Student Day has been and gone

Well, Student Day has been and gone, and I must say, it absolutely rocked. The high school morning session was overflowing with kids from all years (more than a thousand of them!) keen to hear about just what the “now” Microsoft is all about and why they would consider a career in technology. The university session in the afternoon was a smaller crowd but not a lot less vocal in their appreciation, enthusiasm and interest in the topics presented on the day.

From the opening keynote that highlighted how important technology is to the world and how a large chunk of companies, innovations and all around technological goodness has come from people aged under 25. To the wow sessions on PhotoSynth, Popfly and XNA. To the thousands of dollars worth of software and hardware given away to both groups of people, including Xbox 360’s, copies of Vista and Office and ultra cool webcams. Every aspect was avidly devoured by all who attended.

And to supplement it all came the public unveiling of Students to Business and Dreamspark, two programs aimed at empowering students with technology and access. Given the enormous value both of these programs have, I’ll blog about them each in turn later in the week, but they, along with the awesome video about Imagine Cup were the perfect cherry on top for the day.