I have been talking on the phone all day today with local  Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego clients. Its amazing that almost everyone I spoke with thought that TechEd North America 2009 was in Las Vegas and were not aware of pricing and were therefore not considering going due to budgets…

After a conversation, where I learned a pretty cool way to test and deploy Exchange 2007 (Through the Cloud) for a limited trial prior to purchasing the hardware, another where we discussed OCSR2, then the featured speakers Like Mark Russinovich, David Chappell, Bill Ramos, Stephen Forte, Tim Huckaby, Jay Schmelzer, Don Box, Mark Minasi and of course Todd Klindt (ya gotta love SharePoint).

My favorite way of connecting to folks at the conference is through the Birds-of-a-Feather (BOF) sessions, which are suggested by, voted on, and lead by you.>>>>>>>

And don't forget one of the goals of creating a community like Tech·Ed is to help it live long beyond the event itself. With the folks that help us keep it together

INETA

provides structured, peer-based organizational, educational, and promotional support to the growing worldwide community of Microsoft® .NET user groups. It offers assistance and resources to community groups that promote and educate their membership in Microsoft's .NET technologies. INETA welcomes all facets of the .NET user community, from developers and architects to project managers and IT professionals. At this time, membership in INETA is free to any user group, regardless of geographic location, technical focus, or affiliation. Visit www.ineta.org.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs)

can primarily be found in the Technical Learning Center (TLC) under the signs that say "Ask the Expert".Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) are outstanding community leaders who foster the free and objective exchange of knowledge by actively sharing their real-world expertise in technical communities worldwide.

MVPs possess expertise in one or more Microsoft products or technologies and are awarded for their exceptional contributions to traditional communities, including newsgroups, third-party Web sites, and user groups, as well as to emerging community venues such as blogs and Wikis–all popular forums for communicating with peers about Microsoft products, technologies, and services. Additionally, MVPs represent the customer community by providing feedback to Microsoft product development and Research and Development. Find out more at mvp.support.microsoft.com.

Regional Directors (RDs)

are noted speakers and also can be found in the TLC and around the conference floor sharing their expertise. Regional Directors (RDs) are recognized as some of the most prominent members of the Microsoft technical community. Their technical savvy, business awareness, and close industry connections keep them abreast of the latest technical trends. There are only 140 Regional Directors worldwide, and nearly half are involved with Tech·Ed – some as speakers and/or advisors for the conference's Technical Tracks. RDs are ready and willing to help you fully understand why Microsoft developer and platform technologies are the future of computing. You can learn more about the RDs by visiting www.TheRegion.com.

Microsoft Certified Trainers (MCTs)

assist as Technical Learning Guides in the Hands-on Labs and others host the Certification Testing Center. Microsoft Certified Trainers (MCTs) are technical and instructional experts in Microsoft products, technologies, and solutions. The MCT community spans more than 130 countries/regions and includes classroom and distance-learning instructors, learning consultants, authors, conference presenters, user group leaders, and more. MCTs are united by their passion and talent for helping Microsoft customers and partners realize their full learning potential. MCTs are the only individuals that Microsoft authorizes to deliver training based on Official Microsoft Learning Products or Microsoft Dynamics courses.

Before you apply to become an MCT, you must acquire one of the Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) certifications or become a Microsoft Dynamics qualifier for the MCT program. Find out more about becoming an MCT by visiting http://www.microsoft.com/mct.

So reach out Touch the community that we live in… Are you on your PC right now, what would you be doing without Microsoft?

• Facebook

  Will you be our Facebook friend? Keep in touch with Tech·Ed participants, fans and meet some of the people you might like to connect with at next year’s events. Visit our page on Facebook.

• Blogs

  Find out what people are saying about the conference and products being featured in sessions at Tech·Ed Bloggers. Aggregated by editors independent of Microsoft, blogs can be found on Tech·Ed Online now. You don't have to be registered to visit or add your blog.

• Twitter

  Follow us on Twitter and get up- to- the -second updates before and during Tech·Ed.

You’ll may also want to mark your calendar for the social events that pull the Tech·Ed community together at night, including the Community Evening and Women in Technology networking reception.

Don't forget the Partner Expo

I hope to see you all there……….

-Ivan