TechEd Insights: Memories of TechEd (ITForum) by Dan Pilling

One of my memories of TechEd from the past was IT Forum(the previous name for the event) 2004, in Copenhagen.  My first role at Microsoft was working with universities in the UK.  As part of the activities associated to IT Forum I had organized a session with Bob Muglia, a senior executive at Microsoft.  I can remember having to provide Bob’s team with a comprehensive briefing document that had taken me hours to fill out and having to send personal invites to the customers attending.  I had just over 100 senior representatives from UK Universities waiting for him to arrive. 

About 5 minutes before he was due to present, I received an international phone call, which turned out to be Bob’s assistant.  He told me that Bob had taken off from Paris airport, the plane he was in had developed a problem and had to be diverted back to Paris.  This meant there was no chance he was going to be able to present.  It was one those times where you have to deliver bad news and reset expectations.  We ended up delivering a session about how we could work better with Universities that was really well received.   That was one of my lasting memories of TechEd/ IT Forum.

If you would like to find out more about TechEd Europe 2012 then pop over to the website and check out the blog.