I've spent the last few days up here in Chicago, at the Chicago Hilton on Michigan Avenue, attending DEC (Directory Experts Conference) 2008.
It's unquestionably the premier conference for Microsoft directory and identity geeks. There are sessions that dive into directory topics deeper than you'll find anywhere.
DEC is a little bit of a different conference because, though it's expanded to nearly 1000 attendees, it retains its small conference feel and proudly has small conference traditions. Where else would you have
- Reverence for the recurring theme of rubber chickens
- An annual, and usually bizarre, challenge from a high level Microsoft program manager to a customer
- Over 100 Microsoft attendees, which is about a 1 to 7 ratio. This is the place where you almost have to avoid having lunch or 1:1 talks with Microsoft directory or identity service team members.
It's also the one time in the year you can be sure to catch up with a broad range of your fellow directory experts. The DS MVPs have a second chance a month or so later at the annual MVP Summit in Redmond, but for the many many really good and broad-ranging experts that aren't MVPs, this is the place. So, it's been nice doing the catch-up dance, especially as I've changed jobs and people are curious.
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