Be Part of Microsoft’s Customer Research Team for the Cloud!

Microsoft Windows Server and Systems Center Customer Research team is looking for ITPros to participate on an IT Pro panel about virtualization.  If you are experienced with virtualization and cloud technologies, this is your chance to share your opinions with Microsoft.

As a member of the panel, you will have the opportunity to provide vision and feedback to the Cloud and Data Center Management Product team through surveys, focus groups, usability sessions, early design concept reviews, and customer interviews.

The research team is looking for very specific expertise profiles. Use of Microsoft products IS NOT required. To help identify if you qualify, start by completing a short survey.

Please note, this is only for customers located in the US but there is work toward extending to an international audience soon. Once again, you DO NOT have to use Microsoft products to participate.
Interested? Want to learn more? Click to access the survey.

The Fate of My Dell Venue Pro 8

I’m happy to report that all is well in Dell Venue land, despite a few hoops that needed jumping. I did receive my replacement device quickly and it was easy to reuse the package for returning the broken one.

However, there was NOT a return slip included in the box as I had been told to expect, so that required another communication with the support group to have that issued and I returned it about halfway through the 10-day grace period.

I think UPS is still recovering from their holiday shipping overage, as several days later I got an auto-call from Dell asking where the return was.  When I checked the tracking number, the package was still en-route. Hopefully, it has arrived by now and that will be the last of this saga.

I do have to say that my father LOVES the size and form factor. I might have to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t leave with him after their holiday visit ends.

Speaking of touch devices… do you ever wish you had the accuracy you can get with trackpad right on the screen?  Check out this interesting app for Windows 8.1 – the TouchMousePointer.

Water Bottles? What to do? What to do?

I was doing a little New Year house cleaning and realized I have way more reusable water bottles collected from conferences over the years than I can really use. I doubt there is a market for used water bottles, so I haven’t figured out what to do with all of them, but I did have an idea that would be great for future conference planners. (You heard it here first!)

Instead of giving out NEW bottles at every event, like TechEd, invite attendees to bring a previous conference water bottle and when they show it at registration, they get an entry into a special drawing for something cool.

Maybe give bonus entries for bringing a bottle from a competing conference or one that shows you are a committed alumni – 3 years prior or older maybe?

Speaking of conferences, are you attending TechEd 2014 in Texas? Registration is open!  Any other conferences on your calendar?

2013: In Tweets

It wouldn’t be the last day in 2013 without some kind of recap, now would it?  Sometimes I wonder about some of the things that pass me by in the fire hose of information on the Internet these days, so maybe you missed something here! (Some techy, some not!)
January:

  • WIRED ‏@WIRED – Jonathan Coulton explains how Glee ripped off his cover song — and why he’s not alone. http://oak.ctx.ly/r/21k1

February:

March:

  • Ben Goodman ‏@benontech – Boxes sealed with ATHEIST tape lost by USPS 10X more often than controls – This will make @samj ‘s head explode http://bgis.me/16YcUSI
  • Stephen Foskett ‏@SFoskett – Good read: The truth about the TSA’s pointless knife fight http://bit.ly/XuPPjy

April:

  • Leaping Woman ‏@leapingwoman – Today my kid sister sent me the link to @zefrank’s chillout song. Her timing couldn’t have been better http://j.mp/ZTRHlA

May:

June:

July:

August:

  • In the Cloud ‏@InTheCloudMSFT – IT Pros, trust me on this: it’s well worth your time to read this post about apps, dev tools, & how to lead. http://aka.ms/og659z
  • Melody Bliss ‏@melodybliss – Don’t text & drive – From One Second To The Next – Texting While Driving Documentary – Werner Herzog http://youtu.be/Xk1vCqfYpos

September:

October:

November:

  • WIRED ‏@WIRED – Bye bye. These are tech sounds you’ll never hear again. http://wrd.cm/1iVJisc #WIREDclassic
  • Bill Oakley ‏@thatbilloakley – Describing today to someone from 1953: Every six seconds all your friends send you a telegram and a brand new LIFE magazine is thrown at you

December:

Here’s to another year of sharing information!

Happy Holidays!

It will be a light week here in blog land!  Lots of holiday cheer and keeping busy with family and friends. I hope you are spending part of your week relaxing and spending time with the people you love!

When you do get back to your desk and start reconnecting with the tech community, I hope you take a moment to check out the Microsoft Technical Community website at www.technicalcommunity.com.

If you are a User Group Leader looking for resources, this is the place to go. Register your group and you can get $100 worth of advertising monthly for your meeting or event.  Also, for each event you register you will earn 50 points to save and use toward swag for your group!  You can also request up to $250 in cash for some events – to cover food, etc.

