2010 IT Conferences For Microsoft, Linux, and Mac Applications and Technologies

There is no lack of options when considering attending a professional IT conference. If you or your IT department is considering investing in a conference, I have assembled a list, in no particular order, of major IT conferences for 2009 and 2010 with respect to messaging, collaboration, and communication technologies.

Interact 2008 was the inaugural unified communications conference on Microsoft communication products. It focuses on the integration of Office Communication Server, Exchange Server and unified communications (UC) as a whole. Third party products are an important component of Microsoft's UC vision, and they are well represented here, also. Interact 2010 has not been scheduled yet but dates and the location should be posted to the website soon.

TechEd is Microsoft’s flagship conference. It has become so popular over its 15 years that it has been split into a developer conference and an IT Pro conference held back to back. TechEd 2010 is scheduled for June 7-11, 2010 in New Orleans, LA. TechEd EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) will have the Developer Conference in Berlin, Germany from November 2-9, 2009 followed by the IT Pro conference from November 9-13, 2009. There are other TechEd conferences around the world including Israel, China, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Brazil, and South Africa.

The Connections conferences are a series of technology conferences focused on specific Microsoft applications. Connections is split into WinConnections and DevConnections. WinConnections is comprised of SharePoint Connections, Windows Connections, Exchange Connections, IT Management Connections, and Green IT Connections. DevConnections is made up of ASP.Net Connections, Visual Studio and .Net Connections, SharePoint Connections, and SQL Server Connections. The Connections conferences are hosted by Penton Media, publishers of Windows IT Pro Magazine. They are usually held semi-annually on opposite corners of the United States but will both be in the same location in 2009. WinConnections and DevConnections occur November 9-12, 2009 in Las Vegas, NV. Dates for 2010 have not been announced yet.

The Lotusphere conference is one of the older ongoing IT conferences with 16 years of history and still going strong. In 2009, the conference is being held at Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort in Orlando, FL from January 17-21, 2010. The sessions are a balance between Application Development and Administration/Management of IBM and Lotus applications, including Lotus Domino, Lotus Notes, and Websphere Portal servers.

VMWorld is a recent addition to the long list of conferences as virtualization has become an integral part of IT systems. VMWare is the catalyst for VMWorld and the conference has a North American and a European installment. VMWorld Europe was held in Cannes, France from February 24-26, 2009. VMWorld North America occurred from August 31 - September 3, 2009 in San Francisco, CA. No 2010 dates or locations have been set.

OpenSourceWorld replaces the successful LinuxWorld conferences which ran for 10 years. The open source movement has changed over the years, gaining traction in the enterprise. The name change is more befitting this segment of the industry. OpenSourceWorld expanded on that success when it ran from August 10-13, 2009 in San Francisco, CA. A date for the 2010 conference has not yet been set.

MacWorld is the premier conference for MacOS enthusiasts. It covers IT, including Mac OS X Server, to the user experience, including third party applications on the Mac. MacWorld is operated by the same company as OpenSourceWorld - International Data Group (IDG). The MacWorld conference will be held in San Francisco, CA from January 9-13, 2010.

In this case, IT stands for Internet Telephony. The IT Expo is the conference to attend for VoIP content and the integration of various communication media into the network. IP Communication keeps evolving with opportunities for new applications from Call Centers to the Help Desk. Keynote speakers from Sprint, Verizon, and Digium will be joining IT Expo when it is held in Miami, FL from January 20-22, 2010.

Networking infrastructure advancements have been critical in the evolution of IP communication and internet-based collaboration. The Cisco Live conference integrates the 20 year old Cisco Networkers conference. Cisco holds this annual conference in the fun and fabulous Las Vegas, NV from June 27 - July 1, 2010.

Sadly, Novell has canceled its 20 year old conference held annually in Salt Lake City, UT. Novell Brainshare had been canceled for 2009 under the guise that economic uncertainty may prevent attendees from committing due to travel and registration costs. The good news is that Brainshare is back at it once again with the conference scheduled for March 21-25, 2010 in the usual Salt Lake City, UT location. Costs of attending have dropped by $300 from the last conference in 2008.

You and/or your IT staff could spend a lot of time and money attending conferences to keep up with the latest technologies and gain quality networking contacts for your business. Messaging and collaboration technologies continue to evolve and grow and so must the people who maintain those systems. Conferences are great places to gain quality contacts and learn and discuss the present and the future of communication.