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In This Issue
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President's Note
INETA Live!
Speakers Corner
Winners!
Editor's Note
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Sponsors
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Microsoft

Ivis

Telerik
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INETA Live!




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 Happenings Around INETA North America (NorAm)

Chris Pels We just finished the first year for the current INETA Board so I thought it would be worthwhile to provide a synopsis of our activities over the past year and some insights into our goals for the coming year. The high level goal for the past year was to evolve the internal operation of INETA towards a formal not-for-profit corporation while beginning to expand the services and resources for our membership.

Operations: There has been significant effort and progress in the area of internal operations. We established a formal organizational structure for the Board including the officers and Division Vice Presidents, and have documented the processes for chain of command, elections, terms, etc. When our Bylaws are formally revised sometime this fall we will make them available for member review on the web site. Each Division has been building a team of volunteers to implement our services and create resources. There are currently over 40 people helping their fellow developers by volunteering time with INETA North America.

Sponsorship: As you know we rely on sponsor funding for all our activities and services. Over the past four years since the founding of INETA, Microsoft has contributed virtually all the funding. A year ago we set the goal of establishing a sponsorship program that would attract additional sponsors to diversify our funding base and lessen the impact of a reduction in funding from any one sponsor. We kicked off the new Sponsorship Program two months ago after a complete re-branding of all our marketing materials including a packet specifically for the new program. We also have a new volunteer, Pat Tormey, who is heading our sponsorship efforts. We are already very close to getting some new sponsors from this program and there will likely be an announcement in the September newsletter.

Services and Resources: Over the first four years INETA has provided two valuable services to user groups in the form of our Speakers Bureau and bi-annual SWAG shipments. During the past year we have put some organizational and infrastructure pieces in place to expand into new services and resources for our members. The first of those new services, the INETA Live webcast series began this past spring providing individuals involved in leading user groups an opportunity to have a live discussion with experts on areas related to running and growing user groups. Between now and the end of 2006 our efforts over the past year will result in several more services and resources for both user group leaders and individual members.

What's Next? While we have made great progress over the past year, much of it was behind the scenes laying the foundation for our goals over the next several years. One of the major additions coming soon will be individual membership in INETA in addition to the current user group membership. In parallel with the new individual membership we will release several services and resources specifically for individuals. These additions will coincide with an updated web site to support our new benefits. While it is premature to talk about them all now I will mention one new resource, Code Camp Live, which will supplement the popular in-person Code Camps being held around the world. The details area described in an accompanying newsletter article.

Volunteers Needed: We are looking for several volunteers to assist in the Marketing, Sponsorship, and Technology/Web Site areas for INETA North America. If you have time and are interested please contact Nancy Mesquita at nancy.mesquita@ineta.org.

Chris Pels, President, INETA NorAm chris.pels@ineta.org
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 INETA Live Series Continues

SharePoint 1, 2, 3!

SharePoint 1, 2, 3! is a new concept in community-based training being offered to the development community by the development community. SharePoint 1, 2, 3! offers six sessions designed to train developers to install, use, and develop custom software for Microsoft's Windows SharePoint Services. SharePoint 1, 2, 3! is designed to be a start to finish training session that has a 100 level course, a 200 level course, and a 300 level course to get into all aspects of SharePoint. A few months back we delivered the first session (level 100), which was a gentle introduction to SharePoint - what it is and how to use it effectively. You can view that presentation via our webcast archives available at http://live.ineta.org.

The second session (level 200) will be presented on August 30th at 3:30PM EST and will be aimed squarely at developers and will focus on customizing SharePoint sites, developing and using web parts, and deploying SharePoint sites. The final session (level 300) will dive deep into advanced topics such as connected web parts and the SharePoint Object Model and will be coming up later this fall.

Intended Audience:

User group leaders, members, or community enthusiasts that are either interested in understanding how to use SharePoint to collaborate with others or gaining foundation knowledge to be used towards developing in the SharePoint environment.

Sign up for this event today at http://live.ineta.org.

Amanda Murphy, Vice President - Community Activities, INETA NorAm amanda.murphy@ineta.org


