Wow! My first MexTUG (and first visit to Mexico City) was fantastic and went beyond all my expectations. Over the years, I’ve been to many, many excellent NonStop customer events, but I think MexTUG 2023 may be the best.
The event was superlative for a number of reasons. Firstly, the Connect and MexTUG teams did a great job planning, organizing, and running the event (as they always do). Even though we’ve come to expect excellence from them, it’s still noteworthy—thank you Edgar Veloz, Gabriel Alvarez, and Kristi Elizondo, and the extended Connect and MexTUG teams! Furthermore, the venue was stunning; the conference was held in the Versailles ballroom on the 40th floor of the Sofitel hotel in Mexico City’s La Reforma district, the historic heart of the city. The ballroom itself was beautiful, but the panoramic views of the city made it truly special.
Of course, the participants are the most important part of any event, and there was a large turnout of Mexican NonStop customers, the HPE Mexico team, and NonStop partners. While nearly all the presentations were in Spanish, which I don’t speak, that allowed me to pay closer attention to more subtler aspects of the sessions. All throughout the day, I observed a high level of engagement with the presentations and enthusiasm for the topics discussed. And it wasn’t just the customers who made the day special; the HPE Mexico team really showed up in force, and I appreciated their sincere interest in meeting with partners and exploring how we could work together more effectively. Thankfully, for me, most of the customers and partners spoke English, so I was able to have some very meaningful conversations between sessions.
Alas, the Gravic Shadowbase session was the last of the day and, honestly, I was a bit concerned that the audience might be a little tired and looking ahead to the cocktail reception. I needn’t have worried; even after a full day of technical presentations, customers were still very engaged and paying close attention. Kudos to my Gravic colleague, Alfredo Gonzalez (who is based near Mexico City), for making our last session of the day so interesting.
Speaking of the cocktail reception, after the last session, we all recongregated at the Sofitel’s Freehouse Bar which is in the style of the hotel’s historic original architecture. It was a beautiful place to continue business discussions and have more casual conversations with new and old friends, alike. And I think my Spanish got a little better!
So, thank you, again, to everyone that organized and attended MexTUG 2023—you all made it one of my favorite NonStop events ever!
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