There seems to be some discussion around the bus tour and the cities we’re visiting…It’s impossible for us to come to each and every city (and I was disappointed when I missed the last European bus tour), but rather than sit in my office with a frown on, I found someone who made his own bus tour happen. This blog post comes courtesy of Daniel Sorlov, an MCT in Sweden, who, when he found out the last European Bus Tour wasn’t coming to Sweden, created his own bus tour.

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We Did Our Own Bus

We did our own bus. This is our short story, the story about “The Blue Bus”. The bus arrived in Berlin after being on the road a few days, taking us all to TechEd Europe. But it wasn’t the Microsoft bus. It was a community driven bus, by MCT Europe! Engaged MCTs from Scandinavia who were disappointed not to be visited by the official Microsoft Learning Bus tour, but still wanted to be involved.

So how did it start? Let’s go back a few years to the first bus tour ever, it was in the US and visited some cities there – launching Microsoft Learning closer to the students and trainers everywhere in the community. We noted this also here in Europe, but still, no-one could ever ask for the bus to drive over the Atlantic Ocean. Time went by and about a year later I got a mail saying that they were going to take the bus to, and through, Europe! Fantastic! Now I could be a part of the bus and the community engagement around it.

Until I read the fine print. The bus would only cover some countries in “continental” Europe. Scandinavia - no bus, no seminars, no Windows 7 launch, etc… Utter disappointment. But then during a lunch with one of my colleagues we said “Forget that Microsoft have their bus and it isn’t coming here. Let’s make our own”. A couple of weeks later that idea had grown into something much larger: a real bus. Going through Scandinavia and meeting the Microsoft bus in Berlin at TechEd.

We started finding sponsors and speakers in the community and to our surprise many of the leading speakers and technology specialists volunteered and our bus was on the way. We even got Microsoft on-board supporting the bus and we got the same graphical profile as the official bus, and we got to blog on the official bus blog. Our bus was just like the Microsoft one but driven by community experts and community involvement (and Microsoft speakers also).

We ended up visiting Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmoe, Copenhagen and Berlin. Covering most of Scandinavia as we wished, and with many stories along the way: Crazy IT nerds driving a bus down the autobahn, driving in snow, setting up the event at the wrong location, missing deliveries, hotels overcharging, running out of gas and lots of other interesting stories.

So if the bus isn’t visiting your town? Don’t fear! Get help from the community and create your own event! It really doesn’t take more than a bit of determination. A good way is to get the local and national SQLPASS, INETA or GITCA user groups onboard. Good luck!

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So, what are you waiting for? Create your own bus and meet us in New Orleans!

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