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In This Issue
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President's Note
INETA Live!
WCF Test Drive
Winners!
Editor's Note
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Sponsors
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Microsoft

Ivis

Telerik

InnerWorkings
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INETA Live!




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 Happenings Around INETA North America (NorAm)

Chris Pels Each year at this time we sit down with our Charter Sponsor Microsoft as they start a new fiscal year to discuss how much funding they can provide INETA NorAm during the upcoming year and what areas to target with those funds. We are pleased to announce that Microsoft will once again provide significant funding in the amount of $310,000 to INETA NorAm for the period July 2006-June 2007.

As you may have read in various news reports Microsoft is tightening their financial belts as are many corporations. Our funding, while substantial, will be less than last year because the division we deal with at Microsoft had their budget reduced. However, as I mentioned in past newsletters we have been working hard to increase our internal organization and maximize our efficiency in order to deliver the greatest value to the developer community with our funding.

During the next year we will allocate the majority ($205K, 66%) of our Microsoft sponsorship funds to the Speakers Bureau. We encourage all user groups to work together with other groups in your area when requesting an INETA Speaker. Hold a multi-group event or have a speaker visit several groups in a geographical area. The farther we can make these speaker dollars go the more everyone will benefit. In addition to the Speakers Bureau we will be starting about 10 new services and resources with the remaining funding over the next year. Over the coming issues of the newsletter Chris Wallace our Membership Vice President and Amanda Murphy our Community Activities Vice President will outline these projects in detail. They include useful items like support for regional user group leaders summits and pre-packaged user group meeting topics.

In addition to these funds from our Charter Sponsor Microsoft I have mentioned we are expanding our Sponsorship Program over the coming year which we anticipate will provide funds for additional benefits to user groups. This is a significant effort with a volunteer workforce that requires us to operate like any other business. I am very appreciative of our volunteers that have worked so hard to get this off the ground. In the coming months I'll invite Pat Tormey our Sponsorship Director to provide some details in the newsletter as the program progresses.

Volunteers Needed: As I mention each month 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

INETA Live from Redmond continues 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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 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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 InnerWorkings.NET 3.0 Test-Drive:
Windows Communication Framework
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Everyone's talking about Windows Communication Framework (WCF). Would you like to get a better understanding of WCF and actually try it out? Then get yourself to an InnerWorkings .NET 3.0 Test-Drive, where you'll see it in action via a "real-life" Visual Studio .NET 2005 solution that highlights working with WCF contracts. Here's a preview of some of the material that we'll cover:
  • Connecting to a WCF Service using a Proxy: Defining what a proxy is, and how to work with a generated proxy
  • Defining a service with multiple endpoints: What is an endpoint, types of endpoints and the importance of endpoints
  • Defining DataContracts: What is a DataContract, why you would need one, and how to return custom types to a client
Then, after the presentation, it'll be your turn to "take the wheel". We'll team you up and help you get set up and rolling on a WCF drill that will drill down into the topics discussed during the presentation. The drill (and all resources associated with it) is yours to keep. Come in and see how fast YOU can go from zero to WCF! Each event will include a coding contest with a $200 prize for the winner.

Sound interesting? You can make it happen! If you'd like to see an event in your area, contact your local INETA User Group Leader and let them know. If you're an INETA User Group Leader, contact John McIntyre directly at InnerWorkings via phone (925) 737 0600, x 102 or email jmcintyre@innerworkings.com to schedule a date. If you'd like to know more about InnerWorkings, go to www.innerworkings.com. Act now, though, as there are a limited number of events planned, and it's "First Come, First Served!"
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 Wally's Alabama Road Cruise
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The buzzing of the katydids rising over the noisy freeway seemed to mimic the building buzz of excitement surrounding the impending release of Wally's new book, "Beginning AJAX with ASP.NET", during his Alabama Road Cruise. Wally, aka Wallace B. McClure -- MVP, Author, host of the ASP.NET Podcast, and one of the most recent additions to the INETA Speakers Bureau -- spends a lot of hours on the road traveling from his Tennessee home to support our .NET community. Helping User Groups has been his way for many years now, and as an INETA speaker, he has more support to help our members learn new technologies such as AJAX and Atlas.

