For those of you that attended one of the Heroes Happen {Here} Events in the US, I’ve just been told that your copies of SQL Server 2008 should be hitting the post office “within the month” (quote from one of our Marketing Managers).  Hopefully you registered on the site using the codes you were provided at the launch as the signup period has already closed and there is no way for me to get you a new code or to register you for any additional software.

I’ll post more information once I hear more…

Hey everyone – I hope you’ve all had a chance to go out to the Tulsa TechFest web site and register for the upcoming event.  Registrations for the event are going strong, and we’re expecting another great turnout this year!  All you need to get in the door is bring is $2 or 2 cans of food to donate to the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma or the Family & Children’s Services and you’re in.

For those that have been living under a rock, Tulsa TechFest is one of our premier community-led events in South Central.  Last year, over 1200 people attended 19 tracks of incredibly technical content over a Friday-Saturday period.  This year we’re hosting the event over a Thursday-Friday to better accommodate the working men and women of the Tulsa area so that they don’t have to give up their weekend to get access to this great content.

Here’s a sample of some of the great speakers and great content available this year:

• Opening Keynote - Chris Bernard, Microsoft User Experience Evangelist
• Closing Keynote - Rob Howard, Microsoft Regional Director, CEO of Telligent
• Opening Keynote -Brian Gorbett, Microsoft Architect Evangelist
• Closing Keynote - Jef Newsom, Microsoft MVP, Co-founder of Improving Enterprises
• Architecting Modern Distributed Applications - Phil Wheat, Microsoft Architect Evangelist
• Virtual Worlds and Virtual World Evangelism: From Here to Eternity - Zain Naboulsi, Microsoft Developer Evangelist
• Building services which rock! - Tim Rayburn, Microsoft MVP
• An Introduction to Behavior Driven Design - Raymond Lewallen, Microsoft MVP
• SEO: Designing Web Sites for Search Engines - Mark Watson, Leader of the Fort Worth Web Design Enthusiast Meet-up Group
• Tips for Improving SharePoint Performance - Dennis Bottjer, Microsoft MVP
• Becoming a .NET Jedi with Resharper - Ben Scheirman, Microsoft MVP
• SQL Server CLR Executables - Bill Vaughn, Microsoft MVP
• Better Application Design with practical loose coupling - Caleb Jenkins, Microsoft MVP
• Automation using Visual Studio Team System 2008 - Team Build - Ed Blankenship, Microsoft MVP

As you can see, there are a LOT of Microsoft employees as well as Microsoft MVPs and RDs joining the party this year.  But, Microsoft Technologies are not the only focus.  Check out the full agenda for more information about the rest of the featured Microsoft technologies as well as tracks specifically targeted at Architects, Designers, Project Managers and more!

For my part, I’ll be presenting a 2-part session this year on Data Binding, Templating and Theming in WPF and Silverlight 2.  We all know that the Silverlight 2 programming model is a subset of WPF, but how close – or different – are these three critical aspects?  Join me on Thursday morning to find out.  We’ll look in detail at the data binding features of both, styling, templating and more in a 2-part session on Thursday morning. 

I’ll also be helping the other guys staff our booth in the exhibitor’s hall.  We’ll have some Lego Mindstorms NXT robots as well as a couple of XBoxes on hand to entertain everyone between sessions and at lunch.  We’ve also donated a TON OF PRIZES for David to give away including a copy of Halo 3 Legendary Edition, a brand new Lego Mindstrorms NXT as well as a Boe-Bot, a couple copies of Rock Band 2, some software and a ton of books (literally a ton – they’re weighing the back of my van down now as I type this!).

See you there!

Are you ready for a GeekFest?  We’re pulling out all the stops to make the next MSDN event a memorable one!  MSDN TechDays is a three-day geek-out covering a variety of topics for ITPros, Developers and Architects.  We’re holding the first ever MSDN TechDays on November 18-20 at the Dallas Convention Center.  Here’s an overview of the topics, and some links where you can register to attend.

