Three hundred fifty computers. Two hundred twenty-five monitors, Almost a mile of computer cable. More than 6,500 attendees.

Almost seven months of preparation. Three days of technical setup. Four hours of tear-down.

About 500 researchers, most of them sporting forest-green, short-sleeved polo shirts with a white TechFest 2008 logo on the left sleeve.

"It's a huge coordination effort," says Kendall Martin, director of technology for Microsoft Research, as his team begins the process of unplugging the TechFest 2008 computers, coiling the cables, and storing the gear until next year's event.

"You're trying to get hundreds of individuals to work together, so it's pretty complicated: arranging the card readers, assigning the demos, getting the demoers the equipment they need. It's quite an orchestration. And it's not just the technical staff. The planning starts months out. It's just massive. Every single player ... the content selection, the worldwide tour ... The number of people who touch this is huge."

And, with luck, so is the payoff. James Oker should know. As director of Program Management for Microsoft Research, he heads the team whose responsibility it is to stage this annual celebration of the future of technology.

So, Jim, how'd it go?

"This is an awesome event," he responds. "I've talked to people ranging from senior executives to program managers and developers working on products I've worked with, and everyone was super-excited about what they saw here.

"I have a lot of follow-up to do with a bunch of people after the show that I think is going to lead to better Microsoft products in the next couple of years."

TechFest 2008: It's a wrap.