TechEd North America 2011 is coming up fast next month, so I wanted to let you know how you can learn more about PowerShell while at the conference. PowerShell has continually had a great presence at TechEd events, and this year is no exception. Just searching the TechEd schedule builder using the keyword “PowerShell” reveals 7 pre-event online webcasts, 2 pre-event virtual labs, 4 pre-con seminars, 2 birds of a feather discussions, 5 interactive discussions, 16 breakouts, and 9 hands-on labs this year! Those are not all specifically focused on PowerShell, but they definitely show the amount of attention that PowerShell gets at a conference like this.
PowerShell content at TechEd 2011
Below you will find a list of all of the PowerShell-related sessions and resources for TechEd so that you can make sure you have them added to your schedule. The sessions that interest me the most are highlighted in bold.
| Type and Level | Title | Speaker | Date |
| Pre-event webcast 200 – Intermediate |
Peter Lammers | Online, available now | |
| Pre-event webcast 200 – Intermediate |
PRE020-WC | Windows PowerShell Basics for IT Professionals (Part 2) |
Sean Kearney | Online, available now |
| Pre-event webcast 200 – Intermediate |
PRE051-WC | PowerShell Week: Learn It Now before It’s an Emergency (Part 1 of 5) |
Ed Wilson |
Online, available now |
| Pre-event webcast 200 – Intermediate |
PRE052-WC | PowerShell Week: Learn It Now before It’s an Emergency (Part 2 of 5) |
Ed Wilson | Online, available now |
| Pre-event webcast 200 – Intermediate |
PRE053-WC | PowerShell Week: Learn it now before it is an emergency (Part 3 of 5) |
Ed Wilson | Online, available now |
| Pre-event webcast 200 – Intermediate |
PRE054-WC | PowerShell Week: Learn it now before it is an emergency (Part 4 of 5) |
Ed Wilson | Online, available now |
| Pre-event webcast 200 – Intermediate |
PRE055-WC | PowerShell Week: Learn It Now before It’s an Emergency (Part 5 of 5) |
Ed Wilson | Online, available now |
| Pre-Conference Seminar ($$$) |
PRC14 | Automate Windows 7 (and Windows Server 2008 R2) Administration Using Windows PowerShell v2 |
Don Jones | Sunday, May 15, 10:00 AM – 5:30 PM |
| Pre-Conference Seminar ($$$) |
PRC07 | Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Administration for the Seasoned SharePoint Administrator |
Shane Young, Todd Klindt | Sunday, May 15, 10:00 AM – 5:30 PM |
| Pre-Conference Seminar ($$$) |
PRC13 | Group Policy in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 |
Jeremy Moskowitz | Sunday, May 15, 10:00 AM – 5:30 PM |
| Pre-Conference Seminar ($$$) |
Brian Randell | Sunday, May 15, 10:00 AM – 5:30 PM | |
| Interactive Discussion 400 – Expert |
Don Jones | Monday, May 16, 1:15 PM – 2:30 PM | |
| Breakout Session 300 – Advanced |
WSV316 | Windows Server 2008 R2: Tips for Automating the Breadth of Your IT Environment |
Dan Harman, Mir Rosenberg | Monday, May 16, 3:00 PM – 4:15 PM |
| Interactive Discussion 400 – Expert |
Janssen Jones | Monday, May 16, 3:00 PM – 4:15 PM | |
| Birds-of-a-Feather 300 – Advanced |
Hal Rottenberg, Ed Wilson | Tuesday, May 17, 8:30 AM – 9:45 AM | |
| Interactive Discussion 200 – Intermediate |
OSP273-INT | Microsoft Office 365 Administration and Automation Using Windows PowerShell |
Ashwin Sarin | Tuesday, May 17, 8:30 AM – 9:45 AM |
| Interactive Discussion 300 – Advanced |
Todd Bleeker | Tuesday, May 17, 8:30 AM – 9:45 AM | |
| Breakout Session 300 – Advanced |
WCL303 | Advanced Troubleshooting with Resultant Set of Policy (RSoP) |
Jeffery Hicks | Tuesday, May 17, 1:30 PM – 2:45 PM |
| Breakout Session 300 – Advanced |
WSV310 | Get Out of Dodge: Migrating to Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 |
Rick Claus | Tuesday, May 17, 1:30 PM – 2:45 PM |
| Breakout Session 300 – Advanced |
DBI304 | What’s New in Manageability for Microsoft SQL Server Code-Named "Denali" |
Denny Cherry | Tuesday, May 17, 1:30 PM – 2:45 PM |
| Breakout Session 300 – Advanced |
Brad Kirby | Tuesday, May 17, 5:00 PM – 6:15 PM | |
| Breakout Session 300 – Advanced |
VIR314 | Understanding Server App-V, Sequencing and Deploying Datacenter Applications |
Derrick Isoka | Wednesday, May 18, 8:30 AM – 9:45 AM |
| Breakout Session 300 – Advanced |
Arish Alreja, Jeffrey Reed | Wednesday, May 18, 10:15 AM – 11:30 AM | |
| Interactive Discussion 400 – Expert |
WSV473-INT | Windows PowerShell 3.0: Why Wait? Get Next-Generation PowerShell Functionality Today! |
Kirk Munro | Wednesday, May 18, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM |
| Breakout Session 400 – Expert |
Dan Harman, Jeffrey Snover | Wednesday, May 18, 1:30 PM – 2:45 PM | |
| Breakout Session 300 – Advanced |
WCL321 | Windows PowerShell Remoting: Definitely NOT Just for Servers |
Don Jones | Wednesday, May 18, 1:30 PM – 2:45 PM |
| Breakout Session 300 – Advanced |
DEV338 | NuGet: Microsoft .NET Package Management for the Enterprise |
Scott Hanselman | Wednesday, May 18, 1:30 PM – 2:45 PM |
| Breakout Session 300 – Advanced |