PLEASE NOTE that each day is considered a separate event.  Make sure you register for ALL the sessions you plan to attend as registering for only one event does not mean you’re registered for all the event.

TUESDAY

The agenda on Tuesday features presentations from our local community influencers.  The focus of this day is around maximizing your investment in today’s Smart Client technologies.  With WPF/Winforms integration and application deployment plus details on building mobile applications, we’ll show you how to further refine your skills and make you a more productive developer.

[ REGISTER ]

Topic #1: Take your User Experience to the Next Level

Want to add some “cool” to your WinForms?  Do people laugh at your GUI?  Then come to this session where we will show how to use WPF with your current applications.  Whether you’re just adding a new WPF form or using WPF components inside your existing forms we have the solution for you!  In this session you will learn how to turn that plain looking interface into something amazing.

Topic #2: Taking the Pain Out of Deployment

You've built the coolest client application ever. Now you come to that dreaded moment in every client application's lifetime: deployment. And then, once it's deployed, how do you keep it updated with the most current version? Have no fear, these aren't the nightmares of yesteryear. You'll learn how you can deploy today's .NET applications and keep them up to date using Click-Once. You'll also see how XAML Browser Applications (XBAPs) give you the best of rich client applications with the deployment ease of a web application.

Topic #3: Programming for the Computer in Your Pocket

The average cell phone has 400 times the processing power, 8,000 times the storage, and 1,280 times the connected bandwidth of the first computers we started using for business.  But today we’re still struggling to get email on them all (something that was perfected with FidoNet back in 1984.)  Come learn how you can leverage the processing power, storage, and more importantly, connectivity that most people carry around with them every day in the modern world to expand the reach of your programs, systems, and businesses.

Wednesday

The plan for Wednesday features our traditional MSDN event with MSDN quality content.  Our focus is on balancing today’s capabilities with future technologies.  As always, our goal is to help make you a better developer using our most popular technologies.

[ REGISTER ]

Topic# 1: What’s New in SQL Server 2008 for Developers

SQL Server 2008 adds numerous new capabilities for developers – from support for Spatial Data types to a storage mechanism for SQL BLOB data using the NTFS file system, and much, much more. The new release also delivers several improvements to development-related areas, from T-SQL to SQLCLR to XML. This presentation will provide a technical dive into the latest and greatest features you’ll find in SQL Server 2008, while offering insight into how to effectively apply them to your upcoming development projects.

Topic # 2: Power up your Office applications with VSTO

In this presentation, we’ll focus on the power and productivity of Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office System (VSTO) – a .NET Smart Client technology. We’ll give you tips and tricks for designing and building smart client applications with VSTO, which allows you to create managed code applications with .NET languages including Microsoft Visual Basic .NET and Visual C#. VSTO also makes it simple to manifest the functionality of those applications in the rich user interfaces of Microsoft Office Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Visio, Outlook and others from the Office stack. VSTO addresses some of the biggest challenges that Office solution developers are facing today, including separation of data and view elements, server-side and offline scenarios, seamless integration with the Visual Studio tools, deployment and updating. Join us for this eye-opening session and learn just how easy it is to build and deploy powerful applications with VSTO.

Topic # 3: Build next generation applications with Silverlight 2.0

Silverlight provides a powerful platform for building the next generation of rich interactive applications on the Internet. In this session, we’ll take a look at the programming model and tools that developers and designers can leverage to build these true next generation experiences for consumers and business, and demonstrate how to build a rich interactive application (RIA) using Silverlight and Microsoft .NET. We’ll explore how to use Microsoft Visual Studio to create applications, and how to create UI using XAML markup and code, controls, and File I/O. We’ll also discuss networking, how to retrieve data from a Web service, and various other aspects of building Silverlight applications.

Thursday

Thursday is the day devoted to the Architect community where we focus on some of the softer skills that architects need to have, regardless of the technology they are using. These skills and tools will help you become a better professional, and give you some insight into what an architect’s role is on a project.