If you are a subject matter expert looking to find places where you can get speaking opportunities, list yourself as a speaker and other leaders can contact you for possible engagements.  This is a one stop shop for connecting people who are interested in technology and getting rewarded for it!

See you in 2014!

Do You Need More Books? Of Course You Do!!

I’m sure you need a resolution for 2014 to read more books about technology!  If that happens to be one on your list, here are few that might interest you.

  • FREE eBook – Introducing Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 Technical Overview by Mitch Tulloch with Symon Perriman and the System Center Team. Read more about it at the Microsoft Press blog. This is also available in print format from Amazon, but you’ll need to pay for that.
  • Practical IPv6 for Windows Administrators by Edward Horley.  Due out by the end of December, you can currently pre-order this title.  The Kindle version should be available in January.
  • In early Spring, look for the release of Networking for VMware Administrators, by Chris Wahl and Steven Panto. While geared toward folks who work with VMware vSphere, I think it’s valuable to be able to understand virtual networking concepts and how they are used by various vendors, even if you aren’t a VMware shop. Estimated at about 350 pages, this isn’t going to be very light reading!

Do you have any reading recommendations? What’s on your list for 2014?

Future Users of Windows 8.1 – Ready, Set, Go!

A question that has been presented to me a lot lately is “How to I prepare the users I support for Windows 8.1?”

I will admit there isn’t a lot of “live” training out there for end users – when it comes to training for your business, you might want to consider my favorite way of getting users up speed on new tech – the “lunch and learn” or other optional/required training meetings.  With these models, you have the opportunity to figure out what features and changes are best to highlight for your office and customize it from there.

However, if you are looking for some online resources to get you started as you plan your training agenda or just want give people some online resources to reference themselves, here’s a short list:

Microsoft is also developing videos for more advanced Windows 8.1 features, like advanced desktop (file explorer, customizing taskbar, task manager), Internet Explorer 11, Windows To Go, device encryption, SkyDrive, SkyDrive Pro, PC settings, and more.

Do you have a short list of things users need to know to get started? What are your pain points with user training?

The Dell Venue 8 Pro: Ups, Downs and In Betweens

Shortly after it became available I purchased a Dell Venue 8 Pro. I partly blame Ed Bott, who had one at MVP Summit and it was a lot of fun to play with. The form factor is great for consuming content and playing games and I thought it would be great to keep at home so that family members would stay off my work-issued Surface Pro.

Setup was quick an easy, as it is for Windows 8.1 and my Mac-loving hubby enjoyed using it for about a week. The screen is awesome, the battery life is great and it’s small enough to use comfortably when reading in bed or as a “coffee table” device.

Then one evening when I wasn’t home, I got a message from my husband about it being stuck in Narrator mode (where it reads the screen if you are visually impaired).  I assumed he turned that on my accident and he left it aside for me to fix when I got home.

When I had time to look at it, I started out to fix this, the device was acting a little sluggish and I was having trouble navigating. I mostly blamed this on not being familiar with dealing with Narrator and decided to simply restart the device.  It was prompting for updates at the time, so I selected to install them and restart.

At the next restart it presented me with BSOD. It didn’t recover after another reboot and then attempted to self-repair. No love.  I tried a few more reboots without much success and resigned myself to contacting Dell Support. I used the “chat” method of contacting Dell, which is serviceable, particularly for me since I really don’t want to be tied up on the phone.

The representative had me want through the diagnostics testing, with no real issues. I got a complaint about the battery, but the device was likely not fully charged and wasn’t plugged in at the time. (To get into that menu, press the Volume Up key before the Dell logo appears after a reboot. Once in the menu, the Volume Down button acts as the Enter key.)

He suggested resetting the device and the unfortunately there isn’t any way to kick off that process from the diagnostics menu. The recommendation was to restart the device twice, each time after I got the spinning wheel at the boot screen, which did eventually kick off the Windows Advanced Repair options. I selected to “Reset” the OS, which was going to wipe everything.

Because Window 8.1 tablets are BitLocker protected by default, I was prompted to get my BitLocker recovery key. The Dell representative asked me if I needed a Product Key.
Our conversation went like this —

Agent: “Is it asking for a product key while resetting the system?”

Jennelle: “It’s asking for the recovery key (Bitlocker)”

Agent: “I see. Let me check what best we can do for you in this case. May I please place this interaction on hold for 3-5 minutes; I need to do some research on this issue?”

Jennelle: “Sure.”

Meanwhile, I recovered the BitLocker key using the Microsoft ID system.

Agent: “Thank you for staying online. I appreciate your patience.”

Jennelle: “I got the key myself. It’s currently resetting my PC.”
Agent: “May I know from where did you get the key?”

