I plan to live forever. So far, so good.

The third edition of ITCamp is coming to Cluj-Napoca again this year (May 23rd-24th) – and thanks to Mihai and the rest of the team behind the event, it’s shaping up to be more exciting than ever!

Just like last year, we’re having the content split into 3 parallel tracks over two days, which will mean over 30 sessions held by an amazing set of speakers. We’re joined this year by Richard Campbell, Tim Huckaby, Martin Kulov, Tobiasz Koprowski, Peter Leeson, Andy Cross and many, many others. All in all, we’ve got 4 Microsoft Regional Directors, 13 Microsoft MVPs and other great community speakers attending the event.

This year we’re also planning to have several pre-conference workshops and seminars as well, targeted at those out there who are looking for more in-depth and hands-on experience with some of the newest Microsoft technologies. Also, if you’ve missed our past editions, we’ve got a dedicated section on our conference page discussing them.

With a month left until the event, there’s still a lot left to do. But I know it’s definitely going to be worth the ride!

I’ve recently published my session’s slides from the last weekend’s Windows 8 Dev Camp in Cluj, for those of you who are interested.

It was more of a demo session, so the slides themselves aren’t that relevant, but I would like to recommend the TechNet page dedicated to what’s new in Windows 8 – it’s a great starting point if you want to find out more on the topic. You can also find a copy of the Springboard Series Windows 8 Resource Guide here. Since we’re talking about Windows 8, we’ve also had a TechTalk on Windows 8 back in late July, you can find that on Vimeo (in Romanian).

On a side note, we’ve recently published some of the sessions from this year’s ITCamp event in Cluj, which you can find on the dedicated Vimeo channel.

If you’re even remotely interested in Microsoft technologies and private cloud deployments, you definitely shouldn’t miss today’s webcast:

Hear from other senior IT professionals about how cloud computing can help you gain maximum competitive advantage with minimal risk.

Learn about Microsoft cloud offerings, including private, public, and hybrid cloud models.

Experience Microsoft private cloud solutions through the Microsoft Technology Center.

The virtual event agenda is the following:

Private cloud discussion with Microsoft executives: Insights and news

• Satya Nadella, President, Server and Tools Business, Microsoft
• Brad Anderson, Corporate Vice President, Management and Security Division, Microsoft
• 8:30AM PST | 16:30 UTC

Executive panel and Q&A: Guidance and best practices

• Brad Anderson, Corporate Vice President, Management and Security Division, Microsoft
• Jacky Wright, Vice President, IT Strategic Services, Microsoft IT
• Rand Morimoto, Chief Executive Officer, Convergent Computing
• 9:00AM PST | 17:00 UTC

Envisioning Your Private Cloud: A scenario based demonstration from the Microsoft Technology Center in Redmond, WA.

• 9:30AM PST | 17:30 UTC

Once again, the registration link is here - enjoy!

After my MVP title renewal earlier this month, I’ve just received news that I’ve also been selected to become a member of the Springboard Technical Expert Program (STEP). What is STEP? Well, here’s a short overview:

The STEP program was launched in 2009 as an effort to not only drive global awareness and value of Windows products, but to help influencers build community and advocacy around these key technologies. The goal has always been to make our launch efforts a true, “for the community, by the community” effort. Since that time, the program has expanded to support Windows, Office, MDOP (Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack), Desktop Virtualization, Windows Intune and Internet Explorer to help support the growing needs of the IT-Pros.

This program helps to expand reach beyond typically-attended Microsoft events like TechEd to more local efforts. The nexus of the program lies in the IT pro-ready content on The Springboard Series on TechNet. This “how-to” content helps IT pros to Discover and Explore, Pilot and Deploy, and Manage Windows, MDOP, Office, and IE. Content is currently available in 10 languages and the site receives over 3.5 million visitors each month.

Some benefits of the STEP program include:

• Since 2010 STEP members presented 350 events to over 130,000 IT Pros in 39 countries on 15 languages.
• STEP members were invite to participate at MMS, TechEd US, TechEd EMEA, on Talking About Windows, the Springboard Series Tours (US and EMEA) tour,  as well as on the Springboard Series Virtual Roundtables.
• STEP members are regularly featured on the Springboard Series on TechNet, the TechNet homepage and community pages and in the Springboard Series Insider Newsletter.
• STEP members are sought after for many speaking opportunities.
• STEP members have access to members of the Windows product team for troubleshooting and questions.
• STEP members have regular opportunities to participate in product panels and focus groups.
• STEP members presented at MVP summit alongside Microsoft SMEs.

I’d like to publicly thank everyone at Microsoft who had a say in this for the amazing opportunity I’ve received, and of course to everyone who has ever attended my events/seminars – this wouldn’t have been possible without the people out there who I got to share my knowledge with over the years! I’m sure the STEP membership will empower me to keep doing what I was doing up to now anyway, but this time on a whole new level.

You can check out the Springboard page on TechNet, the Springboard Series blog and the official Springboard twitter feed for more information.