[ REGISTER ]

Topic # 1: Architecting your Career – Patterns for Architects in the Job

In this presentation we will discuss some of the skills and patterns you need to use to become a good architect. We will cover how to talk with humans, how to learn about the business you support, and how to hire the right people for your team.

Topic #2: Architecting your Software – Common patterns you should use everyday

In this discussion we will talk about common patterns that we sometimes use without knowing. Learn when to use these patterns, and how to teach them to your team. For example, we will cover the Single Responsibility Pattern, and why it is important.

We’ll also be hosting an Open Spaces room where anyone will be able to post a topic that they’d like to hear about, talk about or discuss.  Open Spaces are a fun and interesting way to discuss technology and I know with PDC just having been complete, there will be plenty of interesting things for us to talk about.

So – be sure to mark your calendars now for MSDN TechDays, Nov 18-20 at the Dallas Convention Center.  Stay tuned to this blog for information about TechDays and more!

The nice folks down in San Antonio and Austin have asked me to make sure and mention their upcoming mega-fantastic event – Pablo’s Day of TDD, a.k.a. PDoTDD. 

PDoTDD is a day-and-a-half event of workshops, discussion, practice, and training around automated unit testing, specifically the practice of Test-Driven Development (TDD).  Experienced practitioners of TDD will be conducting workshops, labs, and discussions around the practice of TDD in the hopes that its practice will bring value to the developer community in general.  If you’re interested at all in learning more about Unit Testing and TDD, or if you feel that you have some knowledge that you’d like to share with others, please get yourself to this event.

You can read more about PDoTDD on Chad Meyer's Blog, and register for the event at Wufoo.

The Silverlight team announced today that Silverlight 2 RC0 was released today for public consumption.  Please note that applications built using this release will work off of the Silverlight 2 RC0 Developer Runtime only. Please keep that in mind when updating your projects. 

Breaking Changes

Part of the challenge in working with Beta software is dealing with breaking changes.  There are, of course, several breaking changes with this release of Silverlight.  There is a document posted on the Silverlight site that describes them all, so be sure to check it out, unless you’re one of those types that like surprises…

Downloads

You can download the latest Silverlight bits from The Official Microsoft Silverlight Site, but here they are for your convenience:

• Microsoft Silverlight Tools for Visual Studio 2008 SP1
  This will install the necessary Visual Studio updates, Silverlight project templates, RC0 developer runtime, and SDK.
  
  
• Microsoft Expression Blend 2 Service Pack 1 Preview
  This version of Expression Blend is targeted to work with the RC0 developer runtime for Silverlight.
  
  
• Windows: Silverlight 2 RC0 Developer Runtime (optional)
  This runtime is already included in the Silverlight Tools for Visual Studio 2008 SP1 RC0. If you want only the runtime, or if you installed only Expression Blend which does not include this runtime, you may download it independently here.
  
  
• Mac: Silverlight 2 RC0 Developer Runtime (optional)
  Download and install this runtime for testing your application on Mac OS.
  

I had a great time today participating in the MSDN Unleashed event today in Austin, TX.  We had about 85 folks join us for a pair of great discussions around WPF and Visual Studio 2008 SP1.  I’ve attached the slide decks (via my SlideShare account) and demo content (via my SkyDrive account) so that you can see what we talked about.

Session 1 – Demystifying WPF

The session listing for VSLive! Dallas is posted now and several of our local User Group leaders, MVPs and Community Personalities are speaking!

