Windows Phone Launch Event in Baltimore

This week I was fortunate enough to attend one of the Windows Phone launch events in Baltimore, MD. Held at the Pratt St. Alehouse (a place I have previously visited), this event was a gathering of the Windows Phone marketing crew showing off their new phones and the features of the newly released Mango operating system. Using Twitter and Foursquare they held a drawing for a few products such as Windows Phones and Xbox games. It was a total blast to attend for a number of reasons.

I convinced my buddy Zach to go with me to check out the event. Upon arrival we were greeted with drink tickets and checked in on Foursquare. Then, we started to wander around checking out the phones.  They had all the various models on display with some very cool portable display stations. I happened to stop by to take pictures of the HTC Titan, the largest Windows Phones available. I had read the review of the Titan on Engadget, and since the phone wouldn’t be available to the public until Novermber 20th, I was anxious to check it out in person.  By sheer luck, I also managed to win one in the drawing!  (Zach ended up winning one as well)

As expected, the food at Pratt St Alehouse was amazing! They had their upstairs dining room/bar filled with a wonderful large spread of food (even steak!) and a ton of great types of beer on tap. Zach and I also ran into our friend, and fellow Photowalk Alliance member, Amy while we were eating. A member of the Windows Phone marketing group sat down with us and proceeded to show us some of the lesser known features in Mango. Naturally, Zach and I grilled him about some of the features we wanted to know about, such as integration with Social Media accounts and Xbox Live.

All in all, it was a fantastic event (not just because I won a phone). The venue did a great job hosting the event and the Windows Phone marketing team were truly passionate about the product. It’s not often to see that passion when it comes to selling digital devices and honestly its quite refreshing. I can’t wait to try out my new HTC Titan (which also my first HTC phone) and share my review with you!

Related articles

• Mango-infused HTC Titan with 4.7″ screen coming to AT&T Nov 20 (arstechnica.com)
• HTC Titan heading to AT&T on November 20 (slashgear.com)