Windows Embedded at TechEd 2008 - My thoughts, and request for feedback.

re: Windows Embedded at TechEd 2008 - My thoughts, and request for feedback.

Paul Tobey (eMVP) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 22:57:03 GMT

Mike,

3. I'm sure Arizona would love you have you (especially in summer when hotel rates are lower here, and temperatures are higher). Current Tucson weather is 91F and 8% (yes, 8%), relative humidity.

As to questions,

More online content? Yes, absolutely. I can suggest a few things: building a phone using CE6 and cellcore (yes, a full-blown tutorial), cloning and modifying XYZ (you pick the item, but NetUI would be a good one, as would the Explorer shell), and maybe optimizing a display driver for CE6.

Channel 9/Webcast? This depends on the topic. Product/feature announcements work better in Webcast format where there are a lot of questions, but I think that discussions of technologies and how-tos work better when fully planned and executed from your end. Ditto detailed how-tos.

Tech focused or solution focused? I prefer technology-focused. There's less chance of ending up in a session that has zero interest for you. That is, higher probability with tech focused of hitting something that I might need.

Why no TechEd? Value per dollar spent is too low for an embedded guy.

Paul T.

re: Windows Embedded at TechEd 2008 - My thoughts, and request for feedback.

Dean Ramsier — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 20:17:35 GMT

I think you summed up the content challenge pretty well. There is simply no way to deliver the kind of content that was at MEDC with only a fraction of the time slots available and a much less experienced audience. 25 total slots, divied up among XP, CE, and POS. I agree with Paul, especially having been there this year. There simply isn't enough meat to justify attending unless things change in the future.

I also agree that in the future, in depth tech focused slots during the week. I'd also recommend keeping Monday an intro; the model this year was backwards from previous years and I for one didn't realize the kind of content I might have been interested in was only available Monday.

My vote is to bring back MEDC, but I get the feeling that isn't under consideration :)

- Dean

re: Windows Embedded at TechEd 2008 - My thoughts, and request for feedback.

Lawrence 'Larry" Ricci MVP Windows Embedded — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 06:11:15 GMT

Mike I was there for only one day, but here is my take:

Q: embedded content: Will need more. Break it down

Smart (e.g. Cellcore, Drivers, etc)

Q: online video/tutorial/lab content: The reality of business travel and timing is such you should use every conference as a way to generate content for later download/single user experience on single user schedule.

Q: video content or WebCast. Webcast saved. With attached 'forum' style Q&A. Let it live for a year or so.

Q: technology focused or solution based: Need both, reasonable mix. Having TechEd with embedded + big windows should be exploited for the solutions POV

Q: Why not more people at Teched for longer?

We all miss the 'big' MEDC but frankly I really like the opportunity to learn more about Biz Talk and other technologies. I think what MS need is one show from the logistics point of view, two shows from the POV of promotion. Maybe something like MIX and MEDC next to each other last year, where synergy was accidental. Make synergy happen. There are many common topics- VS, Silverlight, etc

Hope this helps

re: Windows Embedded at TechEd 2008 - My thoughts, and request for feedback.

Walter — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:37:55 GMT

Mike,

I guess I was the target audience for moving MEDC to TechEd. I’m an enterprise developer with no previous embedded experience and am now way psyched to build my first embedded app.

However, I could see that the sessions offered would be not so valuable to someone more experienced. I think that more in-depth sessions focused on specific solutions (building a media device using CE 6.0, or building a Thin Client using Windows Embedded Standard etc...) would service both sides of the experience scale.

That's my two cents, for what it's worth.

PS. I loved your lunch Q&A session.

re: Windows Embedded at TechEd 2008 - My thoughts, and request for feedback.

Keith Collins — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:41:51 GMT

I think I got more out of the preconference than the individual sessions, but I was looking to learn as much as possible about WinCE6 BSP & Drivers. I was dissapointed that WM7 was not presented. Some of the sessions seemed to have repeat content and the sessions held in the Yellow Theater were hard to view unless I sat up front. The hands on labs were very useful for learning the capabilities of some of the tools I do not use. My goal is to pass the WinCE exam by end of summer. I feel I am now better prepared and have gained access to lots of new training materials. Having the conference in Boston would be cool.

Back from Tech-Ed

Dave Massy's Blog — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:43:47 GMT

Tech-Ed continues this week with " IT Week ". Last week was " Dev Week ". I'm back in redmond now after

re: Windows Embedded at TechEd 2008 - My thoughts, and request for feedback.

paul — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 03:53:26 GMT

Where are the photos of the Embedded community?

re: Windows Embedded at TechEd 2008 - My thoughts, and request for feedback.

Todd MacMillan — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:45:45 GMT

Q: content? More sessions like the pre-conf full day presentations, please. I wanted to see both CE sessions, but had to choose one. I'd also like to see more in-depth tech content during the week, with 1/2 day or full day sessions. I prefer more details and fewer PowerPoint summary slides.

Q: Tutorial/labs? Yes, provided they are completely downloadable for local playback. Topics? creating debugger extensions, driver performance, SDIO drivers, RIL/Cellphone driver and security issues.

Q: videos? On-line videos are not my preference. My internet pipe is shared and video playback is quite erratic. Downloading the content for local playback is better for me. Webcast? Same issue with network bandwidth limitations.

Q: tech or solution focus? Yes... As I want to see more total content, having more of both is my vote.

The sessions that I enjoyed the most were the .NET Micro Framework. They were having fun with their live demos and sample hardware, and I enjoyed the content of the sessions and watching them have fun. The lunch q&a was also good.

ps Congratulation on the new job!