• Best and Worst Practices - SharePoint as an Application Development Architecture - David Walker
  
  
• Behavior Driven Design -Raymond Lewallen
  
  
• Make Your Build Work for You - Trent Nix
  
  
• ASP.NET AJAX with Visual Studio 2008 - Caleb Jenkins
  
  
• Architecture in the Fast-Paced World - Todd Girvin
  
  
• Better Application Design with Practical Loose Coupling - Caleb Jenkins
  
  
• Scrum and Team System - Trent Nix
  
  
• Custom Client Side Extenders with ASP.NET AJAX and Visual Studio 2008 - Caleb Jenkins
  
  

These guys are fantastic speakers and I’m really looking forward to hearing them, and other members of our extended developer community like Miguel Castro and Dave Laribee.  If you haven’t already signed up for VSLive! Dallas 2008, get out to the registration web site and signup.  If you register before Oct 1, the non-discounted price for admission is $1195.  The price only goes up from there, so make sure you sign up before it’s too late!

All you XNA fans – get over to the XNA Creators Club Online – the new XNA Game Studio 3.0 beta has just been released!  This version includes a lot of updates from the CTP released earlier this year – some of the new features include:

• C# 3.0 coding features,
• game invites,
• trial mode,
• join-in-progress multi-player, and more!

Upgrading from the CTP version is outlined on the XNA web site – the steps are basically to uninstall XNA3CTP, reboot, install XNA3beta and you’re off to the races!  Upgrading your projects from the CTP is a slightly manual process, but basically involves updating some references in the csproj file.  You can read all about how to do it at http://creators.xna.com/en-us/XNAGS3BetaReadMe.   Luckily, upgrading your 2.0 apps to 3.0beta is as simple as opening the new project in XNA3beta and “it just works”.

After you create some games, let me know – I’d love to give them a spin, and feature them here on the blog!

I ditched my iPoo a long time ago because I got fed up with using the crummy iTunes software that crashed my system 60% of the time I plugged the dang thing in, and bought a 30 GB Zune (this was way before I joined Microsoft).  I was instantly taken in at how easy and intuitive it was to use the Zune software, how well the ID3 support worked for the way I use WMAs and MP3s (yes, I prefer WMA because of the better quality and smaller file sizes overall compared to MP3s) and how much more stable my system was. 

A few months ago, the Zune folks released a fleet of new Zunes that looked really slick, and included updated version of the Zune software.  I was initially concerned that I, with my old-school Zune, would have to upgrade to the new Zunes to use the new firmware and new software.  But, as usual, Microsoft was looking out for me and made it super-easy to upgrade my Zune as well as my Zune Software.  Today, they’ve done it again…

Today, Microsoft announced another update to the Zune software that includes a number of really excellent new features including (from http://www.zune.net – the Zune Social):

• New capacities
  We've added 16GB and 120GB devices to the lineup, both with a glossy black front and a black metal back.
  
  
• Buy from FM
  Hear a song you like while listening to the radio on your Zune? Your device will identify it, and download it the next time you sync.
  
  
• Browse Zune Marketplace wirelessly
  Download music directly to your Zune: at home, at a café… wherever there's a wireless hotspot.
  
  
• Zune Channels
  Combining the best features of podcasts and playlists, subscribe to channels by Billboard, The FADER, and radio stations like KROQ and KEXP.
  
  
• Games
  You can now play games on your Zune! Devices come preloaded with Texas hold 'em and Hexic.
  
  
• Audiobooks
  One of our most-requested features is here: audiobooks on your Zune, from Audible.com and OverDrive.
  
  
• Clock
  You'll never again wonder what time it is.
  
  
• Mixview, Just for You, and Now Playing
  Dynamic representations of your collection, as well as artist and song recommendations based on what you and other members of the Social are listening to.
  
  
• Rich search functionality
  Zune software will offer you suggestions as you type, helping you find the name of an artist or band even if you don't know the correct spelling.
  
  
• Social in the software
  Set your favorite tracks, update your profile, change your status, and search for other Social members — all from within the software.
  
  
• Windows Live Messenger integration
  See your Windows Live Messenger contacts in the Social, and invite them to join with a click of the mouse.
  
  
• New reputation badges
  Get recognized for being a top reviewer or top forum poster.
  
