PDC 2008 – Day Zero
27 Oct 2008I arrived in Los Angles around 2:00 pm today for Microsoft’s Professional Development Conference. After a 26 mile cab ride from the Airport to the hotel, I scooted over to the convention center to pick up my registration materials. The Sunday before the PDC has a bunch of what are called pre-sessions, geared mainly at orienting people who might not be familiar with current Microsoft technologies and platforms. It’s also a great time to register and pick up the conference materials, affectionately known as “swag”.
The haul this year is suppose to include a 160 GB flash drive with a milestone build of Windows 7 and other conference materials. Generally, you get a (nice) laptop bag and a T-Shirt as well. This conference’s swag is a bit less inspiring. Here’s a pic.
The bag is a flimsy little affair but I’m sure my wife will make good use of it as a grocery bag. What’s really disappointing is that they are not going to distribute the flash drives until Tuesday. Bummer. The Universal Studios pass is way cool however. On Tuesday night, the conference attendees get the park to themselves. There’s free food and drink as well.
These conferences are a total blast. The information content is rich and detailed. It really is a learning event and I get four days to immerse myself in it without the distraction of work or home life. This event, more than any other, reenergizes me and keeps the “spark” alive in my day to day programming duties.