Readers get 40 percent off Karlsruhe and London mega-events

Windows IT Pro readers in Europe can get a massive 40 per cent off the entrance fee to two huge Microsoft technology conferences that are coming to Germany and the UK in June.

For two weeks only, Windows IT Pro News EMEA subscribers can attend the IT & DevConnections powered by Microsoft events to be held in London and Karlsruhe for just £599 (down from £999) and €675 (down from €1199). IT & DevConnections powered by Microsoft, Germany 2011 will be held at the Kongresszentrum Karlsruhe, Stadthalle from June 8-10. IT & DevConnections powered by Microsoft UK will be held at the ExCeL conference centre in London from June 13-15. Both events will feature around 50 speakers and over 100 seminars.

In a year in which there will be no TechEd Europe (the next one is in 2012), the conferences mark the European debuts of the huge Windows Connections events attended by many thousands of IT professionals every year in the United States. The British and German conference agendas bring together top-ranking experts from Microsoft along with leading independent presenters to deliver in-depth sessions on how to succeed with virtually the whole Microsoft technology stack – Windows, SharePoint, SQL Server, Exchange, Silverlight, ASP.Net, virtualisation and Azure.

It's a grand coalition of Microsoft big hitters together with speakers from Windows IT Pro, SQL Server Magazine, SharePoint Pro and DevProConnections. Microsoft presenters include ASP.NET development guru Scott Guthrie, developer tools group director Dave Mendlen and Steve Fox, senior evangelism manager at Redmond's developer and platform group. Windows IT Pro luminaries from the U.S. include SharePoint wizards Dan Holme and Richard Taylor as well as SQL Server speaker-circuit stars Kimberly Tripp and Paul Randall.

The IT & DevConnections powered by Microsoft conferences will also feature local tech talent. Microsoft Germany SQL Server expert Steffen Krause, for example, is a regular speaker at TechEd Europe and PASS Europe as is ASP.NET MVP and prolific author Christian Wenz from Arrabiata Solutions GmbH. Similarly, the conferences will feature Scottish Cybercrime Security founder and all-round security guru Andy Malone as well as Microsoft UK development expert Mike Taulty and SQL Bits user group main man Allan Mitchell. At the Karlsruhe conference, many of the local speakers will deliver their sessions in German.

As with their American counterparts, the London and Karlsruhe IT & DevConnections powered by Microsoft events will take the form of co-located conferences that run over two days with additional pre-conference workshops. The co-located conferences – SharePoint Connections, Microsoft ASP.NET/Silverlight Connections, Visual Studio Connections, and SQL Server Connections – are themselves divided into streams. Database pros can, for instance, pick sessions from a choice of two tracks, one of which is provided by cult website SQLServerCentral.com. SharePoint users can choose from both development and administration tracks and there will be general Windows sessions of interest to all types of Microsoft-oriented IT folk. There will also be in-depth sessions on Exchange.

Although the conferences' organisers are expecting around a thousand visitors to each event, the multi-track nature of the IT & DevConnections powered by Microsoft conferences means seminar sizes should stay relatively small. This should enable delegates to get "up close and personal" with the presenters and that sessions are interactive with good audience participation.

So, how do you get your 40% discount to either IT & DevConnections powered by Microsoft, Germany 2011 or IT & DevConnections powered by Microsoft UK? Simply visit the event you wish to attend's website with the links above. Go to the "Registration" option in the drop-down menu from "For Attendees". Fill in your job and address details and you will come to a page that asks you to tick either the "2-day IT&DevCONNECTIONS powered by Microsoft 2011 Conference" or the "Deep Dive Pre Conference Workshop". Tick the "2-day IT&DevCONNECTIONS powered by Microsoft 2011 Conference" and hit "Next".

You will be asked a couple more questions and then offered a free digital subscription to Windows IT Pro magazine, SQL Server Magazine or SharePoint Pro. After this, you will be taken to the "Payment" page. You will be asked for a discount code (ignore the question below it about promotional codes). Now here's the important bit. Enter the code: WN222. This will bring the amount due for attending IT & DevConnections powered by Microsoft, Germany 2011 down to €675, saving €524 on the full price of €1199. The same code, WN222, will bring the amount due for attending the IT & DevConnections powered by Microsoft UK 2011 down to £599, a saving of £400 on the full price of £999. This offer is only available until April 16.

If you have any queries or for details about how to sponsor/exhibit at IT & DevConnections powered by Microsoft, Germany 2011 and IT & DevConnections powered by Microsoft UK 2011, contact Nigel Clapham at [email protected] or Chris Moses at [email protected] or by phone on +44 161 929 2800.