PDC

I was going to post this in Pascal's comments in response to Robert, but what the heck:

Robert: I'd love to make it there myself.  I'm an MCT and an MCSD for .NET.  I do nothing but developer training.  Companies have all but put a halt to developer training in this area, so my field has been hit pretty hard.  I still make decent money, but let's just say the cost of the PDC would be about a month of my salary after taxes.  And let's just say giving me a week off and spending $2500 dollars on a conference really isn't on the agenda for my company.

Now, this takes into account flying out there (I'm in Louisville), getting a hotel room for a week, food in LA and the costs of the PDC.  Even with a discount for being an MCT (if one exists) and for registering early, it is still just not a cost effective choice for me to attend. 

Pascal, not even being in America would have to spend a small fortune to attend.  Now, neither of us wouldn't have much of a problem with this if we could somehow purchase the DVDs of the confs, and get whatever code/software is released to the developers.  Heck, I'd pay around $500 bucks for that.

And this is so I can get others excited about Whibdey, Yukon and Longhorn for Microsoft.  I'm already excited about those products that I'm willing to pay $500 to become a better marketing tool for Microsoft, but at the current cost and location makes it out of the question.

How about having the PDC at some place sane like Louisville?  Great weather in October, far cheaper costs, and one of the best confrence centers in the world that would fall over itself trying to please Microsoft. 

9 Comments

  • We considered a large number of sites, from what I hear. One problem is that since we have so many Microsoft employees flying down, it's easier logistically to have it on the West Coast (Seattle's airport connects with Los Angeles several times a day). That increases the chances that we'll get all the best program managers, executives, and employees there.



    Did you realize that every Microsoft employee attending has to pay to go to the PDC too? (Their group has to approve the cost, which is pretty close to what attendees pay).



    It's funny, but we're getting a lot of pushback about the cost from inside Microsoft too.



    This is not an event, by the way, for you to become a better marketing tool for Microsoft. 99.9% of the sessions are highly technical and are done by our best developers.



    There are plenty of other events where we do do marketing. :-)

  • Phil, I have some interesting comments on this too on my blogs. Worth to see them

  • Various thoughts:



    (1) First off, let's all remember that Robert is first and foremost an evangelist. Not a technician. BTW, another word for evangelist is marketer in many cases. Not to slight Robert, but when he speaks of anything regarding technical value or profit or what the PDC is all about, we need to factor in exactly where he is (and by all means should be) coming from.



    (2) He commented on Paschal's blog that MS is not making a profit. Um, excuse me, but why should they? This year's PDC is meant to hype in very positive ways the products MS will be releasing over the following 18 months. Seems like a contradiction that MS should expect to profit from beta previews to me.



    (3) Extending this 'profit' argument is his words here about costs to MS employees. Are we to believe that somehow these costs are part of their personal wages? Or is it more likely the case that this is all properly budgeted and planned for at the corporate level - and therefore part of this bottom line of no profit from the PDC?



    (4) Somebody asked somewhere else about SP1 for VS.NET 2002. From what I could tell there was no reply. Instead we have VS.NET 2003 and soom VS.NET 2004, 2005 and so on. I remember VB4 being released (I think) about Q1 1995. VB6 went gold in Q3 1998. That's 3 releases over a span of 15 quarters. From the sounds of things, we'll have 4-5 versions of VS.NET in the same span anymore. Personally, that's just WAY too much.



    Why should I build anything in ASP.NET today? The hype machine (this time I mean it negatively) is already everywhere saying that ASP.NET 2.0 will come close to achieving a 75% code reduction. (But, um, they can't say anything more. Gotta love all those bloggers who hint almost daily and then end with NDA claims.)



    So let me get this straight....



    Hype from every corner of the .NET blog universe. Hints with absolutely no meat (NDA of course). Yearly releases. Hire a blogger who can package and deliver hype that is easy to swallow... hype that is - oddly enough - strangely similar to what Dave WIner blogs so much about in regards to RSS (no offense meant Dave, RSS is a very good tool and you keep on hyping it like you've been). Get him to lay out hint after hint of PDC.



    Here's the real rub. You want the alpha? Beware, you can't do much with it - after all we all know how buggy alpha bits can be. You want a beta? Same caveat. MS will not - and should not - be legally liable. Funny thing.... the track record is that if you want the beta all you have to do is buy an MSDN subsciption. The cost is comparable to attending the PDC _and_ you get much more.



    Okay, so you want that all-important sneak preview. What for? Oops.... got off track there with a question that somehow bypasses the current hype. Okay then, how about this instead. Calm down people. Let the hype engine pass by. Control your jealous instincts over those 'fortunate' ones who will attend. Once you've conquered that, you'll get your sneak preview. Read their blogs.

  • My title is "technical evangelist" so that's not altogether true. I'm not in marketing.



