There are 103 Microsoft Student Partners (MSPs) all over the UK. And, in case you hadn’t noticed, the UK is big. Wouldn’t it be great if, just for one day, we could all come together from whatever corner of the United Kingdom we’re from and meet up in person?

Well that’s what we’re here to announce! I’m part of a small group of Microsoft Student Partners who have come together to organise the greatest event in MSP history. Yes – you guessed it – a UK MSP Meetup!

The idea behind the hashtag was originally proposed by @DansGalaxy

When?

On Tuesday, December 21st 2010, at Microsoft’s London office - which is right next to Victoria Train/Bus station, and also just down the road from Buckingham Palace.

The event will run from 12 noon until 18:00, with some optional dinner and entertainment in the evening kindly being provided by Microsoft.

It’ll be a great opportunity to network, make friends and hear some cool presentations delivered by some Microsoft speakers that we’ve invited. Here’s the agenda:
           
12:00               Lunch
13:00               Welcome to the Future
14:00               Session 1: Developing for Windows Phone 7
14:45               Session 2: Developing for The Web
15:30               Break
16:00               Session 3: Game Development for Xbox, Phone and PC
16:45               Session 4: How to get jobs, get skills, and make lots of money.
17:30               Round up
18:30               Dinner and Drinks

Big thanks to Microsoft for giving us a venue and feeding us all for the day. Their sponsorship has really helped make this event possible!

Who? How?

Now, we do expect the day to be rather popular, and we canʼt fit all 103 MSPs into the
venue - itʼd be great if we could, but itʼs simply not possible. Don’t worry though – we’re going to be live-streaming the event on the web for those MSPs that can’t make it in person!

There’s space for around 40 MSPs in person at the event though, allocated on a first-come/first-served basis. Details of this will be sent out to all MSPs closer to the time. To register, drop an email to lewis.davies@msptechrep.com with your details and we’ll let you know if and when you’ve got a place. If you want to attend, don’t hold back – we’re expecting places to go pretty quickly!

And Finally…

If you’re travelling a long way, and fancy staying over in London for the night of the 21st, a few of us will be staying at The Langland Hotel on Gower Street, not too far from Covent Garden and Soho. By tube, the hotel is around ten minutes on the Victoria line from Microsoft London. Shop around for prices, but the best we’ve found so far is over at LateRooms.com for £40 per night, including free in-room WiFi and breakfast the following morning.

We really want to make this event a success – so please, come on down to London on the 21st and meet your fellow MSPs! In the meantime, you can chat about the event on Twitter using the #ukmspmeetup hashtag.

We’ll see you on December 21st in London!

The MSP Meetup team:
Adam, Andrew, Blake, Dan, Ian, Lew and Mike