Random Photos from TechEd 2008

Most of these were taken at the TechEd Jam Session and the DoubleTake ClusterFunk Party.

Fun times were had by all!

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TechEd 2008 Wrap-Up

I've been hitting the ground running since TechEd 2008 ended on Friday, June 13, so I haven't had time to blog. Lots of parties and afterhours events kept me from blogging during the conference. Somehow, free-flowing beer and hanging out with new friends seemed to take precedence. Anyhow, here is my post-TechEd 2008 wrap-up.

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The Good

Making New Contacts - One of the biggest reasons I go to TechEd is to meet new contacts. Sometimes it's not what you know, but who you know, who has the right answers. I was fortunate to hang out with a good group of people with differing skill sets and specialties. It's good to know who to shoot a question to when you need a quick answer.

"How Microsoft Does IT" Sessions - Over the years, I've found these sessions very interesting and helpful, particularly for Exchange Server. It's interesting to see how the largest software company in the world manages their own infrastructure, make mistakes, learn from them, and share it with the IT community. I've seen strategy shift from one year to the next, based on new technologies and the way Microsoft uses them. Very interesting stuff and talking one-on-one with these folks after the sessions is very enlightening.

After Event Parties - Being an IT Pro, naturally I attended IT Pro week at TechEd. The poor Dev week guys and gals only had two parties to attend. I had to make a choice between up to four in one evening, every night of the week. The parties were of varying quality, but by far the best two parties were...

The ClusterFunk Party and Jam Sessions - The folks at DoubleTake put on an awesome party at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, complete with a free flowing bar and a buffet of finger foods. These guys really know how to throw a party! Likewise, the folks at CommVault hosted the Microsoft Jam Sessions, a venue where anyone who can play an instrument is welcome to come up on stage and rock out to a music hungry crowd. Fun times were had by all! Too bad the jam sessions were limited to only one night, but I don't know where they'd fit them in any other night in the week.

Swag - While I didn't get too much swag this year, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of it. I came home with a fistful of 1GB-2GB USB drives along with the usual plethora of tshirts (this year's color is black, BTW).

The Self-Proclaimed "Group Policy Guru" - This was just too funny not to make it on the "Good" list. There's this guy who thinks he's all that who's been worming his way into the session circuit (I won't give his name here). Anyway, I would see him walking around the TechEd venue, placing glossy cards advertising his sessions and Group Policy training services between EVERY computer on the TechEd floor. I'm talking hundreds of these 5x7" cards. About 90 seconds after he puts them down, a Microsoft TechEd guy is picking them up. He must have had 500 of them in a box, destined for the trash. I hope they cost a bundle, but I feel sorry for the trees.

Buses - The transportation this year was perfect. Buses ran to and from the venue with great efficiency. The bus drivers were courteous and the buses were clean. What more can you ask for?

Attendee party with my Family - Due to the generosity of three other attendees who didn't go to the TechEd attendee party at Universal Studios, I was able to bring my wife and two kids with me. It's a shame that Microsoft charges $110 each for additional tickets for only 4 hours in the park. Anyway, we had a great time and were able to ride all the attractions that the kids really wanted to do. Good family time!

Chalk talks - I tend to get more out of the small formal and informal sessions lead by experts. These "sessions" are more tailored to the audience and usually provide more depth than the standard sessions with hundereds of attendees. Next year I plan to attend a Birds of a Feather (BOF) session, if I can find one that appeals to me.

Steve Riley's Security Session - I was very pleasantly surprised by the very last session of TechEd 2008. It was a security session with Steve Riley that described how to build a network infrastructure that secures the data, rather than the network itself. Very interesting stuff and gave me a lot to think about on the plane ride home.

Snacks - The fresh baked cookies were a big hit. The Haagen Dazs ice cream was good, too, if you could find it. Which leads to...

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The Bad

Snacks - There wasn't much of them. As a matter of fact, there wasn't really ANY of them. I'm not sure if this was Microsoft's way of sparing the environment from all those Rice Krispy Treat and candy bar wrappers or if they're trying to tell us something. In any event, we all spent a chuck of change to get here. Please don't cheap out on the snacks.

