TechEd 2007: Day 3 (June 6th)

Did a day go by where I didn't hit the User Productivity booth?

Fatigue set in. I thought this would be restful. I wasn't doing any work, after all; I was just sitting around listening to people talk, taking notes on my cool, little UMPC, asking my questions after the sessions, because I wasn't about to bleat ignorantly on the microphones for all to hear. Dashing from one side of the hugemonstrous convention center to the other with a goody-laden backpack did take some effort, but it wasn't a trek though the Himalayas. My suspicions that someone had underestimated the Mountain Dew consumption rate of geeks was strengthened.

Sessions I attended:

• Security Fundamentals in the 2007 Microsoft Office Clients
• Top 10 Features is windows Mobile 6 (I was excited about this one for weeks)
• Mobile Messaging and Device security and Management
• Duet for Microsoft Office and SAP: Technical overview and Product Roadmap
• How to Effectively Manage Your Organization's Mobile PC with Windows Vista

I felt as though I had too much focus on Windows Mobile 6 and not enough on Vista and Office 2007, but it's kind of the way the scheduling worked out with my preferences. I often felt like I had to choose between a great Vista session or a great WM session, and since I'd been using Vista since 2005, but had only read about WM6 on blogs and other tech sites, I had to go with the more unfamiliar ground to get more balance.

I meant to attend the Women in Technology luncheon, but I'd hit the Partner Expo to locate a vendor booth, as requested by my SMS admin, and time got away from me. Lieberman Software's product looked really cool to me (not that I have a lot to compare it with).

This was a short day; the last session on the schedule ended at 6:45. I was at a loss for what to do with myself, so I caught a shuttle and fought with the hotel wireless before composing and emailing my report to my management. The thought that the dream was more than halfway over weighed heavily on my mind.

Technorati tags: TechEd 2007, Microsoft TechEd

TechEd 2007, Day 2 (Only a Week Late!)

Sessions I attended on June 5th:

• Deep Drive into Windows Vista Group Policy Changes and Troubleshooting
• Active Directory Domain Sevices in Windows Server 2008
• Understanding the Microsoft Support Lifecycle (it was important to me to know how long XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 was going to be supported, even if I don't use it anymore!)
• Wart the World's Best Web Mail client? Use Outlook Web Access in Exchange Server 2007
• Windows Mobile Demo Extravaganza
• Microsoft Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) 2007: Windows Vista Deployment Walkthrough
• Birds of a Feather: Managing Your Network from Your Wireless Device (I could have enjoyed it, if they'd ever let me say anything)
• BoF: Geeks with ADD: It's an Advantage! (I just wanted to see if they sounded like me)
• BoF: HealthCare's IT Wants and Desires: All Things to All People (didn't seem like input from support techs was relevant, here, so I bopped out to another session)
• BoF: Estimating Desktop Support Staff Levels (I might have been relevant, had I known how many techs I wok with, and how many devices we support)

I do not have the words to convey the joy I felt being there and learning about the changes in Windows deployment, Windows Mobile and Exchange Web Access. Don't let my boring list fool you; I was in geek heaven! I was scribbling away furiously on my R2H, trying to get the best bits down for future consumption and praying my batteries would last the day.

There was more hitting the Expo and the MS booths during the day, and there was more beer...I didn't see any more Hollywood actors, though, unless they were in the foam suits.

I decided to get the full TechEd experience and go to the Jam Session that night. That one dude singing the blues on the stage at the groove was worth the trip.

The day's report was submitted the following morning, rather than that night.

TechEd 2007, Microsoft TechEd

Technorati tags: TechEd 2007, Microsoft TechEd

TechEd 2007: What an Awesome Week it Was!

One of the things I'd planned to do when I went to TechEd was blog, blog, blog. With people like Robert Scoble and the GottaBeMobile.com guys (and far too many others to mention; you know who you are) showing me the way, I figured I could handle it. I knew I'd be sitting around taking notes, listening to people talk; I'd not be crawling under desks, editing registries, replacing motherboards and fighting with malware the whole week, so I'd have plenty of time and energy for writing, right? NAIVE CONFERENCE NEWBIE ALERT! To be honest, the conference wore me out... or I wore myself out, or something.

I'm hoping I can salvage this opportunity; I'll be blogging everything a week late.

Day 0 (Sunday, June 3):

I thought I'd catch the trolley, ride around and see some of Orlando. Although I'd been there since Wednesday night, Thursday and Friday had been spent at Epcot, Magic Kingdom and MGM Studios (I rode a Segway! Yay!), and Saturday had been a day for staying off my aching, flat feet. When I left the hotel, my feet headed directly for the Orlando Convention Center. I thought I'd just get a peek at the Softies (do they mind being called that?) getting the playground ready. I'm glad my feet took over, because I ended up getting my badge and bag that day.

I didn't hurry away, but I did eventually get my trolley rides.

Day 1: (Monday, June 4)

I couldn't stay in bed; it was time to go! Totally against character, I'd laid clothing, technology and other items the night before, so it was just a matter of scooping everything up after I'd made myself presentable.I met some nice folks at the breakfast; we tried to guess what we'd missed out on by being government employees (government employee bags were segregated from the others). I later found out it was a minimum of a t-shirt and an Office Ultimate 2007 giveaway (we can't win anything worth more than 25 bucks). I reminded myself that I was there because I was a government employee, so I was already a winner.

The keynote was a shocker for this noob. Do they often have Hollywood actors and ride Deloreans onto the stage?

Bob Muglia and a host of others spoke. No, I still haven't bought a good camera.

And then the sessions began. Oh, boy, talk sexy tech to me! First on my list was getting my Groove on; I'm still sore at myself for missing out on the pre-conference Groove talk on Sunday.

Other sessions I attended:

• The Proliferation of Mobile PCs in the Enterprise and the Impact to IT


• Accelerating End-User Success with the 2007 Microsoft Office Client Release


• Structured Content Authoring Using the 2007 Microsoft Office System and XML (I didn't choose it; it was way over my head!)

I also hit the Microsoft booths often. In fact I ran into Craig Pringle at the User Productivity booth; does that seem odd? They did have three Q1s (including an Ultra), an OQO,a Gateway E155C, a SideShow device and a demo Fujitsu that couldn't actually be used.

(Thanks for the photo, Sarah!)

Having the understanding that Birds of a Feather sessions would be going on into the evening, and that most people at the conference were attending on employer funds, the newby wasn't prepared for what came next: beer at the Partner Expo Reception. I just... didn't... know. I was truly in shock -- culture shock. Fortunately, there were sedatives available. After a dose and hitting the booths, I wondered how I could hie myself away to TechEd 2008.

Only the threat of having to walk to my hotel alone in the dark could pry me away...well that and they were closing up the Expo. I opted to skip the social event and head to the hotel to compose and submit my required daily report of my experience (and get ready for the next day!).

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