Summary: The Scripting Wife talks about Windows PowerShell Saturday 007 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, is gone. He is busy taking pictures, and conversing with various people attending Windows PowerShell Saturday here in Charlotte, North Carolina. Instead of the Script Monkey (aka, Ed) you have me, The Scripting Wife at the helm.
I would like to say that it is nice, sunny, and warm here in Charlotte. Often it is. But today, it is actually rainy and cold. Instead of hampering attendance, I think it actually boosted it. I mean, what is better to do on a rainy Saturday than listen to some of the best Windows PowerShell people in the business and hang out with fellow Windows PowerShell geeks?
Community is the thing
The great thing about Windows PowerShell Saturday is community. What I mean is that it is a great chance to talk with fellow Windows PowerShell people, to exchange contact information with people who have similar interests, and to learn from fellow experts. As you can see from the following photo, PowerShell Saturday drew an amazing crowd.
Of course, it is not only community
Of course, it is not only community. The speakers at Windows PowerShell Saturday are world class. For example, two sessions were presented by Microsoft premier field engineer, Ashley McGlone. He is an Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) expert who has helped some of the world’s largest companies with their migration and deployment strategies. He is also an expert in Windows PowerShell, and he routinely teaches the Microsoft Premier Windows PowerShell class. Ashley commonly speaks at some of the largest tech conferences in the world, and he came to Charlotte to give a couple of presentations.
But it starts before it starts
Many conferences have a speaker’s dinner prior to the event. With Windows PowerShell Saturday, we extend the speaker’s dinner to anyone who wants to participate. So in Charlotte, for the last two years, we host the preconference dinner at the Scripting House. We have a lot of people who come from out of town to attend the conference or to speak at the conference. They often arrive the night before, so rather than spending the night in a lonely, boring hotel room, we invite them over. It has proven to be a wonderful success. Many interesting conversations take place in a relaxed and informal situation. Many of our guests even bring their kids for a swim.
Well, I need to get back to things. Join us tomorrow for a post by Honorary Scripting Guy and Windows PowerShell MVP, Sean Kearney, as he talks about his first Windows PowerShell Saturday. It will be an awesome post.
~Scripting Wife
I invite you to follow me on Twitter and Facebook. If you have any questions, send email to me at scripter@microsoft.com, or post your questions on the Official Scripting Guys Forum. See you tomorrow. Until then, peace.
Ed Wilson, Microsoft Scripting Guy