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I can’t wait.
I’ve wrapped up mastering a resource DVD set as well as helping the team to plan the logistics and event flow for EnergizeIT these past couple of weeks. What a time it has been. We plugged the EnergizeIT event during the live Toronto Future of the Desktop tour stop and I’ve already gotten some feedback and questions regarding THIS SATURDAY. I’m in charge of the “excitement” and logistics of the free for all controlled chaos that will be “The Social Networking Area”. I’ve decided to “leak” a printscreen of one of the old floorplans just so you can see what I am talking about (just don’t tell my boss).
The morning activities with all the big speakers from Redmond, Mississauga and from elsewhere in the industry will be taking place in the big theatre style seating with 2 big screens flanking the presentation area. All along the sides will be partner booths from a wide range of partners. We're going to have hookups for 10 different systems on the main stage to both showcase the traditional technology partners as well as some unconventional ones that might surprise you. I don’t think I need to draw attention to the extra large booth at the back right on this diagram, do I?
After lunch, the Breakout rooms get lit up and you have multiple tracks running on various topics for Developers, IT Pros, Virtualization Enthusiasts and Winternals fans. We’ve got some awesome content from a variety of speakers – I strongly suggest you take them in. But don’t forget that we’re still running stuff downstairs as well, eh? I’ll be hanging out downstairs – were the cool GEEK action is at!
Where will I be? I’ll be all over the main floor. I am very excited about are the 33 round tables at the back. Here is where the action will be for the afternoon. Here lies the organised chaos of “the social networking area”. Each table will be “lit up” with power and a Wireless Access Point / Network connection. Drop yourself at one of the tables and take the dip into the Beta world and load your systems up. Talk with industry experts, local (and remote) User Groups, helpful technical enthusiasts and Nerds On Site – oh, and volunteer Microsoft Employees.
Bring Your PC / Bring Your Laptop – load it up and try everything out on the spot. You heard me right. Bring Your Systems!
Not quite ready to take the plunge? How about a virtualized experience? What sort of specs should you worry about? Well, minimums are posted on the vista page – but this is a beta and your mileage may vary. I run Vista on my production box which is a 1.5 Ghz centrino chipset 2 year old laptop with a 32 meg video card and 1 gig of ram. I don’t get the Aero effect, but everything else is quite nice. I’ve installed Beta 2 on my “home clunker” dual Pentium III 500 Mhz box with 512 megs of ram and a $50 128 MB AGP video card – I get Aero, but I also get paging. Remember folks – this is still only Beta and final performance can not be gauged based on your current experiences. Only power and networking connectivity is provided, so lugging your PC / Monitor / Keyboards might be a bit of a challenge – but hey – I believe there is a coat check.
Besides the installation mayhem – this section is called a “social networking area” for a reason. You will hang out and talk with others that share your experiences and passions for technology. You can meet and talk with the presenters from the morning or afternoon tracks on their breaks. This is your opportunity to give direct feedback to the product teams. You can talk with industry experts about your stuff, your issues and your suggestions. Heck – you might even influence the final or future product!
I’ll also be using the main projector screens for slideshows, movie clips, impromptu demos, music, entertainment, maybe some xBox 360 action… Who knows what might happen or who might show up for a chat. To keep things even more interesting – I’ll have a backpack full of extra bonus giveaways for people who can answer various skill testing questions, write up blog posts or share their funny event photos. Tell me a story – write up a blog entry – share your excitement – find your way to contribute to the experience.
Wait a second – didn’t I say that already?