An irresistible benefit for Microsoft developers at PDC10

If you’re a developer and you’re on the fence about whether to attend Microsoft’s PDC10 conference in October, maybe you should look a little more closely. One of the benefits all attendees will get is the opportunity to attend a pre-opening cocktail party at the Microsoft Company Store, where you can shop at employee prices:

Join us at the Microsoft Visitor Center (Building 92) for a private evening cocktail reception exclusively for PDC attendees.  This is a great opportunity to avoid the lines and check-in early, stroll through the visitor center, enjoy food/drink/conversation with fellow attendees, and…wait for it…shop the Microsoft Company Store!  […]

Please note that this benefit does not entitle you to free software, however, you will be allowed to purchase at the employee rate.  If you’ve never heard of the ‘Microsoft employee discount’, just trust me – it’s an amazing deal.

Having shopped at the store before, I’ll second that. Prices for hardware are OK, but discounts for software are amazing. I’ve seen discounts of 80-90% on some products, including Windows and Office. Attending PDC gives you the opportunity to purchase up to $120 worth of products—that amount goes a long way.

There are all sorts of other good reasons to go to PDC if you’re a developer. With Microsoft’s cloud services and with IE9 just around the corner, it’s actually an exciting time to watch Windows again.

If you’ll be there, let me know in the comments or on Twitter (@edbott). If there’s enough interest maybe we can put together a geek dinner/gathering of some sort.