2015: It Was a Very Good Year
As 2015 moves into our collective rearview mirror, this feels like a good to time to take stock of all the Visual Studio Live! goodness that has happened in the last 10 months.
Las Vegas, March 16–20
Our first event of the year, Las Vegas, always attracts a lively crowd, because, you know, it's Vegas. Oh, and St. Patrick's Day. But the attendees got their fill of learning, too, as the keynotes were hard-hitting, from John Montgomery's and Kieran Mockford's Visual Studio 2015 preview to the sharp-witted, eye-opening address from Billy Hollis.
Austin, June 1–4
Visual Studio Live! returned to Austin for the first time in eight years in June. Since that last time there, Austin has grown into a massive tech hub, which welcomed the attendees warmly with good weather, unforgettable "bat cruises" and engaging, relevant keynotes from Microsoft's Jay Schmelzer and natrual UI expert Tim Huckaby.
San Francisco, June 15–18
Hot on the heels of Austin, the Visual Studio Live! code trip pulled into another technological hotbed, San Francisco. Attendees enjoyed panoramic views of the City by the Bay atop our host hotel, The Fairmont, and were treated to a redux of Jay Schmelzer's Austin keynote on The Future of Application Development—Visual Studio 2015 and the Microsoft .NET Framework 2015 and were informed by Falafel Software's Kris Lankford and Visual Studio Live! Conference Co-Chair, Brian Randell that if they didn't get started in the cloud, they'd be left behind.
Redmond, Aug. 10–14
This event's always a special one, as it takes place right at Microsoft Headquarters in Redmond, Wash. An entire track was devoted to Microsoft speakers, which featured legends like Scott Hunter and Scott Hanselman. Attendees got to experience life as a "Blue Badge," dining at the Mixer with employees, visiting the company store and rubbing elbows with insiders at the Ask the Experts event. Daniel Moth took Visual Studio 2015 for a Test Drive in the Tuesday keynote, and Thomas Fennel dug into the Universal App Platform during the Wednesday keynote.
New York, Sept. 28–Oct. 1
With two tech heavyweights slated to keynote, Visual Studio Live! in Brooklyn didn't disappoint. Microsoft Technical Fellow and Product Unit Manager for Team Foundation Server Brian Harry kicked off the Tuesday keynote with a message about Embracing DevOps with Visual Studio. Mary Jo Foley joined the event on Wednesday with colleague and Visual Studio Live! Conference Co-Chair Andrew Brust for a Q&A on Microsoft 3.0: New Strategy, New Relevance.
Orlando, Nov. 16–20
Visual Studio Live! Orlando is in its fourth year of anchoring the Live! 360 event, which combines Visual Studio Live!, TechMentor, SQL Server Live!, SharePoint Live! and Modern Apps Live! under one roof for one price. By far the largest event of the year, attendees can join any conference session they wish, totaling more than 180 over the course of the week. Keynotes include Mary Jo Foley's Q&A with Andrew Brust on Monday evening and Conference Chairs Don Jones and Brian Randell discussing what DevOps means to you on Wednesday. More information about the event can be found at live360events.com.
Posted by Lafe Low on 10/29/2015