A note from Mark Miller: As a media sponsor for the Best Practices Conference this August, we will be talking a lot with the people speaking at the conference and what you can expect to see. In this article, Bill English tells us why you should consider going to the conference.

As a reminder, you can receive a free pass to the conference. Read the details, get your list together and I hope to see you there. — Mark

From Bill English: When we take a long step back, there are an increasing number of conferences focused on SharePoint. There’s the SharePoint Technology Conference hosted by BZ Media, which is a privately held, high-tech media company based in Huntington, N.Y., on Long Island’s beautiful north shore. BZ Media’s flagship publication is SD Times, the first and only newspaper for software development managers.

Then there’s the SharePoint Conference 2009, hosted by the Microsoft SharePoint Product Team. We’re expecting nearly 6000 at this conference as SharePoint has definitely taken off and is considered to be the fastest growing software platform Microsoft has ever produced.

There are some regional events, like the Midwest SharePoint Conference or the New Zealand SharePoint Conference that was held in early July.

So, with the increasing number of SharePoint conferences, you might be asking yourself "Why would I attend the Best Practices® Conference?" In this post, I’d like to answer that question.

So here are five great reasons to attend the Best Practices Conference:

1. Industry Support: We have strong industry support from key, trusted vendors that you know, such as Microsoft Press, Synteractive, AvePoint, CorasWorks, Quest, Bamboo Solutions, Infonic, KnowledgeLake, Nintex, Syntergy and others. You can maximize your time by meeting with the industry’s leading vendors while learning the right ways to implement SharePoint in your environment.

2. Focused Content: The Best Practices conference is not a technical drill-down conference, though technical information is presented and assumed. This conference is all about the best ways to achieve a successful deployment and adoption of SharePoint. While the other conferences will contain some of this information, the Best Practices conference is the only one focused completely on Best Practices. If you want to know the "why" instead of the "how", if you’re having trouble with your deployment, or if you’re wondering about "next steps" for your deployment, then the Best Practices conference is the place to be. Every presentation will present several best practices, at least one worst practice and at least one tradeoff decision. Having common elements in speaker presentations is another unique aspect of the Best Practices Conference.

3. High Value: We know that many have limited funds to spend on conferences this year. The Best Practices Conference offers unparalleled value in design and architecture information for a SharePoint and SQL deployment. And because this conference is an intentionally small conference, you’ll have unique opportunities to interact with industry leading experts in a smaller, more informal atmosphere.

4. Strong Speaker Lineup: The upcoming Best Practices Conference will feature 24 different MVPs as speakers, several Microsoft SQL and SharePoint team members and a keynote by Arpan Shah, Director for the SharePoint product team.

5. Great Location: Did you know that 50% of the population lives within 500 miles of Philadelphia? With the conference being located in Washington, DC, this is an excellent opportunity for those on the East Cost to incur minimal travel expenses to attend this important conference.

If you’re thinking about registering for the Best Practices Conference, now is the time to register. You’ll gain great information on how to improve your deployment, have a great opportunity to learn from the best in the industry in a small, informal atmosphere and enjoy the fun and nightlife that Washington, DC offers.

We hope to see you there!
Bill English, MVP

Guest Author: Bill English, MVP

An author and educator specializing in SharePoint Products and Technologies, Bill English (MVP) is an industry leader on this exciting product from Microsoft.  Since 2000, Bill has authored 13 books on Exchange and SharePoint products.

Bill is the co-owner of Mindsharp, Summit 7 Systems and the Best Practices Conference. He has presented at Comdex, The Microsoft Exchange Conference, TechMentor, TechEd, Advisor Live, TechEd Europe and Networld Interop. You can find his blog at sharepoint.mindsharpblogs.com. Bill lives in Minnesota with his wife and two children where he enjoys boating, photography, golfing and basketball officiating.