I arrived an hour early at the McCormick Convention Center for my shift at the Microsoft AI Tour. I had volunteered to help at the Azure AI Foundry "Ask the Experts" booth, and I wanted to confirm its location. I arrived and introduced myself to Sam, who worked the morning shift. As we were talking, an attendee walked up and asked a question. Then another person appeared with another question. Then another. Soon, people were waiting in line, and we were dividing them between the two of us. Some questions I could not answer, so I handed them off to Sam and invited another attendee to ask.

Sam stayed well past her scheduled end time, and I did not take a break until hours later, when I realized I had not yet eaten lunch.

The crowd finally thinned out in the late afternoon. I took the opportunity to walk around the expo area, checking out the other "Ask the Experts" booths, and talking with partners. Microsoft had scheduled a Chicago AI Tour specifically for partners a few days after, so not many partners attended this event. However, I had conversations with people I knew from Elastic and Long View.

The Folks at Long View invited me to a Happy Hour following the AI Tour, so I stopped by the VU Rooftop Bar around the corner from the Convention Center to meet a few of them. The views from this rooftop bar are impressive, and it was nice to meet a few more people from the partner's organization. I could not stay long because I had already accepted an invitation to a Microsoft MVP dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant. My friend Betsy organized the event and invited me as a former MVP.

It was good to connect with this community, which does so much to help spread knowledge about Microsoft technologies. Most were in town to volunteer at the AI Tour.

Thanks to the number of people and questions at the Experts booth, I was unable to attend any breakout sessions at the event. Still, it was time well spent, connecting with people, teaching them, and learning from them.