Shortened Week - This is the first year that Microsoft decided to "blow up" TechEd and turn it into two weeks - one for developers and one for IT Pros. Doing this caused two effects - The event ran for only four days instead of five. This means that I was triple of even quadruple booked sessions running at the same time. I often had a very hard decision to make about
which session to attend. It also meant that the speaker better make an instant good impression or I'm outta here for one of the other sessions.

The other thing that happened was that the vendors had to make a choice between which week to host their after hours events. You think it's expensive to ATTEND TechEd, just imagine what it's like being a vendor. Renting space, buying food, drinks, entertainment, etc. is too expensive to do both weeks, so they have to make a choice. Some vendors, like publishers, market to both developers and IT Pros, so that makes it even more difficult. I, for one, would like to see TechEd return to one 5 day week.

Few Experts - I was disappointed to find that there were no Microsoft experts on the Microsoft show floor for particular core technologies. For example, I wanted to talk with someone about a DNS issue that a client is having, but no one on the floor could answer my question. No big deal, but I remember in past years being able to find someone who knew DFS, for example, really well.

No USB to download PPT decks - Microsoft does a phenomenal job setting up the Connect computers all over the venue. Here, you can browse the 'net, check your email, fill out surveys and check your schedule. You can also download the PowerPoint presentations for the TechEd sessions, but the workstations were difficult to access under a the table with a black curtain
around it. It would be nice if there were USB docks in or near the flat panel displays where you could install a USB drive to download the decks.

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The Keynote Speech - As I wrote earlier, the keynote speech with Bob Muglia was pretty
uninspiring. I still don't get the baby rattles.

Food - The lack of snacks meant that we had to depend more on breakfast and lunch for sustenance. The delivery of food was with typical TechEd efficiency, but was just OK. I'd give it a C+.

The Microsoft Party - A few years ago, it seemed that every major product group had their own party - Exchange, Microsoft MVP/Learning, MOM, etc. Times are tight now and the only Microsoft party (besides the attendee party) was hosted by the Springboard group. It was OK, I guess, if you like a party in a strip club with no strippers and you're a fan of Budweiser. Definitely could have done without the ship's siren.

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All in all, I did enjoy my time there and found it very useful. I hope to see you all next year in Los Angeles at TechEd 2009!

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Best. Hat. Ever.

On the front: "Certified by Chuck Norris". On the back: "If Chuck says we need new servers, we need new servers."

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TechEd Jam Sessions

Last night was the TechEd Jam sessions. Only one night this year - dangit! It was a mess of fun with some very talented people on stage. So far this has been the best party I've been to.

Tonight's a big night with four different parties all happening at the same time. That's one of the problems about shortening the TechEd event - everyone wants to have a party, but they all have to compete for the same evenings. I heard from a sponsor last night that it's very expensive to have events (and booths) at TechEd, so they can only afford one week (Dev or ITPro). That sucks, because there are a lot of companies that straddle the line between those two types of professionals. Book publishers, for example.

This partying till 1AM and getting up at 7am to make my first session is getting harder every year...

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You know it's TechEd when...

Funny looking foam lego people want to hug you.

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TechEd Keynote this morning

This morning was the keynote from Bob Muglia, Senior Vice President of the Server and Tools Business at Microsoft. His speech was "IT Pro Heroes – Changing the World of Information Technology".

Now, I'm not really sure how orange baby rattles play into "Changing the World of Information Technology," but there's one on every seat.

The keynote began with an inane cartoon for Microsoft Communities that was just plain annoying. Nothing to see here. Move along, move along. Then it went into a drum/percussion performance that was, well, interesting. Ah, I see. The big orange baby rattles are maraccas and they want us to play along! Um, no.

Now that that's out of the way, we can get on with the keynote.

Bob Muglia sang praises of the real IT heroes, the folks that manage the IT infrastructure. We saw a clip of how an admin used SharePoint and Groove to match people up after the Katrina disaster.

Next he talked about the state of dynamic IT in the enterprise. He said that 5 years ago Microsoft began a ten year investment to enable the dynamic IT concept. They have made substantial gains in this area and things will change even faster in the next 5 years. I totally agree with him.

