If you are planning on attending the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) next week, I though I would give you a heads up on a couple of the sessions you may want to attend while your in Los Angeles.

For those not familiar with WPC, it is an annual gathering for the Microsoft partner community to learn about Microsoft’s roadmap for the upcoming year, network and build connections, share best practices, experience the latest product innovations and learn new skills and techniques. Since 2003, the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference provides a unique 5-day event for thousands of partners from over 100 countries to plan their business strategies for the upcoming year. WPC kicks of Monday July 11th and runs through July14th.

Here are some key sessions to check out:

WIN03 - Deploying Windows 7 in the Enterprise - This session will describe the opportunity for services partners related to the current wave of customers adopting Windows 7. A partner profitability study indicates up to a 2.5 times increase in services revenue and margins when a customer adopts the Windows Optimized Desktop solution compared to a conventional desktop refresh. In addition, Microsoft has put together a series of tools and programs to support partners in effectively capturing this opportunity, including readiness, desktop migration offerings, funding to support marketing campaign execution and incentives. Attendees also will have an opportunity to experience a vision demo of how the latest deployment tools and best practices can be applied to quickly deploy a modern desktop infrastructure in the customer environment.

WIN11i - MDT, PoC, MAP, ACT, WDS, USMT, IEAK, SCCM and P2V– Alphabet Soup: Windows XP to Windows 7 Deployment Tools and Resources Spelled Out - According to Gartner, the average user is spending 6 hours deploying a workstation from XP to Windows 7. With the right free tools and resources, your customers could be deploying Windows 7 and have all of their user data migrated from Windows XP in less than 1 hour. Come see for yourself. Learn about the great free tools, training and resources available to help your customers quickly and easily move from Windows XP and Office 2003 to Windows 7 and Office 2010. Learn about the value of the Windows Proof of Concept kit and how it can dramatically reduce the time spent managing application compatibility and deployment issues.

SI05 - Windows 7: Profitability Outside of the Box - More Partners, Making More Money - Desktop platform consulting and deployment is not for hardware companies only anymore. Windows 7 Enterprise's impact to your corporate customers spans directory, security, access and application strategies. Your customer environments are dynamic, with multiple user types, power, legacy, remote, task; the skills of infrastructure, virtualization, application, desktop and security partners are all positioned to expand their service consultancy to desktop planning and decision making, capturing highly profitable services dollars. In this session, hear from a Microsoft Client Business Group and MCS veteran on how to expand your business in consulting areas you are already impacting.

Also make sure you stop by the Windows area and check out all of the cool new Windows Slates and Laptops we will have on display. Looking forward to seeing you there!