I must admit, I would have missed this conference if Greg Wilson had not mentioned it in his blog.  It's quite nice to see an upcoming conference (other than Pittcon) who's content is directly related to what we do here at Scimatic Software. 

The format of the conference looks good, presentations and then breakout sessions.  The following is how this conference is summarized from the conference website:

The use of computers creates many challenges as it expands the realm of the possible in scientific research and many of these challenges are common to researchers in different areas. The insights gained in one area may catalyze change and accelerate discovery in many others. This workshop is explicitly cross-disciplinary, with the goal of bringing together scientists from different areas to share their research and experiences of how computing is shaping their work, providing new insights and changing what can be done in science. The focus is on the research, and the technologies that make that research possible.

I've signed up and I've emailed several contacts urging them to go.  I hope that the end result is a good mix of individuals from research and industry.  Hopefully Microsoft will drop some hints as to how they will be supporting the sciences in the future.