The convention center where TechEd is being held is a beautiful place and that's a good thing considering that many of us are spending 12 straight hours here each day. It does shut down at 10, so that is about the maximum hours.
TechEd is many things to many people. During the day and evening, the choices are overwhelming. During each time slot there are 20 standard technical presentations and nearly as many cabana talks. There are dozens of Hands on Labs to do, 1/2 price certification tests being given all day long, an acre of cabana area where Microsoft and other subject matter experts are on hand to talk about specific technical issues and of course the expo hall with hundreds of exhibitors! Within the expo hall, there is also a large area where many of the microsoft product groups are on hand. The size and complexity of some of the vendor booths in the expo is truly impressive. The biggest noisiest fanciest ones are up front and are reminiscent of the midway at the state fair.
For many (including myself) the largest distraction is talking with people. This is the most fun part for me because I just love meeting new people and catching up with many who I know. Because it is also like one big geek party, it is fun to have the opportunity to introduce lots of people to each other. Whether that is introducing a developer from Denver to the leader of Denver's .Net user group or introducing a person who has written a really cool tablet application to one of the lead designers of the TabletPC SDK (who is always thrilled to hear how these tools are being used).
Speaking of TabletPC's, I helped out at the TabletPC booth this afternoon. This was "really tough work". They have a great variety of the different TabletPC's there for people to play with. People come by and look and I got to tell them "really, it's here for you to use ... don't be shy!" I had fun showing total newbies the many cool types of applications that exist and showing folks who have not seen the newest O/S all of the great improvements in the current version (TabletPC 2005 aka "Lonestar"). I truly enjoyed doing this and if the expo hall hadn't closed at 5pm, would probably have been happy to do this for hours!
Another especially wonderful event today was the Women in I.T. luncheon. By default, this also means that there was a Men in I.T. luncheon in the main meal hall. At the Women in I.T. luncheon, there was a panel of inspirational and successful women developers and IT Pros (including three who I know well and admire greatly: Michele Leroux Bustamante, Kate Gregory and Kimberly Tripp). This is an event that focused on encouraging women to be confident about who they are and what they do in their world as well as contribute to the encouragement of young women who may be interested in things like math, science and computers. There was a lot of talk about mentoring and being a mentoree and about networking. Another discussion revolved around seeking out and making opportunities for yourself rather than just waiting for serendipity to find your path for you. All of this is fantastic advice for both men and women, but it was in a wonderfully supportive environment. I talked with a male friend who attended the luncheon and he was truly enamored of how supportive women are of each other in many ways that he says he just does not see with men. In addition, he remarked that the importance that life balance is just not something he ever hears men talking about with each other.
The one common thing for everyone attending TechEd is that it is just exhausting. So off I go to bed!