!

For the last two years, my wife has accompanied me on my trips to VMworld. I’m lucky that she’s willing to travel with me and put up with long days (and sometimes long nights) during what is a very busy time for me, particularly in light of the fact that there traditionally have not been any activities designed to include spouses. This, by the way, is not a knock against VMware specifically; it seems to be a little bit of a trend in the industry. I’m not a huge conference-goer, so if anyone has any experience to the contrary I’d love to hear it.

John Troyer’s activities are an exception; his VMware Communities receptions, both in 2006 and 2007, were very inclusive of spouses or significant others. My wife enjoyed attending both of those events.

Aside from that, however, there aren’t a lot of reasons why spouses would want to attend. (This is aside from the obvious reason of wanting to be together.) This year, as my wife and I look ahead to VMworld 2008 in Las Vegas, she’s decided that she’d like to try to arrange some activities for spouses during the event. Perhaps a trip to a day spa, or a quick jaunt out to the Grand Canyon, or maybe just lunch near or at the Venetian. There would be some costs involved, of course, but at least they could all meet, have something to do while we’re at the conference, and have a good time.

So, if you are planning on attending VMworld 2008 and are thinking of bringing along your spouse—I’m primarily thinking of guys bringing their wives—I’d love to know. Shoot me an e-mail or post in the comments and let me know if your spouse would be interested in participating in some of these activities. Thanks!