Passion Fueled takes Microsoft!

Hey there you wonderful person —

Thanks for stopping by! (:

I am finally getting the chance to share with you my amazing WPC experience. For those of you who don’t know and for those who do, a little reminder, I interned with a company, ‘Fluent’, (formerly Campus Entertainment) last year September up until this year May and my responsibilities as one of their campus reps was to promote the wonderful products and software of Microsoft. Its an opportunity not many get and I was so grateful to be chosen as one of three reps in the Houston, TX area. My title was Windows UCrew rep. As my internship ended in May, I had bittersweet feelings towards it. Although it was a TON of work, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the program. Little did I know, another wonderful opportunity was headed my way because of it. My account manager for the program informed me of a huge Microsoft event that was being held in Houston this summer and asked if I was interested in not only attending but assisting one of the project managers for Microsoft and their device showcase, which would require me putting my intern experience to work but on a much larger scale. Of course I accepted the offer, not really knowing what it was but a chance to work at a Microsoft event wasn’t something I was willing to pass up. As I got more info and details of the event and shared it with my dad, I soon realized how huge this was. It was Microsoft’s BIGGEST event that they held each year for their valued partners, the Worldwide Partner Conference, and not only did I get the chance to be there, Microsoft would cover all of my expenses…travel, hotel, food, and my all access pass to the conference. I was 150% excited, and so was my father :).

I stayed in the Aloft hotel in the Galleria area of Houston and traveled back and forth to the convention center on a shuttle provided by Microsoft. There were over 14,000+ people at this conference; CEO’s, executives, partners, business owners from all around the globe and I had the chance to connect and network with individuals from Norway, Germany, Italy, Beijing, Africa…needless to say, I was overwhelmed at first. Got business cards from men and women in well tailored suits who suggested I contact them if I’m interested in travelling, other internships, and positions in their company. I felt connected and I was excited. The environment during the conference was fast paced and as an intern assisting someone who was used to this, I, along with 3 other chosen interns, had little time to adjust. I was on my feet all day, putting my previous UCrew skills to work. I explained Windows 8, showed how different apps worked on different devices, and made sure that at least ONE of the 14k people left loving Microsoft even more. I worked with 75-100 devices each day of the conference which kept me busy, so going back to the hotel each evening was something I looked forward to! But I was more than ready to head back to the showcase each morning. I also was able to get a Surface, Windows most coveted tablet. It is usually $700 retail price, but as an attendee of the conference, I was able to get it at the crazy special offer price of $99!!!! Ridiculous, right!!?! How do you pass up a deal like that? I’ll tell you how — you don’t!

Here’s a short video with snippets from that week.

If you are in college, my advice to you: jump on as many internship opportunities as possible. Before my UCrew postition, I had applied with the same company for a position promoting SUNDROP soda…I definitely thought it was silly at first, even though I did enjoy it. And looking back on it, I’m glad I did because it allowed me to have the chance to attend this amazing event held by one of the largest corporations in the world. It was an amazing, memorable time that I will surely never be able to forget and will continue to share.