VIR310 | Inside the LAB: Building Your Own Private Cloud Infrastructure |
Mikael Nystrom | Wednesday, May 18, 1:30 PM – 2:45 PM |
| Breakout Session 300 – Advanced |
Jeffery Hicks | Thursday, May 19, 8:30 AM – 9:45 AM | |
| Birds-of-a-Feather 300 – Advanced |
Kevin Kline | Thursday, May 19, 8:30 AM – 9:45 AM | |
| Breakout Session 300 – Advanced |
Janssen Jones | Thursday, May 19, 8:30 AM – 9:45 AM | |
| Breakout Session 300 – Advanced |
EXL321 | Microsoft Lync Server 2010: Administering Lync Server Deployment |
Anand Lakshminarayanan, Cezar Ungureanasu | Thursday, May 19, 10:15 AM – 11:30 AM |
| Interactive Discussion 400 – Expert |
WSV473-INT-R | Windows PowerShell 3.0: Why Wait? Get Next-Generation PowerShell Functionality Today! |
Kirk Munro | Thursday, May 19, 1:00 PM – 2:15 PM |
| Breakout Session 300 – Advanced |
Jeffrey Snover, Mir Rosenberg | Thursday, May 19, 1:00 PM – 2:15 PM | |
| Breakout Session 300 – Advanced |
Mark Tabladillo | Thursday, May 19, 2:45 PM – 4:00 PM | |
| Hands-on Lab 200 – Intermediate |
WSV276-HOL | Introduction to Windows PowerShell Fundamentals |
N/A | Hands-on-lab, available in the TLC HOL area |
| Hands-on Lab 300 – Advanced |
N/A | Hands-on-lab, available in the TLC HOL area | |
| Hands-on Lab 300 – Advanced |
WSV378-HOL | Server Management and Windows PowerShell V2 (V3.0) |
N/A | Hands-on-lab, available in the TLC HOL area |
| Hands-on Lab 300 – Advanced |
N/A | Hands-on-lab, available in the TLC HOL area | |
| Hands-on Lab 300 – Advanced |
N/A | Hands-on-lab, available in the TLC HOL area | |
| Hands-on Lab 200 – Intermediate |
WSV273-HOL | Failover Clustering Introduction with Windows Server 2008 R2 |
N/A | Hands-on-lab, available in the TLC HOL area |
| Hands-on Lab 300 – Advanced |
WSV377-HOL | Migrating DHCP and File Services with Windows Server Migration Tools |
N/A | Hands-on-lab, available in the TLC HOL area |
| Hands-on Lab 300 – Advanced |
N/A | Hands-on-lab, available in the TLC HOL area | |
| Hands-on Lab 300 – Advanced |
SIM373-HOL | Microsoft System Center Service Manager 2010 Data Warehouse and Reporting |
N/A | Hands-on-lab, available in the TLC HOL area |
Quest Software Ask the Experts Session on PowerShell
There are other items that won’t show up in the schedule builder as well. For example, Quest Software has regular Ask the Experts sessions throughout the event, and one of those sessions will be focused on PowerShell, allowing you to ask questions to myself and Dmitry Sotnikov, watch some demos of the next version of PowerGUI® Pro, and have a chance to meet us at the event. If this interests you, mark your calendar and join Dmitry and I in the Quest Software booth in the expo hall on Tuesday, May 17 from 12:30PM to 1:00PM, and bring your PowerShell and PowerGUI Pro questions!
WSV473-INT Windows PowerShell 3.0: Why Wait? Get Next-Generation PowerShell Functionality Today!
If you want to find me when I’m not working the PowerShell booth or answering questions during the Ask the Experts session on PowerShell, you can always come catch me at my session. It is included in the session listing above. I will be presenting a 400-level interactive discussion about PowerShell, WSV473-INT Windows PowerShell 3.0: Why Wait? Get Next-Generation PowerShell Functionality Today! During this session I’ll be discussing different ways that you can get next-generation PowerShell functionality today so that you don’t have to wait as long until the next release. This session will cover cool PowerShell features such as proxy functions, and it will also discuss Domain Specific Vocabularies, a topic I recently spoke about at the PowerShell Deep Dive. You can read more about the session here.
Important Update:
This session has been scheduled for a second showing on Thursday, May 19, 2011 from 1:00-2:15PM, so if you can’t make the first one, come to the second! Here’s the link to the update: WSV473-INT-R | Windows PowerShell 3.0: Why Wait? Get Next-Generation PowerShell Functionality Today!
Watch for additional opportunities to learn about PowerShell
Beyond these sessions, there are always other possible opportunities to learn about PowerShell while you are at TechEd 2011 in Atlanta. The scheduled sessions at TechEd offer a ton of value already, but for me, the true value of a conference like TechEd comes from the unexpected and often unplanned side discussions that surprise you at a conference like this. Some of my favorite discussions about PowerShell at conferences in the past have happened in an ad-hoc meeting, over breakfast, or in the PowerShell booth. Never be afraid to start the discussion and ask others if they use PowerShell, and if possible keep your laptop handy so that you can pull it out and talk shop on the spot. There is huge value in those discussions, and I highly recommend them.
That’s it from me for now. If I hear about additional opportunities to learn more about PowerShell while at TechEd I’ll be sure to post them here.
Thanks for listening!
Kirk out.
Poshoholic 
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