  
• E-mail notifications
  Get a weekly digest of your friends' activities and real-time notifications of new messages and comments.
  
  
• More play data
  In addition to number of total plays, now see how many times a track has been added as a favorite or sent to a friend.

This is a GREAT set of additions to an already excellent product.  I know that Zune, as part of the overall Windows Experience, is not through evolving – I can’t wait to see what happens next.  Now I need to go download the latest updates to the XNA Game Developer Studio and create some games for my newly updated Zune!

Are you excited about the WPF but concerned about the learning curve?  Have you seen Silverlight but don’t know where to get started?  Or are you curious about how tools like Expression Blend help designers and developers deliver great user experiences together? If so, join us at XamlFest!

XamlFest is a two day interactive event where you’ll learn about the platforms the tools and processes used to deliver differentiated user experiences. It’s a chance for you to mingle with UX minded Microsoft folks as well as industry leading design firms and design integrators.

Each XamlFest day will start with interactive sessions by Microsoft and our design partners, followed by a free lunch and a chance to network, have some fun and win prizes. Each afternoon will be geared toward assisted development with instructor-led walkthroughs, or, better yet, come with your own project in mind and we’ll help kick start your very own proof of concept!

Please note that each attendee will need a laptop to take part in the assisted development sessions.

Agenda

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What if I don’t have Visual Studio?

A. No problem, every attendee leaves with Visual Studio 2008 Pro!

Q. What if I don’t have Expression Blend?

A. Again, no problem! Everyone leaves with Expression Studio 2.

Q. What if I don’t have an idea for a starter project?

A. We’d like you to leave with something personal, but if nothing comes to mind that’s OK too. It’s the main reason we’re planning a few guided sessions where you can fallow along with us. These sessions should take no more than two hours, so if something sparks your interest you’ll still have time left for assisted development.

Q. What if I don’t have a laptop?

A. You can still participate in the training in the mornings and lunch, but assisted development in the afternoon is a harder problem to solve. We have no problem with people pairing up, so you might want to check with friends or co-workers to see if there interested.

Q. Can I just come for the training and skip assisted development?

A. XamlFest is about empowering designers and developers to deliver great user experiences and we believe a key component is hands-on assisted development. If you are unable to participate in the afternoon sessions please wait until the day before the event to register. This will give others the opportunity to sign up first, and if there’s still space available you’re welcome to join us.

XamlFest -- Come as you are, leave Xamlized.

Dates

Monday & Tuesday October 6^th and 7^th

Attendees

We’re only allowing 40 attendees to this event. First come, first served.

Venue

Microsoft South Central District: Houston, TX

One Briar Lake Plaza
2000 W. Sam Houston Pkwy. S. #350
Houston, TX 77042
Phone: (832) 252-4300
Fax: (832) 252-4545

Registration

We’re asking that each company send no more than 4 people to this event so that we accommodate as many as possible. We’re allowing only 40 attendees to ensure we deliver a good experience during the assisted development sessions. 

You can register at the following link, but you’ll need a Microsoft Partner account to sign in:

https://training.partner.microsoft.com/plc/details.aspx?publisher=12&delivery=253035

If you don’t have a partner account, please send an e-mail with the names and e-mail addresses of your attendees to Jared Bienz (jbienz@microsoft.com).

… so we spent it at a local .NET User Group meeting!  If you’re looking for one, you can always check http://www.codezone.com, http://www.southcentraldevelopers.com or this blog – http://blogs.msdn.com/chkoenig.  Here is the list of upcoming events that I just sent to the MSDN Flash editors:

• Friday, September 12, 2008 11:30 AM: Bartlesville .NET User Group Monthly Meeting - Topic: Windows Communication Foundation Agenda: 11:30-11:45 Grab your lunch provided by Oaktree Software. 11:45-12:30 Technical Presentation. 12:30-12:45 Door prizes and wrap up. Door Prizes Include: 1 - License of Code Rush and Refactor!Pro 1 - License of Resharper 1 - License CodeSmith Pro 1 - License Nevron Charts 1 - License of ASP.NET Ajax, RadControls for Silverlight, or Telerik Reporting (Your Choice)
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Saturday, September 13, 2008 9:00 AM: Houston TechFest - Houston's premier tech event. Over 50 sessions and lots of giveaways. free t-shirts and lunch for pre-registrations
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Tuesday, September 16, 2008 7:00 PM: Dallas XNA Usergroup Monthly Meeting - Every 3rd Tuesday at the SMU Guildhall (Building 2), we meet to discuss how to develop video games & interactive media using the XNA framework for deployment on Xbox 360, Windows and Zune.
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Friday, September 19, 2008 11:30 AM: Bartlesville .NET User Group - Study Group - Meet to study for the first test for the MCTS certification: Exam 70-536: TS: Microsoft .NET Framework, Application Development Foundation
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Saturday, September 20, 2008 8:00 AM: North Texas PC User Group - SIGs on various subjects, regular 3rd Saturday meeting at King of Glory Lutheran Church
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Saturday, September 20, 2008 11:00 AM: NTPCUG Microsoft ACCESS SIG - NTPCUG Board Member and Leader of the Alpha Five SIG Bill Parker will kick off our "What is the competition to Access?" presentations with "An overview of Alpha Five". Did you know our NTPCUG meeting check-in database is one that Bill created in Alpha Five?
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Monday, September 22, 2008 6:00 PM: Tulsa SQL Server Group - Boyd Evert will be presenting Designing and Optimizing Partitioned Tables.
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Tuesday, September 23, 2008 9:00 AM: Microsoft ArcReady: Architecting Modern Distributed Applications - Nearly every application we build today has dependencies to other systems. How do we design them to work together to meet our goals? How do we decide what to build and what to buy? Do we host it ourselves or in the cloud? With a bewildering array of choices, the biggest challenge we face today is how to architect robust applications with the right technologies to meet our user’s needs and integrate nicely into our existing IT ecosystems. Join our Central Region Architect Evangelists for a great discussion on architecting distributed applications using all the latest technologies and best practices. Session 1: Blueprints for Success. Session 2: Making It Real
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Tuesday, September 23, 2008 1:00 PM: MSDN Unleashed - Session 1: Demystifying WPF Session 2: Developing Applications with Visual Studio 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Tuesday, September 23, 2008 6:00 PM: Dallas .NET New Technology - Chapter 4 (Hosting WCF Services) of the book Learning WCF by Michele Bustamante. Contact robvettor@hotmail.com for more info.
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Wednesday, September 24, 2008 9:00 AM: Microsoft ArcReady: Architecting Modern Distributed Applications - Nearly every application we build today has dependencies to other systems. How do we design them to work together to meet our goals? How do we decide what to build and what to buy? Do we host it ourselves or in the cloud? With a bewildering array of choices, the biggest challenge we face today is how to architect robust applications with the right technologies to meet our user’s needs and integrate nicely into our existing IT ecosystems. Join our Central Region Architect Evangelists for a great discussion on architecting distributed applications using all the latest technologies and best practices. Session 1: Blueprints for Success. Session 2: Making It Real.
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Wednesday, September 24, 2008 1:00 PM: MSDN Unleashed - Session 1: Demystifying WPF Session 2: Developing Applications with Visual Studio 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Thursday, September 25, 2008 9:00 AM: Microsoft ArcReady: Architecting Modern Distributed Applications - Nearly every application we build today has dependencies to other systems. How do we design them to work together to meet our goals? How do we decide what to build and what to buy? Do we host it ourselves or in the cloud? With a bewildering array of choices, the biggest challenge we face today is how to architect robust applications with the right technologies to meet our user’s needs and integrate nicely into our existing IT ecosystems. Join our Central Region Architect Evangelists for a great discussion on architecting distributed applications using all the latest technologies and best practices. Session 1: Blueprints for Success. Session 2: Making It Real
