Read Highlights from Each Day of the Event!
Use our Daily Journal for a recap of each day's most noteworthy events—featured speakers, breakout sessions, and special events. Plus, read first-hand accounts from other attendees and view our new Photo Journal section.
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Tech·Ed 2004 kicked off in San Diego, California, on Sunday, May 23, with early arrivals enjoying pre-conference sessions and gearing up for a great week of intensive technical learning. Opening day events included a welcome reception, Birds of a Feather sessions, a publisher's reception, the PC gaming pit, and the ever-popular Jam Sessions.
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The event, which was sold out, drew more than 11,000 customers and partners for training, Hands-on Labs, access to technical experts, and the Tech·Ed Exhibit Hall, where attendees were able to demo new technologies from Microsoft and its partners. A near-equal number of developers and IT professionals took the opportunity to attend this year's event. Over 400 sessions were conducted over the course of the 5-day event, covering topics as diverse as data management, developer tools and technologies, e-business, mobility, security, office productivity, and much, much more.
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See what other attendees are saying about Tech·Ed 2004.
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"Tech·Ed has been phenomenal. I have been completely surprised by the number of attendees. The quality of the sessions has been really awesome."
—Jeff Cichello
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"I think it is the general and broad context that is the appeal of Tech·Ed. Rather than focusing on one product, there is a broad spectrum of things to get to know."
—Hildigunnur Aegisdottir
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On Monday, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer gave an inspiring keynote to a sold-out Tech·Ed audience on new innovations that enable developers, IT professionals, and information workers to get more value across all stages of the software application life cycle. He described how Microsoft is leveraging the power of integrated innovation to enable IT professionals and developers to "Do More With Less."
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That evening a special awards party celebrated winners from round 1 of the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Challenge. This worldwide contest for IT professionals and service partners recognized organizations that best demonstrated how they are using Windows Server 2003 and Microsoft Windows Server System integrated software to cut costs, improve efficiency, and build innovative solutions. The contest drew 900 submissions from 72 countries. The Grand Prize went to the KT Corporation of South Korea, a major telecom provider that saved more than US$15 million with new server technology.
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See what other attendees are saying about Tech·Ed 2004.
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"Steve Ballmer is a phenomenal speaker and it is always a pleasure to hear him talk. As always, I believe Microsoft has a game plan for moving forward into the future…"
—Mark Dunn
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"I think the keynote is the most important for us. I know there are a lot of classes and sessions, but I feel the keynote presents most of the strategy on all the new products…"
—Yang Lu
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On Tuesday, keynote speaker Andrew Lees, Microsoft Corporate Vice President, delivered an exciting presentation on how to "Do More With Less." In his address, Lees announced a new product life cycle, where Microsoft will move from seven years to "a minimum of 10 years support for all of our business software." He also introduced Microsoft's long-term plan for delivering common services across Windows Server System products, including services designed to support and implement Microsoft's Dynamic Systems Initiative.
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Rio, the Attendee Networking System, gave Tech·Ed 2004 participants direct access to each other—before and during the event. Searching through user biographies, attendees made meaningful connections with other participants based on their primary business focus, which Microsoft products they use, job responsibilities, and company background.
The IT Hero Party—one of many parties sponsored by Microsoft product groups throughout the week—was a smashing success. There were about 1,200 attendees who came to enjoy drinks, good food, a top-notch DJ, and various activities—including pool tables, dancing, a palm reader, a tarot card reader, and a psychic. A small mob scene ensued for "Midnight Madness," which included a trivia contest with prizes, free t-shirts, and a raffle in which one lucky winner took home an iPaq Pocket PC. At the end of the party, IT Hero gifts were handed out, including a cool button-down tropical shirt and a free online training voucher.
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See what other attendees are saying about Tech·Ed 2004
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"I came to Tech·Ed to attend great sessions on some of the new technologies, to get a look at what is coming out in the future, and to collaborate with others—peers in the community."
—Ram Gopinathan
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"…you have done a great job organizing the whole event. I think everything is laid out really well—the sessions, the food, the people. You make it easy to go from one session to another."
