This three-hour evening workshop is designed to give you the jump-start you need to take advantage of the biggest opportunity for up-and-coming developers this decade. With over 500 million Windows 8 devices slated to join the Windows ecosystem this year, there has never been a bigger opportunity for students to build an app that can get you the experience (and income!) that will help you achieve your goals.  It also will give you a chance to "show your stuff" to Microsoft recruiters who will be on-site to explain why Microsoft is one of the top places to work in America, and to help you explore if we're the right place for you after graduation.

This Thursday evening event kicks off a month-long competition that will conclude February 22nd with an all-day Hack-a-thon where you'll get expert instruction and help to finish your project, and where your app will be judged by all and valuable prizes awarded to the top apps.

The tentative agenda for the kick-off is:

6:00pm Pizza "Meet and Greet" with Microsoft Recruiters and Tech Evangelists

6:30pm Windows 8: The Big Opportunity for Developers

7:00pm App Development Workflow and Store Ecosystem

7:30pm Overview of Visual Studio and Blend for Store Apps

8:00pm App Dev Demos

8:30pm Review of tutorials, how-to's, templates, and other resources

This workshop is being held in a theater-setting rather than a furnished computer lab. Most of the content will be presentation-format, but it will be helpful if you bring your computer to follow-along. For the best experience attendees should have Windows 8 and Visual Studio installed (required to build apps). Mac Users will need to install Windows 8 and Visual Studio using Bootcamp, Parallels, or VM Ware.  For those who aren't able to do the installation before the workshop, we have 15 loaner USB hard drives with the required software installed, which we will make available for use during the evening workshop on a first-come, first-served basis, but please follow the preparation instructions at: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/mis_laboratory/archive/2012/08/29/preparing-a-computer-to-use-windows-to-go.aspx . Attendees with older Macbooks will need to come with Windows 8 already installed using Bootcamp, VMWare or Parallels. Newer Mac's that can boot to USB (Power + Option Key) may be able to use Windows to Go. Please make sure your OS has been fully upgraded to the latest version.

All students are invited!

For questions and additional information contact Randy Guthrie at randy.guthrie@microsoft.com