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Thursday, September 25, 2008 1:00 PM: MSDN Unleashed - Session 1: Demystifying WPF Session 2: Developing Applications with Visual Studio 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Friday, September 26, 2008 11:30 AM: Bartlesville Sharepoint User Group - This will be the first meeting of the Bartlesville Sharepoint User Group. Please join us in kicking this group off right! Lunch will be provided.
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Monday, September 29, 2008 6:00 PM: TulsaDevelopers.NET - Jason Townsend will be presenting SOA with Windows Communication Foundation
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Monday, October 06, 2008 6:00 PM: Fort Smith .NET User Group October Meeting - Scott Cate Back presents on Back Button Support in ASP.NET AJAX
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Tuesday, October 07, 2008 5:30 PM: NWA DNUG: Scott Cate Back button support for ASP.NET Service Pack1 - The Northwest Arkansas Dot Net User Group will meet from 5:30 to 8:00 PM October 7th at The Jones Center 922 East Emma Avenue Springdale, AR 72764 Room 113. Scott Cate will talk about "Back button support for ASP.NET Service Pack1" This is a free event and RSVP is required . For more information, contact Zach Young at officers@nwadnug.org, or for more details and to RSVP go to http://snipr.com/3a5bd.
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Wednesday, October 08, 2008 6:00 PM: DFW Connected Systems User Group - A real-world example of creating a BizTalk platform to reliably process messages asynchronously and sequentially.
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Thursday, October 09, 2008 8:00 AM: TulsaTechFest 2008 - Two full days of awesome technical training. Free event, but we are "charging" TWO CANS or TWO BUCKS for local charity!
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Thursday, October 09, 2008 6:00 PM: Dallas .Net Users Group - Norm Headlam, Fidelity Investments - Windows Communication Foundation
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Tuesday, October 14, 2008 6:00 PM: AlamoCoders monthly meeting - AlamoCoders is an active .NET user group in San Antonio, meeting every 2nd Tuesday. At this month's meeting Tim Quinn, from Wachovia, will give a presentation on Computer Graphics in C#. Come on out and join us at New Horizons Training Center. Food is provided and we will have a drawing for door prizes.
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Saturday, October 18, 2008 8:00 AM: North Texas PC User Group - SIGs on various subjects, regular 3rd Saturday meeting at King of Glory Lutheran Church
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Saturday, October 18, 2008 11:00 AM: NTPCUG Microsoft ACCESS SIG - Topic "Queries - Simple and Not So Simple", Regular 3rd Saturday Meeting at King of Glory Lutheran Church
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Tuesday, October 21, 2008 6:00 PM: DFW Sharepoint Community - Objective: To provide Resources for Success through monthly meetings and our On-line Knowledge Forum. Who Benefits: End-users, Developers, Architects or Executives contemplating,designing, administering or using SharePoint Technologies. The DFW SharePoint Community is the only dedicated North Texas SharePoint forum to promote: Sharing of SharePoint "Best Practices" and Successes. Exchange for Issues and Work Arounds. Exposure to Certified 3rd party add on products. Connection Point for market and Microsoft SharePoint resources.
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Monday, November 03, 2008 6:00 PM: Fort Smith .NET User Group November Meeting - Tim Rayburn presents Parallel Programming in .NET
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Friday, November 14, 2008 8:00 AM: Agile Dot Net Conference - The Agile Dot Net Conference is an exciting one-day event specifically designed to bring together the world of .Net with the world of Agile methodologies. Designed for both those experienced with Agile techniques and for those that are new to world of Agile, attendees can expect interesting, real-world experience presentations from some of the industry’s leading Project Managers, Developers, and Business Analysts who have embraced Agile principles within .Net development environments. Join in to hear how they have implemented Agile techniques in their projects and organizations – they will discuss the successes and the challenges.
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Saturday, November 15, 2008 8:00 AM: North Texas PC User Group - SIGs on various subjects, regular 3rd Saturday meeting at King of Glory Lutheran Church
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Saturday, November 15, 2008 11:00 AM: NTPCUG Microsoft ACCESS SIG - Topic "Starting an Application - Not 'From Scratch'". Regular 3rd Saturday Meeting at King of Glory Lutheran Church
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Saturday, December 20, 2008 8:00 AM: North Texas PC User Group - SIGs on various subjects, regular 3rd Saturday meeting at King of Glory Lutheran Church
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]
  
