Scottish VMUG Leader

November 10, 2022 1 minute read

Introduction

I am very pleased to have been asked to become one of the leaders at the Scottish VMUG. The Scottish VMUG is very much a highlight of my calendar when the meetings happen and I’m incredibly happy to facilitate the amazing community we have here in Scotland.

Sandy

I have to pay tribute to the outgoing Leader Sandy Bryce. He is was one of the founding members of the VMUG 14 years ago and has been instrumental in making it a success.

I’m sure anyone that has met Sandy at the VMUG will be thankful for his efforts. Luckily for us he is not disappearing completely now he has gone DevOps as he is part of the newly formed Steering Committee.

What the VMUG means to me

I’m pretty sure my first VMUG was back in 2009/2010 and I got value from attending from the beginning just from the sessions. Back then I would listen to the sessions, not speak to anyone, stand at the back of the room during breaks, disappear at lunch, then go home right after.

I never saw the real value in the VMUG - the community. I think the real turning point was after a few years of consuming content Sandy made a plea for members of the community to speak. I had just finished a project at work, so against all my instincts I said I would talk about it at the next meeting. I’d never spoken in public before so it was a big jump for me.

I did the (terrible) presentation and afterward people came up to speak to me. It was a revelation and I got the bug to talk to others. Now I never miss a vBeers, I sit with someone at lunch and have made friends (and now even work colleagues) all because of the VMUG.