Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2011 deadlines approaching. What to do right now.

Can you believe the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference is just a few short months away? It is going to be here before you know it, and I cannot wait! (In case you somehow haven’t seen me say it before, I love Worldwide Partner Conference and getting to see all of the partners from around the world every year.)

Now, even though Worldwide Partner Conference may be a few months away, there are some very important deadlines coming up that you need to be aware of and taking action against right now. Here is my quick WPC11 “To-do” list for all of you:

1. Get registered for WPC11 right now. Why? Simple. on April 26th at 12:00 a.m. Pacific Time, the Early Bird registration discount expires, which means you will no longer be able to get the $300 discount we are offering right now. Now if you’re saying to yourself, “Well, I don’t really need to worry about saving $300 on my registration fee,” then here’s my ask of you… Register today to get the $300 discount, then take the $300 you would have lost by waiting and donate that to your favorite charity instead. I am sure they could put it to great use and in the end, it costs you the same if you’re not concerned about needing to save the money. If you are looking to save some money this year, then by all means, get registered now to take advantage of the discount.
2. Get your Worldwide Partner Conference 2011 Awards entries in. The deadline for getting your entries in is next week, April 29th, and believe me, it will be here WAAAAY sooner than you expect it to be. Admit it, I had this conversation with some of you last year (and you know who you are). The whole, “I really meant to get them in and had planned to write them up the day before; however, something came up at work and I had to take care of this or that and I ran out of time” conversation/excuse. Don’t let that happen to you again this year and get your entries in right now.
3. Get signed up for WPC Connect and on the WPC Connect wall. While there is no looming deadline on this, keep this in mind… The longer you are not listed in there, the less likely that others who are in there will find you when they are looking to make their connections right now in prep for Worldwide Partner Conference. And if you are saying to yourself, “There’s nobody working on their meeting schedules yet,” you should think again. As I mentioned in my earlier post, the partner to partner and the partner to Microsoft connections that are made at Worldwide Partner Conference every year are always called out by attendees as one of the most valuable aspects of the entire conference for them. Don’t lose out on your opportunity to get the most out of this. It only takes a few minutes to set up but the positive returns can last for years for you.

So there it is, my very short list of just three “go-do’s” for you to take on today for Worldwide Partner Conference 2011. I can tell you that the team here is very excited about the upcoming conference and the plans shaping up for it. I truly believe this will be the best WPC we’ve ever had and I hope to see you all there with us as part of it. Now stop reading down here, go back to the list above, and get started on your “to-do’s” for the day.

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Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on TWITTER, LinkedIn, and RSS and see “What I’m thinking”
Director, Worldwide Partner Experience
Microsoft Corporation
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

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