Microsoft Ignite Here I Come

Ignite is coming closer and I’m to Chicago soon to attend. I’ll be focusing on a couple of things. One of them is vNext, that means Hyper-V and everything that’s related the network and the storage stack.  The other is Azure and anything related to the above mentioned stack as well as identity/security.

That should be sufficient to keep me busy as next to that I’ll be having meetings with the Microsoft product groups and various vendors/partner on their offerings and plans.

The remaining time will be allocated to networking and talking shop with the international community. I’m looking forward to meet up with so many buddies from across the globe and dive into our beloved subjects. I you read my blog, follow me on twitter and you’re there, let me know. We can meet and greet!

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So let’s ignite the future of technology and prepare for our future as well. Remember, it’s you who needs to invest in yourself and your career. Employee, independent consultant or civil servant, it doesn’t matter, while helping others succeed, keep working on your own life long education and future.

But before I’m in Chicago I need to travel there, so we’ll hop onto one of those nice Boeings for a long haul flight across the big pond.  See you there!

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Microsoft Ignite calling Thinkers, Doers and Pioneers. Yes, that’s me within my ecosystem!

I know that some people tend to see conferences as a waste of time and money. Going to the wrong conferences will do that yes. So is attending for the wrong reasons or in the wrong way.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. A conference is hard work, fun sure, but hard & lots of work. Don’t expect to go home with a custom magic strategy & implementation plan Winking smile for all your IT needs. Much has been written by many community buddies and myself  on this subject. Here’s a short reading list for you (and there a dozens more) on how to do it well.

But if you pick your conferences, make sure you plan and take the time to network and talk with industry experts, vendors, colleagues & fellow MVPs who you only get to sit down with at such events it can be a tremendously valuable experience. You network gain insights, get to pitch your ideas and views with some of the best and brightest … very stimulating and rewarding!

In my neck of the IT woods it’s a place I want to go an talk shop too the group of people mentioned above. Let me know if you’re attending, it’s always good to meet up.

I’m Attending Ignite, Are You?

Great news in was announced today in It’s here! The Microsoft Ignite Session Catalog. Basically the Ignite session catalog is available as of this moment! That means we can start planning to make sure we make the most of our time there. If you need some tips on what’s the value of a conference and how to make the most of it than please read a previous blog of mine on the subject Why I Find Value In A Conference

But MSFT is also organizing an #IgniteJam on Twitter on February 3rd, 9:00 am Pacific Time (That’s 18:00 in GMT+1). Join them and get your questions answered.

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I know a good many of people in my global network that will be there so that’s great news. Networking and exchanging information is a big part of what makes a conference a success. The right people being there makes a huge difference. Whilst on that subject, here’s a tip to the vendors in the expo hall: make sure you have technical people there as well, only sales and marketing isn’t good enough. Go for the right mix.

Follow @MS_Ignite on twitter for the latest news and developments about the conference. Go to the registration page to secure your ticket and consider add one of the Pre-Day session to the agenda to optimize your investment in time. See you there!

Concluding My Summit, Conference & Community Engagements for 2014

After Redmond (MVP Global Summit 2014), which was a great experience I flew to Berlin to attend and speak at the Microsoft Technical Summit 2014 on “What’s New In Windows Server 2012 R2 Clustering”. Germany has a seriously engaged ITPro & Dev scene, that’s for sure, and the session room was packed! Afterwards some interesting questions popped up in the hallways. That’s great as question really make us think about technologies and solutions from other view points and perspectives.

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After Berlin I was off to Experts Live 2014 in Ede (The Netherlands) where I presented on “The capable & Scalable Cloud OS”. The talk went well and I had a great crowd attending with whom I had some great chats after the session.

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That concluded the third leg of my international road tour where I invest in myself, the community & the people I work with. Never ever stop learning Smile. Normally this also concludes my traveling schedule for 2014 unless I’m needed/requested somewhere to help out. Being an MVP is about sharing in the community. The only way to prosper is to share the knowledge, experience and the wealth. It provides for a healthy ecosystem from which we all reap the benefits. This should be promoted and facilitated. There is too much expertise & knowledge not being leveraged due to the fact it’s economically unfeasible, and that’s a waste when people are screaming for IT skills. In a war for talent, any waste is surely very counter productive?