Maxx Dopp here.

TechEd 2007 began this morning in Orlando, Fl. The sun was shining and the weather perfect. But like most good geeks, instead of hanging around the pool or the parks, over 12,000 of us gathered in the dark caverns of the Orlando Convention Center.

This is my first TechEd, can you believe it? I guess I am not a big a geek as I thought I was if this is my first trek to the conventions of all conventions in the Microsoft world. This should be exciting.

Of course, I am only a DBA geek, so I can’t always follow along with all the non-DBA geeks hording around. But during my five days here at TechEd, I’ll try to give you a little insight from the perspective of a DBA who is a TechEd newbie.

At the 8:30AM keynote, we were surprised by a visit from Christopher Lloyd, the actor who played Dr. Emmett L. Brown, the nutty profession who created the DeLorean time machine.

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And to top that off, an actual DeLorean time machine was on stage. After this opening, then the typical TechEd keynote was presented, and quickly forgotten by most everyone who attended.

After the keynote, the first session began, and the hordes of geeks started hitting all of the booths for free stuff. Even as I write this, there is a long line behind me, waiting for free SQL Server 2005 hats, shirts, and other goodies.

Oh, there is one little announcement from TechEd of some interest to DBAs. SQL Server 2008 (Katmai) has been announced, and the first public CTP is being distributed. If you can’t be at TechEd, you can download the CTP from Microsoft’s website.

More later.

Maxx

4 June, 10:20 AM Orlando, FL