Jennelle: “With Windows 8.1 the devices are already encrypted and it’s tied to your Microsoft Live ID. There is a website you go to and can recovery the key there.”

Agent: “Okay.”

Jennelle: “I’d be surprised if you’d have a way to get that for callers, but it can be challenging if you have to explain to someone else where to get it.”

Agent: “I appreciate your expertise in resetting and getting the key, Jennelle. Please let me know the current status.”

Jennelle: “It’s 64% done on the recovery. If the OS doesn’t work properly or it crashes again after this recovery I’ll just contact support again.

The agent assured me that I’d get a follow up call the next day and I continued on with the process. Once it was working again, I ran all the current Windows Updates and it crashed again.  I tried starting another recovery, but couldn’t get it to kick off properly and sent the device aside for the day.

The next day I did get a call back from Dell. I reported that the device was continuing to have trouble recovering the operating system and the representative immediately made plans to send me a replacement, which should arrive this week.

So while I’m not impressed with the knowledge level of the first tier support when it comes to BitLocker and Windows 8.1, they do want to make sure customers are happy and taken care of.

Stay tuned.  There is a lot I like about Dell Venue Pro 8 and I’m hoping the replacement will work without issue!

West Coast Virtualization Camps Come to a Close

Yesterday, I finished my last presentation of the Microsoft Virtualization Camp for 2013 in Los Angeles. Special thanks to Jessica DeVita, an LA local and Microsoft MVP who spent the day helping out as a lab proctor.  The day wouldn’t have be as smooth without her!

Here is a recap of some of the links and resources I’ve mentioned during my presentations:

  • The VMware vs. Microsoft Blog Series – the entire series covers many of the differences between the products and goes deeper on some features than we were able to cover at the one day event.  Of particular interest is the “Shopping for Private Clouds” post.
  • The Comparison Whitepaper – A pretty comprehensive feature comparison, good place to start your research.
  • Microsoft Virtual Academy – there are at least 4 new sessions specifically around System Center.
  • Build It Yourself – If you want to do a similar setup of the HOL environment at your desk or in you lab you can download Hyper-V Server 2012 R2, System Center 2012 R2 or the full version of Windows Server 2012 R2 using the links in the right side navigation bar. —>>  For tips on getting started, visit this post. (The contest is over, but the instructions can still get you started!)
  • If you want some additional instructions for building labs in-house, please visit Tommy Patterson’s Blog, where he provides lots of step-by-step guides. Tommy is one of my IT Pro Evangelist colleagues on the East Coast.

If you missed the opportunity to attend one of these camps in your area or you think someone else from your company might benefit from some of the content, please check out the Virtualization Camp Online being held next Wednesday, December 11th.

Fellow Evangelists Matt Hester and Tommy Patterson will be presenting and while you won’t be able to be “hands on” yourself, Matt and Tommy will doing some of the demos.  Keith Mayer, Yung Chou and I will be manning the chat room, so feel free to say hello!

For future virtualization related events coming in 2014, be sure to visit TechNet Events.

Found a Bunch of Smart People in a Room? You must be at MVP Summit!

This week I had the honor of attending the MVP Summit in Bellevue, Washington. This was my 5th Summit, though my first as a Microsoft blue-badge. I was very excited to be able to spent the week with so many smart people in the tech industry, but sad to know that I can’t be an MVP and an Microsoft employee at the same time. Over the last 4 years, I’ve made some great connections through the program and Summit is one of my favorites ways to catch up with colleagues that I only see on-line or via social media.

For those of you who’ve never heard of it, the MVP Program is a reward program for tech-minded people who also spend time contributing to the community. Participating in forums, writing blogs or authoring books, and running user groups that are involved with Microsoft products are some of the ways MVP Awardees make their mark.

Below you’ll find a list of the people I’ve crossed paths with at Summit this year. I’ve listed them primary by Twitter handle because they span the globe and are worthy of you following them if you also use Twitter.  If you aren’t a Twitter user, check out their profiles anyway, you’ll often find links to their blogs and other resources!

First, those who need little introduction:

For the 2nd year in a row, Ed Bott combined forces with three other MVP Eds, because we know four Ed’s are always better than one! So don’t forget to check out the workings of:

  • @ehorley (Ed Horley) – Networking geek, IPv6 expert and soon to be author. Pre-order his book, Practical IPv6 for Windows Administrators.
  • @Pluralsight_Ed (Ed Lieberman) – Technology trainer at Pluralsight and it turns out I’ve only known him for 10 months, though it seems like 10 years.
  • @itpromct (Ed Gallagher) – Whom I met at my very first MVP Summit in a session on Exchange Server, but only learned this year that in addition to technology, he also hand-makes the most FABULOUS jewelry.

