Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference 2010 Taking Place This Week

This week, Microsoft is hosting its annual Worldwide Partner Conference. The Conference began Monday and will run through Thursday.

Things kicked off with a capella group Mosaic’s rendition of “I’ve Gotta Feeling” to a stadium packed with Microsoft associates in collars. The music group’s cover had a sense of occasion, with subtle lyrical modifications such as “Go out and smash it…with Microsoft!” Then, with fist bumps from the music group members and a personal theme song of “Let’s Get It Started,” Vice President Allison Watson ran up on stage like a cheery, undersized WWE wrestler. It’s not that I necessary dislike the music group. It’s the palpable attempt at being cool that’s cringe-inducing.

But we’ll ignore the question of Microsoft corporate’s coolness factor. CEO Steve Ballmer, along with his fellow Microsoft corporate heads, reiterated the company’s new dedication to cloud computing. He touted the new Windows Azure cloud platform among other Microsoft cloud innovation strategies for the future. He also made the public annoucement of Microsoft’s upcoming series of PC tablets, which will all be based on the Windows 7 OS.

Here is the rough schedule plan for today and the rest of the week:

Tuesday:

At 2 P.M. at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, executives will…also talk about cloud computing.

Wednesday:

Solutions to current IT technologies for small and mid-size businesses will be discussed. Also, former president Bill Clinton will be presenting “Embracing Our Common Humanity” as a guest speaker at 9 A.M. at the Verizon Center.

Thursday:

A series of breakout sessions will cover public-sector information technology, including education, national security, and public safety.

Throughout the week, Microsoft will hold an expo of 170 exhibitions and 100 interactive sessions to demonstrate the latest products from Microsoft and its partners. Participants will also be able to play around with Windows software like Azure, Office 2010, and SharePoint at a few hands-on labs at the convention center.

Check www.digitalwpc.com/ for agendas, news, and video coverage.

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Tags: Microsoft