Please make sure you're following this announcements category as you travel to, and attend, the Summit. It's the best way for us to get out late-breaking news.
Registration begins at 8am on Monday, April 22nd, in the lobby of Building 40. Now, sometimes the lobby doors open a wee bit late - so bear with us. The first sessions aren't until 9am, so there's plenty of time. Please bring a printout of your ticket from EventBrite, and a photo ID.
Session pre-registration didn't happen - we had some volunteers have emergency health issues that just got us behind schedule, so we couldn't get the mobile app thing going. No fear. Sessions will be on a first-come, first-seated basis. Note that we are spread between two adjacent buildings, so you may have to traipse from one to the other during the 15-minute session breaks.
Meals will include a very light continental breakfast and a lunch. We will endeavor to supply soft drinks throughout the day, but that will require Microsoft employees to shuttle them to us. You're welcome to bring your own soft drinks. We've got coffee lined up. Please respect your fellow attendees - we've ordered enough food for everyone, but that assumes everyone's taking a normal-sized serving. A plate piled high with croissants isn't normal, and deprives your fellow attendees of their share. Seriously - this happened at a conference I was at a couple of weeks ago. Pretty sad.
Kickoff we will have a VERY SHORT kickoff in each session room at 8:45am. We'll endeavor to present all general material in both session rooms, since neither room can accommodate all of us at once. Jason Helmick and myself will be handling those duties throughout the event. You're welcome to come to us with any problems you run into.
Problems may arise - bear in mind this is our first year, and just be patient with us. If you bring it to our attention, we'll fix what we can, as soon as we can. We really appreciate your help and patience as we try to make a great event!
Wi-Fi is not guaranteed, and we will not have power drops for everyone's laptop. Please do not stretch your laptop power cord across any walkways - you will be asked to unplug for safety reasons. We suggest leaving the laptop in your hotel room, so help make the room more comfortable for everyone (if everyone brings a laptop and a giant bag for it, it's going to get cramped).
Parking is limited on-site, and you need to make sure you park in a space that isn't restricted. Check-in with the building receptionist to see if your car needs to be registered. You can also park at the ExtendedStay America hotel across the street, and walk to buildings 40 and 41. You're responsible for your own transportation during the event.
Evening events are strictly on-your-own. We don't have anything official planned. If someone puts something together ad-hoc and tells us, we'll do our best to spread the word.
This is an informal event - don't think of the Summit as a conference like TechEd, but rather as a gathering of friends and colleagues. It'll be less structured, more ad-hoc, and hopefully more engaging.
Please be respectful of speakers while they present, and follow their guidelines on when to ask questions. We do have to push them off the stage at the end of their allotted time, so give them their time to complete their presentation for you. If you have additional Q&A after the session ends, please take it into the lobby so that the next session can start.
MONDAY AT LUNCH we will launch the 2013 Scripting Games with an EnergizedTech opening ceremonies video. It'll be a pageant - don't miss it. 12:30pm in each session room.
WEDNESDAY AT LUNCH in the lobby or session room in building 40, you're invited to meet the Summit organizers (if you've managed to avoid us until then) and offer feedback for 2014.
Company Store vouchers may be are a reality, thanks to The Scripting Guy. You will need to use Microsoft transportation to get to Commons, where the Store is located; you'll be able to spend your own money, up to the voucher limit, to purchase products at employee prices. These products MAY NOT BE RESOLD and are for your personal use (they may be given as gifts).Â
PowerShell.org stickers will be available at registration - please, limit 1 per person. We only brought a limited supply.
THANK YOU TO OUR VOLUNTEERS who are helping make the Summit happen - Christopher Gannon and The Scripting Wife, Teresa Wilson, will be running registration and guarding our food from poachers. Jason Helmick will be helping me with room monitoring, pacing, and general content presentations. Kirk Munro ran content selection and speaker relations. And of course, all of our speakers are presenting on their own time, without compensation, although we've been able to cover most of their travel expenses.
2014 is coming. We're planning a bigger event, but that means a bigger commitment - we will nee about 130 people to break even (although we'll be able to handle about 250, if things go as planned). We hope you'll help us publicize the 2014 event when the time comes, so that we can make it happen for you.
THANK YOU AND SEE YOU IN REDMOND!
