Thom Robbins: New England Events

Mobility Final Lineup

Thu, 12 Aug 2004 02:27:44 GMT

We have the final line up all set! If you haven’t registered there is still time.

Windows Mobile Developer Day

Date: August 18, 2004

Time: 8:30-4:15

Event Description:

Is your code going mobile? Have you wanted to learn how to develop and implement mobile solutions within your applications? Using nothing but the code these sessions will help you learn how you can develop and implement these types of solutions. Come and join us for a one day Developer’s solution workshop. These sessions are designed to provide a complete overview of the Compact Framework from the ground up and how it can be used within your application environment.

Time	Topic	Presenter
8:30-9:00	Registration/Welcome	Tom Cochran/Thom Robbins
9:00-10:30	Introduction to the Compact Framework	Thom Robbins
10:30-10:45	Break
10:45-12:00	Occasionally Connected Application Development	Duane Laflotte
12:00-1:00	Lunch
1:00-2:30	Data Storage Best Practices	Chris Pels
2:30-2:45	Break
2:45-4:00	Compact Framework Tips and Tricks	Don Sorcinelli
4:00-4:15	Wrap Up/Give Aways

Love to see you there!

Tue, 03 Aug 2004 13:41:29 GMT

ca·ban·a also ca·ba·ña

A shelter on a beach or at a swimming pool used as a bathhouse.
A cabin or hut.
A place to talk technology
A place to give and get expert advice
A community based project

Cabanas were a hit at TechEd 2004 and now they’re coming to Boston! That’s right, community based technical discussions with experts. Bring you questions, your expertise, and even code on a laptop. Every question is fair game. The cabana is the place to have discussions with experts and other developers on .NET topics of your choice. One-on-one, in a small group or whatever. No pre-canned demos or slide shows allowed.

The Boston Cabana is a quarterly event not to be missed. Got a question? Got a problem? Got an idea? This is the place. Stayed tuned for the list of peers and experts that are planning on attending!

Have you registered?

Want a free tablet?

Thu, 29 Jul 2004 14:21:45 GMT

The .NET Rocks! Tablet PC Listener Giveaway!
http://www.franklins.net/dotnetrocks/

Take a short survey and you could win a free Tablet PC!

Code Camp Requests

Sun, 25 Jul 2004 17:01:48 GMT

The call for speakers and presenters is on! The real success of the code camp is that the community drives both the topics and agenda. The success and quality of the content is really an important part of the success of this. I have been receiving a tremendous amount of mail regarding what people would like to see. I thought it would be good to post these. If you have any session requests please feel free to use the comments to add them in.

For those people out there trying to determine a topic for a presentation or a chalk talk this would be a great place to start. Many of the emails that I have been receiving are asking for the following:

Object Oriented Development

How can I load a datagrid using OOP?
How to determine where to place business logic?
Practical SOA – Best Practices

SQL reporting Services
Crystal Reporting Ser vices
Building reusable code
Windows forms advanced topics

This is awesome – keep them coming! Please make sure that complete the speaker request and send them in.

Windows Mobile Developer Day

Thu, 22 Jul 2004 21:25:54 GMT

Windows Mobile Developer Day is fast approaching. Please make sure that you register and attend! We have some great speakers lined up around some awesome content.

Hope to see you there!

Windows Mobile Developer Day

Date: August 18, 2004

Time: 8:30-4:15

Event Description:

Agenda:

8:30 – 9:00 – Registration

9:00 – 10:30 - .NET Compact Framework Overview.

10:30 – 10:45 – Break

10:45 – 12:00 – Occasionally-Connected Application Development.

12:00 – 1:00 – Lunch

1:00 – 2:30 – Data Storage Best Practices

2:30 – 2:45 – Break

2:45 – 4:00 - .NET CF Tips and Tricks

4:00 – 4:15 – Wrap Up/

Code Camp II: The Return!

Thu, 22 Jul 2004 15:20:34 GMT

*********CALL FOR SPEAKERS*********

Developer Code Camp II: The Return!

October 16/17, 2004

October 16 – 8:30 AM – 9PM

October 17 – 8:30 AM – 4PM

Microsoft Waltham

Schedule: http://radio.weblogs.com/0131777/CodeCamp2/code2.htm

General Call for Speakers

Code Camp II is looking for speakers and session leaders.

Code Camp II: The Return is looking to be even bigger and better than anything we have done before. The secret is you! This is a New England developer community based event that requires both speakers and attendees. The continuing goal of the Code Camps series is to provide an intensive developer to developer learning experience that is fun and technically stimulating. The primary focus is on delivering programming information and sample code that can be used immediately. The event is free and all slides, manuals and demo code are provided free!

