TechEd Registration: Not Open, but Not Late
UPDATE February 4. 2013: The TechEd Insider newsletter just arrived in inboxes of subscribers with the announcement that registration will open February 12! See the updated table below for a link to my post.
Microsoft TechEd ended almost five months ago, and I, like many others, have been chomping at the bit to register for next year in New Orleans. When it didn’t open up right after the conference (as it did in 2011), we figured that the combination with MMS for 2013 is probably holding things up. Then nothing. Then MMS 2013 did a 180 and announced it was going back to Las Vegas, so we figured that must have been the holdup. Now we’re in November and still no word. But is TechEd registration really late?
I did some research this weekend (i.e., searched the Internet) to determine when registration opened for TechEd in the past. I’ve attended every TechEd since 2003 in Dallas, so I started there. Here’s what I found:
| Year | Registration Opened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | ? | |
| 2004 | ? | |
| 2005 | January 24, 2005 | Edgardo Vega’s Blog |
| 2006 | January 31, 2006 | Blogging Microsoft TechEd 2006 |
| 2007 | January 22, 2007 | Bob’s Blog |
| 2008 | January 22, 2008 | The EXPTA {blog} |
| 2009 | December 10, 2008 | The EXPTA {blog} |
| 2010 | December 1, 2009 | The EXPTA {blog} |
| 2011 | November 15, 2010 | System Center Spartan |
| 2012 | May 24, 2011 | The EXPTA {blog} |
| 2013 | February 12, 2013 | Scott Ladewig’s {insert site name here} |
I was unable to find anything for 2003 and 2004, but for the rest of the years, I found at least one person who blogged about registration opening (usually Jeff Guillet). Thanks Jeff (and others)!
So what does this tell us? Be patient, registration is coming. It has opened either in December or January for six of the last eight years, so I wouldn’t start worrying unless January goes by without any news. I doubt that’ll happen though.
I know that for some people, early registration can make the difference between going or not going. They might have budget left this year that won’t be available next, for example. Hopefully for them, registration links will go live sooner than later, but if history has been a guide, we probably have more time to wait. Hang in there until then, and I hope to see you in New Orleans.