Tech Night Live – September 2005

Please plan to attend one of the SIX cities where we will be holding Tech Night Live in September.

•  Agenda
  • All events are 630p to 930p
  • Attendance is recommended for any technical individuals working for Microsoft Partners serving customers in the Small and Mid-market space
  • Topics covered will include:
    • Windows Vista
    • Office Professional 2003
    • Live Communications Server 2005
    •  Office Communicator 2005
    • “Tools from Microsoft”
    • Windows Server Update Services (WSUS)
    • Windows Server System for Midsize Businesses Promotion
    • Support Lifecycle
    • Heartland Area resources including additional people & resources who have been added to our team this fiscal year to help our partners
    • As always, dinner and beverages will be provided.
• Dates & Registration – Below are the dates, cities and Event IDs that you can use to register for the Tech Night Live event in the city nearest to you. Register at http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/

Date      City         EventID      Demo Nominations due

9/12/05   Southfield   1032280105   8/22/05

9/19/05   Cincinnati   1032280123   8/29/05

9/21/05   Cleveland    1032280124   8/31/05

9/22/05   Columbus     1032280125   9/1/05

9/26/05   Nashville    1032280126   9/5/05

9/27/05   Louisville   1032280127   9/6/05

• Demo Contest - For the first time ever, we’re holding a Partner Demo Contest. 
•  Rules
• There will be 3 partners presenting per city
• Demo MUST be focused on a solution based on Microsoft technologies
• Partners will be allowed 15 minutes to demo
• Demo MUST NOT be a commercial for a partner product (eg. ISV product or hosting solution.)
• Nominations must be submitted in advance to hlapts@online.microsoft.com (remove the online.)
• Nominations are due by the date listed above
• If you are one of the 3 partners accepted to demo in any given city, you will be notified at least 2 weeks before the event so that you have plenty of time to prepare.
• All attendees at the Tech Night Live event will be voting on the best demo on criteria including a) presenters knowledge of topic, b) how compelling is the demo, c) did the demo talk about scenarios and/or solutions or just products? and others. Marc and Steve will be awarding bonus points on objective criteria like Did the demo come from TDT? And subjective criteria like “The Wow Factor.”
• Each of the partners who demo WILL win a prize. 1^st and 2^nd runners up will receive software or books and the local Champion Demo Dude (or dudette) per city will win an awesome surprise prize to be announced at Tech Night. You WILL want to win this!!!
• After all six Tech Night events, Marc and Steve will determine a Heartland Champion Demo dude (or dudette) who will win airfare, hotel, $ for expenses and admission to the SQL Server 2005 and Visual Studio 2005 launch event in San Francisco in November.