Tech.ed 2011 – Day 1

Ladies and Gents! 

Albert here.  I’d like to give a warm welcome to you all to the 2011 Tech.ed conference from the sunny beaches on the Gold Coast in Queensland!  Sponsored by Telstra, AvePoint, and HP.

I will be your correspondant over the coming days over one of Australia’s biggest IT training events.   I will also be giving you shots and photos from the conference, and some seminars personally.

I do apologize for the delay in getting you Day 1′s information late, as I lost internet connection later that night. 

But on another note, let’s dive in!

Day 1 – Opening Keynote + Tech.ed Expo + Opening Party

Tech.ed 2011 Opening Keynote

The first official day of Tech.ed started with the keynote, MC’d by Nick Hodge (http://www.nickhodge.com/blog/), a proud and proactive Microsoft Professional Geek. 

Guest speakers at the Keynote included Australian comedian Adam Spencer, Beached Az’s Jarod Green, and Jane Cockburn from Cochlear.

Over 2800 IT professionals were present for the Keynote session.  This was an amazing number of attendees, with over 75% of attendees new to the Tech.ed conference altogether.

Tech.ed Expo

The Tech.ed Expo (the tech expo of the conference) showcased some of Microsoft’s latest technologies - including the Windows 7 Phone’s Mango, Visual Studio Lightswitch, XBOX 360 (both Kinect+Foxtel), Microsoft Surface, and many more!  

There were also a large number IT companies present at the Tech.ed Expo, including HP, Hitachi, SMS, Diginet, Plantronics, thycotic, CEO, ddls, DocAve, NINTEX, Acronix, ITTS, and many many more!  Plenty of tech, IT services (and freebies!) up for grabs! =D 

Opening Party

There were only two words I could use to describe Tech.ed 2011′s Opening Party – Absolutely massive!

With over 2800 people mingling as the expo was turned into a giant party, Tech.ed had more than 10 XBOX 360s and Kinects set up with titles including Kinect Sports, NBA, FIFA, and Dance Central. 

With Beers and Wine glasses all around, people became like kids with candy.  

That ends Day 1 of the Tech.ed Conference.  Will be up with Day 2 Soon =)

Albert