For the second time, the Windows Insider team invited their biggest fans to spend an unforgettable week at Microsoft Headquarters in Redmond. I could not believe my eyes when I got the message that I am one of the lucky winners of the contest. The whole trip was an amazing experience, it was like a dream come true. Here is the full story.

The Contest

Many of my peers asked how I got invited to visit the Microsoft Campus. Microsoft encouraged me and many others to participate in their second Insiders2Campus contest. Nine lucky winners are going to get the chance to fly to Redmond for an exclusive VIP experience at Microsoft Headquarters - including tours, sneak peeks, and chats with executives. An opportunity I did not want to miss. To enter, I participated in a Bug Bash to help engineers at Microsoft spot issues in the latest Windows 10 Insider Preview Builds, which are not yet available to the public. Furthermore, I submitted a video and a short brief on why I am a Windows fan.

The Winners

Since I have got the message, I could not wait to meet everyone in person. I was literally counting down the days. As the big week approached, I had a long travel day across the Atlantic ahead of me. Although one of my flights got canceled, I had made it to Seattle somehow. Most of the other lucky winners had already settled in by then. After checking into the hotel, we had a spontaneous gathering in the hotel lobby to get acquainted. Here we were, far from home, complete strangers, the majority from different countries with completely varied backgrounds. I noticed quickly that our backgrounds did not matter at all. We immediately connected. So, who are we?

If you want to know more about us and what we do for a living, check out the post on the Windows Insider blog:
Welcoming Our Biggest Fans to Microsoft Headquarters

The Tour

The team at Microsoft had made every effort to offer us a phenomenal experience. Our three days on Campus were packed from start to finish. Although we were all under NDA, following are a few specific highlights from the trip that I can share.

It is a known fact that providing employees with a digital, flexible workplace results in higher productivity. The Campus Building Tour showcased us how Microsoft is reshaping the workspace to make it more modern with open spaces that offer collaborative working while considering the need for privacy.

An inspiring speech as part of the Women of Windows Shell Speaker Series by Dona about her latest book taught us how to spin the tale we want others to tell about us. It is a workbook going through the steps to ensure your brand reflects who you are. You can get it on Amazon. Anything else that happened? Well, we accidentally set the building on fire and had to evacuate.

The most Insider thing ever: we have 10 #WindowsInsiders on campus this week who are the winners of the bug bash contest. We were to do a session with them today...but of course, we set the building on fire and had to evacuate pic.twitter.com/YbKQVbivVG

— Dona Sarkar (@donasarkar) October 10, 2018

The Anechoic Chamber is used to test the sound on devices like the Surface series or the Xbox. It has won a Guinness World Record for being the quietest place on earth, so this chamber cuts out all the noise levels. The few minutes we were in there had been a very disorientating experience.

Have you ever wondered what it takes to build a Surface? We could get a look at what makes up a device at the Surface Lab Tour. I was amazed at how much thought is put into the engineering of these devices. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take any Surface devices with us.

A place where everyone is encouraged to be epic is the Microsoft Garage. Employees and students from all over to world get together to work on projects that they are passionate about. Some indispensable things started as a Garage project and made it on the hall of fame - including the Microsoft Launcher for Android or the Malicious Software Removal Tool.

A short visit to the Microsoft Treehouse showed us another touch on the modern workplace. The sound, smell and space around us is different, a more relaxing atmosphere. It is a great place to get your head clear and to be at one with nature.

What is life going to look like in the future? The Envisioning Center tries to answer this question. Technology is changing faster than ever and it will influence our lives even more. In the future technology will be made easier to use and it will always be connected.

We also had some fun on the Windows Insider Webcast. But this one was a bit different - instead of Microsoft employees, we, the Insiders, were sitting around the table with Jason. You can watch the whole piece on Mixer.

Webcasting with #WindowsInsiders on campus! pic.twitter.com/OczODr5h1x

— Brandon LeBlanc (@brandonleblanc) October 12, 2018

At the Visitor Center and Company Store, we got a chance to see a vision of the new Microsoft Campus through a HoloLens as if we were there.

The Thanks

At this point I want to say thank you to everyone at Microsoft for all your hard work. The whole trip was very well organized and every detail was covered. The presenters at the various sessions throughout the week provided us with so much interesting information. Everyone I got in touch with made me feel welcome and treated me as if I was part of the team. Their honest interest in my input was evident.

To my fellow Insiders2Campus contest winners, it was wonderful sharing this experience with each and every one of you. I am sad to be leaving you as I feel I have made great friends.

I would also like to say a huge thank you to Nikki and Joe for keeping us out of jail and for the amazing photos.

Very special thanks go out to Dona. I want you to know I appreciate all that you do for us. Thank you for inspiring me and for getting me a signed copy of your book, #DoTheThing!

The Photos

If you have not had enough, here are some snapshots I took during my visit to the Microsoft Headquarters: