Reflecting on Three Weeks in Vegas

(Event Season … 2026 Spring Edition)

Three weeks in Vegas? For an analyst, the difference between attending a tech conference and gaining insights that help me help others? It’s not the keynotes or the breakouts – it’s #AnalystRelations and here’s why.

For Kaseya, thank you Heather & Alix – and Brent & Pratik

For Dell, thank you Andrea & Angela – and Simon & Rob

For Rubrik, thank you (in advance) Julie & Matthew – and John

video transcript

Just wrapped my second of nearly back-to-back weeks in Las Vegas during another data protection event season; with a third Vegas event just around the corner. There were some other IT and DR conferences earlier in the season. As much as I don’t love Vegas, it’s a great conference venue – and there simply is no better way to really understand a technology company than to listen to:

• How the vision and news debuts from mainstage
• How the solutions and capabilities are described in the breakouts
• What the customers and partners are talking about (or reacting to) at the meal tables
• And to watch the amount of effort a company puts into cultivating community, above and beyond the experts and advocates.

All that being said: as an analyst, the difference between simply attending an event and getting real value and insights out of it, is entirely empowered by the unsung heroes within analyst relations, communications, and the event teams. 

• They are how one-on-one side bars happen.
• They ensure that news is previewed, so that when we’re listening to mainstage, we’re clarifying and preparing to amplify (instead of being in pure learning mode).
• They cultivate bidirectional relationships with senior leaders, product management, and product marketing.

The result is a much clearer understanding of not just what the company does, but who the company is; which then helps us all to understand where they’re going and what it will take for them to get there. 

So, to the Analyst Relations folks — and their data protection leaders, thank you!

For Kaseya, thank you Heather & Alix – and Brent & Pratik

For Dell, thank you Andrea & Kat – and Simon & Rob

For Rubrik, thank you (in advance) Julie & Matthew – and John