I Heart TechEd

At the moment there is a contest to tweet why you love TechEd. I've sent out a couple of tweets with some basics, but I thought of a reason I love TechEd that takes more than 140 characters.

In 2012 I was at TechEd in Orlando. Like the previous TechEds  I was meeting tons of great people. At the Springboard party I was talking with a gentleman who was a teacher named Paul Schmidt. One of his specialties was networking. At that time I had just passed the Network+ and was studying for the CCNA.

Through our conversation I mentioned a couple things I was struggling with and without missing a beat Paul offered to take some time to help understand the concepts. The next day we skipped a session period, found a comfortable place to hang out, and Paul showed me how to master subnetting and what else I needed to focus on for my test.

Paul took time out of his day to help me when he could be learning something or talking to another expert.
That fact was not lost on me then and even now I am extremely appreciative. Another thing Paul did to help me was email me some quizzes to make sure I understood everything. Maybe it's just that he is a teacher and enjoys sharing knowledge, but he went above and beyond to help me and I appreciate it to this day.

This story is just one example of how people have helped at TechEd. I have found that my fellow attendees are eager to help when they can. There have been many conversations where I've gotten technical  advice as well as career device.

The Krewe

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention another group of people that have been extremely helpful, and that is The Krewe. During TechEd the Krewe will give you someone to hang out with so you're not wandering around all alone. The Krewe comes from all walks of life, from all around the world, with varying experience in different technologies.

The variety of people in The Krewe is what makes this group of people so helpful. And that help is available 365 days a year, not just during TechEd. Join the Facebook group and you can fire away any question and chances are someone will either have the answer, or know where to find it.

Members of The Krewe range from the greenest Help Desk person to some pretty elite and savvy Microsoft employees/experts. All are welcome so if you don't have a Facebook and/or Twitter account, create one just to join this group. But watch out for Henrik.