As you probably know, I started Spousetivities at VMworld 2008 in Las Vegas. With a few mentions on Scott Lowe’s blog, I managed to get the attention of 25 significant others that were also coming along on the trip to VMworld. Very informally, I arranged activities. We joined public tours (and suffered the dilemma of doing so), walked end to end on the Strip, and drove private/rental vehicles to the Grand Canyon (missing the VMworld Party because of it!). So why does any of this matter?
The point of this recap was to show where Spousetivities started and where it’s going. My life has really not been the same since VMworld 2008. I am learning and adjusting all the time. Spousetivities is quickly becoming a featured part of many technology conferences and is gaining the attention of the IT community. Some very prominent bloggers posted blogs about it, including Scott Lowe (who, of course, is my husband), Simon Seagrave (@kiwi_Si on Twitter), and Jonathan Franconi (see his blog post about Spousetivities). Even VMware has recognized the value in Spousetivities and is listing them on their VMworld Social Events page.
I have also been interviewed by some great people in the community. Many of you know and use products from Train Signal and I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Kasia during VMworld 2010. More recently, I had the pleasure of being a part of Coffee with Thomas and got to talk about Spousetivities and other things.
And while talking with others about Spousetivities is great, it’s even greater to hear about how Spousetivities has impacted the lives of conference attendees and their spouses/significant others. Take this recent tweet from @cwliner, for example:
“@scott_lowe I think my wife is more excited about #VMworld than I am! #spousetivities”
Or perhaps this recent tweet by Tom Howarth, aka @tom_howarth on Twitter:
“@scott_lowe #Spousetivities is going 2B a lifesaver 4 those of us who have traveled with our family. Well done @crystal_lowe 4 organising”
These are the sorts of comments that let me know what I’m doing with Spousetivities is making a difference for others. Bringing your spouse/significant other/parent/partner with you to VMworld this year? Why not sign them up and see if it can make a difference for you, too?
