Social Functions and Networking Opportunities

• Tuesday Night | Welcome Reception

  • Your first big networking opportunity at Tech·Ed 2011 is the Welcome Party, held in the Expo space at the Gold Coast Convention Centre. It's a great opportunity to meet other like-minded individuals in a night packed full of fun.

    The Welcome Party starts at 6.00pm on Tuesday, 30 August 2011.

• Wednesday Lunch | Women in IT

  • This year, the Women in IT lunch will feature internationally renowned Lynn Langit, Developer Evangelist from Microsoft Redmond as our Keynote speaker. Not only is Lynn a true Geek in her own right, recognised for her work in SQL Server, Business Intelligence and Azure, but her pet project is around Teaching Kids Programming.

    Hear Lynn share stories on her experience Teaching Kids Programming & learn about how you too could help teach the next generation the skills they need to be what's next.

    As seats are strictly limited, attendance to the Women in IT lunch is on a first come, first served basis – so get there early!

    The Women in IT lunch on the 31 August from 12:45pm -1.45pm located in Foyer E Level 1.

• Wednesday Night | Spotlight on Windows Phone 2011 Final Showcase

  • After four months of intense development, testing and teamwork, it all boils down to this – the finals of the Spotlight on Windows Phone 2011 government app comp. It's a great session to attend to see the latest and greatest apps in the government space. You'll also learn some valuable lessons from some of the best in the biz.

    The finalists have made it through two intense rounds and they'll give their last app demo and presso on how they've combined Windows Phone features with government data to create something special.

    Come down to the Showcase on Wednesday night, and you'll help decide who wins. That's right, the fate of our competitors will be in your hands, literally, as you cast your vote via SMS. A simple text could kick-start someone's career!

    Get the full story from Halfbrick Studios

    Speaking of careers in the dev industry, Halfbrick Studios have enjoyed a pretty successful one so far. You might not have heard of them, but you're sure to have heard of Fruit Ninja – the addictive mobile game where you slice and dice fruit with the flick of a finger. Halfbrick were the guys behind it and they are all-out developer ninjas. Their CEO will fill you in on their success story, what they’re cooking up next, and why they hate fruit so much.

    They'll also be loads of giveaways, so make sure you reserve your Wednesday night for the Spotlight Showcase, starting at 6.30pm on Wednesday 31 August located in Central A.

Thursday Night

The Fun Factory rolls into town on the Thursday night, bringing with it a chance to network with your techie peeps and let your hair down after loads of learning.

With four zones of fun, there’ll be more games and activities than you can imagine. Visit the Tech·Ed Lounge to get your hands on unreleased Xbox games including Kinect Star Wars and more! Once you’re warmed up, hit the Tech·Ed Stadium to show off your ping pong, basketball shooting and soccer skills.

In fact, there’s so much going on, we can’t fit it all indoors. So we’re taking over the car park to create a race track where you can get behind the wheel of real Go Karts- that’s right Go Karts. We’re calling it the Tech·Ed Garage, and just like everything else in The Fun Factory, it’s gonna be awesome.

The fun starts at 6:30pm on Thursday 1 September at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre – don't be late.

Entry into The Fun Factory is included as part of your Tech·Ed 2011 ticket. If you would like to bring a guest you can purchase an individual guest ticket when you register for $165 inc GST. Your guest must be over 18 years of age, or no fun for them.