Ok all of you Worldwide Partner Conference 2011 attendees, it’s that time again! Yesterday the WPC Connect site went live as well as the WPC Connect Wall, both of which are fantastic tools to help you connect with other WPC11 attendees while you are at Worldwide Partner Conference. Through WPC Connect, you can search for other WPC11 attendees based on a number of criteria and then schedule meetings with them either at designated WPC Connect tables or at any other impromptu meeting location of your choice. In addition, there is a “Maintain my WPC Events Calendar” button to let you view and maintain all of your meetings in one central view, along with being able to view keynotes, sessions, and personal calendar items you establish as part of your WPC11 experience so time management is even easier for you at WPC11. Speaking of making it easier, there’s even a “Download to Microsoft Outlook” link on your Personal Event Calendar page so that you can bring your WPC11 calendar into Outlook for easy integration and viewing.

As the two “characters” above said, WPC Connect and the WPC Connect Wall are open to all Worldwide Partner Conference 2011 attendees, including folks like Bill Hole that I recently posted his SBSC success story here on the blog.

When you visit your WPC attendee page (or when you register for WPC 2011), there is an option to opt in for WPC Connect and the WPC Connect Wall (the wall requires you to upload a picture so people can find you). Once you opt in, you can quickly access both WPC Connect and the WPC Connect Wall directly from the Digital WPC page by clicking on the “Connect tab:”
	From the Connect page, you will have quick access to your WPC Connect page to start performing your searches and establishing your meeting requests, as well as the WPC Connect Wall to view and search for attendees there. And yes, they let me back in again this year.
Another really nice feature for this year is the Bing Maps version of WPC Connect that lets you find partners by specific geography. Here’s a quick snapshot of this really cool tool:

So what are you waiting for?

1. Get your WPC 2011 registration in if you haven’t already (we’d LOVE to have you join us for the greatest Microsoft Partner event of the year!)
2. Opt into WPC Connect
3. Upload your picture and join the WPC Connect Wall
4. Start establishing your WPC 11 Connect meeting requests and calendar

Every year one consistent piece of feedback we hear from partners who attend Worldwide Partner Conference is how incredibly valuable all of the one to one, personal meetings and new contacts they establish while at Worldwide Partner Conference are to their businesses each and every year. WPC Connect and WPC Connect Wall are both tools designed to help you in your quest to find and establish these new and existing relationships for you and your company as a Microsoft partner.

Did you find this information helpful? If so, you may want to make sure you are utilizing all of the areas I share information online, such as: my Facebook page, my Twitter account, my LinkedIn account, and my blog.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on TWITTER, LinkedIn, and RSS and see “What I’m thinking”
Director, Worldwide Partner Experience
Microsoft Corporation
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights