NCTC TechNite 6.0
I went to the NCTC's TechNite awards dinner with some people from work last night. The council presented 5 awards to local companies for innovation in manufacturing, biotechnology and information technology.
The keynote speaker was Bob McDowell, a VP at Microsoft, who talked about the competitiveness of the IT market and how providers need to offer real value to business. This is especially important now during this period of hangover from the run-away IT party in the late 90s. He was an interesting speaker and had a good sense of humor and excellent presentation skills. All of the attendees got a copy of his book, which I'll probably take a look at to see what it is all about.
I've gone to this event for the past few years and it always amazes me that there are about 500 people there - it just doesn't seem like there is that much high-tech activity in the NewVa (not the best name) region. But, they come out of the woodwork each year. Overall, a good event and one that I'm glad I attended.