I survived Tech-ED
I somehow managed to talk my boss into letting me attend Tech-ED this year, this was also my first time at Tech-ED and I can see why some people have become Microsoft evangelists. I thought I would write up about my impressions of the event, and any tips I figured out along the way.
A small disclaimer about the following: I was registered for Microsoft’s Partner Summit which gave me access to a lot of things that the Tech-ED delegates would not have had access to. Being Registered for Partner Summit gave you access to both Tech-ED and Partner Summit sessions, as well as a Black-Tie gala dinner on the Tuesday night.
What to do before
I highly recommend that you plan your sessions before getting to Tech-ED. You do get a comprehensive booklet with session schedules so you can see clearly what is on when and where, but it doesn’t give you a description of each session, for that you need to get on to the website. Since you only have 15 minutes between sessions except for the lunch and drinks breaks, you won’t be able to read all the descriptions of the sessions in the next slot.
You have to remember that there are multiple tracks available, from developer to infrastructure, so don’t stick to your job track, I attended some sessions that had nothing to do with my job but I walked away with some get ideas for the future.
If your company is sending you, I suggest you find out if they require to you adhere to a certain dress code, such as wearing company shirts etc. I have to say that try to dress in as comfortable clothes as you can. The first session starts at 8:00 am, and the last session ends at roughly 6:15pm. It is a long day so you will need to be comfortable, also wear shoes that are comfortable, cause even though you are sitting a lot, you are on your feet a lot too.
It is also a good idea to follow the Tech-ED twitter feed, @teched_africa. Also try to tweet about the sessions you attend, and any tweet that has anything to do with Tech-ED should have the hashtag #techedafrica in it. Delegates at Tech-ED share a lot over twitter!
@ Tech-ED
When you register you will be given a free bag amongst other things, and I recommend you take this with you to all sessions, as they give away a ridiculous amount of swag (Stuff We All Get). Swag is not only given away at the sessions but also in the expo area as well. Generally, the Swag given out in sessions are for asking questions, and usually consist of books, earphones, T-Shirts, and mugs. The give aways in the Expo ranged from hats and T-Shirts to Galaxy tabs (10.1”) and XBoxes.
Don’t panic if you find you don’t have a session to attend in a slot, this is a good thing trust me. I found that having one session slot free in the afternoon helped me make it through the day, plus it gives you a chance to walk around the Micropolis (Expo)!
the Parties
These are a great thing to attend, Microsoft does go all out for Tech-ED and Partner Summit. A ridiculous amount of alcohol is available, but Microsoft have taken this into account and there are shuttles going every where.
The Opening, closing, and Partner Summit Gala dinner are a great time to meet new people and network. Introduce yourself to people, and you may just end up with a new client or two.
The Sessions
Don’t worry about taking notes, you can if you want, but the speakers are only happy to make their slide decks and any code available to you. I also suggest taking a bottle of water with you as well.
Ask questions, the speakers love it when delegates ask questions, and they are only happy to share their knowledge. Also remember to fill in the evaluation forms after the sessions on the CommNet. Try to give comments, while the numbers are helpful, the speakers really love actual comments.
The sessions I attended.
I think I had only two slots on the 3.5 days of Tech-ED that I didn’t attend a session, these were spent chatting to other delegates and speakers, as well as abusing the free coffee/cappuccino bars, this down time allowed me to relax a bit so I was not exhausted and falling asleep in the later sessions.
Various sessions I attended were brilliant and I had a couple that were not really great, such as the one about Test Driven Development (TDD), a more appropriate title for this session was “How to do TDD with my framework”, it was just the speaker selling his custom TDD framework.
But on the other end of the scale, the following sessions really inspired me:
- - Building Business Applications with Microsoft Visual Studio LightSwitch
- - SharePoint Security in an Insecure World: Understanding the Five Layers of SharePoint Security
- - Upgrading your C# programming skills to be a more effective Developer.
- - Extending Visual Studio
- - Agile Anti-patterns
- - Our Team sites have sprawled out of control. Okay, but so what?
- - Scaling document management on Microsoft SharePoint 2010.
- - Creating and consuming Open Data Protocol (OData) services.
Special Mention
Two speakers really stood out from the rest, these were Robert Maclean and Martin Cronje.
Both Robert and Martin are great speakers and are in the very unique position of being brilliant geeks who can clearly get their knowledge across to any level of delegate without leaving them with a “What the?” expression on their faces. I found both to very passionate about the topics they spoke on.
They are always happy to share their knowledge and help you out were possible, I am hoping that we will see them back presenting at next years Tech-ED. Considering that all their sessions were full, I am sure Microsoft will be inviting them back to speak next year.
A little info on the two of them:
Robert Maclean
Robert currently works for a company called BBD, and his primary focus is on bringing in new technologies into the company and working on up-skilling the developers at BBD. his website is a great source of information for .Net development. Robert is also heavily involved with the Microsoft Dev community.
- Twitter: @rmaclean
- Website: SADev
Martin Cronje
Martin is a developer and Agile development coach. he currently runs metagen systems.
- Twitter: @martincronje
- Website: metagen Systems
God save the Queen!
I was sent this via email, and thought it was good old proper British humour, so I have to share it with you all.
To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II:
In light of your immediate failure to financially manage yourselves and also in recent years your tendency to elect incompetent Presidents of the USA and therefore not able to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately. (You should look up ‘revocation’ in the Oxford English Dictionary.)
Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except Kansas , which she does not fancy).
Your new Prime Minister, David Cameron, will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections.
Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated sometime next year to determine whether any of you noticed.
To aid in the transition to a British Crown dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:
1. The letter ‘U’ will be reinstated in words such as ‘colour,’ ‘favour,’ ‘labour’ and ‘neighbour.’ Likewise, you will learn to spell ‘doughnut’ without skipping half the letters, and the suffix ‘-ize’ will be replaced by the suffix ‘-ise.’Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up ‘vocabulary’). (I love that one)
Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as ”like’ and ‘you know’ is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as U.S. English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take into account the reinstated letter ‘u” and the elimination of ‘-ize.’ ‘ (I love that one too)
3. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.
4. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you’re not quite ready to be independent. Guns should only be used for shooting grouse. If you can’t sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist, then you’re not ready to shoot grouse.
5. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. Although a permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.
6. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left side with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.
7. The former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon. Get used to it.)
8.You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.
9. The cold, tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. New Zealand beer is also acceptable, as New Zealand is pound for pound the greatest sporting nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer. They are also part of the British Commonwealth – see what it did for them. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat’s Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.
10. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie Macdowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one’s ears removed with a cheese grater.
11. You will cease playing American football. There are only two kinds of proper football; one you call soccer, and rugby (dominated by the New Zealanders). Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies).
12. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America . Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the Australians (World dominators) first to take the sting out of their deliveries.
13. You must tell us who killed JFK. It’s been driving us mad.
14. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty’s Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).
15. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 p.m. with proper cups, with saucers, and never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; plus strawberries (with cream) when in season.
God Save the Queen!
about me
I am a C#, Silverlight, K2 workflow and Sharepoint Consultant, living and working in Johannesburg, South Africa. I have a passion for teaching people anything I can in order to spread the knowledge and skills I have. You can follow me on twitter at @MrThirsty. You can view my full profile at about.me
