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I have read many accounts over the past couple of days of what Windows Phone 7.8 and 8 will and won’t bring to existing and future customers for Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform. I’ve seen many breakdowns of what it all means and many opinions on whether it was a good decision by Microsoft to take the route they did. This article won’t be about that. As a fan of WP and this being my first Windows Phone event, I want to offer my experience of attending this year’s WP8 Summit with you in a more intimate fashion.
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I was fortunate to be able to stay at my dad’s house who happens to live in San Francisco, although it did come with the drawback of having to leave for the event 2 hours early. Small concession though considering time spent with my dad and the building anticipation of attending my first Windows Phone event, not just any event, but the Big Kahuna! This left me with time to spare which as some of you know, was spent tweeting. I made the rookie mistake of not plugging my phone in while doing so, which did lead to some problems which I’ll talk about further on. I was so focused on the buzz that was building on Twitter about the days expected announcement of WP8 and current device compatibility. I didn’t think to plug my Titan in until 20 minutes before I departed my wife’s Dodge Durango and the parking lot for the event.
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Upon arriving at the Marriot Hotel I noticed a telecast vehicle which gave me goosebumps thinking about how important today’s event was. It’s not just Apple hosting events that grab the public’s eye, no, Microsoft was doing it this time. I couldn’t remember the last time there was build up to a Microsoft announcement like this one. As I approached the giant sliding glass doors I couldn’t help but to notice how clean and reflective they were, clean like the Metro UI! They opened, I entered, and this began one of the most fascinating and exciting 3 hours of experiences I’ve ever been part of!
Upon entering I immediately saw people on their Nokia, their HTC, and their Samsung’s! I new I was home or had died and gone to heaven! This was in the lobby of the hotel mind you, I hadn’t even made it down to the Summit yet. I rounded the corner and was met by a pleasant employee with a Windows Phone kiosk to his side as he happily welcomed me and directed me in the right direction. Down the escalator and more Windows Phone Kiosks, my excitement is becoming harder to contain. I want to take pics of everything, and I did. Down the long hall, more greetings, more WP signs, the dull sound of more people congregated lower than were I’m at. Down another escalator and there it is! The largest group of Windows Phone owners and fans I’ve ever seen in one place at one time! Blessed I am.
After checking in and receiving my identification I began to meandered around the lobby outside the Keynote Hall trying more than anything not to look like a deer caught in headlights. I began to relax and realize that everybody was so laid back and easy going. The demographics of the Windows Phone devs and users slightly caught me off guard. There were teens, men and woman of various ages, and all seemed quite delighted to be in attendance as well! I was rather taken aback by the wide diversity of WP user base. Android and iPhone demographics are pretty predictable who owns what, but we had a very balanced group of people in attendance.
Prior to the keynote, I was able to meet up with some of the people I’ve spoken to via the many social networks, face to face. That was an absolute joy to put some online friendships into a real setting. There’s nothing quite like talking with someone face to face while enjoying a cup of coffee, it enriches any conversation. Microsoft did a great job at providing a comfortable setting for everyone, great breakfast foods and drinks.
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The doors to the conference room opened and exposed an incredibly large conference room set up for 500 people and the room was flooded with blue light as if you were in an aquarium. At the front was a large stage with prototype WP’s and 3 screens surrounding the entire stage. The room quickly filled with eager people waiting to hear 1 thing, would current devices receive the Windows Phone 8 update. Hundreds of laptops popped open adding an ambient light to the room from the glowing displays and with that the conference began!
The demonstrations of upcoming features accompanied with uplifting music filled the Twitter TL’s. The flooding blue light changed colors to mimic the demonstrations, filling the room with green, yellow, orange, and others. Oohs, aahs, and applause filled the room many times! Joe Belfiore and Terry Myerson wowed us all with the new features that will be WP8. I won’t go into those features as they’ve received plenty of attention and we’re all pretty aware of that by now.
I want to focus on Joe Belfiore for a moment. He had the pleasure and displeasure of announcing that current devices will receive a lesser version of the WP8 by updating to WP7.8 and that couldn’t have been easy considering everything at stake. To his credit, he announced it with a sense of humbleness. You could see the obvious pride for what they have accomplished and yet I felt he showed a sense of remorse in the fact that not all devices will be able to enjoy all of the new features. He stood up there tall, confident, brave, and continued on. I say job well done and he has earned my permanent respect and loyalty.
As the keynote wrapped up and people began filing out of the doors to the lobby for lunch, I didn’t hear complaints. Instead I heard high praise from all! The massive changes and accomplishments WP8 will bring to the wireless ecosystem was just so amazing that people focused on the many benefits of the changes as topics of conversation. I don’t know if this is just one of those cases of “you had to be there”, but I think we all were blown away by what we saw in action and I think you all will too!
I was able to meet some more folks after and watched the WP8 OS showoff for interviews. As people dwindled down, I said goodbye to a WinPhan I met there and began to make my way to the parking lot. I was filled with joy and bit of sad as well, not being sure I would ever have the opportunity to experience something that interesting and exciting to me personally again. I want to thank KC Lemson for making this experience possible for me, it’s something I’ll always look back on with absolute joy.
You can see my pic album for the 2012 Windows Phone 8 Summit by clicking 2012 Pics