Rather puts my effort to shame :-)

Below is our current session list thinking (i.e. subject to change etc. etc. etc.) around the Connected Systems (Web Services and SOA) track.... Let me know what you think!

The track names are somewhat irrelevant when you are actually attending sessions, but it does provide a neato way to organise the thousands of worker ants (including me) prepping behind the scenes.

Having said that, the Connected Systems Track has a wonderful marketing blurb that goes something like:

"Building modern applications can be a challenge. To reduce risks and ensure faster release to market, it's important to use tools that maintain the parameters of existing systems along with visual model-driven development for composition of services. Providing a standard way to exchange digital identities across federated systems is also vital for providing a safe and user-friendly experience.

If your job is to design, develop or deploy these applications, the Connected Systems track is for you. Find out how you can apply real-world best practices and get a holistic up-to-date view of the entire spectrum of Microsoft's application messaging, integration and workflow technologies. Learn how to build and manage the entire lifecycle of your composite applications and you'll have the power to really make your mark."

More interestingly, the key products and technologies covered are:

• Windows Communication Foundation.
• Windows Workflow Foundation.
• Windows CardSpace.
• Microsoft BizTalk Server.
• Microsoft BizTalk Adapters.
• Host Integration Server.

Anyway .. back to the session list ... The session list looks something like this:

Programming Microsoft Windows Communication Foundation: A Developer's Primer
How do you actually build and consume WCF-based services? At its core, the WCF programming model is simple and straightforward, requiring actually very little work on behalf of the developer. The session describes the essential WCF programming concepts: clients, services, contracts, and end points; and shows how to build, configure, and host simple services. After attending this session you will be able to start programming and exploring WCF.

Custom Activities with Microsoft Windows Workflow Foundation: A Developer's Primer
Windows Workflow Foundation provides the tools and runtime for building workflow enabled applications. Activities are the building blocks of those workflows and provide the model for reuse and encapsulation of business processing logic. This session provides developers with the information needed to start writing custom activities for Windows Workflow Foundation today. We cover the responsibilities of the activity developer related to the runtime execution of activities, as well as how to develop activities for a rich design-time experience. Find out how to build both simple and complex activities including features such as asynchronous processing, custom design surfaces, validation and databinding; and how to incorporate them into your workflows.

Introduction to Microsoft Windows CardSpace
Windows CardSpace, formerly codenamed “InfoCard”, is a piece of client software that enables users to provide their digital identity to online services in a simple, secure, and trusted way. CardSpace is an implementation of an identity selector on Microsoft Windows. Other operating systems will see their own identity selector implementations. The architecture upon which CardSpace has been built—consisting of subjects, identity providers, and relying parties—is called “The Identity Metasystem.” This isn’t just a Microsoft initiative, but rather it is the shared vision of many across the industry as to how we can solve some of the fundamental identity challenges on the Internet today. The initial vision for the Identity Metasystem was developed by Microsoft’s Identity Architect, Kim Cameron, and has been broadly adopted and championed by thought-leaders such as Doc Searls and Lawrence Lessig. We look into how CardSpace can change the way we handle Identity from a Developer perspective in this talk.

Rules Engine Use and Extensibility in Microsoft Windows Workflow Foundation
Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) includes a fully functional rules engine which you can use within software you are developing. Learn about the WF Rules extensibility mechanisms, which support more advanced scenarios. See an example of how to externalize rules from your application so that they can be maintained separately from your code. This allows rules to be edited at runtime with no redeployment. In addition, learn how to author and execute rules without even having a workflow or the WF runtime. Also, see how you can create custom expression and action types that can be used directly in your rules.

Building Microsoft Windows Workflow Foundation Enabled Windows Communication Foundation Services in .NET Framework 3.5
The .NET Framework 3.0 has great software for building communications and great software for building business logic. How do you use them together? This session demonstrates how easy it is to build communications aspects with Windows Communication Foundation and business logic with Windows Workflow Foundation.

Architecture of Microsoft Windows Communication Foundation and Common Extensibility Points
This session provides a deep dive into the architecture of the Windows Communication Foundation's service model and channel model. Learn about the role of bindings in creating the channel stack; and about the many extensibility options you can use to change the behavior of the runtime.

WCF Performance Best Practices
Abstract TBD

Building Connected Systems on the Microsoft .NET Framework Using the Windows Communication Foundation Adapter in BizTalk Server 2006 R2
Building applications today requires the ability to create secure, reliable connections between systems; manage complex business processes, transactions and rules; and integrate with systems of all kinds. Microsoft provides a number of technologies and products to help in building these applications, but understanding how these tools all work together can be difficult. In this session, we examine using Windows Communication Foundation, Windows Workflow Foundation, BizTalk Server 2006 R2 and Windows CardSpace together to build today’s connected systems. Discussion includes the integration points available in these products, with an emphasis on the WCF adapters and incl