Category Free

I’m sure you’ve seen my post here: $25 Certification Exam – Expires June 30th, 2009! (NA Only) or Prometric wants you Microsoft Certified by June 30th! oh and Clicking this link might save a life, Seriously  – So based around these very points, let me change it a little bit and tell you that *I* want you to get certified before June 30th!

Why do I want you to get certified? There’s never been a better time! The opportunity is here now, launch upon it! I have these pretty green vouchers with Discount Codes entitling you to take an exam for $100 off of the exam, that’s right! The exam will only cost you $25 to take!   And it has Second Shot built in to the voucher, which means if you do not pass the exam for whatever reason, you can use the same number to take your exam again for $0!

So, if I do the math correctly…

Wow! $25 for the chance to take an exam! Yay! (I’ve used one of these myself to pass an exam, and the interest in this has been amazing and great!)

I however want to open this up to more than just the people I already know on email, twitter and I meet at User Groups, so are you looking to get Microsoft Certified before June 30th?

There’s never been a better time, and let me know.. I’ll give vouchers out until I run out of vouchers… or until its June 30th, whichever comes first!

For some additional resources on training as well, I direct you to the following locations!

This is a number of supported, as well as Free Resources, so check them out!

How much does Free Microsoft Learning Cost? (Hint: Free!)

5 Free Virtualization Training Courses for the Holidays! (HyperV)

So if you’re interested in getting certified, let me know on twitter @cxi, shoot me an email CXI at pkguild.com , or CXI at NetApp.com (Or even leave a comment here, that’s fine!)

Good luck, and get certified! Thanks! – CXI :) (North America only: Only around 30 left!)

Thanks to the MSPress Blog!

Our celebration of 25 years of publishing by Microsoft Press continues this month with two more free e-books available for the next week! These offers expire on May 27, 2009, so download the e-books today:

Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services Resource Kit, by Christa Anderson and Kristin L. Griffin with the Microsoft Presentation Hosted Desktop Virtualization Team (PDF, 38.0 MB). In-depth and comprehensive, this Resource Kit delivers the information you need to set up, deploy, and manage a Terminal Services farm using Windows Server 2008. For more information or to buy the print version of this title, visit the Microsoft Learning website.

The Practical Guide to Defect Prevention, by Marc McDonald, Robert Musson, and Ross Smith (PDF, 4.3 MB). This practical, hands-on guide captures, categorizes, and builds a process of best practices to help avoid creating defects during the development process—rather than fixing them after extensive analysis. For more information or to buy the print version of this title, visit the Microsoft Learning website.

Note: You will need to temporarily allow pop-ups in order to download the free e-books.

So, for those of you who do not know, I will be “On the Bus” from the start – Still waiting on Itinerary verification, but I will be there… May 1st – 11th with the rest of MS Learning and Certification Team (Something I’m looking forward to!)

You still have until May 20th to win your trip (on the bus, or direct to TechEd) So sign up!

Here is the break down of the travel itinerary as published so far (4/14)

The Career Express tour, day by day:

Friday, May 1st: Atlanta, GA

• United States Army School of Information Technology, in Fort Gordon, GA, 8:30am – 11:00am
• Ask the Experts at New Horizons Atlanta 3:00pm – 6:00pm
• Additional Stops TBA

Saturday, May 2nd: Atlanta, GA to Greensboro, NC

• Gwinnett Technical College, Lawrenceville, GA, 9:00am – 12:00pm

Sunday, May 3rd: Greensboro, NC to Philadelphia, PA

• Philly TechFest 2009 sponsored by Springhouse Education and Consulting Services, 12:00pm – 4:00pm (featuring live rounds of “Are You Certifiable?” Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 previews, and more)

Monday, May 4th: Philadelphia, PA to Cincinnati, OH

• Philly TechFest 2009 at Springhouse, 8:00am – 10:00am
• Additional Stops in Philadelphia TBA
• MCP “Tweet-up” in Columbus (be sure to follow us on Twitter for details!)

Tuesday, May 5th: Cincinnati, OH to Indianapolis, IN

• MAX Learning Luau at MAX Technical Training in Cincinnati, 11:00am – 1:00pm (featuring Windows 7 previews, lunch, drawings and more!)
• “Bring a Friend” Night at “LANTech Training, Indianapolis, 7:00pm – 9:00pm (bring a friend interested in starting a career in IT, and you both might win a TechNet Plus subscription (and your friend might win a laptop, too!))