• Saturday, December 20, 2008 11:00 AM: NTPCUG Microsoft ACCESS SIG - Topic: "Potpourri – Bring Your Questions and Your Thinking Cap" Regular 3rd Saturday Meeting at King of Glory Lutheran Church
  [ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]

Whew!  That is a busy district!  If you are a User Group leader or event organizer and you don’t see your upcoming events listed here, please head over to http://www.communitymegaphone.com and enter your events in today.  They’ll be in the next issue of the MSDN Flash!

I had a great time speaking at the Dallas .NET User Group meeting last night on WPF and Silverlight Styles, Templates and Data Binding.  I’ve posted the slides up on Slideshare and the demos (with the pptx) out on FolderShare.  Here are the links:

ALERT – ALERT

For those who haven’t yet heard, the upcoming Houston TechFest has been POSTPONED due to imminent threat of Hurricane Ike.  Michael and the HDNUG leadership are busy scouting new dates in January or February of ‘09.  As soon as I hear something, I’ll post a new entry.  You can also keep up at http://www.houstontechfest.com.

Our thoughts and prayers are with those in Houston, New Orleans and the surrounding costal areas as they prepare for the hurricane…

Now back to your regular programming…

Not sure if everyone is subscribed to the MSDN Flash or not, but if you’re not – it is a GREAT resource for finding out what’s happening in your area.  I like the fact that it’s customized to show events and happenings in your geography (my copy shows me what’s happening in TX, OK, LA and AR).  If you’re not already subscribed, here’s a link to get you started:

For those not subscribed, and anyone else that just hasn’t gotten around to reading your copy of the Flash, I wanted to tell you about some important upcoming events in TX – MSDN Unleashed and ArcReady have been combined into a single, all-day event with ArcReady in the morning and MSDN Unleashed in the afternoon.  We’re working on increasing the registration cap, so check back if you try to register and it shows as full.  Here’s a listing of the events for this quarter:

MSDN Events Unleashed

Session 1: Demystifying WPF
Session 2: Developing Applications with Visual Studio 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1

• September 23 - Dallas, TX
• September 24 - Houston, TX
• September 25 - Austin, TX

ArcReady

Session: Architecting Modern Distributed Applications

• September 23, Dallas, TX
• September 24, Houston, TX
• September 25, Austin, TX

Abstract: With a bewildering array of choices, the biggest challenge we face today is how to architect robust applications with the right technologies to meet our user's needs and integrate nicely into our existing IT ecosystems. Join our Central Region Architect Evangelists for a great discussion on architecting distributed applications using all the latest technologies and best practices.

I will be presenting the MSDN Unleashed content in Austin and Dallas, and J Sawyer will be covering Houston.  Phil Wheat, of course, will be handling all the ArcReady content. 

Hope to see you there!

I had a great time last night at the OKC Developer Group meetings.  I love presenting there because you actually get to do 2 presentations – one at lunch (there was about 85 people in attendance) and one at dinner (about 15 people).  That’s 100 people in one day with two chances to get it right!

I posted my slides up on SlideShare and my demo out on FolderShare.  The topic was Reach End Users With Next Generation Web Apps, covering the advancements in Visual Studio 2008, VS08 SP1 and .NET 3.5 SP1 as well as a little AJAX and Silverlight for good measure.  I didn’t get to everything in my deck, but we had a great time with what we were able to cover.

Here’s the deck and demo for your listening pleasure…