Microsoft Ignite 2017: Journey of an IT Guy – Episode 2

Hello and welcome back to episode 2 of my 6 part series, where I explore the epic journey to Microsoft Ignite 2017, down in Orlando, FL at the Orange County Convention Center, Sept. 25th – Sept 29th.

Now begins the journey to make sure you have started/completed all of the following:

• Registration and costs to the conference
• Accommodations
• Airfare
• Transportation to/from you hotel
• Food (Yes, you will need to eat)

I’ll take each of these, and break these out into their own discussion. Some of these we can tackle up front, others you may want to hold off on for now. Don’t worry, I’ll hold your hand the entire way…

Microsoft Ignite 2017 Costs and Opportunities

At this point, maybe you have registered/purchased your tickets to the conference via the Register URL. Fantastic, good for you. You’re all done, and I will see you there! Skip right down to the Accommodations section.

What if you haven’t? What should you select? Ohh, all the decisions. What you select largely depends on what you are looking to get out of the conference. Ignite offers all types of pre-day training opportunities, a test center, and a variety of different add-on / day to day passes for all aspects of attendance. Microsoft Ignite 2017 costs vary depending on what you are looking for.

Full Conference Pass – $2,220

So, lets say you want to attend the full conference for the week, and nothing more. Easy peasy. You want the “Full Conference Pass”; Select this during the registration, drop the $2220, and the hard work is done.

Convenience Pass – $490

What are these other selections though? Well, its pretty simple. The Convenience pass, gives you accommodations to the stay at the hotel that is directly connected to the conference center. It will cost ya an extra $490 dollars.

Women in Tech Pre-Day Session – $199

Are you a woman looking to patent something, or seeking assistance getting your business off the ground? Maybe you’d be interested in the Women in Tech Pre-Day session designed to assist you with your business ventures. This session takes place on Sunday the 24th, and will set you back $199.

Pre-day Training – $500

Are you seeking some additional hands on specialized training directly from the experts who created it? Sign up for Pre-day training, and select what you’d like to specifically cover. This training also takes place on Sunday the 24th, and will set you back $500 dollars.

Discounts

Looking to buy in bulk? Get a discount for buying 10 or more passes. Are you a student and academic faculty, you also qualify for discounted passes. Yay for school!

Single-Day Pass – $350 / Sessions and Expo Pass – $500

There are also single-day passes, which offer access to either the expo alone, or sessions and expo, each on a day by day basis. These are $350 and $500 per day respectively.

Accommodations

First and foremost, you’re going to want to secure a hotel room that is reasonably close to the Orange County Convention Center, and you will want to do this as soon as possible. These rooms sell out fast, and by fast, I mean like grease-lightning fast. Trust me, do not wait until a month or less to book a hotel. You will likely find that everything within 25 miles of the conference is sold out, and you may be driving in from a far away suburb. Take it from me, book early! You can wait on everything else, but book your hotel first.

Even better, book while registering for the conference! Microsoft has made it so easy to book accommodations to their conferences during the registration process. During the registration, you will be given an opportunity to book a hotel at the time of registration. I highly encourage you to do so. All the cool kids are doing it now, and so can you. I commend Microsoft for this. It makes it so much easier to book the conference and the accommodations at the same time, and takes a tremendous amount of burden off from you the attendee to try and find the best hotel in proximity to the venue. All the hotels they list are convenient to the venue, and you can be almost guaranteed that if Microsoft is listing it, they will have free bus/shuttle service to and from the conference. ANOTHER WIN!

To Recap

View the pre-conference and conference offerings, and decide what best fit your needs and budget. If you have opportunity, book accommodations at the same time you register for the conference. If you cannot: BOOK IT as soon as you have approval to do so.

So, we’ve come to the end of episode two of my six part blog series! I hope you’ve gained some new information. So, for now, I’ll leave you until June, 24th.

As before, follow me on Twitter (@chrisrbmn), and keep an eye open for my tweets both before and during the conference. I will be tweeting any Microsoft Ignite 2017 content, making daily updates, including but not limited to the keynote speech, along with any sessions I attend.

Do you have any comments or questions? Anything you want me to cover, or you feel I missed and want me to add to the series? Tell me about it in the comments below.