This two day camp is hosted in our Waltham facility. As a community based event this is a general call for speakers and session leaders to help make this event a success. Based on your feedback, Code Camp II will now feature two types of 1.5 hour sessions and three defined tracks

Do you have something to say?

Requested Session Types:

Code focused presentation – These are presentations that include both power points and code demos. Given the audience that is attending it is important that a large amount of the presentation is focused on code and coding related techniques. Sample topics include How To and Best Practice Sessions.

Chalk Talks – These are new to the Code Camp. These sessions are designed as a facilitated discussion around a specific topic. No pre-canned demos, or pre-prepared code samples allowed! They are presented as a free form facilitated discussion that leverages the expertise of the presenter and the combined knowledge of the group to explore a specific topic.

Additionally, based on feedback we are sponsoring the following three tracks. All presentations must fall into these tracks to be considered. One of the strongest pieces of feedback from the last Code Camp was to provide a better organized set of tracks:

Code Camp Tracks:

Smart Client – This track is designed for presentations or chalk talks on topics related to Smart Client related development topics. This includes Windows Forms applications, Microsoft Office or mobile devices.

Web Track – This track is designed for presentations or chalk talks about Web based development that includes ASP.NET and Web Services.

Data Track – This track is designed for presentation and chalk talks about data storage technologies that includes SQL Server and XML.

********Submit Your Sessions********

Please complete the following and return it to trobbins@microsoft.com by September 15.

Once your session abstract is received we will review and provide scheduling for the selected sessions by October 1. All slides and code samples for the presentation must be delivered by October 14. If we are unable to fill all the time slots for the two days, the code camp will be shortened. It is the community that makes this event a success!

Name:
Company:
Email:
Phone:
Session Type:	Chalk Talk/Presentation (Select one)
Track:	Web/Smart Client/Data (Select one)
Level	200/300/400
Session Name:
Session Description:

Assess Your Skills

Tue, 13 Jul 2004 01:34:27 GMT

Ran across this today and never realized that is was available. If you are looking for help around certifications or want to test your knowledge. If you go down to the bottom of the page their is even a Visual Studio assessment.

Check it out!

Technical Resources

Invest 60 minutes for a more successful IT career

Receive a free analysis of your current skills and a personalized learning plan that recommends Microsoft Learning Products, books, and other resources.

First Look SharePoint Portal Server 2003

Thu, 08 Jul 2004 20:26:22 GMT

First Look SharePoint Portal Server 2003

CLICK HERE TO DISPLAY OUTLINE

Course No. 11001

3 hours

$0.00

Day Sessions

	Starting	Ending	Where
	7/22/2004 9:00:00 AM	7/22/2004 12:00:00 PM	Microsoft Waltham	Thu

Call 800-370-2791 for group scheduling or to bring this course onsite

First Look: SharePoint Portal Server 2003

Presented jointly by Pinnacle Training and Internosis

Please join us for a first look at the new Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server and find out how this product helps information workers function more efficiently.

Find out how to create a complete view of your business using SharePoint Portal Server 2003. Discover how having immediate access to up-to-date, relevant information can increase productivity. Learn how to make it easy for business units, teams, and individuals to share knowledge across the organization. Learn how you can make the most of your organization's intellectual capital by utilizing the industry-leading search technology in SharePoint Portal Server.

Get the information you need about the relationship between SharePoint Services 2003 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003 to decide whether to deploy SharePoint Services alone or with SharePoint Portal Server 2003.

Spend the morning with us and we'll show you how SharePoint Portal Server seamlessly connects individuals, teams, and knowledge so that people can take advantage of relevant information across business processes to help them work more efficiently.

Building Custom Controls with ASP.NET

Tue, 06 Jul 2004 14:40:29 GMT

For those attending my presentation tonight on Building Custom Controls with ASP.NET at our office in Waltham, I wanted to upload the slides and code samples for those interested. They can be found here.

New User Group Forming

Wed, 30 Jun 2004 01:17:15 GMT

Do you work in the Financial District and have a need for a .NET Fix? Well you will be glad to know that a new .NET user group is starting in the Financial District. Here is the information for their first meeting - July 1

http://samgentile.com/blog/archive/2004/06/19/12016.aspx

Patrick Hynds - hits the blogging circuit!

Fri, 25 Jun 2004 20:17:30 GMT

I wanted to pass this on for people that may have missed it. One of the best people I know and probably one of the most influential voices for developers has jumped into blogging. Both a friend and one of the New England Regional Director's - Patrick Hynds has started a blog at http://www.criticalsites.com/phynds/.

Subscribed!

What is XML? And Why Should I Care?

Tue, 22 Jun 2004 15:30:43 GMT

As promised I wanted to post the information from my talk last night at the VB Learn User Group:

What is XML? And why should I care?

