Its a very strange time for me.  I have been working in technology for so long and consider myself an advanced user and even and enthusiast (but not a SUPER enthusiast)!  I work at Microsoft and have been used to "eating our own dog-food" and even had fun testing some of the newest devices.  In my life, I  been known to be considered a social butterfly and I don't find it insulting. 

I remember when e-mail first came around, it saved me many hours a day waiting by the fax machine for a document that I needed.  I even worked at one of the first national ISPs when the fastest speed was 14.4 and we used to IM via a shell account.  Its amazing to me how fast the times have changed and just how far technology has come. 

I have small kids and we often talk about the "old" days, which I think is funny because I am not that old, but to see the world through the eyes of children is so great... Anyway, we were talking about how the first VCRs to have remote controls, were remotes that had CABLES and had to be plugged in and unrolled to actually work.  I explained to my son that the first mobile phones were large and strong enough to hammer nails.  My son is 7 and he can not even imagine a time before cable TV (at least 10 kids  channels to choose from PLUS all of the On Demand options to choose from.  He often asks me how we were able to learn things if our parents didn't know if we did not have the Internet... he quickly tunes out when I tell him we used books called encyclopedias.  He often ends these conversations with I am glad I live now as he likes electronics (a true male - even this early).   I actually get "cool" points from my kids as they enjoy checking out my web-page to see pictures of himself and his sister.    When I started my SPACE, it was so long ago and I really only used it to update pictures of my kids so the grandparents and family could see them.   I thought I was ahead of the time.. I had my own web page and did not have to code to maintain it.  :-)  

Somehow I was able to manage to stay away from the MySpace craze when it hit.  It was not really hard for me to stay away as I did not have a spare moment in my day to do anything but work or take care of my family.  As I developed more time, I created a page, but mostly so I could view what was going on as my sister and other close friends had pages.  I logged on, checked them out and have barely been back on since then (seriously just once or twice since).  Then I changed teams at MS and my new team and the "older" part of society was using FaceBook, so I created and have been trying to keep up on it.   I truly love seeing what other people are up to and checking out new pictures.  What I have a hard time keeping up with is all of the fun applications, game, quizzes, etc.   Every time, I now go to my page, I am amazed at how many cool things people are discovering and inviting me to participate in.  I am trying to figure it out and really use it to stay connected with friends and family.  At Mix08, I attended some panels that discussed the future of social networks, etc. and am excited about some of the new possibilities they discussed, so hopefully it will get easier for me.  Time to run, but I think I will try to write more often.  

So I am sorry tehat I was not able to blog for the last couple of days.  Thanks to those of you who are playing our scavenger hunt.  We did have our first winner on day one (very late on day one), but we still have one more prize package!! 

If you are trying to fill out the questions concerning my first TechEd, I thought I would spell it out here to help make it easier :)

My very first TechEd was 2001 in Dallas - I was the overall event owner.  In 2003, I moved into content management at TecEd and was the Windows, Security and Management track owner. 

Stop by to say hi!

--Ali

I arrived in Florida on Thursday to visit one of my best friends who moved here several years ago.  My timing always seems to match one of the tropical storms and this year was no exception as I was here for the arrival of TS Barry.  I actually enjoy the storms out here (as long as they stay storms) as I like the thunder, lightning, etc.   

Now I am here at the event.  This year the Security TLC is actually the color we claim it to be :) 

I personally love yellow and I am very excited about eh feeling in our area as it is bright and fun!  Mark (the co-track owner) and I are sitting at the Security Track Info counter getting ready for the event to kick off.  One might wonder what we do to get ready...

1. We attend on-site required meetings
2. We check in and make sure all things look the way they should
3. We then distribute all of the SWAG and collateral to the booths
4. We get our info counter ready for our promotion
5. We start drinking "hurrincanes" (just kidding)
6. We meet with all of our staff and temp staff and get ready and on the same page.

Actually, right now we are sitting in one of those meetings and we are ready.

Tomorrow we have an added chalk talk being presented by Michael Howard during the FIRST session.  Michael will be handing out signed copies of his latest book "Writing Secure Code for Windows Vista" plus one or two additional bonus prizes.  Stop by to get your copy! 

Gotta run for now....

Ali

I am so excited about the good weahter here in the PNW today!  It get's me really excited about WARM weather in FL.  I really don't enjoy how hot it is in FL, but for a week I can handle it.   

