MMS 2007 - Friday
Summary: Friday has to be the most emotional day of the conference. It's subdued because a lot of people are sleeping in or have left, but the die-hards have a last chance to get some more and to say good-bye. There are good sessions to be attended, and it's unfortunate that too many people miss out on the goodness.
I'm writing this entry after the fact, back at home. It was a wonderful week, as always. I had a great number of conversations with MMS newbies, including guys from various parts of the world, small organizations, and huge organizations. I had even more conversations with MMS veterans, product team guys, and (occasionally) my own team members (of which we had 6 this year - a record by far). I come back with the strength of the community, which is awesome. I do not lack for motivation or inspiration.
On the other hand, it's great to be back to my family (including my puppy, for those that saw the Thursday keynote) and my technology. Family, non-techie friends, HDTV, great sound, great tunes, my bed, etc. cannot be reproduced on the road, so it is good to be home.
I finally got brave enough to look at my main session's review score, and it turns out it came in number 11! That's out of 126 sessions, so quite good. The next time I do this presentation I'll have more technical content to add, and a hierarchy diagram. The Ask The Expert's session (which I just helped with) seemed to go really well (as evidenced by the hands up to ask questions towards the end) but got more average scores. I'm sure Rod Trent and I (pthomsen@microsoft.com) would be very pleased to hear more ideas on how we can improve that one. We've got ideas, but it's not clear what the ideal approach would be.
I'll see you next year!