You've heard the hype but have you heard the facts? XML is clearly one of the most important standards within the technology industry. In this presentation Microsoft's Thom Robbins covers the structure and design of XML and how it should be used by developers. This presentation also covers the various companion technologies and standards that have been developed with XML (XSD and XSLT). These are important technologies for developers to understand not only for their own application development but as a cornerstone of the .NET Framework. Thom explains how these can be tied together and used within the .NET Framework for application development.

The samples and slides are available for download from here

Windows Mobility Day - Are you coming?

Mon, 07 Jun 2004 00:37:14 GMT

Windows Mobility Developer Day is getting closer! We are starting to lock in the speakers and the content. Keep an eye here for more information.

Window Mobile Developer Day

Microsoft Office Waltham
201 Jones Road
Waltham Ma

Have You Registered?

Agenda:

8:30 – 9:00 – Registration

9:00 – 10:30 - .NET Compact Framework Overview.

10:30 – 10:45 – Break

10:45 – 12:00 – Occasionally-Connected Application Development. (Chris Pels)

12:00 – 1:00 – Lunch

1:00 – 2:30 – Data Storage Best Practices (Laflotte, Duane)

2:30 – 2:45 – Break

2:45 – 4:00 - .NET CF Tips and Tricks

4:00 – 4:15 – Wrap Up/

ADO.NET Best Practices

Sat, 05 Jun 2004 20:31:47 GMT

I really love talking to the local New England User Groups. I always have a great time and always manage to learn a few things myself. I think the information sharing at these groups really make it a worthwhile time investment. As I promised here are the slides and code samples for my talk on ADO.NET Best Practices.

Code Camp Samples

Mon, 31 May 2004 16:54:32 GMT

I had a chance to post what have been the most requested samples from the code camp. As you can guess they are from Patrick Hynds who is without a doubt one of the keys to the successful code camp!

Salt Demo
Custom Authorization
Forms Authentication

SQL Reporting Services Introduction

Fri, 28 May 2004 01:34:35 GMT

If you haven’t had a chance to check out SQL Reporting Services, I would highly recommend it. The product is actually pretty amazing. I had the opportunity today to present an overview of for some customers and as promised, I have posted the slides here for download. Also, for your reading pleasure, is the PDF format of my recent article that appeared in the .NET Developers Journal (INETA choice edition) download.

Maine Bank Expo

Fri, 21 May 2004 15:38:15 GMT

Yesterday I had a great time speaking at the Maine Bank Expo in Portland. This is an annual meeting they hold and my second time speaking to the group. The focus of my talk was to provide them with their annual Microsoft Technology update. Of course at the top of the list were the soon to be released Virtual Server and the new killer functionality of Office 2003.

Slides can be downloaded from here

Code Camp Success!!

Fri, 21 May 2004 15:05:25 GMT

After a very long week, I had a chance to go through all the evaluations completely from last weekend’s code camp. Yes, I personally read and reviewed each and every one of the feedback forms. My personal feelings were that this was extremely important to understand what people felt about the event. I have to say I am completely floored with the positive feedback and overwhelming success that we had with this. Here are just a few of the more typical positive comments that I saw:

** Excellent timing on the weekends same me from having to take off of work.

** So many sessions my brain hurts – Can we have more?

** Format works well. May want to include more advanced sessions next time

As with all events the comments and feedback covered a broad spectrum. Logistics and topics were varied the most. The good news is that feed was all positive on doing this type of event Logistics we can work and improve on. I think that there are several factors that contributed to the success of this event based on the evaluations.

Speakers

When we designed the code camp we actually took a less than traditional approach. Usually we pick a set of topics and then go after speakers. Not this time. I asked for speakers from the developer community. The result was a different set of content and presenters. I definitely think that was important and helped to make the event. Both Patrick and Duane had the highest rating of any speakers for the event! Many first time speakers came forward and did an awesome job! Speaking is a hard thing but rewarding.

Timing

Sounds like weekends are a good time and people were accepting. I have to say that I was more than a bit worried of having only five people during the event and a very empty set of rooms. Just wanted to pass on some of the people counts that I had: Saturday morning 220/Saturday night (now this is 9PM) 190 attendees/Sunday morning 200/Sunday afternoon 190. Amazing!

Participation

Without a doubt the most important part of this. People (attendees and speakers) were willing to give up their weekends to attend this. The participation and commitment of the speakers and participants is what makes these events successful. Not sure if people realize this but all speakers invested their own time and many nights on putting this together!

What does all this mean? Do we hold more of these? I think we would be making a huge mistake if we didn’t. One thing that I promised during the general session is that I would listen to the feedback and I think the message is clear – WE WANT MORE! With that said I am tentatively looking at scheduling Son of Code Camp 1 in the October timeframe! What do you think? Opinions are important! Help me put together event that you want.

