Tech.Ed Fun Factory 2011: photos

In one corner of the conference centre's underground parking lot, Microsoft has brought in a Porsche for attendees to have their picture taken next to.

If Porsches aren't quite the look attendees were looking for, there's also a Ford in the other corner.

Attendees squeeze into the go karts after being breathalysed and sitting through a safety talk.

Some attendees are able to pull out ahead of the pack early.

After several turns, it's not long before several people are vying for the same position.

Automotive-related models decorate the cafe-seating area next to the track, although it's not quite clear who the "hg" sponsor is for the blue F1 car.

The labs, which had their closing time extended to 9pm for those who were disadvantaged by Monday's storage disruptions, were mostly empty during this time.

Elsewhere in the conference centre, attendees were gathering to test their motor skills.

Attendees could test their skill on scoring soccer goals in front of a crowd of on-lookers.

Nearby, basketball skills were challenged with attendees seeing how far they could shoot before missing.

Attendees also had a chance to let out their frustrations on each other in a Gladiator-style challenge.

In some cases, attendees may have done well to let their boss win.

For those wanting to see if they could outpace the competition, attendees were strapped to a bungee cord and challenged to run as far as they could.

Attendees that wanted a more relaxed evening visited the conference centre's main auditorium, which was converted to suit a night of trivia, comedy and live music performances.

For the gamers in the community, Microsoft rolled out Star Wars Kinect, which sees attendees use the Force to control elements of the game.

Keeping general order in the crowd and fitting into the Star Wars theme were several Storm Troopers, although attendees kept telling them they weren't the geeks they were looking for.

Michael Lee travelled to Tech.Ed 2011 as a guest of Microsoft.