What to Expect at a Launch Event

There are a number of Launch Events taking place next week all over the United States, from Pittsburgh to Albuquerque to Hartford to Alaska and Wisconsin. In addition to Windows Server 2008, the events are also the coming out party for SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008, and they feature experts, test drives, trial versions of the software to take home, and, like any good tech event, swag.

John Peterson of ASP 101 went to a Launch Event and detailed what he saw and did while he was there.

On the swag:

Fujitsu stood out with two of the best pieces of swag... a rubber duckie and a LED keychain flashlight. Either one alone would have put them near the top of the list. Offering both sealed the deal.

Editor's Note: I don't think swag ever recovered from the dot-com bust.

On the food:

Considering what often passes for food at this type of event, the turkey sandwich was quite good and even included bacon! A bottle of water, another apple, and a Snickers bar rounded out the meal and left me relatively impressed. The food was nothing fancy, but as far as box lunches go, it was quite good and the reusable cooler if came in was quite nice as well.

As for the sessions, John reports that after the keynote they split the group into four:

• Developer
• Infrastructure IT Pro
• Data Platform IT Pro
• Technology Decision Maker (TDM) (until 2:00pm) / Partner (starting @ 2:00pm)

Get your swag, your turkey sandwich, and your technical information on Microsoft's newest products by signing up for a lunch event near you.

Update: Keith Combs added the video of some interviews he did at the Dallas Launch Event to his blog if you want to check them out.