I got back late last night from the MSN Search Champs meeting in Redmond. Much of what we learned is currently under NDA but here are some of the things I can tell you:

• There are some scary smart people working in Microsoft Research and they have some very illuminating ideas of how to extend search to all of the information we have access to. If any of the tools we saw yesterday are made available in some form down the road, we'll have a better way to look at our personal web of contacts, put the data we personally own into better context to the generally available pool of information sitting on the web, and will be able to collaborate and share in new and more powerful ways.

• Thanks in large measure to Robert Scoble's influence, the MSN Search Champs turned out to be an ecelectic and outspoken cross-section of the blogging, SEO, and development communities. Sitting in the same room with folks like David Weinberger, Dave Winer, Chris Pirillo, Scoble, Buzz Bruggeman, Robin Good, and others of similar caliber (if not notariety) was a rare and welcome treat. I think Microsoft got a lot more than they expected in the way of informed, opinionated, and outspoken feedback.

• The next Technical Preview of MSN Search was launched yesterday and will give you some idea of the direction the MSN Search team is headed. There's a lot more to come.

More to follow as time (and NDA) permits but this will, I think, be a really positive engagement.