The third day of the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference had one of my favourite sessions - one I look forward to every year. Allison Watson presents her "A" List. This is a list of the best and brightest as chosen by her (or I would presume her staff), predicting what technology will shape our future. In years gone by this has included noteworthy new technologies such as flexible screens used as household newspapers, the Microsoft Surface product, new compression and graphics display technologies and Microsoft Auto.

1. Imagine Cup - this is an annual award in the form of a challenge to students from around the world to do something with technology (each year is different). This year there was more than 300,000 students registered and 59,000 students from 149 countries competed. The theme this year was: "Imagine a world where technology helps solve the world's toughest problems."
2. Windows Mobile - really this was just giving the mobile market and product line the nod it deserves. Mobile is here to stay and will play a key part in defining how we work and play in the future (starting now).
3. Microsoft Surface - this was an update from two years ago (Surface was curiously missing from the "A" List last year). This year, Allison showed off the HealthVault application on Surface. It was a really cool application because it was a great example of using technology to make people's lives easier. For example, part of the demo had the doctor discussing what medicine the patient was taking and they were able to look at pictures of the pills. If you have ever had to take a lot of medicine - the names don't make a lot of sense but you can recognize them.
4. Advanced Communications - okay - I am drawing a blank on this one. I think it had to do with Office Communications Server. I was taking notes during the presentation but because the ones before and after this one were so interesting to me I did not have a chance to jot down what this was and now I forget. If anyone knows - leave me a comment. J
5. The Future of Productivity - this was easily the highlight of the entire "A" list. Bob Muglia came out to talk about what productivity will look like in the future and how each of these concepts is already being worked on in some way. The video is 5:45 and is really worth watching.
6. Realizing the Future - this was a great way of ending the "A" List. It was presented by a Research Fellow for Microsoft (sorry - I missed his name). He walked us through how they plan for 20 years in the future. He gave examples of technical advances that are becoming productized like thin screens that are allowing smaller and smaller products (Zune and TV screens) and the technology behind Microsoft Surface.

Although the "A" List was great - I think it was missing some of the cutting edge ideas like robotics and immersive or full-sense interfaces like Microsoft Natal.

There was one other session I attended today that deserves a little recognition. Stuart Crawford gave a presentation on Social Media 101 - Defining and Understanding How to Connect with Your Clients and Colleagues Using the Latest Technologies. He covered all the usual suspects from Twitter to LinkedIn and explained what each is good for and why we need it. Most importantly of all, he showed how this change is happening how and will become the "norm" whether we are prepared for it or not. He had a couple of great video to show also that I was not able to find on YouTube - if anyone has their URLs, please leave them in a comment.