INETA Live from Redmond returns with more indepth webcasts directly from the product teams at Redmond. Go to http://live.ineta.org for a complete schedule and registration links. Here is a sample list of talks:
  • Smart Client: Offline Data Synchronization and Caching for Smart Clients
  • Windows Forms: An Overview of Windows Forms in Microsoft Visual Studio 2005
  • Visual Studio: Developing Local and Mobile Data Solutions with SQL Server Everywhere
  • (WinFX) Windows Forms: How to Leverage Windows Forms and Windows Presentation Foundation in a Single Hybrid Application
  • Windows Forms: Solutions to the Most Common Windows Forms Development Challenges
  • ASP.NET: An Overview of ASP.NET and Windows Workflow Foundation Integration
  • ASP.NET: Building Real-World Web Application UI with Master Pages, Themes and Site Navigation
  • ASP.NET: Creating Web Applications Using Visual Studio 2005 Team System
  • ASP.NET Atlas: A Developers Introduction to Microsoft Atlas
  • Best Practices and Techniques for Migration Visual Studio 2003 Web Projects to Visual Studio 2005
  • ASP.NET: An ASP.NET Developer’s Look at Using RSS
  • ASP.NET: Under the Covers - Creating High-Availability, Scalable Web Applications
  • ASP.NET: Using User, Roles, and Profile in ASP.NET 2.0
  • ASP.NET: Comparing PHP and ASP.net
  • ASP.NET: Security Tips & Tricks for ASP.NET Developers
  • Multi-Channel, Connected Commerce (BTS/CS integration)
  • Commerce Server 2007 Overview
  • Commerce Server 2007 Architectural Deep-Dive
  • .NET Compact Framework 2.0: Optimizing for Performance
Go to http://live.ineta.org for complete details and check out the links. Registration will add the event to your calendar and send you reminder emails.
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 Website Beta Testers Wanted!

Over the past few months a small group of people have been beta testing an updated web site for INETA NorAm. We are now ready to expand the testing group and are looking for people to spend 6-10 hours between now and September 1st doing testing. All testers will receive a special t-shirt after we launch the updated web site. The requirements to be a tester are: 1) a high speed Internet connection 2) a major browser (IE, Firefox, etc.).

We are looking for regular user group members and user group leaders (US and Canada only). If you can help us test please contact Nancy Mesquita at nancy.mesquita@ineta.org.

Help the community of your fellow developers by participating in testing.
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 Mobile Connections
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Mobile Connections Plan to attend the premier event for all things mobile this November 6-9 in Las Vegas. Mobile Connections will showcase mobile development technologies for both mobile PCs (laptops, Tablet PCs, Ultra-Mobile PCs) and mobile devices (Smartphones, Pocket PCs). View the session list and register now to take advantage of the early-bird rate.
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 Speaker's Corner with Jim Duffy
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Jim Duffy Our friend Julia Lerman digs the truth out of INETA Speaker Jim Duffy.

1. Let's get the stats out of the way. Where do you call home? Married? Kids? We'll be polite and not ask your age.

Home for me is Raleigh, NC though, like many of us, my office is located where ever my laptop is. My lovely wife Christine and I will be celebrating our 15 year anniversary this September. My company and I wouldn't be where we're at now without her help. She has been very instrumental in our success. As for kids, we have been blessed with one, her name is Gretel and she is an 11 year old German Shepherd. As for human kids, nope, not a one.

2. What .NET or other geek topics float your boat?

Although I'm a bit of a generalist, ASP.NET, Developer Productivity and VB.NET are my key areas.

But what I derive the most satisfaction from and have the most fun at is helping others learn and better themselves. I want developers to walk away with an empowered sense of "That doesn't seem too tough. I can do that". For me it's all about hitting my target objectives of Educate, Motivate, and Entertain, though not always in that order. :-)

3. Assuming you were a wee lad at one point in your life, at that time, what did you want to be when you grew up?

First, that assumes that I was planning on growing up and the jury is still out on that. Years ago I did have dreams of being a big league baseball player, but alas, injuries plagued my high school baseball career. I considered, and shouldn't have so quickly dismissed, a career in the tourism-based retail business when someone told me that there's always money in the banana stand. Somehow I ended up being a geek, go figure.

4. What was your path into being a .NET developer.

I followed the yellow brick road of course. That woman dressed in black, wearing a pointy hat, and riding a broom was a real witch. My path to .NET was made considerably smoother than many developers I've spoken with due to the fact that I spent years using and training developers in another object-oriented, data friendly environment from Microsoft, Visual FoxPro. Working with classes, inheritance, and so on was old hat to me when I first started working with .NET. VFP rarely gets the props it deserves for being as ahead of it's time as it was. There are a number of .NET developers I know who can look at their homes and say "that's a house that Fox built". Along the way there were also VB6 projects and training classes that I taught. VB.NET was an obvious choice for me when I made the move to .NET., not to mention I like the focus on developer productivity that the VB team has.

5. Can you recall your first computing experience?

Unfortunately my first computing experience scarred me for life. It was so traumatic that I've blocked the memory of it and, to this day, only my therapist through hypnosis has been able to get me to peel away the layers of shame and get me to open up about it. All I can consciously recollect is that it involved a Commodore 64, a kitchen cleaver, and a rubber chicken. My second computing experience was an Introduction to Data Processing course that I took my first year in college. It was a mandatory class for all business types like myself and I begrudgingly signed up for it. Fortunately for me, Dr. Brock, yes I remember his name, hooked me on this computer stuff. Four years later after countless compiler errors in BASIC, COBOL, FORTRAN, Assembler, and Pascal, I finally graduated with a Computer and Information Systems degree from Florida Atlantic University.

