I’m overwhelmed by TechEd this year. You know, I’ve been going to TechEd / IT Forum for years now, but this one feels a little bit different. For one thing its huge. There are about 12,500 people here in total which is much bigger than the European events I’ve done. I love the Ask the Experts area here too. It’s now called the TLC (Technical Learning Centre), there are interactive theatres all over the TLC area, and there are loads and loads of Microsoft staff, MVP’s and Technical volunteers dotted around the place. I caught up with Jane and Ben on the Windows Server 2008 booth where I picked up a couple of things for James who isn’t here – he has a mean manager :-).
The keynote intro video was well done too – a spoof on the Back to the Future film about our vision and whether we’ve executed on the vision yet. The video ended with one of the De Lorean cars driving on stage and Bob Muglia and Christopher Lloyd (Doc Brown) getting out of it… Nice to see us poking fun of ourselves like this.
So one of the most useful tidbits I picked up were about the IIS role going into Windows Server 2008 server core (very handy). And Xandros has licensed our IP which really cements our interoperability story.
I’ve already been interviewed for Virtual TechEd by Kevin too. He always makes me giggle so I hope they cut those bits of the video out… especially the bit when he says that he’s going to attend the Women in Technology luncheon in Drag…
Now that’s a sight I’d like to see…
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