Sell-out conference prompts SharePoint Connections' return to the Netherlands

Microsoft and Windows IT Pro network partner SharePointProConnections are holding their second European SharePoint Connections conference of the year in The Netherlands in September.

The Autumn SharePoint Connections conference will be held at the World Forum in The Hague on September 28 and 29. The first ever European SharePoint Connections event in Amsterdam in January, 2010, was a complete sell-out. Over 750 developers and IT pros packed out the RAI to hear from some of the biggest experts on the topic in the world.

Demand was so high that Microsoft and SharePointProConnections decided to plan a repeat performance almost straight away. September's SharePoint Connections in The Hague returns with an even bigger and better five-track agenda. Over 20 speakers will present 58 seminars and workshops confirmed so far. SharePoint Connections will also include an expo featuring over 20 vendors.

"Between Microsoft and ourselves, we originally only planned for 350 delegates to January's SharePoint Connections conference," says Windows IT Pro's European director, Irene Clapham. "In the end, we catered for 750 and we had to turn away visitors on the day who were trying to buy tickets at the venue. It just shows how much demand there is for quality SharePoint education in Northern Europe. This time around, we should be able to fit everyone into The Hague's World Forum in September but pre-booking is strongly advised ."

IT professionals will hear renowned American technical writers Dan Holme, Michael Noel and Richard Taylor lay out the best practices for installing, upgrading, configuring, securing and managing SharePoint 2010. SharePoint developers will hear from industry gurus such as five-time Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award-winner Andrew Connell, fellow MVP and MSDN writer Wouter van Vugt and Scot Hiller, author of 10 books on Microsoft technology, on how to customise and extend SharePoint 2010 investments using new data access methods, leveraging Silverlight and working with data that does not reside within SharePoint.

Other big-names include Microsoft senior technical evangelist Steve Fox and SharePoint speaker-circuit favourite Asif Rehmani. The SharePoint Connections conference will also feature a strong contingent of local talent.

Microsoft Certified Master, Sharepointchick.com blogger and Dutch TechNet magazine journalist Mirjam van Olst, for example, will present a number of sessions. Similarly, Donald Hessing, also one of the world's few Microsoft Certified Masters, and four-time MVP award-winner Ton Stegeman will talk about the use of social software in knowledge management. Microsoft Netherlands' Eric Dubbelaar will present a seminar on how to design a records management solution with SharePoint 2010 following the Dutch NEN2082 standard, the conference's sole Dutch-language session. All other seminars and workshops will be in English.

Prices for the two-day conference include lunches and post-conference social events and start at €399 (ex VAT) for a (very) early-early bird discount of €200 off the full price of €599 until July 27, a standard early bird discount of €100 off at €499 (excl. VAT) from July 28 until August 27 and the full price of €599 (excl. VAT) thereafter. For the full SharePoint Connections agenda and booking details see the conference website.

For details about how to sponsor Microsoft SharePoint Connections, contact Nigel Clapham via email at [email protected] or phone on +44 161 929 2800.