It’s hard to pin these guys down for long, but I was lucky to get at least quick moments with:

  • @jeremymoskowitz (Jeremy Moskowitz) – The man behind GPAnswers.com, he’s usually so busy he never comes to Summit so I was pleasantly surprised to spend a moment with him!
  • @grouppolicyguy (Darren Mar-Elia) – Known for his GPO prowess, Darren also speaks regularly about PowerShell, Desired State Configuration and Cloud.
  • @JPBruzzese (J. Peter Bruzzese) – The only Exchange MVP on my list, Peter and I often orbit each other at conferences never crossing paths for more than a few minutes at time. MVP Summit was no exception. If you can pin him down, ask him about Exchange or his book, The Conversational Geek.

My friends from the “North” aka Canada:

  • @darcy_lussier (Darcy Lussier) – My first conversation with Darcy was oddly about his hair, which is good because he’s an ASP.net MVP and I can’t talk about that at all.
  • @jason_miller (Jason Miller) – Jason specializing in the SMB market and is active in the UG communities in Winnepeg.
  • @ToddLamo (Todd Lamothe) – I met Todd two Summits ago when I was crazy sick and he kept me going by sharing his stash of cold medication.  Turns out he can deploy Windows pretty well too.

My California Cohorts and PacITPros Members:

  • @UberGeekGirl (Jessica DeVita) – Do you live in SoCal? Do you need help with your computer? Call Jessica and consider it solved. Seriously.
  • @jldeen (Jessica Deen) – The Bay Area is lucky to have someone who can walk between the Apple and Windows support worlds so easily!
  • @scevans (Steve Evans) – Everything I might happen to understand about IIS I probably learned for Steve. Also, I think he understood DevOps long before it was a buzz word.
  • @dougspindler (Doug Spindler) – The long time leader of PacITPros.org, college instructor and MCT, Doug lives to make sure IT Pros keep learning.
  • @the_yeti (Jeremy Anderson) – Do you have an question about small business server or Server Essentials? This is your guy. I know people who swear by him, I’m not kidding.
  • @alexlewis (Alex Lewis) – I swear I think I’ll followed him on Twitter long before I met him in person, Alex specializes in Unified Communications and Lync and is active in several user groups in the Bay Area.
  • @richardhicks (Richard Hicks) – Another Enterprise Security MVP who’s be a repeat speaker at PacITPro.org events and other popular conferences.

Worlds apart, but they answer to the same name:

  • @ftp_Alun (Alun Jones) – First introduced to me by Ed Horley, Alun always seems to be one of the first people I run into at Summit.  He’s a Washington local who specializes in Enterprise Security.
  • @alanburchill (Alan Burchill) – I met Alan on the shuttle bus at my first Summit and for a while I ONLY ran into him on the shuttle bus. One of the few Group Policy MVPs, Alan makes the trip from Australia and does way more than just ride buses around campus! Remember, when it’s midnight in the US and you are stuck in group policy bind, it’s like 4pm where he is.

Where Tech is “Concentrated”:

  • @concentratdgreg (Greg Shields) – Looking for Greg? Look no further than the popular conference, TechMentor Events. Not only does he act as Chair for that event, you shouldn’t miss a chance to hear him talk about Remote Desktop Services.
  • @theJasonHelmick (Jason Helmick) – The first time I met Jason about two years ago, he taught me some PowerShell. Let him teach you some PowerShell and you won’t regret it.

Since I can’t program my way out of a box, it pays to know some developers:

  • @RobinDotNet (Robin Shahan) – My list wouldn’t be complete with out an Azure MVP. Robin runs the Bay Area Azure Developers group and one of these days I swear, I’m going to make one of her meetings.
  • @scottcate (Scott Cate) – Another ASP.NET MVP, Scott is also the founder of EventDay.com, an event management tool.
  • @m_rosenberg (Mark Rosenberg) – Long time developer and certified trainer, I almost didn’t recognize Mark this year sporting his “Texas” beard!

And finally, these guys could easily stand alone, but what fun would that be?:

  • @joe_elway (Aidan Finn) – I met Aidan for the first time when he came to present at a PacITPros event in San Francisco and it might be safe to say he knows more about virtual machines than you do.
  • @SFoskett (Stephen Foskett) – Every time I talk to him I understand Storage more and more. Plus he’s a pretty awesome speaker.

Phew… no wonder I needed a weekend to recover from Summit. It’s truly special to be able to spend nearly a week with people who not only understand technology, but also get that a thriving community is the only way technology grows.  If I missed you at Summit or accidentally omitted you in my list here… so sorry!  I didn’t even include all the folks from Microsoft that I spent time with this year, for fear that you’d stop reading in exhaustion.

If you’ve gotten this far, I think I might owe you a coffee or something.