“Hey Kevin, what are you doing at Ignite this year?”
Well.. you’d think that, having not missed a TechEd North America or Ignite since 1997, it might be a forgone conclusion that I’d be there. But alas, I’m going to have to miss it this year. 
“Is it because you’re not with Microsoft anymore?”
No, not really. Well.. sort of. Actually, when Microsoft shifted the conference dates into the Fall, it made it hard for anyone at Microsoft to get approval to attend, because with the timing of the new fiscal year starting July 1 nobody yet really knows what kind of budget they’re going to have for training or travel. Most often, too, employees are going because they had a talk accepted and are speaking, or are working at the conference (booth-duty, hands-on-lab proctoring, etc.) I’ve done, and enjoyed, all of the above in the past. But unfortunately none of those opportunities presented themselves this year.
So.. I’m just going to have to watch the keynotes online, and revel in all the fun that my TechEd/Ignite/Krewe friends are sharing on social media.
“What about next year?”
I’m thinking very seriously about making my yearly Ignite attendance a condition of employment. 
But, of course, this assumes that I’ll still be working primarily with Microsoft solutions. Heck, maybe I’ll be going to Build.
“C’mon, Kevin..”
Yeah.. who am I kidding.
Absolutely Full of I.T. 