I’d like to thank everyone who came out to the Chippewa Valley Code Camp. It was certainly a cold and blustery November day, and a perfect day to sit inside and get your geek on.
For those of you that attended my “A Lap Around Windows Azure” session, here are the resources I mentioned for you to get up and running with your first Azure service:
First, Download the SDK’s:
Those two SDK’s will get you up and running with Windows Azure. If you want to take advantage of some of the complex work we’ve already done and take your cloud development to the next level, grab the following .NET Services and SQL Data Services SDK:
Next, Register for the Azure services to get your development token for the Azure service runtime environment, the .NET Services and SQL Data Services. My understanding is Live Services will be available shortly.
Also, check out the following learning resources, starting with the following sessions from the Microsoft PDC conference:
As well as Steve Marx’s short vignettes to get you up and developing on Windows Azure:
Finally, download and install the Azure Services Training Kit which contains a number of samples, demos and hands-on labs.
I hope this provides the necessary resources for you to learn about Windows Azure and the Azure Services Platform, but more importantly provides you the necessary training to get you developing for the cloud. Good luck!
Azure, Talks
The DreamSpark program has grown up and spawned a new sibling – BizSpark.
Today we announced the BizSpark program. BizSpark is an offer to early-stage software startups to leverage the Microsoft platform in delivering their software applications and services to the masses. As a software startup, joining the BizSpark program will give you access to…
- Software: fast and easy access to Microsoft’s current full-featured development tools, platform technologies, and production licenses of server products for immediate use in developing and bringing to market innovative and interoperable solutions with no upfront costs and minimal requirements
- Support: professional technical support from Microsoft (MSDN) and community support from BizSpark “Network Partners” around the world who provide a wide range of support resources for software startups (e.g., entrepreneur incubators, associations, & investors)
- Visibility: global visibility to an audience of potential investors, clients, and partners. Startups will have the opportunity to complete a profile in the online Startup directory (BizSparkDB) which highlights promising companies, including the “BizSpark Startup of the Day”
This is a huge investment on Microsoft’s part and a great opportunity for your success. As such, there are some general criteria you should fall under to be included in this opportunity. They include:
- A private company building a software-based product or service (not intended for consultants/SIs or customers/enterprises)
- In business for less than 3 years
- Less than $1M in revenue
- Nominated by a Network Partner (referrals are also facilitated by the BizSpark portal)
As we’re talking Startups here, let me point out a great resource for all startups and investors out there that serves as guide to working with Microsoft, the Startup Zone. The Startup Zone includes a number of blogs from members of the Microsoft Startup team, articles and resources addressing the startup’s needs as well as an event calendar where you, as a startup, can meet members of the team at upcoming events.
Microsoft believes in the innovation that startups bring to the industry. Without them, there would be no future. BizSpark is a step to help that future come to reality.
Announcements
It’s unfortunate, but true. Not everyone can attend the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference (PDC). That’s why the Microsoft Evangelist team across the U.S. is bringing the PDC to you. We’ve taken some of the best content from last week, packaged it up, wrapped it up in a pretty bow and will bring it to you through a series of events across the U.S. We’re calling it the MSDN Developers Conference (MDC).
In the grand tradition of DevDays events of the past, we will be conducting a 1-day conference covering some of the best sessions from PDC including announcements and developments around Visual Studio, the .NET Languages including F#, WPF, Silverlight, “Oslo”, Team System, ASP.NET, Parallel Programming and of course the Windows Azure Services Platform and Windows 7. We’ll also have a third track available for an Open Spaces area.
(As a side note, for those of you outside the U.S., poke your local Microsoft Evangelist team and ask them to bring MSDN DevCon to you!)
To register for the event in the city closest to you, simply click on the city link. This will take you to the landing page for that particular event where you will get more details about locations and the great speakers lined up for your city.
| Locations |
| Date |
City |
| 12/09/2008 |
Houston, TX |
| 12/11/2008 |
Orlando, FL |
| 12/16/2008 |
Atlanta, GA |
| 1/13/2009 |
Chicago, IL |
| 1/13/2009 |
Minneapolis, MN |
| 1/16/2009 |
Washington, DC |
| 1/20/2009 |
New York, NY |
| 1/22/2009 |
Boston, MA |
| 1/22/2009 |
Detroit, MI |
| 1/26/2009 |
Dallas, TX |
| 2/19/2009 |
San Francisco, CA |
If you missed the opportunity to attend PDC in-person, don’t miss your chance to hang with your developer community peeps at the MSDN Developers Conference.
You can also follow all the MSDN DevCon shenanigans on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Delicious, Twemes and MSDN Social.
Announcements, Illinois Events, PDC08