    Also, the PDC is NOT to hype things that won't ship for another 12, maybe 24 months. We don't want hype to happen in October. October 2005, yes. Not this October. The PDC is COMPLETELY TECHNICAL AND AIMED AT GETTING DEVELOPERS TO BUILD APPS using Longhorn, Whidbey, and Yukon.



    Every session, except for maybe a keynote, will be completely technical and done by our top developers, not marketing dweebs, or even "evangelists" like me.



    If all you want is a beta or an alpha, then the PDC isn't for you. Yes, you're right there.



    If you're a developer and are looking to keep your skills relevant (translation: not shippable to India) then you'll want to be at the PDC.

  • Heh, heh. I didn't intend really this post to be like this. Do I think the PDC is well worth two grand? Yes. Can I aford two grand? Nope. Talk to me two years ago (and maybe even just last year), and I would be there in a heart beat. Perhaps I need a new job...



    Anyways, I'm not asking for MS to lower the price. I'm not asking for a free plane ticket, a hotel room and free entry to the conference. I'm just hoping there would be away for people who can't make it there to smooze with BillG and get face time could at least be able to purchase the DVDs and get their hands on the software.

  • Okay, I stand corrected. Appearantly MS wants me to gain technical knowledge and develop THIS October on platforms that are being released to the general public sometime shortly after the PDC. You know, platforms like Longhorn that will be released... um, when? December 2003? Or maybe Yukon which is definitely slated for release in conjunction with Whidbey, right? Oh wait.... MS announced a delay on that. So that definitely means Whidbey must surely being released before EOY 2003. No, wait....



    But wait a minute Robert. If you aren't hyping the PDC 2003, if you aren't hyping these current pieces of vaporware, then exactly what is all these posts in your weblog meant to do?



    Yep. Okay.... that's right. SOmehow communicate to me that my skills will become irrelevant shortly after PDC 2003 when all these new products will be released. Oh wait a minute. They won't be. But then I guess I'll have to call that last sentance in you last comment.... HYPE.



    Forgive the flippancy. I _do_ have MUCH respect for you Robert, for MS and all the VERY cool things they are doing anymore, and for the technical things that happen at most PDCs in the past. It's just that this one is truely being hyped way out of proportion.



    Do the math.... if you want hype to not happen until October 2005 yet feel I must attend the PDC 2003, then the main things happening in October 2003 concern products that are not reaching most business concerns until 24 months later.

  • You're right, most of these products won't be out until 2005. But, most of them have thousands of new APIs. Not easy to learn in a month.



    Look at .NET, most people have spent a year learning it, and still there are very few "experts" out there at it.



    So, if you wanna have your skills ready for 2005, good to start now.



    But, really, what's the PDC for? It's to get apps built for the platform so that when we release it, there's a TON of new apps out.



    We're going to create a TON of economic activity around the Longhorn release. Don't underestimate that.



    Developers will want to have products ready to go on day one. How long does it take to develop an average app these days? Most apps we see, like SAP? Years. Games. Years. Shrinkwrap apps like Quicken. Years. Photoshop. Years. Flash. Years.



    So, if you want to be a part of the economic wave that'll take place when Longhorn comes out, you'll be there and you'll invest the $1800. If you don't, hey, stay home. MSDN will get you much of the tech content eventually.



    It's not about hype. It's about reality. The reality is that in 2005 we're gonna ship a freaking lot of product. You wanna try to learn that all in one month, that's cool with me. Most people who have major stakes in the market (devs who work for major employers like Adobe, Macromedia, AOL, SAP, etc) should be there.



    And, you think I'm overhyping the PDC? Most of the industry insiders (and employees) say we're actually underhyping it.



    I'm trying to be sensitive to the fact that not everyone can afford to go. I couldn't afford to go to Gnomedex last week either.

  • First off, I apologize for my sometimes abrasive comments here. Never intended to start a flame war or whatever it might have sounded like.



    Second off, I just concisely commented in a more appropriate place - Robert's weblog, where I can address my thoughts most directly.



    Finally, I'll add only one thought in reply to the above comment. Just because Longhorn MAY be released in 2005 doesn't mean the market will embrace it immediately. Bill Gates himself is speaking of various factors that will contribute to a more normal life cycle (similar to that of .NET) like larger hardware requirements and completely different file system. Most businesses didn't really ramp up with .NET (many still haven't even) and the truely great product has been in RTM for almost 2 years. XP - for all it's evolutionary, not revolutionary traits - hasn't gained any abnormally large upgrade base either. It's much more reasonable to expect Longhorn - with it's incompatabilities with all other Windows releases - won't require much of my time until 2007!



    Do the products you plan on shipping in 2005 deserve a ton of hype? Hell yes. But in 2003? Nope.

  • Pls i want to join this conference and i want you to pay me salary, pls mail me where can iu get in touch with you.

    Thanks.

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