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Windows Server 2012 Canadian Launch Tour and IT Camp Events

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Looking for IT Camp registration links? We've created an updated post you should visit: IT Camps... come pitch your tent with Windows Server 2012!

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With Windows Server 2012 becoming generally available September 4, we want to make sure you get some hands on experience with this latest server offering. With new advances in virtualization, networking, storage and automation among other things, there is lots to hear about and lots to experience.

To that end, I’ll be keeping this blog post updated so keep coming back! I’ve even created a nice short url to help you remember and tell others:www.aka.ms/ws2012events . I’ll add details for what’s happening where and how to register as events get finalized. So far, I’ve got the details for the Windows Server Launch events and I have the cities that we’re looking at for the Windows Server IT Camps. Note that this doesn’t mean we won’t be in any other cities – these are just the cities I know for sure where you’ll be seeing us.

Your pre-event preparation

Windows Server 2012 Launch Events

Join presenters from Microsoft to learn about what’s new in Windows Server 2012. As an attendee, you will see what is possible with Windows Server 2012 through a business value keynote, hear about how customers are already using Windows Server 2012, see a demonstration of key features and have afternoon focused on a hands-on, scenario based, camp like experience.

AGENDA

8:30 am – 9:00 am Registration
9:00 am – 9:30 am Keynote
9:30 am – 10:30 am Customer Experience Sharing – hear from customers who are using Windows Server 2012 today
10:30 am – 10:45 am Break
10:45 am – 12:00 pm Demos – see the new and key features in Windows Server 2012
12:00 pm – 12:45 pm Lunch
12:45 pm – 3:00 pm Hands-on, Technical IT Camp – experience Windows Server 2012 first hand with this interactive, guided experience

Register now for an event near you:

September 5 Toronto SOLD OUT!
September 12 Vancouver SOLD OUT!
September 20 Edmonton SOLD OUT!
September 27 Ottawa SOLD OUT!
October 3 Montreal SOLD OUT!

If you can’t make it to join us in person in Canada, you can also opt to join the online launch event hosted out of the US.

Windows Server 2012 IT Camps

IT Camps are free, full day, hands-on workshops in a classroom setting where you work through common scenarios in a lab environment. We'll be providing computers and lunch as well as funding $10 to the local user group for each attendee. Seats are limited by the number of computers and space we have so please be sure to attend if you sign up! If you can't make it - please cancel in good time to allow someone else the opportunity to take your place.

During the IT camp, we'll be covering the following material:

Section What is learned Hands-On Experience
Overview of Windows Server 2012 How Windows Server 2012 helps optimize your infrastructure N/A
Overview of Windows Server 2012Hyper-V and VM Migration How to configure and manage Hyper-V, How Hyper-V can be scaled and Shared-Nothing Live Migration Enable the Hyper-V role, import virtualmachine and complete a Shared-Nothing Live Migration
Scalability How to add capacity to your infrastructure Configure virtual machine start-up properties and configure a file share.
Storage Spaces How to configure and manage storage Create a storage pool & thin disk, createSMB share for apps & iSCSI target, configure iSCSI access from hosts and migrate VM storage to SMB share.
High Availability How to configure and manage a cluster Verify cluster configuration, create a cluster,configure Cluster Shared Volume and migrate VM to a Cluster Shared Volume.
Overview of System Center 2012 How System Center 2012 and Windows Server 2012 work together and VirtualMachine Manager. Install SCVMM agent on cluster, Add VMM library location, create a cloud in SCVMM2012, and create a highly-available VM on cloud.
Windows Server 2012 Final Thoughts Hyper-V replica, QoS bandwidth, NICteaming, Hyper-V extensible switch,ODX support, PowerShell, multi-tenancy, network virtualization, metering. Make existing VM highly available, break cluster & see results

As we confirm new dates and locations, the list below will get updated. Please remember - if you register, please make every effort to attend as space is limited!

October 3 Regina* Event Complete.
October 11 Montreal SOLD OUT!
October 15 Ottawa SOLD OUT!
October 31 Calgary SOLD OUT!
November 13 Mississauga SOLD OUT!
November 15 Toronto SOLD OUT!
November 16 Waterloo SOLD OUT!
November 27 Fredericton SOLD OUT!
November 30 Vancouver Register Now
December 4 Halifax Register Now
December 11 Montreal**  Link to be provided by Nov 23
TBD Winnipeg Jan/Feb
TBD Saskatoon Jan/Feb
TBD St. John's, NFLD Jan/Feb

* The Regina IT Camp is a 2 hour, bring-your-own notebook workshop in the evening. It is a guided, interactive session put on as part of the Prairie IT Pro & Developer Conference.

