TechDays 08 - Mini Me version of TechEd, now with Canadian Content!
Great news for Canadians! No, we haven't discovered a new source of unlimited clean-burning fuel and Stephen Harper is still our Prime Minister (for now).
Microsoft Canada has put together an awesome road show and it's coming soon. This is very much a mini-TechEd style conference but with a few twists. First off, it's Canadian based and will be hitting the major cities over the next couple of months. Second, some of the content is delivered by local freaks (such as myself) rather than the same old canned presentations by MSFT speakers. Don't get me wrong, the Canadian Developer support team (John Bristowe, Jean-Luc David, et. al.) are great but hey everyone has seen and heard them over and over again (and frankly Bristowes drag-n-drop sessions make me want to hurl). Now we can grab some premium air time and talk from the hip.
Unlike the previous road show launches and sessions, this is a paid event. Wait, stick around. Okay, I understand and hear ya. Why buy the milk when I can get the cow for free? Here's some factoids to make your want to rush out and buy your Donald Belcham Secret Decoder Ring (and optional Justice Gray Hair Tonic Revitalizer). Rather than a single day, the event is spread out over 2 days (you can choose to attend a single day or both, your choice). In addition, there are over 30 technical sessions all on new technology (nothing old and crappy here, well maybe some old-ish stuff but not crappy) including Windows and Web development, Virtualization, and Infrastructure. There are also "birds-of-a-feather" type sessions and some after party geek fests going on. All in all, a pretty slick way to kill off two days in cold, cold winter (and that means you Winnipeg!).
The two day conference is happening in the larger cities (Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, and Vancouver) with the one day conference happening in the less fortunate ones (Winnipeg, Halifax and Ottawa). The early bird price (before October 15) for one day is $124.99 or $249.99 for both days. After October 15th the price goes up to double at $249.99 and $499.99 respectively (so obviously if money is a concern I suggest you get in before October 15th). Space *is* limited to 5000 people so don't wait to sit out on this one.
Swag? Did I mention the swag? Any conference worth it's salt needs swag and this one is no exception. Each attendee gets the following goodies:
- 6-month TechNet Plus Subscription
- Visual Studio 2008 Professional (full package)
- Expression Web (full package)
- Visual Studio 2008 Team Suite (eval)
- Expression Studio (eval)
- Virtualization Resource Kit
- 30% off certification voucher (applicable to all MS Certification exams)
- TechEd 2008 DVD Set (just like being there, except without the drinking)
- $100 discount coupon for DevTeach/SQLTeach
More? Oh yeah, I mentioned the presentations. I'm planning on presenting a whack of talks on WPF covering (Databinding, WinForms integration, CompositeWPF, LOB apps, etc.) so that should be fun. This is tentative as I haven't got the final word yet to take the stage (and after reading this blog post I may not be allowed to show up), but whatever happens I promise a) lots of code, no fluff b) flying monkeys c) Terrarium, Terrarium, Terrarium d) no concealed lizards or logging chains of any kind e) comic book cross-overs and f) did I mention the code? Beat those promise Mr. Harper!
The TechDays website will be online soon with more details and registration info. You can find that here. You can also check out D'Arcys twisted take on this here, and Miguel's more calmer preview here.
See you there!