Onward and UpwardKeith Ward, Editor in Chief, Visual Studio Magazine
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Build Conference Goes from Zero to Sold Out in an Hour
If you blinked, you missed it. If you were on the phone, or out on a run, at the store or in a meeting, and you didn't sign up for Microsoft's upcoming Build conference, you're out of luck.
It appears that the show sold out in an hour. That's One. Single. Hour. Sixty little minutes.
Wow. Fortunately for us press types, things don't work quite the same way. I was in the middle of a press briefing -- with Microsoft, ironically enough -- when Build registration came and went in the time it takes to watch a Star Trek episode. So I'm set for Build, but many, many others aren't.
That bites, as does the timing of the show: Oct. 30 - Nov. 2. Doesn't anyone in Redmond have a calendar? None of those people noticed that Oct. 31 is Halloween? That's a pretty big holiday for lots of folks. I'm wondering if Microsoft is planning a massive party for that night, seeing as how they're keeping us from tricking and treating. I assume, of course, that the timing is much more due to the release of Windows 8 than anything else, but still...
I doubt there will be many earth-shattering announcements; most of those -- Windows 8, Visual Studio 2012, .NET 4.5 -- have been made. I'll be very interested in seeing how Microsoft positions its Surface tablet, given the growing unease by some OEM partners about hardware competition from Redmond. I'll also be watching closely for announcements related to Windows Phone 8, which could be the big deal in terms of news.
So there will be a lot going on; we'll try to keep those of you who had something else to do that hour informed.
Posted by Keith Ward on 08/08/2012