Issue #5 of Behind the Scenes at TechEd takes us on  an international trip. All the way accross the globe...to New Zealand. Nigel surprised me big time with his answers - while I'm used to a few things being secret about TechEd, I never expected to bust the party wide open! I guess they don't make as big a deal of it over there as we do over here :)

  1. Who are you, and what do you do when you aren't doing things for TechEd?
    I am an Auckland based Developer Evangelist, when I’m not doing Tech.Ed I am engaged with customers and spreading the word about our great Technology platforms… .Net 3.0, Vista, 2007 Office, Windows Live and our new Expression Suite.
  2. What's the secret location of this year's party?
    It is walking distance from the venue.
  3. What track(s) are you running? What sort of things do they cover?
    Web Development… we get into BLINQ, ASP .NET, Windows Live, IIS7 and ATLAS.
  4. What else are you involved with this year?
    Making sure the NZ event gels for content speakers and partners.
  5. No really, you can tell me. Where's the party going to be?
    Well OK then in NZ I can tell you we are back at the St James with more room and more bands!
  6. Why should I go to your track(s) and not a different one?
    Because I have 2 general managers, Scott Guthrie and George Moore as well as war stories from NZ’s largest website Trade Me.
  7. If I couldn't make it to TechEd this year, is there any way I'd be able to get my hands on some of the information presented on your track?
    Sure, but I won’t be able to tell you how until after the event ;)
  8. Why should I even go to TechEd at all?
    To say that you were there! Pick up on inspiring new techniques to sharpen your tools and then go and change the world! Tech.Ed NZ is sold out and Tech.Ed Au is selling fast… so make sure you don’t miss out.
  9. How many TechEds have you been to before? Which one was the best?
    4 – I liked the one with indoor beach volleyball and the girls in their bikinis!
  10. Why is this years going to be the best one yet?
    Because of the scale of it… Tech.Ed is bigger and better year on year and we are bursting at the seams with great content and opportunities!
  11. There's a lot of new stuff coming out in the next 12 months - Vista, Office, .Net 3.0, Expressions, and more. Which one are you looking forward to the most?
    ALL OF IT…. I’m using all 4 every day now and would hate to go back!
  12. And finally, let's say I couldn't make it to TechEd this year, but I could make it to the party. Where would I need to go? ;)
    Towards the closest Microsoft employee with a spare ticket!

Thanks Nigel. I'm not sure - with the NZ event sold out, does that mean you've got nothing to worry about, or even more? :)