Don't Miss Out on some Fun Stuff

Please tell me you've seen the tweets and gotten the emails! 

I'm co-chairing PacITPros 2nd TechDays SF - two days jam packed with a crazy menu of sessions to choose from, brought to you by some great speakers - many of which you'd pay 6 times the amount to see at TechEd.

Not going to TechEd?  Then this is the place for you to get the much of what you need to know about Cloud, Azure, PowerShell, plus some extra goodies on SharePoint 2013, Lync, Remote Desktop and Hyper-V!

The fine folks at Xantrion are sponsoring us and we've got our schedule available as a mobile app by EventBoard.  So go register now.  Otherwise, you are making me feel bad.

Speaking of Azure, if you haven't done the 90 day free trial, it's totally worth looking at.  Microsoft is even running a Virutal Networking challenge where you can win some pretty decent prizes, like a Surface Pro. 

Because 365 Days to XP EOS was SO YESTERDAY!

You probably saw it mentioned a million times yesterday. End of Support for Windows XP is April 8, 2014. Today, it's probably old news. Or you've noted it and moved on. 

Well, unless you've moved to Windows 7 or Windows 8, you still need to pay attention - yesterday's news or not.  Check out the Springboard Series Blog and Steven Rose's post on the countdown to the end of XP Support.

And in case you missed them, here are a few other products with End of Support dates in the recent past or near future.

Server 2003 - 7/14/2015
SQL Server 2000 - 4/9/2013
Office 2003 - 4/8/2014

Exchange 2010 SP 1 - 1/8/2013
Office 2007 SP 2 - 1/8/2013

TechDays SF is May 2nd/3rd - Check out our speaker list on Twitter!

This year, I'm a co-chair for the PacITPro's TechDays SF.  If you didn't attend this event in 2012, you should take a close look at what we are offering this May.  The event is two days and we are offering multiple tracks with a variety of sessions on Windows Server, Client, Cloud and PowerShell all for the bargin price of $300. Please visit www.techdays.org for more information or to register.

We are also using EventBoard Mobile for easy access to the most up to date information and schedule.  I recommend downloading that app for your Windows Phone, iPhone or Android.

Our speakers include some very well-known, knowledgable folks who've spoken at other popular conferences like TechMentor and TechEd. Most of them have Twitter handles - if you aren't following these people yet, I'm sure you'll find some interesting enough to add to your list.

• @VirtualChrista - From  Microsoft, Christa Anderson will be presenting two sessions, "Delivering Applications with Remote Desktop Services in  Windows Server 2012" and "The User Configuration Cage Match".
• @scevans - Steve Evans will be presenting "IIS: Choose Your Own Adventure" and "Designing Hyper-V for the Real World".
• @nhawkins - Nick Hawkins will be co-presenting "Designing Hyper-V for the Real World" with @scevans.
• @grouppolicyguy - Darren Mar-Elia will be breaking out of his Group Policy shell to bring you "!0 Tips for Success with Private Cloud".
• @gblock - Glenn Block will be lighting up the room with "Managing the Cloud from the Command Line".
• @alexandair - Joining us from Serbia, Aleksandar Nikolic will be presenting "Remote Management of Windows Server 2012 with  Windows PowerShell".
• @cacallahan - For those of you who support or dabble in SharePoint, CA Callahan will join us again to bring you two sessions on SharePoint 2013.
• @ubergeekgirl - Our fearless leader of PacITPros in Southern California, Jessica DeVita will be part of the Women in Technology panel discussion.  Joining her will be @adfskitteh, @VirtualChrista and me, @jkc137. 
• @KevinRemde - Also from Microsoft, Kevin Remde will bring us "Windows 8 Deployment" for those of you planning to move beyond Windows 7 and "Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V".
• @chrisavis - Often PacITPros' host for our monthly meetings at Microsoft's office, Chris Avis will be bringing us two session on Azure, including Azure IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service).
• @mminasi - Mark Minasi, one of the household names for those of us reading technical books, will be presenting several sessions, so be sure to put one on your schedule: "Manage Server 2012 Like a Pro or, Better, Like an Evil Overlord!", "Changes to Storage in Windows 2102: Storage Gets a Bit SANer", "Understanding Dynamic Access Control: the File Share Recharged, Reimaged and Compliance-Enabled".
• @richardhicks - If you are looking for the latest in Remote Access, don't miss Richard Hicks and his "Next Generation Remote Access with Windows Server 2012 DirectAccess" session.
• @richcampbell - Richard Campbell will be presenting "People, Process, Tools - The Essence of DevOps" as well as host the Run As Radio: Women in Technology Panel
• @adfskitteh - Part of the Idenity & Access Management team at Microsoft, Laura Hunter will be covering "Strong Authentication for BYOD" and "How Microsoft Has Adopted Office 365 and Azure"
• @JeffHicks - Need more PowerShell? Choose from "Troubleshooting Active Directory with Windows PowerShell", "10 PowerShell Mistakes, Trips and Traps and How to Avoid Them" and "File and Folder Provisioning with PowerShell and Windows Server 2012".  Want more Hyper-V? Learn how to "Build a Windows 8 Hyper-V Lab"

We have a few other speakers in the works and are looking forward to putting on a great event, please join us - you won't be disappointed!