** The Montreal IT Camp on December 11 is a 2 hour, bring-your-own notebook workshop in the evening. It is a guided, interactive session put on as part of the DevTeach Montreal 2012 Conference.

Don’t forget to come back often for my updates. Let your friends and colleagues know – the short url is www.aka.ms/ws2012events .

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Comments

  • Anonymous
    August 30, 2012
    why is Winnipeg Left out

  • Anonymous
    August 30, 2012
    Interested in Calgary!

  • Anonymous
    August 30, 2012
    What happened to events in Atlantic Canada.

  • Anonymous
    August 30, 2012
    Hi rkato, Thanks for your comment. We always have a tough choice to make when it comes to launch tours.  Unfortunately we only have so many resources to put towards larger scale events and we need to drive a higher level of attendance to justify that outlay.   What's great about events like IT Camps, User Group events and 3rd Party Association Sponsorships is we don't need a huge number of people.  We can run a camp with as few as 30.  We've been to Winnipeg in the past with camps and if there's enough interest for another round of camps in Winnipeg, we'd absolutely do our best to run some. Incidentally, we posted a poll on our LinkedIn group to gather more feedback on IT Camp locations.  Feel free to vote or add your comments here:www.linkedin.com/.../Were-planning-more-IT-Camps-4135429.S.152045842 Chris

  • Anonymous
    August 30, 2012
    That's great to hear Steve, thanks for your feedback. Chris

  • Anonymous
    August 30, 2012
    Hi Mike, Similar to my reply to rkato, we made a tough call on the launch tour.   We'd really like to make our way to Atlantic Canada.  We're looking at events in Halifax and we'd be open to other locations if the demand was there (per Ruth's post above).  Feel free to comment or vote in our poll (link in my reply to rkato), or comment on the discussion posted in the Halifax IT Pro LinkedIn group here: www.linkedin.com/.../Hosting-Windows-Server-2012-IT-2160263.S.153314454 Thanks, Chris

  • Anonymous
    August 31, 2012
    Just got my email from caflash@e-mail.microsoft.com about these event but they are already booked up in Ottawa and Mtl ? Was there other ways to find out sooner about it that I missed ? otherwise marketing came in late for me. bummed out.

  • Anonymous
    August 31, 2012
    Hi Marc, sorry to hear you weren't able to register for Ottawa or Montreal.  We've seen a huge response to this launch tour, much more than expected.  We haven't really even ramped up all of our communications (we were just starting) so we've hand to pull back a lot to make sure we weren't promoting a sold out event! That said, plans are in the works to move our Montreal venue so we can DOUBLE the capacity.  As soon as we get the go ahead, we'll open up more spots today and update the venue on the page sometime next week. Thanks for your feedback. Chris

  • Anonymous
    August 31, 2012
    No Winnipeg for either event? Are you guys trying to "alienate" the comunity here? Microsoft used to have events here and there was always a good turn out but now there is nothing. Very disappointed.

  • Anonymous
    August 31, 2012
    interested in Calgary for sure. Thanks.

  • Anonymous
    August 31, 2012
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    September 04, 2012
    Hi, Quick update, we've added more spots to Montreal, if you're interested, please register asap as the seats are filling up very quickly.  While we doubled the capacity, it won't last long! Thanks, Chris

  • Anonymous
    September 04, 2012
    Windows Server 2012 Launch Events -- Full--- - Pity that did not get an opportunity even to register in this event!! Will definitely be interested in participating in either or both Windows Server 2012 Launch Events Windows Server 2012 IT Camps

  • Anonymous
    September 04, 2012
    Thanks for your comment Mohindar.  We have had a huge response to the launch events for Windows Server 2012, much more than expected. Glad to hear you're interested in other events, including the IT Camps we have planned.  We'll be sure to post that information here on the blog and include in our newsletters. Thanks! Chris

  • Anonymous
    September 04, 2012
    Why was this big event held at a small location? Didn't check the other cities but the Montreal even is held at the MS office. I've been there. Maybe it holds 30-40 people [unless you start moving out any tables].