There were demos of .Net (wrong group, IMHO), SAAS, Exchange Hosted Services (EHS) and SQL 2008. A good deal of time was spent talking about and demoing virtualization solutions, which proves that Microsoft has a lot invested in these technologies and plans to do a lot more in the future. There was an interesting demo of a new product MS just acquired called Kidaro.

Meh. I've seen much better keynotes.

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Pre-Conference Session with Marcus Murray

Monday I attended the pre-con session, "Step-By-Step Guide to Hack-Proofing Your Microsoft Network" by Marcus Murray. Marcus is a security rock star! Very funny and engaging.

Last year he scared the hell out of me when he demonstrated how easy it is to compromise a system and domain. Since then, I've unplugged the network cables from all my servers as a security precaution, but I'm sure that would only slow him down a little.

The session was very good, but it was a little slower paced than I was expecting and hoping for. The basic security concept is "you can't fix stupid." If the users have elevated rights (by that, I mean running with more permissions than they need to have to do their work) it's very easy to compromise their machine and use it as a springboard to the rest of the network.

The takeaway is this: You must kill your users. Kill zem all.

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And so it begins...

We arrived in Orlando Saturday evening and checked into the hotel in time to go to dinner and let the kids unwind in the pool. It's hot, but not too bad. My wife would respectfully disagree.

Sunday was my only free day before the festivities begin, so we did what any good tourist to Florida should do -- we went to GatorLand! Lots of fun watching gator wrestin', gator shows and eating gator nuggets. Well, I would have liked to try gator nuggets, but I couldn't talk my kids into it and my wife said she wouldn't ever let me kiss her again.

Last night I joined the Krewe at Cricketer's Arms Pub (where I'm going tonight, too). It was good to finally meet the people I've been chatting with on the Extracurricular Activities group on Connect. Good scotch and beer, too. :)

This morning I checked in for TechEd and picked up my bag. I have a security pre-conference session with Marcus Murray at 9:30am. I'm really looking forward to this, he's awesome! Sounds like a lot of people signed up for the Windows Server 2008 pre-con session, too.

I'll try to give reviews on sessions as they happen, but may end up writing just a rollup at the end of the day if I don't have time.

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TechEd Newbie Resource Posts

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As TechEd 2008 ITPro week approaches, I thought I'd provide links to the posts I've made that will help first time TechEd attendees. A sort of one stop shopping blog entry, if you will.

• TechEd 2008 Tips
• TechEd 2008 - Gear to Bring
• TechEd 2008 Group, Calendar and more
• TechEd Tips for Families
• TechEd - Feeding the Masses
• TechEd Attendee Party - What to Expect
• TechEd 2008 Schedule Builder
• TechEd Session Question
• TechEd for Novices

If you have a suggestion for future articles, let me know by posting a comment.

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New TechEd Airline Check-in Service

Open Thursday, June 12 and Friday, June 13
7:00am–6:00pm
South Hall A1 next to Registration

New this year for TechEd attendees!

Airline Check-in is a full-service, multi-airline remote skycap operation that offers issuance of boarding pass and luggage receipts. The next time you’ll have to think about your luggage will be at your final destination!

Airline Check-in service is available to all attendees departing on domestic flights from Orlando International Airport on American, Alaska, Air Tran, Continental, Delta, JetBlue, Northwest and United Airlines. You must have your luggage checked in a minimum of three hours before your flight departure time.

Remember, this service is only valid for flights departing on June 12-13.

Check Your Bags
Enter Event ID: 15019 and Passcode: microsoft to check your baggage and receive your boarding pass. Online check-in service fee is US$5 per person.

Walk-up airline check-in at the OCCC is US$10 per person.

Airline Check-in is also available at the Rosen Centre and Rosen Plaza hotels.

Check your bags here!

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TechEd Blogger Ultra Lounge

This year Microsoft will be doing another first - Presenting the Microsoft TechEd Blogger Lounge! This is the first year the TechEd Team is setting up a special designated blogger area. The lounge is open all day during both TechEd weeks*.

