Speaking in March
February 27, 2010 Category: Events 2 Comments »
This is just a quick note that I’ll be presenting at two different events in the DFW area this month. Hope you can make it!
North Dallas .NET Users Group – March 3rd
First, Wednesday March 3rd, I’ll be at the North Dallas .NET Users Group talking about Model View View-Models (MVVM) for your Silverlight Applications. If you’ve ever seen my Dependency Injection for Silverlight talk, this is pretty much the follow up to that. (above is a snapshot from the last time that I spoke there.)
Technically Speaking DFW – March 27
Have you ever wanted to be a technical presenter, but you weren’t sure how to get started? Or do you want to take your technical presentation skills to the “next level”? This this is the event for you! I love the idea of events like this, and I was honored to be invited to participate. Maybe this will spark more interest in groups like Presenter Mentor?
Teresa Burger, awesome community member and talented developer over at Woot! is organizing this event. It’s $50 to attend, includes lunch, and is a full day of Dave Gunby, Microsoft’s Chris Koenig, MVP extraordinaire Tim Rayburn and also yours truly.
Register for both!
- Register for the North Dallas DNUG – Wednesday March 3rd (Free)
- Register for Technically Speaking DFW – Saturday March 27 ($50)
Yep, this is going to be a fun month! Hope to see you there!
Microsoft MVP Summit – 2010
February 21, 2010 Category: Events 2 Comments »
Last week I had the privilege of attending Microsoft’s Global MVP Summit in Bellevue Washington. While I can’t talk about most of what was covered (NDA) I wanted to mention two projects that I learned about while there and mention some of my thoughts from the event.
First, check out these two Silverlight projects on Codeplex.
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The Silverlight Hyper Video Player
On Thursday, Jessie Liberty presented on this project that he’s been leading. I actually got to see a preview of this project last year with one of the developers, but they weren’t sure back then if they were going to be able to release this project as OSS or not. Glad to see that it was! Go check out the project, it’s a great Silverlight project demonstrating TDD in Silverlight as well as using the new features of MEF for composition that are built in Silverlight 4. - The Silverlight User Group Website Starter Kit
A friend of mine, David Silverlight, brought this project to my attention. I love this idea! He and a talented group of developers and designers are working on this project to give user groups a great starting point and some excellent features to leverage. I’ve actually been added to the team and hope that I’ll be able to provide add to the final result!
Final thoughts
There are multiple reasons that Microsoft organizes and hosts the MVP Summit. Part of it is developer satisfaction and to show appreciation for the work that MVP’s do around the world. MVP’s attend to gain insights in to Microsoft’s direction, network with product teams and gain a deeper understanding of the products that they work with day in and day out.
The last reason that I want to mention is to give the MVP’s a chance to provide input back in to the products that Microsoft is building, to be able to tell the product teams what they are doing right, what they are doing wrong, and help prioritize the features that the product teams should be working on.
This was my fourth Summit to attend, and the first time that I really saw this last point taken to heart across the board from multiple teams. I was really excited by the feedback that the product teams were actively soliciting from the MVP’s. I consistently saw and participated in agile techniques like dot voting and buy a feature around broad functionality, specific features and general direction for the product teams. It was very refreshing and opened up a ton of conversations that probably wouldn’t have happened otherwise. Thanks Microsoft!
Microsoft Campus Photo Credit: Denis Gobo
Windows 7 Launch Videos for Developers Available Online.
December 10, 2009 Category: Events 3 Comments »
Last month (November 4th, 2009), I had the privilege of speaking at Microsoft’s “The New Efficiency” Launch for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 in Dallas. While no one was there to record *my sessions* specifically, Microsoft has posted similar session from other parts of the country. I wish I could link (or embed) them directly since it takes some clicking to get to them. Instead, here’s a quick walkthrough. Enjoy!
1. Go to Microsoft’s “The New Efficiency” website http://thenewefficiency.com *
* Site requires Microsoft Silverlight
2. Click on the “Watch The US Event” link
3. Check out all of the “For Developers” videos…
4. Sit back, and enjoy.
Dependency Injection on ARCast TV
September 14, 2009 Category: Events 3 Comments »
While I was out at the MVP Summit this summer I had a chance to catch up with Brian Prince from Microsoft and we talked about using Dependency Injection for better code level architecture. Check out the full video on Microsoft’s ARCCast.
When you’re done. Check out my Dependency Injection on Silverlight presentation.
Add some (biz)Spark to your startup!
May 26, 2009 Category: Events 2 Comments »
In June I’ll be the local Silverlight expert, leading a technology track on Rich Internet Applications (RIA) at a Microsoft’s BizSpark event, SparkStart.
From the official announcement:
SparkStart is a full day of business and technology discussion (open format) and learning event for startups (“startup bootcamp”). This event will also be a networking opportunity for those startups who are new to the BizSpark program and not yet enrolled in the program and would like to mingle and learn from key business and technology influencers. It will also be an event for those startups who are recently enrolled and need to keep the momentum going by learning key strategies for success, both in business, and in technology.
