Mourning Our vCommunity: Navigating Grief After the Broadcom Acquisition

This week I am at VMware Explore in Las Vegas. I have a community talk and I’m helping that team get the talks recorded. I’ve been shocked at a few things I’ve seen here this week. I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m still mourning our vCommunity.

My observations at VMware Explore 2024

The feeling of unease started on the plane. I didn’t know anyone on the plane. I flew in Sunday afternoon. This was weird, because usually I would at least see some Dell people.

I went to get my badge around 7. There was NO ONE there. I got my badge and roamed around a bit, still didnt see anyone. Starbucks was empty. This confirmed the whispering about attendance. I’d heard between 3500 and 4000 people were attending this year. To put that in perspective, in 2019 attendance was reported to be around 23,000 people.

The community talks are mostly well attended. However it becomes a ghost town around lunch time. But if you want a place to hang and chill out, space in what we used to call the “hang space” is probably available.

But the kicker was going to the welcome party in the Expo. For those of you familiar with Austin, VMware Explore could have fit inside a quarter of the space at the Palmer Events Center.

They didnt even carpet the expo hall floor. But this simple omission really drove home to me what VMware thinks of the event now.

Check out the Dell booth this year:

The VMware community was magic

The VMware community was special. It was a combination of VMware employees, customers, and partners that came together to understand and advance virtualization technology. It was born at the same time blogging was very popular, so there was a platform to share technical tips and tricks as well as your own analysis on the state of the business.

Twitter came along not long after, and it was possible to have conversations, meme wars (sorry kiddos y’all didn’t invent those), and even twit pisses. Remember those?

We had a collection of people interested in one main topic, and a means to communicate even if we were separated by oceans and continents. That’s what made VMworld so special. We could gather in “meat space” with our virtual friends for real communion!

We created a culture of our own when we were together. VMundergroud, vBeers, VMUG, vBacon, v0dgeball, vLadies…. we knew we would be with our people to learn, laugh, and love. We do have strong affection for our community members. We’ve seen marriages, babies, divorces, deaths. We’ve lived the gamut of human experiences together.

Why? Because we are a real community.

But now that the worst thing imaginable has happened, it’s time to grieve.

Stages of Grief

The concept of the stages of grief is a framework that helps to understand the emotional responses individuals face when dealing with loss.

• Denial During this stage, people may feel numb or engage in disbelief regarding the reality of their situation.
• Anger typically arises as the individual begins to confront the loss. This stage can manifest in various ways, from irritability to outright rage, often directed at oneself, others, or even the deceased.
• Bargaining involves the hope that the individual can avoid the cause of grief. Typically, the negotiation for an extended life is made in exchange for a reformed lifestyle, reflecting a deeply human desire to regain control.
• Depression is a stage characterized by deep feelings of sadness, regret, or despair as the reality of the loss sets in. Individuals may withdraw from friends and family, as withdrawal can sometimes feel like the only option.
• Acceptance does not signify that the loss is no longer painful; rather, it reflects a new understanding and adaptation to life without the loved one. It is in this stage that individuals can begin to find a way forward.

These stages can vary significantly among individuals, underscoring the personal nature of grief. It isn’t linear, you will probably go back and forth between the different stages until you find acceptance (Kübler-Ross, E. (1969). On Death and Dying. New York: Scribner.)

Accept the mourning process

We’ve experienced a massive collective loss. You probably can see yourself in one or more of those grief stages. Personally, I’m jumping between denial, anger, and depression as I’m here in Las Vegas experiencing this show.

I think what’s hard for me is that Broadcom actively danced around the truth about their intentions. For example, Hoc Tan said this in a VMware blog post in 2022:

Nonetheless, I’ve continued to see questions in press reports about whether we intend to raise prices on VMware products. The answer is simple: No.

Because of the sudden nature of our community’s demise, we must mourn it. It’s a collective loss, so we should mourn together, and support each other as we’ve always done.

What’s next for the vCommunity?

I’m not sure what the future for our community is. Maybe this discuss is best for after we’ve been able to get to some sort of acceptance. But we need to go through the grieving process to get to acceptance.

Keep in mind, a technical or a product issue did not cause our communities to implode. They were blown to bits by business decisions made by an acquisition. You have no power to change, persuade, or influence this in any way. No one in our community does. That’s a hard truth to accept.

Don’t be afraid to grieve. It doesn’t have to be online at all, but find the community members you know and make sure they are ok. We need to be open about how we feel. However, if these feelings are too much, please go get some help. Talking it through with a therapist can be very helpful. We need you to stick around, so take care of yourself!

Also, be mindful that many of our community members are now employed by Broadcom. They are closer to the devastation, and how they react could impact their livelyhood. Be mindful that they can’t share openly how the feel, or how this is affecting them. They need our support as they navigate their own career paths. It’s pretty unfair to ask them to carry the weight for us as well at this time.

Finally, there are many business who are also being impacted financially by this acquisition. How can we help them modernize their own virtualization stack? Does it make financial sense to stay with Broadcom, or do they need help evaluating their options? There is a huge opportunity here, and it’s something I would welcome chatting about this week.

Our community may come back, but it will be in a different form. That’s ok. Cling to the relationships you’ve made. We’ll get through this together!