The TechEd Blogger Ultra Lounge offers a 9,500 square foot club-like area situated on a daring raised glass platform. This unique lounge offers a spacious first floor with a grand staircase that leads to a theater style blacony and a Tiffany-style glass skylight. Revelers seeking bright lights and vibrant music will find an energetic blogging floor at the center of this hot new spot in the middle of TechEd!

To kick off this fantastic event, Microsoft Exchange Guy and TechEd DJ, Scott Schnoll (aka MixMaster Scott), will be spinning industrial and ultra-chill tunes for your listening and blogging pleasure.

Ok, maybe not. But there will be tables, chairs and an Internet connection.

A whiteboard will be set up for use by anyone announcing when they will be in the area. A few timeslots of an hour or so have been set up during both weeks where Microsoft staff and/or presenters will be there that day. Check the whiteboard and drop by to meet your favorite TechEd bloggers. A tentative schedule can be viewed from the TechEd Online website.

The purpose of the TechEd Blogger Lounge is to give readers and bloggers a chance to meet up and have a small group conversation on their topic.

If you're a blogger or just want to meet one (we DO exist, really!), I highly encourage you to take the initiative and use this area to become part of the blogger community. The area is large enough to handle several conversations at once.

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* Of course, there will be less people there during ITDev week. :)

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Teched 2008 Extracurricular Activities Map

At the request of geniph on the Extracurricular Activities group on the Microsoft TechEd Connect site, I created the Teched 2008 Extracurricular Activities Map.

This map is based on the events in the TechEd 2008 Extracurricular Activities Calendar to help show the distances between each event.

If you know of an event, party or activity not listed on the calendar, please leave a comment and I'll add it.


View Larger Map

Since everything's pretty close to each other, click View Larger Map to open it in a new window. Then you can use your mousewheel to zoom in and out, and to drag the map around.

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TechEd Attendee Party - What to Expect

Here's a little write up of what to expect for the TechEd Attendee Party at Universal Studios Orlando.

Around 6:00 at the convention center there will be more buses in one place than you've probably ever seen before. In the past, buses leave from the conference center to Universal Studios theme park, but last year they picked us up at the same bus stops in front of the hotel that we use to go to the convention center. Buses will run every 10 minutes or so. There will be many more people in line waiting for a bus than the buses can hold. Just be patient and meet some new friends while you wait. Hopefully it won’t rain while we’re waiting, like it did last year. :)

Remember to wear comfortable shoes and clothes, You’ll be doing a lot of walking and standing (after a full day of walking the TechEd floor).

When you arrive at Universal, there will be lots of staff on hand to usher you into the park or answer questions. All the rides, food and drink that are open are free. There will be soda and beer stands setup along the walkways. It’s a very festive, fun and family friendly atmosphere.

The big rides, like The Simpsons Ride, Shrek 4-D, and Revenge of the Mummy, are very popular, but the lines move pretty quick. The park is open to us from 6:30-11:00pm, so be sure to scope out the rides and restaurants you want to visit before getting to the park. Not all rides may be open, however, due to maintenance or weather.

The park will close sharply at 11:00pm, which leads us to the most thrilling ride of the them all… Getting back to the hotel! This is probably my least favorite part of TechEd. Thousands of people, all as tired as you, descending on an extremely crowded area filled with buses. You have to find the one that’s going back to your hotel region and fight to get on board. Keep your kids close (if they were lucky enough to come with you).

Some people choose to skip the throngs of people by hanging out along Universal City Walk. Here, you can browse shops and maybe get a drink of something stronger at one of the bars, like Jimmy Buffett’s Magaritaville. Just be sure not to miss the last bus or you'll be calling a cab! Which come to think of it, isn't such a bad idea...

Update: Microsoft just changed the hours for the Attendee Party to run from 8:00pm-12:00am this year. :(

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The Swag Guy

The Swag Guy

Past TechEd attendees will relate to this video. :)

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Microsoft All-Star Community Pit Stop

Microsoft will be hosting a party for MCP, MCT, MVP and TechNet Subscribers at TechEd 2008 ITPro week this year. Here's the skinny:

Join us for an exclusive party for you and your peers!

