After the event at BRG, we drove through Vienna to Microsoft Austria. On the way, we saw some beautiful sights, but sadly, we didn’t have a chance to visit any; I’ll definitely make a point of returning to this beautiful city when I have more time to explore! Once we arrived at the Microsoft Austria facility, which is located in the same building as L’Oreal (I’m not sure why I find that funny, but I do), we headed to a nearby restaurant for lunch where I had a traditional Viennese meal of Wiener Schnitzel and pomme frites. Yum!

Ken didn’t mention it in his blog about the morning event, but Michael Swoboda, the partner that helped pull the Austrian events together, was watching our progress to Vienna on Glympse and actually met the bus when it arrived at 2:30 in the morning. He demonstrated that same level of excitement throughout the day’s events, and it showed in the enthusiasm of the attendees. The afternoon’s event was largely business decision makers who were very excited to hear about Windows 7 and how it can be maximized with Windows Server 2008 R2, desktop virtualization, Exchange Server 2010, and certifications. They asked hard questions that clearly showed their interest in how these technologies could be used in their organizations.

After the event, we had a reception with roasted chestnuts, roasted potatoes, and traditional warm punches that made me think of the holidays.  Again, yum (it just occurred to me that I’m eating some great food on this trip). I suspect that Vienna is incredibly beautiful during the holidays. During the reception, we networked with attendees and answered even more questions about the new functionality in each of these products. The evening ended with a group dinner with our colleagues from Microsoft Austria. All in all, it was another great day on the bus!

After a weekend in Amsterdam, where most of us took some time for some sightseeing, we had to get back to work on the bus tour. Over the weekend we said goodbye to David Elfassy and hello to Ian Hameroff, who will be presenting Exchange Server 2010, and Stephen Rose, who will be presenting Windows 7 this week.

Today was by far our busiest day with four events planned…two of which were at the same time. As a result, we had to split into two teams with Ian, Stephen, and Ken going to CompuTrain while Melissa, Tjeerd, Bob, Chris, and I went to Isential in Zwolle. Tjeerd introduced the event and the team in Dutch, so we are hoping that he said mostly nice things about us. He also did his Windows 7 presentation in Dutch. Because Ken had to be at the other event, we invited a guest speaker, Maarten Goet, who is a Springboard Technical Expert Panel (STEP) member and very knowledgeable about Windows Server 2008 R2. He lives in the area and speaks Dutch as well, so I was the only presenter who spoke in English although I did use one of the two Dutch words that I know in my presentation (“good morning”—the other being “thank you,” which I forgot to use at the end of my presentation).  

This was another spectacular event with more than 120 attendees. It was held in Isential’s brand new facility – in fact this is the week that they open and the painters were still taking care of the last details. Get this, the training facilities are inside the soccer stadion in Zwolle. Dual screens and state of the art PCs everywhere AND one of the classrooms overlooks the field. I wonder how much work is actually done when there is a game, but the seats must be great! The Isential team was excited to have us at their location and served breakfast of donuts, bagels, fruit, and cereal.

By the way, I had a great time this weekend in Amsterdam. It is a beautiful city with an amazing history (~100 kilometers (63 miles) of canals, the canals are 3 meters deep, all 900 of the old fashioned windmills are national monuments but only 200 are still in operation). And let me tell you about the stroopwaffles…they gotta be the tastiest thing on the whole planet. If you find yourself in Amsterdam, they are a must have. I’ll be thinking about them long after I’m gone.

