I'm looking forward to heading off to Microsoft's TechEd 2012 conference on the Gold Coast in a couple of weeks. This year I'll be joined by colleagues Ben and Imran, who will both be first-time attendees.

It promises to be a particularly good year for getting up to speed on new products, with Visual Studio 2012, Windows 8 and Server 2012 hot off the press, and Windows Phone 8 just around the corner.

I'm again working for part of the conference as a Technical Learning Guide assisting in the hands-on labs. I've also been selected to lead an instructor-led lab on "Designing Windows 8 HTML apps in Blend" (Session 'DEV ILL100'), and an exam cram session on 70-599 "Pro: Designing and Developing Windows Phone 7 Applications".

It will also be great to have Narelle along, who be enjoying a few days holiday while I'm busy learning, instructing and cramming.