The Microsoft All-Star Community Pit Stop
Tuesday Evening, June 10, TechEd IT Pro Week - 8:00pm
Location TBA

On June 10th, Day 1 of TechEd IT Pro Week, get ready to rub shoulders with some of the world’s most powerful IT Professionals and community influencers.

Exclusively for Microsoft MVPs, TechNet Plus Subscribers and Microsoft Certified Professionals and Trainers, the Microsoft All-Star Community Pit Stop party during TechEd IT Pro Week in Orlando, Florida is your opportunity to network with industry peers and key Microsoft executives, and enjoy an evening full of music, food, drinks, and fun —all compliments of Microsoft!

Party attendance is limited to the first 1000 people to register, so be sure to register today to reserve your spot at TechEd’s largest community-only party!

Be sure to have your MCP/MVP/TechNet ID ready and visit https://stage.crgevents.com/communitypitstop/Content/Home.aspx

You'll also need one of the following promotion codes:

• TechNet Plus subscribers use code TECHNET
• MCP/MCTs use code MCPMCT
• MVPs use code MVP

Register today and I'll see you there! Be sure to check out my TechEd Extracurricular Events calendar for other swell parties and events.

Thanks, Trika!

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TechEd Tips for Families

Today we have a special guest article from my wife, Amy!

She wrote the following helpful tips for families who will be accompanying their significant other to TechEd in Orlando:

Kids and Tech Ed Tips and Tricks

You’ll most likely be in a hotel on or near International Drive. There is a trolley that runs up and down the street. Buy the 7 day ticket pass at your hotel's concierge. The trolleys run about every 15 to 20 minutes at stops all along the drive. There are well marked signs for the trolleys and they are so much more comfortable than walking in the heat with kids.

There's tons to do on International Drive. Lots of different themed mini golf places, a water slide park, an upside down museum (Wonderworks), and a go-kart park.

There are not a lot of “kid” places to eat, just a Denny’s, Chuck E. Cheese's, and a *big* McDonald's. If you order in like pizza or something, remember that there are thousands of guests in town for the conference and it could, and probably will, take well over an hour to get the food delivered. The other restaurants get very busy in the evening so call ahead for reservations. No grocery stores are nearby.

Take advantage of the breakfasts at your hotel and grab a few extra pieces of fruit for the room and hungry kids for later. Have your husband bring back extras of all the snack handouts from the conference. You could practically feed off of these alone for the week. It’s all grab and go, prepackaged stuff from granola bars, to cookies, to Power Bars.

Remember it’s hot, so be realistic about how much you and your children can do. I find that mine are very happy to get the afternoon off to just play in the pool at the hotel. It also helps if your hotel offers an adult “happy hour.” :)

Most hotels offer shuttle service to Disney World and other parks (Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Epcot, Sea World, etc). Check at the front desk the day before as you might need to reserve a seat.

Theme parks are all fun but choose wisely based on your children’s ages. If they are over 10 then Animal Kingdom in Disney World would be OK, but might be bored with the rest of the “princess” thing. Universal is fun for older kids, but not for younger ones due to height requirements on most rides. Islands of Adventure is a good dual choice with things for older and younger kids and a nice “downtown” area with restaurants and shops just outside the park.

If you have a car, Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral is not that far away. It’s only about 40 minutes, but remember that there are toll roads all over the state so have lots of change handy. The Kennedy Center is amazing and worth going to if you can make it. You can spend the whole day there. If no car, check with the concierge for a tour group. Allow a full day to enjoy it all. It will be in the mid 90’s and humid so hats, sun block and lots of water are a necessity.

Amy
TechEd veteran and mother of an 8 and 12 year old

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TechEd 2008 Group, Calendar and more

Just a reminder to all Teched 2008 attendees to visit my Extracurricular Activities group on TechEd Connect. Here, you'll read about any parties, get togethers and activities outside the event itself. Recent discussions have been around golf and poker.

You can also view the Extracurricular Activities Calendar to see which activities to join. If you have an event, no matter how small, you'd like to add to the calendar please let me know.

And be sure to check out Microsoft TechEd Online, a site devoted to TechEd 2008 Developers and IT Pros. Here, you can read about the event itself as well as what other TechEd bloggers are blogging about.

