01
September
2009
|
13:13 PM
America/Los_Angeles

VMWorld: Super Swank Parties Point To Lots Of Money In Virtual IT

OldMintWyse.jpg

The huge VMWorld trade show and conference is in San Francisco this week and judging by the number of swank parties I've been invited to there's a ton of money in virtual IT.

Tuesday night I popped into the Wyse Technology party at the Old Mint, one of the best party destinations in SF. Last time I was there, about a year ago, MySpace was hosting a Lionel Ritchie concert and it was by far the most fun event of 2008.

This time Wyse hosted a Flamenco themed evening. But strangely, fire codes greatly limited the number of people allowed inside and it looked semi-empty. For the MySpace party last year it was full to the rafters.

There are more swank parties later this week. Interestingly, all that Microsoft could muster was beers at the Thirsty Bear, a pleasant little tapas pub. Does this mean that all is not kosher with its virtualization software business? Are parties a barometer for a healthy business? Generally, that's the way they seem to be.