Going to TechEd? Get Connected!
I stumbled across this post from Andrew Connell, a little thing called TechEdConnect. It’s a personal networking system for TechEd so rather than the blog entries of “where are you d00d?” and “let’s all go to the lobby” popping up on your IM, you can hook up with people based on interest, groups, location, number of balloon animals they can make while intoxicated, whatever you want.
It’s a great idea and while the implementation is a little to be desired (for example I can’t figure out how to find someone based on name) it’s interesting. There are message boards (sort of) for groups so you can chat about where you want to go, etc. and a system for suggestion group meetings (which is great). I’ve added myself to some groups like the “MS SharePoint Users” and “Canadians Invade TechEd”. So if you’re heading down there check out TechEd Connect. Note that it’s a different system than the TechEd registration (and confused me for a bit) so you can sign-up (free) but you need to use the same email you used when you registered for TechEd. Your TechEd username and password will not work there so you need to create a new one.
I’ve also created a new group called “MVPs” because, for some reason, I can’t see a list of MVPs going to TechEd. So if you’re an MVP and want to join up, add it to your groups and start networking!