Going to MIX 08?

Apparently, the $200 discount is being extended due to "popular demand."  Sounds a bit fishy, but it's good news for those who haven't jumped in yet.

For anyone who's gone in years past, is it worth attending?  Honestly?

Not been in years past, but am booked for this one.

I imagine it will follow the formula of most of these events (TechEd, PDC etc) albeit on a smaller (more intimate?) scale - a good chance to network and get re-enthused, especially about future stuff away from the dreary day job, but probably not great value for money if your main reason for attending is training (the conference itself is reasonably priced but the hotel, even discounted, is extortionate).

I'm trying with all my wit to get sponsored (by Microsoft) to go to MIX this year because it doesn't clash with my exams. However it doesn't seem to be going well.

The plane ticket is just a few limbs over $2000 alone so it's not something I want to dish out by myself. Add that to Vegas hotel prices and I could have got myself a MacBook Air with SSD.

longzheng wrote:

I'm trying with all my wit to get sponsored (by Microsoft) to go to MIX this year because it doesn't clash with my exams. However it doesn't seem to be going well.

The plane ticket is just a few limbs over $2000 alone so it's not something I want to dish out by myself. Add that to Vegas hotel prices and I could have got myself a MacBook Air with SSD.

If you give me the details, I've give a whole penny towards your cause over PayPal.

Ooh, Ballmer keynote!

But, besides that...

here wrote:

Developers can dive deep into the latest Microsoft Web technologies, including Silverlight, Internet Explorer 8, "Atlas"/AJAX, ASP.NET, Windows Cardspace, the Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Media and others. Want to learn how to code pages for IE8 that render properly in other popular browsers? Interested in building AJAX sites quickly and efficiently?

Here's to hoping there's a public beta released at Mix.

CannotResolveSymbol wrote:

Ooh, Ballmer keynote!

But, besides that...

Here's to hoping there's a public beta released at Mix.

I think that's pretty much 100% guaranteed (although they might call it an "alpha" or "CTP" or some such nonsense).

My money's on Silverlight 2.0 beta and go live license also being announced.

Any other guesses? Place your bets here.

The irony is that the non-attendees usually get this stuff first anyway. It's all prepared and launched around the time the keynote gets delivered but of course attendees are stuck in sessions with appaling conference wireless access while the rest of the world accesses whatever's been launched via Broadband. Such is the power of the internet.

Turns turned out pretty good, looks like I'll be at MIX!

I am not sure what deals they have going this year last year they gave:
-Windows Vista (Ultimate)
-Expression Studio
-Visual Studio 2005 Professional
-Some training CDs including a recording of a week long WPF boot camp held in redmond.

The food was really good. Great networking, sat in the same session as Hanselman, Adam Kinney and got to hear Jeff Atwood ask questions during a Q&A and play guitar hero on expert.

The Sandbox was actually very helpful. If they could make all the handouts and labs freely available a month or two afterwards in a central locale that would be useful.

The sessions were recorded. But it was more about meeting people, sandboxing and Vegas. All in all not a bad 3 day conference.