WPC 2010 – It’s a Wrap!

The Microsoft 2010 Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) was held in Washington, DC last week. It was a chance to meet and mingle with more than 10,000 of the devoted. By devoted I mean the Microsoft Partner Ecosystem and the Microsoft employees that help the ecosystem thrive.

Big Change --- Welcome Jon and Thank you Allison

Some of the big news, at least to me, was that Allison Watson and Jon Roskill are swapping jobs. Allison has done a great job building the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) – formerly known as the Microsoft Partner Program (MSPP) over the last eight years or so. Jon has done a similarly great job building the Microsoft Business Marketing Organization (BMO). I wish them well in their new roles.

Kodak and Microsoft

Although Kodak has a long standing relationship with Microsoft this was the first time we were showing off our (relatively new) Scan to SharePoint solution. A lot of partners were unaware Kodak has solutions to help their customers Migrate Paper and Metadata into their ECM solutions. It was nice to shine some light on our plans for SharePoint 2010 and Beyond.

Full Disclosure --- I work for Kodak. I have been in the ECM / KM industry for close to 20 years and for five of those years worked for Microsoft.

WPC is one BIG PARTY

It’s not ALL about the parties, but there are always great parties being thrown … by Microsoft and by partners. I was happy to get invites to the Niche Cubed (aka N3), the Neudesic parties. Both of which were taking place a top the W Hotel. If you have never been to the roof of The W --- the views of the White House and the Washington Monument are incredible.

Here is the napkin from the Neudesic party. Clearly … They are All In! 

I also was invited to a few parties for a few friends that had birthdays during the WPC. Happy Birthday to Heather Newman and Agnes Darazs.

WPC 2011 --- It’s LA Baby!

I’m already looking forward to WPC 2011. Being a native Californian it’s always nice to get back to my roots.

Will I see you in LA?

Before WPC next summer please let me know if you have an interest in working with Kodak. We are looking to build our partner network. We have great plans for 2010 and beyond. Ping me for details and check our Kodak and SharePoint plans here.

About The Author:
I have spent the last 20 years working in various aspects of the ECM industry. I am currently with Kodak as a Director of Business Development. In my past I have spent time at Kofax, Microsoft, FileNet, K2, and at Captaris (which was acquired by Open Text). Prior to that I was a Unix VAR running my own company. Follow me on Twitter, check my blog, send email or find me on Facebook or LinkedIn.