TechEd 2005 - Day 3

I arrived early on Monday and I ended up being one of the first in line for Steve Ballmer's keynote. The highlight of the keynote for me was Mike Hall's presentation on Windows Mobile technology. We were all given a sneak peek at Longhorn Client build 5071 (check out the webcast to see for yourself: http://www.microsoft.com/winme/0506/24850/TechEd_2005_MBR.asx). After the keynote, I ended up meeting a lot of the vendors and product teams at the Exhibitor's area. I chatted a bit with Georgeo Pulikkathara - we talked at length about the pros and cons of webcasts, the power of reach using blogs and a little history lesson behind the origins of LiveMeeting. I also chatted with the staff of Osellus and learned that their head office is located in Toronto. At the Indigo booth, I had a nice talk with Mark Fussell and Steve Swartz. I must say that the networking opportunities at TechEd were plentiful and rewarding. My bag was already bursting with swag by the time the time the Exhibitor Hall dinner came around.

I attended a few sessions during the course of the day but found that they we're deep enough for my liking (200 Level/Introductory rather than 400 Level/Deep Dive). I headed over to the Matrix in the evening for the TechEd jam session. I got the opportunity to jam with Carl Franklin, and play keys and lead guitar. Carl is a fantastic player - he did a note for note rendition of the Sweet Home Alabama solo that sounded great. He mentioned that he's been playing guitar since he was 12 years old.

I'll post a photo retrospective of TechEd once I am finished (including photos of the jam session)...coming up, Day 4