PDC is getting closer and you can feel the level of excitement in the blogosphere. Once again, the event has sold out. This always amazes me -- that Microsoft could sell out events with over 10,000 attendees. This has been happening for PDC and TechEd for a few years now that I know of.
I will be going to PDC and am really looking forward to getting some very focused time to learn some of the new technologies. Though I have been playing with Whidbey/VS2005 for almost 2 years now, I have focused on particular areas of it and there is much that I need to learn, but it's just hard to find or make the time. So I think that I will be spending time in ASP.NET 2.0 sessions. I also plan to attend more sessions on Indigo, starting back with the basics in order to really drill that stuff into my head. I definitely want to attend some Avalon sessions and begin learning that and naturally, I want to get a good look at Windows Vista.
I'm hoping to have the courage to install Vista on my laptop during PDC. I have been following Sam Gentile's blog and he seems to be happy with it although he had some trouble with installing (or just couldn't install at all, I'll have to ask) the June CTP of VS2005. So I will wait until PDC, see if anyone is able to run the August CTP or maybe even the Release Candidate on Vista. If so, I will go for it.
I also learned that there will be a Women in Technology Panel during PDC which I'm sure will be great. I was happy to hear that Esther Schindler, who is the editor of this DevSource site, will be the moderator of the panel.
Here is the description of that panel session:
Women and Technology: Dream, Code, Run
Day/Time: Tuesday, September 13 11:45 AM- 1:00 PM Room: 402 AB
Session Type(s): Lunch Session
This panel covers how women have used their intelligence and creativity to excel in the software industry. Hear from women IT professionals who are successful in a male-dominated industry. Learn, connect, and engage at this networking panel where your questions drive the agenda, and hear tips and tricks on how to succeed as a woman developer or technical professional in the computer sciences and technology marketing. Both men and women are invited to join in the conversation, and learn from each other about how to grow diversity in the IT industry.
I plan to blog here at least once a day while I am at PDC sharing technical info or even some PDC gossip while I'm there!