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Click to See Complete Forum and Search --> : Going to my first MS confrence in Ireland!

DeanMc
Jan 13th, 2010, 08:31 AM
Actually it is my first ever not just in Ireland!

I've never been to one of these but a few people have told me they are good fun and quite friendly. This one is the launch of windows Azure, which I am pretty interested in learning more about.

What are peoples experiences of these events. Are they good for networking? Should I hide the fact that I don't actually work for a programming house or company?
abhijit
Jan 13th, 2010, 10:34 AM
Actually it is my first ever not just in Ireland!

I've never been to one of these but a few people have told me they are good fun and quite friendly. This one is the launch of windows Azure, which I am pretty interested in learning more about.

What are peoples experiences of these events. Are they good for networking? Should I hide the fact that I don't actually work for a programming house or company?

I haven't been to a technical conference since the year 2000. I didn't get any networking out of it.

Do not hide any facts. If anyone asks, tell them that you're interested in working in a "real programming environment". People do get hired at such events all the time. Good luck!
DeanMc
Jan 13th, 2010, 12:40 PM
That would be a pretty sweet alright. I have been looking at the schedule, they seem to offer lots of time for networking purposes!
Shaggy Hiker
Jan 13th, 2010, 06:50 PM
They are as friendly as you make them. Keep in mind that there will generally be two groups at such an event: The geeks, and the salespeople. The first group is not known for being extroverted, but they are known for being pretty open to just about anything. The second group does tend to be extroverted and they are certainly not trying to piss people off.

The one event I went to was kind of business like, but people were pretty open and appeared to be evenly dividing their focus between having a good time and learning something....well, perhaps the focus wasn't quite evenly divided, but there really was a bunch of learning going on.
DeanMc
Jan 13th, 2010, 07:00 PM
My first intention is to learn about azure but network would do no harm! Cant wait to see what its like!
Shaggy Hiker
Jan 14th, 2010, 08:20 AM
There will be coffee.
abhijit
Jan 14th, 2010, 08:49 AM
There will be coffee.

It's Ireland and there could be beer. :D
DeanMc
Jan 14th, 2010, 08:54 AM
It's Ireland and there could be beer. :D


It just says drinks... I wonder which type ;)
RobDog888
Jan 17th, 2010, 05:36 PM
Take some business cards, if you have some or make some at vistaprint.com for about $2. Then you can network and hand them out when appropriate. Who knows what could hapen. Enjoy and have a beer for me :D
DeanMc
Jan 17th, 2010, 06:56 PM
Is it not naff to have business cards with just your name and email on them? I mean I am not affiliated with a company. Two beers for you, gotcha!