Welcome to MEC - The Lost Conference

I've come to MEC, the Microsoft Exchange Conference, in Orlando, FL to hear about Exchange 2013 and all things Exchange.  MEC is being called "the lost conference" since it was last held 10 years ago in Anaheim, CA.  The following year it was rolled into TechEd. 

This year it was decided to resurrect MEC to focus solely on Exchange and focus on Microsoft's new release of Exchange 2013.  While Scott Schnoll recently had some public sessions about Exchange 2013 (aka, E15) at TechEd Australia just recently, the attendees at MEC have been promised deep knowledge and hands-on learning of the new features.  MEC will feature 227 sessions about Exchange over 4 days.  126 of those will be about Exchange 2013.  Visit the MECisBack session list to see all the sessions.

 

MEC is being held entirely on site at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Kissimmee, FL.  This place is massive!  There are several restaurants, bistros, and cafes, and over 1,400 rooms all under one massive glass roof.  The resort includes a large pool area with an adult pool and a swim area, water park, and water slides for kids.

When I arrived, as was pleasantly surprised with a gift basket from the Exchange 2013 TAP Team.  It came with a nice welcome note thanking me for coming to MEC and for my assistance with the TAP/RDP program.  Very nice!

This afternoon registration opened and everyone already here began registering.  We each received a MEC satchel that contains an aluminum water bottle and the usual "stop by booth X for a chance to win" slicks.  We also got a MEC t-shirt and our valuable wristbands to the MEC attendee party, being held at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure theme park on Monday night.

 

 



It's been great meeting up with all my Exchange friends, including Squeaky Lobster!  Tonight we have a pre-reception event, hosted by my friends at F5.  We'll have an hour before heading to the MEC reception event tonight at 7pm.

I'll be tweeting from most of the sessions I attend, hightlighting important facts talked about during the sessions.  Follow @expta on Twitter to keep up on all the latest at MEC!