Friday, 7 July 2006 8:27 PM
Damiane
Friday Opinion by Damian – Top 3 Reasons I attend Tech.Ed
So I'm bringing up the rear first time round, so to speak. Here are my top 3 reasons for attending Tech.Ed:
- The Event
I love the sense of being a part of something big and impressive that Tech.Ed gives you. I love the big stage, sound system and flashy lights. I love the exhibitors' hall and all the stands and goods on display. I love the XBOX and the Bluetooth remote control cars! I love the parties and food and having a ball. It makes me feel like Microsoft really value having me as a customer and every Microsoft person at the event is all too ready to give their time to your problem or enquiry.
- The People
Geoff mentioned working in Canberra and how that means that most the techie people he talks to are online. Well I live in Ballarat, over an hour from Melbourne, and I'm the only full time .NET developer I've been able to track down in my town as yet (I'm working on that though!) At Tech.Ed I have 2,000 other people who care enough about what they do for work (with the same products I use) to spend time on money on such an event. There is no better place to talk like minded people.
- The Knowledge
If you use any Microsoft products or tools and care at all about doing the best job you can then Tech.Ed is the best place to stay current and prepare for the next 12 months. With so many tracks on offer and so much content the biggest problem is whittling the list down to what you really need to go to.
The only thing extra I'd like to see at Tech.Ed Aus is Oracle. I thought it could never happen until I saw that Oracle was a Silver Sponsor of Tech.Ed USA last month. They had a stand in the exhibitors hall and even presented about their tools for Visual Studio. Sweet! Hopefully some day we can get some of that action over here.