In this weeks MSDN Flash newsletter, I had a chance to interview Midwest community leader, Scott Seely, on his recent recognition as a Microsoft Regional Director. Check it out.
I’m happy to announce the next Chicago Code Camp will be taking place on May 1st at IIT Campus in (where else?) Chicago. I threw out the challenge to the planning committee to make this event stand out on the map of Code Camps taking place all over the world. It’s an event for the whole technology community in and around Chicago. To make this event GREAT, we want *YOU*. We want you to speak. We want you to participate. We want you to engage. Share your ideas. Share your interests. Share your passion. Code Camps are all about sharing and learning amongst your peers.
Call for Speakers
The Call for Speakers has gone out. If you would like to share your passion, submit a talk or two (or more). We would like to have a diverse set of technologies addressed on the camp’s agenda. Including areas such as .NET, Java, Ruby, PERL, Python, ActionScript, Flash, iPhone, Android, Windows Phone, Web, Mobile, etc., etc., etc.
Before submitting your session, be sure to read the Code Camp Manifesto and pay particular attention to the part about “No Fluff only Code”.
Although we’d like to accept all submissions, the logistics and size of venue keeps us from doing so. The planning committee will work to make sure they have a balanced agenda covering the depth of technologies that makes for the best Code Camp possible. This is also reliant, of course, on people submitting a range of topic ideas.
Steven Murawski sent me a note today that he is starting a new user group in the greater Milwaukee area with a focus on PowerShell.
About PowerShell Script Club
1. You Always Talk About Script club
2. You Always Talk About Script Club
3. If Someone asks for Help, And You Can Help, You Help
4. Two People Help One Person at One Time
5. One Module Per Person Per Night
6. All Scripts, All PowerShell
7. Scripts will be as short as they can be
8. If This is your First time at Script Club, You Have to Script
I’m a total noob when it comes to PowerShell. I think I’ll need to make a trip up to visit Script Club to learn more. The interesting things is that the meetings are taking place in a municipal courtroom in the Greenfield Law Enforcement center. This club is so dangerous, they need court supervision!
You can find all the details on the group and their upcoming meeting on Steven’s blog.
Tomorrow I’ll be speaking at the Madison Code Camp (MadCamp) where we’re dedicating a whole track to our recent New Efficiency launch events (one of which I participated in Chicago just the other day). In the morning, Kevin Remde will walk the IT Pro set through the new management features in Windows 7, as well as the new enhancements in Windows Server 2008 R2 and what’s coming ahead in Exchange Server 2010.
In the afternoon, I will walk developers through the paces of how to light up their applications on Windows 7 by taking advantage of features such as the Ribbon platform, the Taskbar, Jump Lists, Libraries as well as underlying platform additions such as the new Sensor and Location Platform and Multitouch.
This isn’t all that’s going on at MadCamp but there will be two additional tracks with more great content for IT Pros and Developers alike.
We dug deep into our budget and pulled out some great giveaways including the opportunity to win one of the following:
I hope you can join us!
| When: | Saturday, October 24th, 2009, 8:00am – 5:15pm |
| Where: |
Madison Area Technical College (MATC) Truax Campus 3550 Anderson Street Madison, WI 53704 Parking Information (park in Student Parking only) |
| Registration: | http://bit.ly/MADCamp2009 |
follow: http://twitter.com/maddotnet
tweet: #madcamp09
Announcements, Community, Windows, Wisconsin Events, training
One of my colleagues, Brian Prince, has put a call out for anyone heading to DevLink next week that would like to participate in a Technology Community Leadership Summit.
Our goal is to gather together anyone who is rabid about the community: all of the community leaders, speakers, and contributors. We want to get together and share best practices, and learn from each other. This is OPEN. We aren’t just talking about .NET user groups. We are talking Ruby, PHP, Python, OSS, Linux, ALM, and anything else you can think of. It doesn’t have to be a big formal user group; your community might be the small group of folks that crack code at a coffee shop at 7am. Whatever it is, come on over.
In our industry, community is important. The sharing of ideas. The opportunity for self improvement through learning from others. The networking opportunities. When I was in the consulting world, I made sure to attend various community events: User groups, Seminars, Conferences, etc. The interaction with peers from my industry allowed me to share and learn new ideas, new technologies, new ways of doing things. It was a stimulation for my mind and gave me the necessary gusto to excel in my career. Now, as a Developer Evangelist for Microsoft, it is my primary job responsibility to help foster and build these communities. Communities are important. They’re important for you and your career growth, and they’re important for our industry to help drive innovation.
If you’re interested in participating in a community, find your nearest users group. If you’re a community leader and/or contributor who’d like to work with others to share best practices in building a better technical community, head to Nashville on Aug. 12th for the Community Leadership Summit.
If you have any ideas how to build a better community, feel free to leave a comment here and let’s carry on the discussion.
Dave Bost is a Developer Evangelist at Microsoft focusing on the Visual Studio tools and the .NET application platform.