Wow, just wow.  As always, a great time was had in London for the SolarWinds User Group, this time at the lovely Radisson Blu.  Over 20 sessions with over a dozen different presenters and… you!  If you were at SWUG London 2024, thank you.  We Solarians have a great time putting on these events.

Event Recap

 ChrystalT and I shared hosting duties and presented a few sessions ourselves, but the attendees were the shining stars of the sessions.  This year, we included open spaces and let the attendees decide on topics with SolarWinds staff waiting in the wings to put down any arguments that turned physical in the starship captain discussion. No SWUG attendees were harmed participating in the sessions.

Comparing a year ago, the IT job market has gotten… interesting.  With that in mind, we doubled down on sessions about accelerating your IT career, altering your trajectory within your company, or polishing your resume/curriculum vitae for your next steps.  The “Resume Generating Events” session brought up some past traumas, and we all might need therapy sessions.  Thankfully, we had the opportunity for product-based therapy with the User Experience Workshops.

Next Steps

If you were an attendee, we’re hoping you’ve had an opportunity to complete the post-event survey.  If not, complete the survey by May 17 and you’ll earn some much-coveted THWACK points.  As always, SWUG is an ever-evolving program, and we rely on your feedback to continue to make it grow.

Growth can mean many things to many people, but for me, it’s meeting up with people, spending time educating myself, and gathering new experiences.  cheryl1, ChrystalT, kpina, and I took a day trip to review old technologies and have new experiences.  A welcome mental reset when we were going to talk tech for two days.

Where to Next?

Next up on the road trip this year is Denver, Colorado.  We’ll be bringing the SolarWinds goodness to the Rocky Mountains and are looking forward to seeing you there.  If you aren’t near Colorado, fear not!  We’ll be coming to Atlanta, Georgia, and Chicago, Illinois, later this year.

Registration is open for Denver, and you should register to reserve your seat because space is limited.

Final Thanks

Personally, I’d like to thank the SolarWinds Staff who helped make this event amazing.  It was the first SWUG for many attendees, but it was also the first time the THWACK Community team could meet the tour-de-force, Walshyy  in person.

It was a great time for everyone involved and it’s all because of you!  If you’ve got some fun photos, please feel free to share them and let your state-side friends know where we're headed this year.