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The Official TechEd 2008 Bag!

Here it is! The official bag for TechEd 2008!

Brian Marble, Content Lead for TechEd, says it looks much better in person and the pictures don't do it justice.

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TechEd - Feeding the Masses

Logistically, it's an enormous task to keep over 10,000 people fed and watered, but Microsoft does an absolutely awesome job of it at TechEd.


Breakfast and lunch is provided in the dining area, which is a huge area central to the Orlando convention center. Friendly and professional staff will direct you in the dining area to the food tables where you grab a plate and dish up. At the end of the line you can grab something to drink. Take out containers are also available if you're on the run to a breakfast or lunch session.


Breakfast normally includes danishes, bagels, fresh fruit, cereal and two or three hot dishes like eggs, potatoes and a meat. The cold food stays cold and the hot food stays hot. Servers are regularly changing out trays in prompt fashion. Coffee carafes are usually available on the table at breakfast and lunch. You will find other cold drink stations amongst the tables, as well, offering bottled water, sodas and teas. Grab an extra bottle or can to drink in the sessions.


If you're running late or don't want to take the time for a sit down breakfast you can grab a granola or cereal bar, piece of fruit or danish from any of the many tables throughout the venue. These tables are constantly restocked. Coffee is usually setup throughout the conference center, as well, in the morning. There are usually espresso stands setup in the Microsoft area of the main floor, hosted by one or two Microsoft product groups. These are pretty popular and may have a line so be patient.


Lunch is provided in the same area and usually includes salad and dressing, a hot pasta dish, a hot vegetable or two, two different hot entrees and bread or a roll. This is all handled with even more efficiency than breakfast, due to the even larger number of people being served. You may note how the staff is very friendly and directs you to the most efficient route to your food and table without making you feel like herd animal. They also do a great job of clearing the tables and keeping things tidy.


If you have special dietary needs (low sodium, vegetarian, allergies, etc.) you can specify this at registration. Special menu tables are provided at the breakfast and lunch dining area for this. You must have specified you dietary requirements at registration to be served from this table.


Refrigerated drinks of water, fruit drinks, sodas, etc. are available throughout the venue.


Throughout the day you will see the feed at the snack tables located all over the conference center change. Around lunch time the snacks and potato chips come out, with more granola bars, Power Bars, fruit, etc. Later in the afternoon comes the always popular ice cream. Dove bars, Haagen dazs, frozen fruit bars, etc. are available, but go really fast.


In short, you'll nearly always find something to eat and drink and it won't cost you a dime.

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The TechEd 2008 Bag

Here's a sneak peak at the probable TechEd 2008 bag. It definitely looks nicer than the 2006 "man purse" and less "floppy" than last year's bag. We'll just have to see how functional it is and how durable the zippers are when we get our hands on it. Certainly looks roomy enough.

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Party with Palermo Registration is Open

For those of you attending TechEd 2008 Developers, registration is open for-

Party with Palermo: Tech Ed 2008 Developers Edition

June 2, 2008 @ 7:00PM - 10:00PM

Glo Lounge http://www.gloloungeorlando.com/ 8967 International Dr, Orlando, FL
Ph: 407.351.0361

Cover charge is 1 business card. This will get you in the door and register you for the grand prize drawings.

• Free to attend
• Free fingerfood
• Free drink
• Free swag

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TechEd 2008 - Gear to Bring

When you go to TechEd, there are going to be hundreds of computers available for you to use on the show floor and directly outside the session rooms. These computers are part of CommNet, the managed network that drives TechEd. They all have fast Internet access so you can check your email, sports scores, etc., but they also provide access to the post-session surveys and allow you to download the PPT presentation decks from any session, even the ones you don't personally attend.

For this reason, I never bring a laptop computer with me anymore. I find them too bulky and distracting in the sessions. I use my Windows Mobile 6 device to take quick notes that I email to myself and carry a small pad of paper for more extensive notes, if necessary. Bring a few USB thumb drives to download presentations onto from the kiosks. You'll get the PPTs on DVD serveral weeks (months?) after TechEd, but it's better to get that content while you're there.

