Houston: We Have A Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference

Bryan Wilton, president and CEO of InterDyn Progressive Group, a Houston-based Microsoft Gold partner, says the fourth largest city in the U.S. has recently revitalized its downtown area and convention space.

And with two major airports and ample hotel space, he says Houston has more than enough infrastructure to host the WPC, which was attended by more than 7,000 partners this year.

"We don't get a lot of major conferences down here, probably because Houston is so far south, and Dallas tends to get more attention. But Houston has a lot to offer," said Wilton.

Although Microsoft has yet to announce the venue for the WPC, Wilton expects it to be held at the George R Brown Convention Center, which features 1.2 million square feet of flexible exhibit, meeting and registration space.

While the prospect of visiting Houston in July may be daunting to some partners -- the average high temperature during the month is 94 degrees, according to Weather.com -- Wilton says the heat is far from unbearable.

This year's WPC was held in Denver, Colorado, while the 2006 and 2005 events were held in Boston and Minneapolis respectively.