As I said earlier, logistics is where I had the largest variety of mixed feedback and offers a good focus for the next event (yes – you read right – the NEXT one). The questions that come to mind immediately are:

1. One day versus two?

2. Three tracks? Should we focus on one topic?

I do think we have a winning idea! Keep in mind that Community participation is the key for these events to continue. Attendance, speaking and participation! These are the key ingredients for making the event what you want it to be! In the next few weeks I will be posting more around possible dates. Once I start doing that I need speakers and ideas and you are the key to that!

For those looking for the content I am slowly but surely posting it here.

Code Camp Wind Down

Mon, 17 May 2004 20:18:09 GMT

Here are some pictures from this weekend’s Code Camp. If you have more please send me the links. For those looking for the samples and slides please keep an eye on the agenda. I am slowly but surely populating the agenda with the links and downloads available. In case you don’t have the link it is here.

The feedback was incredible! I am planning on writing more about that later. Please feel free to post comments.

General Session Picture

Lunches waiting for hungry developers

What developers do at 9am Saturday!

SharePoint User Group

Mon, 17 May 2004 17:22:11 GMT

The next meeting of the New England SharePoint User Group will be held on Tuesday, May 25th. The agenda follows:

5:45 - 6:00 Registration

6:00 - 7:15 Topic: Web Part Development - Our featured speaker this month will be Mauro Cardarelli, Senior Consultant at Knowledge Management Associates. Mauro will present an introduction to web part development, review specific custom web parts, and discuss lessons learned through actual deployments.

7:15 - 7:30 Q&A

About Our Featured Speaker: Mauro Cardarelli has been with KMA since 1999. He has over 15 years experience in the IT industry, half of which has been spent working as a Microsoft-focused technology consultant. He has worked with a number of Fortune 500 companies and his work has been mentioned in multiple Microsoft case studies. His primary responsibilities at KMA include application architecture and development as well as client-focused technology evangelism. Mauro holds Microsoft Certified Solution Developer for .Net, Microsoft Certified Database Administrator (MCDBA), and Microsoft Certified Applications Developer (MCAD) certifications. He has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University.

Where Microsoft Corporation - 201 Jones Road (6th floor), Waltham, MA 02451

The meeting is free, but space is limited. Please reply to this email to register for the meeting.

visit the NERSUG website for more information http://www.starit.com/SUGHome.htm

Have you seen the sessions!

Fri, 14 May 2004 00:01:33 GMT

Get them while they are hot –

The unofficial official session guide to this weekends code camp!

Download from here

Hope to see you there!

Code Camp Count Down!

Sun, 09 May 2004 22:30:18 GMT

After several revisions and a few minor tweaks we have what I believe is the final agenda for the code camp posted. We have tons of great content and presentations for developers of all levels and interests. For those that have registered we are looking forward to seeing you next weekend.

Review the Agenda

BizTalk 2004 Architecture

Sun, 09 May 2004 13:32:31 GMT

As requested I have posted the slides from last weeks Live Meeting

BizTalk 2004 Architecture

BizTalk® Server 2004’s massively scalable architecture is designed to meet the needs of the largest enterprise application demands. In this web cast we’ll first cover BizTalk’s internal Pub/Sub architecture in detail and then we’ll expose the flexible host based BizTalk application deployment model.

These slides can be downloaded from here

Announcing Windows Mobile Developer Day!

Sat, 08 May 2004 22:50:28 GMT

I have been hearing that many of the developer community are increasingly writing mobile applications. Based on this feedback – I am happy to announce that we have scheduled:

Windows Mobile Developer Day

8/18/2004 9:00 AM - 8/18/2004 4:15 PM
Welcome Time: 8:30 AM

Agenda:
8:30 – 9:00 – Registration
9:00 – 10:30 - .NET Compact Framework Overview
10:30 – 10:45 – Break
10:45 – 12:00 – Occasionally-Connected Application Development
12:00 – 1:00 – Lunch
1:00 – 2:30 – Data Storage Best Practices
2:30 – 2:45 – Break
2:45 – 4:00 - .NET CF Tips and Tricks
4:00 – 4:15 – Wrap Up (Cool Give Aways!)

Stayed tuned for more information as we start to lock down the agenda and speakers!

Analysis Services Primer

Wed, 05 May 2004 10:52:56 GMT

As promised here is the presentation from Raheel’s great presentation on Analysis Services:

Analysis Services Primer

Whether you are new to Business Intelligence and Analytics and want to see the fundamentals for the first time, or you have been using other tools and want to see how the Microsoft BI Platform addresses the core concepts, this will be an informative session. Even AS veterans can benefit from a peek into how these key technologies are set to evolve considerably in the “Yukon” release of SQL Server slated for later this year.

The presentation is available for download here