Tech Days or DevTeach - Which Should I Choose?

windsor — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:35:00 GMT

A colleague of mine was considering attending a conference this fall and, knowing that I'm pretty connected with the community, asked if he should go to TechDays or DevTeach. I thought other people may be wondering the same thing so I decided to put together a comparison chart to assist in making an informed decision.

	Tech Days Canada	DevTeach
Web Site	http://www.microsoft.com/canada/techdays	http://www.devteach.com
Where and When	Toronto (Oct 29 and 30) Montreal (Nov 6 and 7) Ottawa (Nov 27) For other locations and dates see the Tech Days site	Montreal (Dec 1 to 5)
Length	One or two days of breakout session depending on location	Three days of breakout sessions plus pre and post conference sessions
Sessions	Two Day: 40 sessions in five tracks (16 Developer and 24 IT Pro) One Day: 30 sessions in five tracks (12 Developer and 18 IT Pro)	136 sessions in eight tracks (119 Developer and 17 IT Pro) Note: Some of the sessions will be delivered in French
Speakers	Microsoft Canada Developer and IT Pro Advisors Local Community Members You'll see speakers like those you would see at your local user group or code camp	Microsoft Redmond Product Team Members Canadian and International Speakers You'll see speakers like those you would see at the largest conferences (e.g. TechEd) mixed with speakers from the Canadian Developer/IT Pro community
Cost	Two Day Early Bird: $299.99 Two Day Full: $499.99 One Day Early Bird: $129.99 One Day Full: $249.99	Early Bird: $949.00 Full: $1,249.00 You can get $50.00 off the prices noted above through your local user group or selected Microsoft Partners
Atmosphere	Community oriented Easy access to speakers/community experts	Community oriented Easy access to speakers/community experts

So, I guess the choice comes down to what you're looking for. While DevTeach is more expensive, it offers more that three times the number of sessions and covers a much wider range of topics. Both are more than worth the cost to attend - just make sure you check out the session lineups before deciding where to spend your conference dollars to ensure you get the experience you are looking for.

Technorati Tags: [DevTeach], [TechDays_CA]

Rob Windsor's Weblog : TechDays

Tech Days or DevTeach - Which Should I Choose?