It’s 6:00pm on Thursday night, and I’m still in my office because I want to make sure I have an Internet connection for my MCT Virtual Summit presentation on psychometrics. It would be just my luck to lose my connection if I did it from home, so here I am. It’s the end of our fiscal year, which means everyone’s scrambling to finish up their commitments (those pesky things that drive our performance reviews), and I really should be using this time doing actual work. Instead, I found myself thinking about how much fun I had on the bus–meeting people, seeing the impact learning has on people’s lives, and of course, playing Guitar Hero World Tour, which led me to looking through all the pictures that I took. So, to celebrate the one month, one week, one day anniversary our arrival at Tech Ed, I thought I’d share a little something that I learned about everyone on the bus. Consider, this your human interest piece for the day…

Dana: It turns out she’s the reason for my Twilight series addiction. She got my manager hooked who, in turn, got me hooked. Next, on the list The Host. I also suspect that my surprise birthday party (and yes, I was very surprised) was largely her idea. That was definitely a birthday to remember. Oh, and she may be Guitar Hero junkie (lead singer (see Sweet Home Alabama) and drums).

Ken: As far as romance stories go, Ken has a good one about how he started dating his wife, and I love a good romance story (see my Twilight addiction). He didn’t play Guitar Hero with us because he was making sure we got where we needed to go. Being a Bruce Springsteen fan, though, he’s probably a closet Guitar Hero junkie, especially if they ever come out with a Bruce Springsteen version.

Tjeerd: He loves comic books, and he does a mean Elvis impersonation (imagine someone with a Dutch accent impersonating Elvis saying “Windows 7, baby”—I still giggle when I do). He never played Guitar Hero with us. He claimed he was doing work, but I think he was actually reading comic books.

Ryan: He is a great story teller, and he has some funny stories.  Seriously, play two truths and a lie with him sometime. I guarantee you’ll laugh. I also suspect that he may have some daredevil in him; after all, he did go indoor paragliding with Ken in Las Vegas. Guitar Hero junkie (bass, guitar, drums, backup singer (see No Sleep ‘til Brooklyn))

Sarah: Her sense of humor and appreciation for sarcasm are a lot like mine, but you know, whatever. Guitar Hero junkie (lead and backup singer)

Elese: She is a girly girl if I ever saw one. She spent the trip trying to get me to where lip gloss (clearly, I am not a girly girl). She loves to run and play golf although she did mention that she actually hasn’t had to pay for a round in a very long time. Did I mention that she’s a pretty red head? Guitar Hero junkie (lead and backup singer)

Brian: He wasn’t on the bus for long, but the little time he spent with us was playing Guitar Hero (oh, and he did a few presentations that included something about elephant poop but I don’t want to give too much away). So, I think the odds are good that he’s a Guitar Hero enthusiast.

Chris: He was my only serious competition on Scene It. It turns out he may know even more obscure movie lines than I do, but don’t tell him (Chris—if you’re reading this, think Star Wars Jedi mind tricks). It will only go to his head. By the way, he’s definitely a Guitar Hero junkie (lead singer seemed to be his favorite, in particular Sweet Home Alabama, although he played all the roles).

Christopher: I have never seen someone who was better at social networking than Christopher. I swear there were times when he was blogging, tweeting, updating his Facebook status at the same, and well, I don’t know enough about social networking to know what else he might have been doing, but if it exists, he probably was. Guitar Hero junkie (bass, guitar, drummer)

Joanne: She is from China, living in Washington. Her boyfriend is in Brussels. Talk about geographically diverse. She is also probably as “organized” as I am. I suspect that if she had flown into ATL with us, she would have remembered to bring information on how to get from the airport to the hotel like I did. Let’s just say that Ryan, Sarah, and Elese are lucky I’m “organized.”

Maggie: She was only on the bus for one day, so I didn’t get a chance to get to know her as well as I would have liked. But, during the GOTB competition, I learned that she has a great laugh.

I thought about trying to come up with a movie quote to describe everyone, but now, it’s time for me to start my MCT Virtual Summit LiveMeeting and I don’t have time. But, before I go, you must be wondering what I learned about myself. I learned a lot, but to stick with the Guitar Hero theme, I learned that I have no rhythm. Seriously, absolutely no rhythm. Never, ever let me play the drums. This is why no one will ever call me a ‘gangster of love’ or a ‘space cowboy.’ By the way, the title from this blog is a quote from a TV show. Anyone know which one? Yes, it’s a lyric from Steve Miller band song, but it’s a line from a TV show. No binging it either…