For those of us developers addicted to our computers 24/7 and unlucky enough not to have made it to Microsoft PDC 2008 the mood can still be exciting as we do our best to follow the event online and on Twitter. Its really great that Microsoft is making all the sessions available online for free through Channel9 as the week goes on (yes all sessions not just the Keynotes!), this really makes it possible to “be there” when the time or money doesn't let you visit California.
If you didn’t even know that the sessions are being posted online, well they are. The first two days are already published and by weeks end I'd expect everything to be posted. To find these sessions simply visit the official websites session timeline page, click on the session you want to view and hopefully you’ll see a “View Session Detail” button that goes the Channel9 where the actual videos and PowerPoint slides can be found.
Make your own mini-PDC!
But lets face it, while many people probably watched the flashy keynotes live or as recordings its hard for many people to watch the actual individual sessions where the real value is hidden.
This brings me to one of my main (ambitious) points of this post: Encouraging you to make your own mini-PDC happen at your company! The idea is that by next week all of the sessions should be posted online, so it is fully possible to take your colleagues, setup 1-day next week, buy some Pizza and watch those sessions most relevant to your companies development future.
Why do this? The answer is a simple list of benefits:
- The team will have a great chance to bond
- The team will learn about technologies that can one day benefit the business
- Developers given a chance to think about technology and get away from the “Day-to-day” will get inspired about the future. This inspiration will lead to more creative problem solving and even potential costing savings for the company! ( bit hopefully of me? Yes, but hey it could happen!).
The list can probably go on, but these points alone will hopefully be enough for development shops centered around Microsoft technologies to buy into the idea. I really hope those who read this post will the idea a shot at their your company, it might be a great day, because the future really is delicious (and hopefully so will be the Pizza)