The Partner Event 2010 - Day 2 Recap

Due to some scheduling conflicts and previous commitments, I was only able to make it to the morning events and one afternoon session yesterday. Nonetheless, I found the content very interesting, and beneficial to my role at Microsoft as well as helpful with connecting partners to the latest and greatest Microsoft Dynamics programs, tools and resources.

The day started with a keynote from the always enlightening Bonnie Robertson and Pam McGree sharing their insights into talent engagement. They provided an overview of their finding from a channel employment survey conducted this year, and compared the results to those from 3 years ago. As you can imagine, there were a few differences primarily driven by changes to the economy. Bonnie and Pam also discussed the shifts in workplace motivators experienced by Baby Boomers vs. Echo Boomers (Gen Y'ers). One of my key takeaways was that many younger workers are able to solve problems faster than ever before by leveraging technology to reach across forums, social networking sites, etc. to connect with others in similar roles. They don't need meeting after in-person meeting to solve an issue.

Later in the day I was able to catch sessions from the very popular social media strategist, Joe Rotella, as he gave some great pointers on using LinkedIn and Twitter more effectively. Many of his concepts were ideal for partners that are looking to build company and brand awareness as well as useful for big company's like Microsoft.

Unfortunately, I couldn't make the next round of sessions or the roundtable discussions, nor the party. If you attended any of these, be sure to share some feedback!

The conference wraps up today, so stay tuned for another update Wednesday morning.

--Kevin