by Joey deVilla on October 22, 2009
I bought a fuzzy “Cat in the Hat”-style raver hat with a Canadian flag pattern on a whim earlier this year, thinking that I’d probably find a pretty good use for it some day. That day, it turns out, was yesterday, where I turned it into what I believe was yesterday’s only Steve Ballmer photo-op with a non-management Microsoft Canada employee:
Photo by Barnaby Jeans.
Yesterday was a busy day at the Harbour Castle Convention Centre, where we had an all-day Steve Ballmer-rama. In the morning, Steve keynoted an event showcasing Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Exchange Server 2010 for the media, key customers and partners. This was followed by an employees-only “town hall” where Steve did a short presentation followed by a Q&A session. On a whim similar to the one that led me to buy it, I took the hat (along with the accordion) along with me.
Following a suggestion from my co-worker Damir, I arrived very early for the town hall, grabbed a seat by the stage and donned the hat. When Steve made his appearance, he did so in classic Ballmer style, running and whooping, high-fiving people as he made his way to the stage. As soon as he saw me, he yelled “Hey!”, put the hat on and posed with me for the photo above.
I’d made a decent splash at Microsoft in my first year, and I’d been wondering if I could match it in my second, which began on Monday. This isn’t a bad start.
This article also appears in The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century.
Tagged as:
Microsoft,
Photo,
Steve Ballmer
by Joey deVilla on October 20, 2009
by Joey deVilla on October 17, 2009
by Joey deVilla on October 5, 2009
TechDays Toronto Wraps Up
TechDays Toronto took place last Tuesday and Wednesday, and it was a success! Over 1200 people registered to attend, and based on the attendee comments I’ve received, both face-to-face and online, people found their experience there both valuable and enjoyable.
As much as we hope the attendees learn at TechDays, we learn a lot at TechDays too. By holding events where you get to meet us face-to-face and talk to us, we learn about what you need to boost your knowledge, skills and career. If you have any questions, comments, concerns or suggestions about TechDays, please let us know! Leave a note in the comments or feel free to drop me a line.
When Halifax got added to the cities in TechDays Canada’s cross-country conference tour, there was some concern about how many people would register. It’s the first time we’ve held a conference of this scale and scope in the Maritimes, but it turns out that we needn’t have worried: as of Thursday, every available seat for TechDays Halifax’s venue has been sold.
Thanks for being so enthusiastic, Halifax techies, and we look forward to putting on a worthy event!
TechDays Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa and Winnipeg Coming Up
The early bird pricing – that’s $299 Canadian – is still available for the other TechDays Canada cities:
- Calgary (November 17-18)
- Montreal (December 2-3)
- Ottawa (December 9-10)
- Winnipeg (December 15-16)
With over forty intermediate- to expert-level sessions covering Windows 7, SharePoint, ASP.NET MVC, SQL Server, Expression Blend, Windows Server 2008 R2, WCF, Visual Studio, Hyper-V, System Center, Silverlight and more, TechDays Canada is your chance to learn about how to make the most of the Microsoft tools and technologies that are available right now. Register today!
This article also appears in Canadian Developer Connection.
Tagged as:
Calgary,
Halifax,
Microsoft,
Montreal,
Ottawa,
TechDays,
Winnipeg
by Joey deVilla on September 29, 2009
Here are a couple of shots from the Toronto edition of TechDays, taking place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre right now.
The Room
I’m the lead for TechDays’ Developing for the Microsoft-Based Platform track, which I like to think of as the best damned track in the entire conference. The pre-registration numbers for this track were pretty high, so they gave me room 718A, a large room with a capacity of about 400 or so. The rows near the front of the room have table space for the people who like taking notes with their laptops, while the back rows have more conventional lecture-style seats.
Here’s the room as seen from the back:
And here’s the speaker’s-eye view:
Day 1, Session 1
At the time of this writing, I’ve just finished my opening monologue in which I introduced the track and explained what it’s all about. I handed the stage over to Cory Fowler, who’s doing the What’s New in Silverlight 3 presentation. Here’s a shot of Cory in action:
I like what Cory’s done with the presentation: he took the original presentation from the Microsoft TechEd conference and spiced it up with graphics from the new XBox game Halo 3: ODST, adding his own personal touch.
If you’re interested in finding out what’s new in Silverlight 3, there are a couple of things you can do:
- If you’re in or near Halifax, Calgary, Ottawa, Montreal or Winnipeg, you can still register for TechDays in those cities at the early bird rate of $299.
- Watch this blog! I’ll be posting articles on Silverlight 3 development in the coming weeks.
A Vending Machine We Can’t Refuse
On the 600 level of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre’s South Building, right by the registration booths, are two of these machines:
That’s right, it’s a vending machine that makes kosher hot dogs, on the spot, for the low, low price of five dollars. In spite of the fact that TechDays provides a free lunch, we cannot resist the siren song of this machine (Sizzlelicious!). We’ll be shooting some video around noon of us ordering and tasting a hot dog from this machine. Watch this space!
This article also appears in Canadian Developer Connection.
Tagged as:
conferences,
Microsoft,
TechDays
