Well, the Microsoft IT Pro Townhall discussions are over and the only thing left is dinner tonight. Overall, I think that the topics that were brought up in the three panel sessions were valid and interesting. However, in some of the discussions, the responses from the Microsoft folks were a bit defensive instead of opportunistic. This could have been a great opportunity for Microsoft to get some poignant feedback from the IT Pro Community on new technology trends and in some cases, I believe they did. However, in the cases where Microsoft gave defensive answers, I believe that they missed an opportunity to ask “Ok, we see that you have a concern or suggestion, what do you (as an IT Professional) think we should do to improve our products or move toward a solution.” Getting an outside perspective on any product or service is, in my opinion, one of the best things that a company can do to foster product growth and acceptance. In the next few posts I will briefly discuss some of the topics that came up during the panel discussions and what Microsoft did right and what they could have done to improve the event. I will post the details as I gather my notes.
FYI- I am outlining these posts before the dinner provided by Microsoft, so that I am completely free of any kool-aid influenced statements 
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Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Web 2.0, Information Technology
) Anyway, I am here now and I am looking forward to the event tomorrow. Topics of discussion will include upcoming virtualization and web technologies (two of my favorites). Dinner at a local winery is also being provided by Microsoft. I will probably post more about the meeting tomorrow (barring any NDA requirements 