  • Anonymous
    September 04, 2012
    Hi Ed, Thanks for your comment. We actually moved the Montreal location to a bigger venue and opened up more seats. Which also quickly sold out. The launch events have been more popular than anticipated. Keep an eye on the blog - I'm working on getting the IT camps details put together and will update them here.

  • Anonymous
    September 04, 2012
    there is a TON of interest in Calgary... Hopefully there'll be a Windows Server 2012 Launch date for Calgary announced soon!

  • Anonymous
    September 05, 2012
    Hi guys, Edmonton 'sold out' in under an hour! any chance of expanding the venue, so us folks that are not attached to our desks [a couple of hours and we are 'late responders' - rock concerts sell out less rapidly], can have a chance to participate?

  • Anonymous
    September 05, 2012
    Bigger venue for Ottawa would be nice. No one from my circle of IT colleagues managed to register before it was full.

  • Anonymous
    September 06, 2012
    Thanks MS for coming to Winnipeg.  Can't wait for the IT camp!

  • Anonymous
    September 06, 2012
    Barry - The dates for the Launch events are set as you can see from the blog post and we'll be coming to Edmonton this time. However, we'll be heading out to both Calgary and Edmonton for IT Camps shortly and I hope you'll join us there. Ben and Bobby - There has been a higher than anticipated demand for the Launch events and spots went very quickly. I hope you'll be able to join us for one of the IT camps that will be scheduled shortly. Pasquale - Happy we could make you happy! See you there. :)

  • Anonymous
    September 06, 2012
    Why not Quebec City. There is a lot of interest from there too. There are a lot of government offices (that are good MS customers) and others companies that want to know more about Windows 2012. Having it at Quebec City would liberate a few places in Montreal for sure. I’m one of them!

  • Anonymous
    September 06, 2012
    Hi Sebastien, To be totally transparent, you're the first person so far that has asked for Quebec City. Plus, in each of the other cities I either have an IT pro user group to work with or someone has stepped up to help organize and drive attendance. Let me know if you're that person for QC and we'll consider it. :)

  • Anonymous
    September 07, 2012
    So for us small town folks is there going to be a self paced Camp?

  • Anonymous
    September 08, 2012
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    September 11, 2012
    What does the registration process look like once we arrive?  All I need is the printed ticket?  Printed the ticket out for my boss to attend but it mentions a barcode but there is no barcode on the ticket.

  • Anonymous
    September 12, 2012
    Hi Nick - just bring the printed ticket with you. We've got some great folks on the registration desk and they'll be able to get you all sorted out. If you have any problems, Chris will be there as well. Enjoy the day!

  • Anonymous
    September 12, 2012
    I don't understand why Winnipeg keeps getting left out.  All of the Microsoft events that were held here had huge attendance.  Is really frustrating considering the distance to go to the cities you are holding the events in.

  • Anonymous
    September 12, 2012
    Hi Greg, Please read the blog post again - Winnipeg is listed and we are planning on doing an IT camp there.

  • Anonymous
    September 17, 2012
    When Windows Server 2012 IT Camps start for Toronto?

  • Anonymous
    September 17, 2012
    Hi Michael, Funny you should ask that today as I've got a big ol' calendar out in front of me and am going through dates. We've been a bit delayed as our events folk have been swamped with organizing the Windows Server 2012 Launch events, but you'll be hearing from me soon! Thanks for your patience. :)

  • Anonymous
    September 19, 2012
    No Victoria BC dates upcoming?

  • Anonymous
    September 20, 2012
    I'd add in that I would be very interested in attending something in Halifax if you do manage to arrange one for here.

  • Anonymous
    September 20, 2012
    Why do these events never come to Halifax NS? They used to have them at the Park Theater, but that was a long time ago.

  • Anonymous
    September 20, 2012
    Hi G. Trozzo, We'd like to do an event in Victoria, but we don't have a local active community to work with and we don't have a suitable venue.  If there's anyone out there that can help us with both, we'd appreciate the help. Thanks, Chris

  • Anonymous
    September 20, 2012
    Hi Matt C, We're planning to do an event in Halifax if we can find a venue and some local support.  We'll keep everyone updated on whether we can make it happen.  Glad to hear you're interested. Thanks, Chris

  • Anonymous
    September 20, 2012
    Hi LeViTo, we're hoping we can come to Halifax as well (see my other comment), glad to hear you're interested. Thanks, Chris