I am sitting here in our last track owner meeting before TechEd.  What is that?  It's the meeting where all of the track leads meet to plan and prepare content and the content elements for the event.  It's a fun meeting as we cover the logistical details, last minute changes or enhancements, etc.    Today I will be giong to the company store to pick up the much desired MS blue event shirts as well as check to see what cool items might have come in. 

I have been reviewng the final decks that are coming in and I am very excited about the content.   If you attend a session, I ask that you please complete the session evalustion survey at the end of the session.  It is so important for us to understand if you liked a session or if we missed something.  Not only is the info valuable to us, but every time you complete an eval you will be entered into a drawing for cool devices. 

I am taking off for a 4 day weekend.  I will be off, but not relaxing at all.  I am still trying to get my house on the market and have a lot of tasks to complete.....

I look forward to seeing you very soon! 

T-11 days and we will all be together at TechEd07.  This year I wanted to try to do something different and something that I could use my blog for.  As I already mentioned, the Security Track is running a scavenger hunt in our YELLOW TLC.  Well, yesterday I got permission to purchase an additional prize package and offer it to the FIRST person to correclty complete the scavenger hunt.   

I can't give too many details this early or my legal will have by butt!!  Here is the stuff I can tell you....

• You can only get the scavenger hunt questions off of the "TechEd - Security Track Virtaul Site (Look for a post from Brian Seitz with the exact URL if you want it earlier than later and of course I will post it later this week)
• The questions will need to be printed and you will be able to print the questions off at the event communicaitons network (CommNet)
• The prize package will consist of software, a digital video recorder and a mobile web cam and a kewl carrying bag to get it all home in

Got to run to a meeting... 

I can't believe that TechEd is almost here!  I am so excited, especially since today it feels like a FALL day here in WA!!!  It is very gray and gloomy and it has been raining exceptionally heavy for this time of year.  I think I have warned before that I am a horrible blogger, but I have a really good excuse (at least lately).  I have been very busy buying a new house.  So maybe that is not a good excuse for everyone, but I think it is and I have been taking many unexpected vacation days to get all the things in order to close on the new one and I still need to get my old one on the market.  So if you are looking to move to Kirkland, WA... let me know and I have a house I can sell you.

Why I am so excited about this year's event... because I am the Security Track owner and I love my track and everything assocaited with it.  This year the Yellow TLC will be so much FUN and buzzing with excitement.  We will be hosting "Securiyt Smoothies" and we will be providing extra comfy lounging spots for you.  Not only will the event be buzzing on-site, but we are also launching a TechEd Security virtual site to accompany the overall event one.  You may have been reading one of my colleague's blogs, Brian Seitz who is the owner of the site as he has been asking for recommendations from you on what you want to see.  We are not only hosting the security content relevant to the event, but you will also find audiocast of interviews with top security experts including Mark Russinovich, Michael Howard and Steve Riley and much, much, more.  One of the fun things that you can do and win a prize (if you attend in person) will be to play  the Security Scavenger Hunt!  The only way to play will be to log on to our virtual site to get the questions and full details.  So I will blog more this week and next week and reveal the URL to our virtual site as well as well as more details about our game. 

I have to go and dig myself out of my backlog of mail.  More later....

--Ali

41 days until TechEd..... I can't believe that it is almost here.  It is sneaking up very fast and I am VERY excited as we have a lot of great things planned this year!!  I am currently finalizing the details the fun stuff for our Technical Learning Center.  What do I mean by fun stuff??  You know the latte's and other snacks and give-a-ways and stuff like that.  I will give more details once I can and if my legal will let me.  Bottom line you will want to make sure you come by the yellow TLC and especially the security area to check stuff out.  

Have you scheduled you week yet??  Make sure you plan on staying through the end of the day on Friday.  If you don't you will miss kick butt sessions by both Mark Russinovich and Steve Riley.  That's right as they are presenting on the last day and you will not want to miss them!!!!    I konw I will be there!

Something else new the security track is working on for this year's event.  It will be a virtual site that will accompany the event, our plan is to highlight experts, provide additional audio and video clips.  We are even planning on hosting a web cam of our area so if you can't be there, you can see what is going on.  Perhaps we will let you use it to wave at you boss and show them how much fun you are having at TechEd.   Stay tuned as I will let you know the URL and the date it will launch via my blog.