I’m looking forward to checking out Microsoft’s new Technology Center in Las Colinas, TX – It’s an amazing building!
It’s going to be an incredible event for startups and entrepreneurs to learn, network and get to know some of the incredible technologies that are now available. I’m especially looking forward to hanging out with some of the other people that will be presenting at the event. (too name a few)
- Local start up expert, Alex Muse
- Social Media Expert, Giovanni Gallucci
- Blake Burris of Facebook development and CoHabitat fame
- Angel investment and venture consulting mastermind Marc Nathan
- Microsoft User Experience Architect Christian Thilmany
- Microsoft Architect Brian Gorbett
Check out SparkStart on twitter and read some of Christian’s other related posts. Be sure to register. It’s going to be an amazing day!
Silverlight at the Big Design Conference
May 24, 2009 Category: Events 1 Comment »
I’ll be speaking at the Big Design Conference in Dallas. From the website:
The Big Design Conference is an intense day of learning within the scope of Strategy, Social Media, User Experience, and Code Development. Experts from across the country will gather to present theories, research, experiences, and best practices to students, professionals, and executives looking to stay on the bleeding edge.
My 1pm topic is “Bring Back the Sexy: What’s New in Silverlight 3 and Why Everyone Should Care”. Basically I’m going to be walking through some of the awesome goodness that’s been added to Silverlight 3 like 3D Support, hardware acceleration, custom shaders and behaviors, offline/out of browser integration, Blend 3, plus the new line of business features like data forms and WCF integrations. You know, all the awesome Silverlight sexy that I can get in to my allotted hour. it’s gonna be awesome.
Be sure to register today (tickets are selling fast!) – See you there!
- Big (D)esign Conference
- Big (D)esign After Party
- (Free) Style & Travelocity Design Challenge
Silverlight at the Redmond .NET User Group Tonight!
March 2, 2009 Category: Events 3 Comments »
This week I will be at the Microsoft MVP Summit in Seattle, while I’m there I will take the time to present at the local .NET User Group. If you are in the area be sure to stop by. It’s going to be a “double feature” between my “Developing Loosely Coupled Applications” talk and my friend, and fellow MVP, Dennis Bottjer will be giving his amazing talk on SharePoint Performance. It’s gonna be awesome!
MSDN DevCon Dallas is this Monday – Hope to see you there!
January 23, 2009 Category: Events No Comments »
Microsoft has put on several of these events all over the US. If you missed the Microsoft PDC Conference then the Dallas event on Monday is the best local place to get a lot of the same information on what’s new with .NET and the future roadmap of the Microsoft Platform. (Rich UX, RIA’s, Cloud Computing , Visual Studio 2010, etc…)
From the official site:
Missed the PDC? Catch the content LIVE at the MSDN Developer Conference. Register Today!
We’re bringing the PDC to you!
I’ll be there speaking about Developing Data-Centric Applications Using the WPF DataGrid and the new WPF Ribbon Controls with Visual Studio 2010. (I know… that’s a mouthful!)
I’m looking forward to it and hope to see you there!
Silverlight at the North Dallas .NET Users Group Tonight!
January 7, 2009 Category: Events No Comments »
I always like going up to the North Dallas DNUG. The first (pilot) CommunityCast.tv episode was shot there… and the last time that I was there Jason Alexander showed of Graffiti before Telligent had it released (CommunityCast episode 6).
– go follow his twitter instead
Tonight I’ll be talking about Microsoft Silverlight, specifically some of the Data Binding and Visual Template features. This is a fun talk, but there is a lot to cover! We’ll start with data binding to business objects and then move to creating visual templates with Microsoft Expression Blend. I’ll also bring my camera so be prepared to chat about what you are doing later in the night!
If you’re in the Dallas area, be sure to stop by and check it out!
Attend VS Live tonight for Free!
December 9, 2008 Category: Events 1 Comment »
This week I’m attending and speaking at VS Live Dallas. VS Live is the largest independent conference on Microsoft technologies in North America (and maybe in the World?). So far, I’ve met a ton a great people that are attending (from as far away as Florida and Connecticut). The speakers this week are amazing. I’ve already sat through sessions with Jessie Liberty, John Papa, Miguel Castro, Rockford Lhotka, Richard Hale Shaw – it’s a virtual smorgasbord of marque level speakers.
People have paid big money to attend the conference this week. (I posted a discount code about 5 weeks ago), but tonight it’s free! That’s right. Anyone that wants to can come join us tonight for VSLive! After Dark Community night where you’ll be treated to an amazing panel made up of Josh Holmes, Rocky Lhotka, Jesse Liberty, Richard Hundhausen, John Papa and Richard Hale Shaw – they be covering the topic of the Future of .NET.
This going to be cool. If you’re in the Dallas area be sure to stop by The Adolphus Hotel in Dallas – Grand Ballroom A. Doors open at 6:00pm. - See you then!