—Kimberly Dove
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The Best of Tech·Ed 2004 Award winners were announced on Wednesday, with Best of Show going to AMD's AMD64 Platform. "Simply put, AMD64 Platform redefines the way people think about the future of X86 architecture computing," said Mike Otey, Senior Technical Editor for Windows & .NET Magazine and SQL Server Magazine. The field included more than 260 entries from Windows technology vendors in 10 different categories.
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With more than 650 networked computers located in the Sails Pavilion, the Communications Network Center gave attendees instant access to the Internet and the Tech·Ed Web site to view personal Tech·Ed session schedules, read speaker bios, and print out session slides and outlines. Built on the Microsoft .NET Framework and a wireless infrastructure, the Communications Network helped to keep attendees in touch with colleagues, family, and friends, providing e-mail and Internet access throughout the convention center.
The Women in Technology Luncheon and discussion panel made its encore appearance at Tech·Ed 2004 after meeting with great response at Tech·Ed 2003. The panel included influential technology professionals such as Kimberly L. Tripp of SYSolutions, Kate Gregory of Gregory Consulting Limited, Angela Mills from Microsoft's "Indigo" Team, and Barbara Annis, CEO of Women in Technology International (WITI).
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See what other attendees are saying about Tech·Ed 2004
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"It is really important for women in small and medium businesses to know there are lots of other women in technology and to understand how to address some of the issues and challenges they face in their roles."
—Sara Williams, Women in Technology Panelist
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"This is my first time at Tech·Ed and honestly, I'm extremely impressed. Microsoft did not hold back in making sure everyone had adequate facilities and staff resources."
—Helen Fantis
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Attendees enjoyed an exclusive party at SeaWorld on Thursday. The park was closed to the general public, giving Tech·Ed 2004 attendees and their families a rare opportunity to explore the park without the crowds, as well as to meet their colleagues in a fun, relaxed setting.
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New this year, attendees congregated in the Community Lounge to engage informally with experts and to dive deeper into session content. The Community Lounge was organized into 14 Cabaņas—more intimate seating and presentation areas designed to encourage interaction between attendees, staff, speakers, and subject matter experts. There were 308 Meet the Technologist sessions in the Cabaņas, where attendees had the chance to join breakout session speakers, industry experts, and Microsoft staff to drill down into track-specific sessions and get answers to technical questions.
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See what other attendees are saying about Tech·Ed 2004.
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"The sessions have been very good, in different categories. All in all, my expectations have been exceeded as far as quality of the sessions, content, quality of speakers, preparedness, and technical depth."
"The cabaņas allowed me to expand on some of the different areas where I wanted some more technical depth or more detail. I liked the cabaņa concept and I think that should definitely continue."
—David Payne
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Of the more than 400 breakout sessions, "Group Policy (Part 1): Best Practices and Tips and Tricks" attracted the most attendees. Next in popularity was "Microsoft Windows Passwords: Everything You Need To Know," followed by "Microsoft Exchange Server Sizing."
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This year, Tech·Ed 2004 attendees had the chance to take Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) exams at the event—at half price. Hundreds took advantage of this opportunity to upgrade and certify their skills while in San Diego.
Microsoft made a number of key technical announcements during Tech·Ed, including the release of Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team System, a suite of extensible life-cycle tools that enables all members of an IT organization to collaborate on delivering service-oriented applications that are designed for operations. Also announced were the release of the Windows Server System Common Engineering Roadmap—the Microsoft long-term plan for delivering common services—and an expanded product life-cycle policy that will provide customers with a minimum total of 10 years of mainstream and extended support for business and developer products.
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As the event drew to a close, attendees went home tired, inspired, and very much looking forward to Tech·Ed 2005, scheduled for June 5–10 in Orlando, Florida.
See what other attendees are saying about Tech·Ed 2004.
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"I have been coming to this conference since 1998 and what I hope to get out of it is an overview of the next one to ten years. It gives an idea of where Microsoft is planning to go. Therefore, it gives me an opportunity to plan where I need to go."
—Tom Clifron
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