Wednesday, May 6th: Indianapolis, IN to Kansas City, MO

• New Horizons Kansas City 12:00pm – 3:00pm (featuring Windows 7 previews, Windows Server 2008, .NET 3.5, SharePoint sessions on more)
• Additional stops TBA

Thursday, May 7th: Kansas City, MO to Denver, CO

• MCP Study Break, Red Rocks Community College, Lakewood, CO, 8:00am – 10:00am (featuring live rounds of “Are You Certifiable?” and Windows Server 2008 exam prep sessions)
• Ask the Experts at Ameriteach, Greenwood Village, CO, 4:30pm – 8:00pm (featuring live rounds of “Are you Certifiable?” sessions on Windows 7, SQL Server, OCS and more—delivered by stellar MCTs!)

Friday, May 8th: Denver, CO to Santa Fe, NM

• Get Off the Bus! Free day for our intrepid but tired riders—come join us as we explore Santa Fe (follow us on Twitter to see where we’ll be!)

Saturday, May 9th: Santa Fe, NM to Phoenix, AZ

• Microsoft Technology Round-Up, Training to You, Phoenix, 12:00pm – 3:00pm (featuring Windows 7 previews and Windows Server 2008 certification sessions)
• Additional Stops TBA

Sunday, May 10th: Phoenix, AZ to Las Vegas, NV

• “How to Thrive in Your IT Career” at Netcom, 2:00 – 3:30pm (featuring Windows 7 preview)

Monday, May 11th: Las Vegas, NV to Los Angeles, CA

• Greet the Bus at TechEd 2009, 9am

There’s still time to register!

Special location based events whether you’re in Chicago or Downers Grove!

Chicago: 7:45 p.m. System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 Overview
Downers Grove: Resume and Job Interviewing tips

Event URL: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032413068&Culture=en-US
Event Title : CWUG: April Meeting – Chicago Loop
Event Date: Thursday, April 16th
Event Address : 200 E. Randolph, Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60601

Event URL: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032413069&Culture=en-US
Event Title : CWUG: April Meeting – Downers Grove
Event Date: Thursday, April 16th
Event Address : 3025 Highland Pkwy. Suite 300, Downers Grove, IL 60515

5:00 – 5:30 p.m. Networking
5:30 – 6:00 p.m. Room Introductions
6:00 – 6:15 p.m. Meeting kick off
6:15 – 7:30 p.m. Windows Gone Mobile (Windows mobile, netbooks, and multitouch devices)
7:30 – 7:45 p.m. break
7:45 – 9:00 p.m. Hands On Lab (Bitlocker To Go – bring your own USB Stick)

Join our group on Facebook
Follow CWUG on Twitter
And don’t forget to visit the main site for the CWUG!

That’s right! April 16th is the day for the:

Microsoft Certification Coaching Session: Preparing for your Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 – Application Development Exam (70-541)

If you’re interested in SharePoint and want to get Certified, this is a must see event!

More details below!

Duration:
60 Minutes

Start Date:

Thursday, April 16, 2009 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)

Event Overview

Take advantage of this coaching session hosted by a Microsoft Certified Trainer to help prepare for your Microsoft Certification exam.

This session is intended for Developers and IT Professionals pursuing Technical Specialist: Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 – Application Development certification.  You will review key exam topics including deploying Windows SharePoint Services and custom components, developing components, manipulating site content and configuration.  The session will help you understand the key exam topic areas and how to better focus your study efforts.

Registration Options

Event ID:
1032406314

Also, if you’re interested in other events ‘out in the future’ check out this link

Free Certification Exam Preparation

A glance into the future will reveal:

April 21: Preparing for your Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring / Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuring Exams (70-640/642)

Register Now:  7:30 A.M. Pacific Time   (What time is this in my region?)

April 23: Preparing for your PRO: Windows Server 2008, Server Administrator / PRO: Windows Server 2008, Enterprise Administrator Exams (70-646/647)

Register Now:  7:30 A.M. Pacific Time   (What time is this in my region?)

April 28: Preparing for your Exchange Server 2007, Configuring exam (70-236)

Register Now:  10:00 A.M. Pacific Time   (What time is this in my region?)