Here in Montreal, the food was OK if a small bun with little meat in the middle and a bar of brownie is enough to sustain you for the afternoon. I had to complete my lunch at the resto... I don't know if they had some snacks in the morning break, there was so many peoples in there that we barely could move at all.

The speaker and the sound were OK. He went into problems in the LINQ part however (couldn't connect to the database) :)

The goodies were deceiving. I'm surprised that you said that your's were unrestricted, because my copies of Windows 2008 Server and Ultimate Vista were only a 1 year trial. Windows 2008 MS-SQL was a CTP and I got a coupon for a trial version of SQL Server 2008 when it will come out. The only unrestricted software I got was Windows 2008 Visual Studio and it was the Standard Edition. No other software or trials, just a bunch of promotional papers. No mention of prizes neither :(

The material by itself was also deceiving. It was meant toward developpers already working and at ease with all the .NET technologies and the web development. He went so fast with the material with all kind of code snippets that someone like me who come from a VFP background and no web experience didn't have time to follow.

>First - Food - I went to the Afternoon Track - Developers - and got the lunch snacks...
>They had grab bags with muffins, granola bars, fruit, candy AND fruit drinks, colas, water and coffee.
>
>Not bad. I noticed lots of people dumped the fruit and candy on the table ... soooooooooooo.... my bag got so heavy, it broke the handles... I had to double-bag it! Heheheheh
>
>Second - The speakers were ok. The sound system could have been louder. But boy-oh-boy doesn't anyone test anything before they SHOW-IT-OFF in front of an audience? It was just like being back in 95 when they showed Windows 95. Lots of Ohhhs and Ahhhs.... then BOOM. Blue-Screen-Of-Death... except now it is the Translucent-White-Screen-Of-Death. I cracked up in the back many times.
>Many were marveling at LINQ. I turned around and said "FoxPro has had that stuff in it for years alreay", and winked at them. Their jaws dropped. Then they said, "What is FoxPro???".
>The lectures were good, but stock up on lots of cola to get through them.
>
>Third - The goodies - Upon exiting and pushing my way to the front and killing a few die-hard DOTNETTERS, I received my goodies.
>Fully functional - unrestricted versions of (I haven't checked this, but I think they are the Standard Versions)
>1) Windows 2008 Server
>2) Windows 2008 MS-SQL
>3) Windows 2008 Visual Studio
>4) Windows Ultimate Vista
>and lots of other Time-Trial Software to try out. (I will get the info on this tonight and update the info on the goodies.
>
>Sooooooo.... goodies, lots of fun, good lectures, decent food, and did I say LOTS OF PRIZES to sign up for???? Hope I win something.... if not... tis ok.... getting all these goodies is a PRIZE unto itself.