If you need to bring a laptop, CommNet does a pretty good job of setting up access points all throughout the venue. You will notice flat panel displays in various areas and levels of the conference center that show you realtime coverage maps and signal strength. The biggest problem I've heard is that the APs don't provide good coverage inside the session areas. If you need Internet access in a session, sit closer to the back of the room (closer to the APs). Better yet, use one of the CommNet computers outside so you don't distract others around you - you're probably not paying attention to the session anyway.

I typically carry my empty TechEd backpack. The best was the one from San Diego, which I use every year, the worst was the infamous TechEd "man purse" from Boston, 2006. The only thing I carry in it is a pen, pad of paper and my mobile device. Magically it's filled with t-shirts, books, pens and other swag when I return to my hotel room at the end of the day. Don't bother bringing food or drinks with you to the conference center. There will always be food and drinks available there throughout the day. I'll blog about the food in a future post.

I usually come to TechEd with two suitcases, one inside the other. That way I can load the empty suitcase with my body weight in t-shirts and swag for my colleagues that couldn't attend.

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FREE Exam Crams at TechEd 2008 Orlando

Trika Harms zum Spreckel blogged that Microsoft will be hosting two exam crams and an MCSA/MCSE bootcamp at TechEd Orlando in June. Best of all, these FREE sessions are open to everyone, not just TechEd attendees.

Saturday June 7th. 9:00AM – 10:15AM - 70-562 TS: Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5, ASP.NET Application Development. - Gilles Pommier

Saturday June 7th 1:30PM – 2:45PM - 70-536 TS: Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0—Application Development Foundation - Jeffry Belnap

MCSA and MCSE 2003 70-648 and 70-649 bootcamp on Sunday June 8, 8:00am – 4:00pm

See Trika's blog for details and registration instructions.

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TechEd 2008 Extracurricular Activities Calendar

I put together a TechEd Calendar to help attendees keep track of events. I've already entered the ones that have been discussed in the Extracurricular Activities group on CommNet.

If you have an event to share, please leave a comment so I can enter it on the calendar. Please include the event name, time, location, meeting place and website if applicable. Directions are nice, too.

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TechEd Session Question

I recently answered a question from a first time TechEd attendee about sessions.

"I will be a Tech-Ed newbie in Orlando, FL. I have attended VMware conferences and VMware allows you to sign-up for sessions (sign-ups get in first).With 10,000 attendees, I don't want to be at the end of long lines. Is there a sign-up website for registered attendees? Or how do I avoid the long lines to get into a session? Or are the "session" room space large enough to accommodate big groups?

Thanks,Ben (age 55 with bad feet)"

The TechEd 2008 Session Builder is now open. This is where you can register for the sessions you'd like to attend and gives Microsoft advanced notice how to schedule the rooms. However, when you add a session to your schedule by using the Schedule Builder tool, you are not guaranteed a seat in your selected session. Sessions are filled on a first-come, first-seated basis.

There is very rarely a problem attending any session you want. The Orlando Convention Center is HUGE and has very large rooms capable of holding 300+ people. Of course, some rooms are smaller and hold less, but generally MS does a very good job of "sizing" the room for the number of people who show interest in a topic. In the 5 years I've gone, I've only been turned away from one session that was too full.

By signing up for your conference sessions early, MS can gauge the interest and set the right room size. Often they will offer multiple sessions on the same topic if interest is great enough.

To be honest, I usually double or triple book myself for different sessions at the same time. That allows me to jump out of a session that isn't up to snuff and go to my second (or third) choice. All they do is read your name badge with an RFID scanner as you go in. This isn't to make sure that you've already registered, it's to track interest. I've had no trouble going into a session I didn't register for.

Hope this helps and have a great time!

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TechEd 2008 Schedule Builder

The TechEd 2008 Schedule Builder is now online!

Use the Schedule Builder to mark and plan the sessions you plan to take. Once you have built your schedule, you can add the sessions you want to attend to your personal Microsoft Outlook Calendar.

Keep in mind that when you add a session to your schedule by using the Schedule Builder tool, you are not guaranteed a seat in your selected session. Sessions are filled on a first-come, first-seated basis, although this has rarely happened to me.

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