Conference Time Again: Are You Going to Microsoft Tech Ed 2013?

With spring in the air, the beginning of the major conference begins. Granted there are conferences all year long, but it seems that the March to June time frame has an above average number. True to form, Microsoft has started promoting this year’s big technical conference – Microsoft Tech Ed 2013.

I’ve been going to TechEd for well over a decade, and I look forward to this year’s conference as well. This year’s show will be back in New Orleans the week of June 3rd. New Orleans always offers an interesting backdrop for a conference. Microsoft has already announced that that the Jam Session evening event will be at the House of Blues. With the plethora of parties and side events that occur at a Tech Ed, you can expect there will be plenty of Cajun cooking as well as lots of beignets to be found.

Of course, Tech Ed is primarily a conference for IT Pros; however, it is easy for developers to find more sessions than one person can attempt to attend. This year’s tracks seem to hit many of the topics you’d expect. Within the tracks, there will be coverage of Windows 8/RT, Azure, Windows Phone, Visual Studio, SQL Server, and ALM as well as coverage of topics such as the Agile methodology, Big Data, and node.js. This year’s tracks include:

  • Architecture & Trustworthy Computing
  • Data Platform & Business Intelligence
  • Developer Tools & Application Life-cycle Management
  • Modern Datacenter
  • Office 365 & Unified Communications
  • SharePoint & Enterprise Social
  • Windows Azure Application Development
  • Windows Client, Access & Management
  • Windows Phone

The details of this year’s conference are far from being complete. Even so, it is safe to assume it will be worth attending. Microsoft has announced that pre-registration is open and that a discount is being offered if you register before March 22nd. You can preregister here.

Of course, the real value of Tech Ed, in my opinion, comes from the networking with peers as well as industry experts. As such, I am planning to be there because I know a lot of industry leaders will be there as well as a lot of the product people from Microsoft and other companies. For those working with Microsoft Technology, there are few opportunities throughout the year to meet with the same caliber of people that you’ll find at Tech Ed.

Speaking of networking, if you plan to be attending Tech Ed, then let us know! In the meantime, I’ll be watching the Tech Ed site for more details as I start to plan my schedule!

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