Microsoft Tech·Ed 2008

Here I am (again) at Microsoft Tech·Ed 2008. This is the sixth Tech·Ed for me, and the first as a Xero employee, the previous five while I was with MYOB. It is also the first for me to appear as a speaker, which is quite exciting, and a wonderful opportunity. My session is on the topic of S+S which, contrary to popular belief, is not about Scones + Strawberry jam, but actually Software + Services.

Interestingly, S+S was a big part of the keynote address given by Amit Mital, however apart from my session, there are only two other sessions out of 139 that explicitly address S+S, both of which are in the Architecture track.

Nevertheless, this doesn't in any way devalue the content that is being offered at Tech·Ed 2008. Today I attended sessions by Steve Riley and Scott Hanselman, two entertaining and intelligent speakers. Rick Anderson's session on Mobile devices gave just enough info to capture my interest, and encourage me to go to Dr Neils session on Windows Mobile Development, although I already knew everything that was shown at that session.

Tomorrow I am looking forward to 21st Century networking (Steve Riley), Web futures (various speakers), IE8 (Matt Heller), and of course, the infamous TechFest. Unfortunately, with my session being 9am on Wednesday morning, it will likely be an early night for me.

If you're at Tech·Ed this year, let me know - perhaps we can catch up for a coffee at the Ace stand.

Stuart