Dive Deeper 2008 Gulf (Dubai & Cairo)
Dec 26th 2007Desmond LeeCommunity/User Group/Talk & MCT/ Certification/ VCP & Events/Training & Info
I am very excited to accept an invitation by the great folks at Quality Training (Scotland), CommunityWorks (Netherland) and Windows IT Pro network to speak at the Dive Deeper 2008 technology event. This jammed pack full day event is scheduled to take place in the gulf region for the first time* - Dubai (UAE) Mon 11 Feb 2008 followed by Cairo (Egypt) Wed 13 Feb 2008.
In-depth technical sessions from four different tracks will be presented by a selected panel of international speakers:
Track A: Windows Server Infrastructure, Virtualization and Management
Track B: Security
Track C: Communications
Track D: Collaboration
Exclusive sessions covering hot topics of today and exciting new or to-be-released products will appeal to any IT professionals and administrators looking to immerse into Exchange Server 2007 SP1, security, SharePoint Portal Server 2007, Microsoft server and application virtualization technologies (Hyper-V/Windows Server Virtualization, SoftGrid), Systems Center, Microsoft Groove, Office Communications Server 2007, Windows Server 2008, PowerShell and so, so much more (click here for session details).
Take advantage of the special early bird offer and register for the event in Dubai or Cairo today!
* outside of EMEA
PS: Looking for great dive sites and diving buddies for the event in Cairo and Dubai. Please write me directly or post your comments with your contact details (moderated).
Booking in advance for a desert safari tour is recommended. Depending on the operator, it can cost anywhere from AED 150 to over 400. The price includes pick-up / drop-off at your hotel or designated pick-up points in the city between 1500 and 1600 hrs plus entertainment and BBQ buffet dinner.
Transport will either be on a small bus or one of the 4-wheel drive vehicles. I recommend that you take a look at going with 
After an initial short bumpy ride of about 10 min, you will arrive in the operator’s base camp. Here, you have a chance to ride one of the safari bikes for a fee (AED 50 for 10 minutes).
Just when you thought you have the whole desert for yourself, more guests started arriving. Once the guests were gathered together, the available 4×4 vehicles were formed into a convoy. 
This was lead by a convoy leader but each individual driver can maneuver through the desert whichever way he deems fit. Up and down slopes of steep inclines (estimated 30% or more) with sudden directional sways of the steering wheel, 
all the while with swift changes of gear seem to be a hallmark of desert driving in order to keep moving to avoid getting sand stuck or force to slide down from failing to negotiate a slope.
As you can imagine, trying to take decent photographs while on constant jerky, bumpy grounds through the desert proved to be another challenge itself.
Just take a look at our driver’s intense concentration and driving skills yet he managed to make all on board felt sufficiently relax (and somewhat safe).
I reckoned all of us had seat belts on but he apparently had no need for one. Warning! The ride can be very hard and exhilarating if you have not done anything similar before so do not go with a full stomach. It must have been 20 minutes or so before the ride was finally over (without one consciously knowing it) and the convoy made its way once again back to base camp. 
Here, the camel and bird handler started parading, enticing guests for a (very short) ride or have the bird perch on their arms to take a snap for a nominal fee of AED 10.
It was kind of fun watching the female guests screamed when the camels stood up and sat down simply to enable mounting and dismounting.
Mark your calander for Swiss TechDays 2008 scheduled in Geneva (CCIB) - 12 to 13 March 2008 and Basel (St. Jakob) - 19 to 20 March 2008.