6. To know Jim is to know that you are quite the jokester. Any pranks you dare expose?

Who me? Pull a prank on someone? No, never, not me. While I admit nothing without my lawyer present, hypothetically I might say that I've been known to answer ringing cell phones in training classes and conference sessions I'm presenting. Hey, I warned them to turn them off. Again, hypothetically of course, I could see myself filling out an evaluation or two at an INETA session I've presented just to give Nancy Mesquita a good chuckle. Of course, until my attorney shows up, these are all absolutely hypothetical. My standard response is I was out of town that weekend, I swear I didn't have anything to do with it, the blood types won't match, the DNA test results will be inconclusive, and I was framed by my evil twin. Is my lawyer here yet?

7. When you are not presenting at INETA user groups, what do you do for a living?

I am the chief cook, dishwasher, technology big shot, and President of TakeNote Technologies. TakeNote is a Developer's Choice Award winner for hands-on training. We specialize in .NET developer training and helping clients create business solutions with Microsoft enterprise technologies. I'm also the co-host of Computers 2K6, a consumer oriented call in radio show on WRBZ (850 The Buzz) located here in Raleigh.


Through the INETA Speakers Bureau, you can have Jim speak at YOUR user group! Request your speaker today.
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 .NET 3.0 Roadshow
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Don't miss the .NET 3.0 Roadshow, coming to a city near you in October!

Dr. Dobb's SD Events is thrilled to announce the new .NET 3.0 Roadshow, coming to a city near you this October! Microsoft's new .NET Framework 3.0 (formerly WinFX) technology platform will revolutionize how .NET programmers develop applications. These two day in-depth sessions offer a profound insight into this new technology and its applications. You'll shave months off your learning curve and leave with a strong knowledge base of the .NET Framework 3.0.

Expert instructors include:
  • Juval Lowy - Microsoft Regional Director for the Silicon Valley, best-selling author and recognized by Microsoft as a Software Legend for being one of the world's top .NET experts
  • Michele Leroux Bustamante - Microsoft Regional Director for San Diego and a Microsoft MVP for Web Services
  • Brian Noyes - Microsoft Regional Director for Virginia and a Microsoft MVP
INETA members save $250 by registering with the code "6RINETA." Generous team discounts are also available. Full details and online registration are available at http://www.net3roadshow.com.
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 June Winners Announced - INETA Membership Survey Sweepstakes
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Chris Wallace June Winners Announced - INETA Membership Survey Sweepstakes $100 to Enterprise Developers Guild, Charlotte, NC, USA
and $50 to Bill Jones Jr

$100 to Michiana Area .NET Users Group (MADNUG), South Bend, IN, USA
and $50 to Eric Landes

$100 to Inland Empire .NET User's Group, San Bernardino, CA, USA
and $50 to R. James Johnson

plus to INETA Membership Manager, Territory: Carolinas - NC, SC
$50 to Chris Williams

How do you win?

You and your INETA user group are automatically entered when your INETA User Group Leader or Representative submits your INETA monthly user group survey for your INETA user group.

Make sure your INETA monthly user group survey is submitted - it's easy and just takes a minute!

Congratulations to this month's winners and Good Luck to you - Watch for future announcements to see if your user group is a sweepstakes winner!

Chris Wallace, Vice President - Membership, INETA NorAm chris.wallace@ineta.org
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 CoDe On The Road
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CoDe (Component Developer) Magazine, The leading independent publication for .NET Developers announced that they will feature a page in each issue dedicated to .NET related events where CoDe Magazine is present. Whether it is INETA events, Code Camps, User Group meetings, or developer-centric conferences or meetings, CoDe Magazine is in the thick of it! Have your event, speaker, or group featured in CoDe Magazine with "CoDe on the Road." Simply send in a picture of a featured speaker, your group or event along with a name, title and brief caption and it may appear in CoDe helping you spread the word about your group or event to the Microsoft developer community! "CoDe on the Road" will also have an online element to display more photos. Tom Buckley of CoDe Magazine encourages that submissions be kept simple and to not forget to have a little fun with them. You may submit pictures (300 DPI JPG or TIFF) to pics@code-magazine.com for review and publication.
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 From the Editor
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Scott Spradlin Yet Another Call for Volunteers

Are you involved in your local user group? Do you enjoy working with other volunteers? We have so many new things on the INETA plate that we need your help! Send an email to Nancy Mesquita and tell her you want to get involved today! She has a list of ways you can volunteer.

Personally, I need help with this newsletter. I need people who would like to occasionally track down a story for me. Do you have ideas on how we can improve? Contact Nancy!

Scott Spradlin, Vice President - Marketing, INETA NorAm scott.spradlin@ineta.org


Archived newsletters are available on the INETA website at www.ineta.org/newsletters.
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Copyright 2006 by INETA
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