The scheduling of Wally's four-day, four-city tour -- Huntsville being Wally's second INETA sponsored talk -- was excellent timing for him. His book released the same week, and INETA helped him to pass along what he knew of AJAX and Atlas along the way to many eager ASP.NET developers.



Wally's Tuesday night appearance at the Huntsville Alabama VSdotNetUG.orgmeeting started at 6:00 and didn't end until after 8:30; there was so much to learn! Lori McKinney, VSdotNetUG.org Newsletter Editor, said "Wally has been a regular visitor to Huntsville over the past several years and we were glad to be his first Alabama road trip stop. He always puts on a good presentation and this time was no exception. His presentations are informative, enthusiastic and fun. Now that he is part of the INETA Speakers Bureau, user group members from all over the country will have the chance to treat that fever that will only be cured by getting more Wally in their lives."

His next stop was Wednesday night at the Birmingham .Net Users Group. Jeremy Chance, Birmingham .Net UG Leader, said "Wally's presentation at the Birmingham .Net User Group on the night of August 9, 2006 was a very professional, entertaining, and informational presentation". Wallace C. Allison, Leader of the Birmingham S/W Developers Association, said "I heard Wally's presentation last night and I can say that he told me more about Atlas in a few minutes than I've been able to get elsewhere in hours, but then Wally's always good."

Wally finished his Alabama Road Cruise finally on Thursday at a lunchtime talk at the Montgomery Area .NET Developer Group meeting. Bruce Thomas, Visual C# MVP and MADEV UG Leader, said "It was really great having Wally on tour in Alabama. We had all the right ingredients...a great presenter like Wally, a hot topic like AJAX and Microsoft Atlas, and depth of content with his new book. We look forward to having him back again soon."

Wally started his road trip four days earlier on Monday in Atlanta at the Atlanta Cutting Edge .NET User Group. Some big names like Paul Wilson, Greg Young, Todd Fine, Brendon Schwartz, Matt Ranlett, and others were in attendance as Wally talked on Atlas. I've got to say this was to Wally's advantage as well as ours, as he hit four talks in four days in four major "Ol' South" cities. If I were a brand new author I could think of no better set of venues than the beautiful, lush green South.

My final impression of Wally's 4-day tour: WOW, that's dedication!

By: Dan Wygant (Dan.Wygant.org), MVP,
INETA Membership Manager, Gulf Coast - AL, MS, LA,
INETA Membership Division Assistant Vice President
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 July Winners Announced - INETA Membership Survey Sweepstakes
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Chris Wallace July Winners Announced - INETA Membership Survey Sweepstakes

$100 to Florida .NET - Ft Lauderdale (formerly Boca Raton), FL, USA
and $50 to Morgan Baker

$100 to Denver Visual Studio User Group, Denver, CO, USA
and $50 to Chris Wallace

$100 to Central California .Net User Group, Fresno, CA, USA
and $50 to Gustavo Cavalcanti

plus to INETA Membership Manager, Territory: Great Lakes - MI, OH, PA
$50 to Greg Huber

Congratulations to this month's winners!

Look for changes to our survey starting next month.

Chris Wallace, Vice President - Membership, INETA NorAm chris.wallace@ineta.org
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 DevConnections Las Vegas
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www.DevConnections.com The premiere developer & DBA event returns to Las Vegas
Microsoft ASP.NET Connections
VS and & .NET 3.0 Connections
Mobility and SQL Server Connections
Nov 6 - 9, 2006 at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, NV

The largest Developer & DBA conference for Microsoft technology returns to heat up the strip again with 200+ in-depth sessions, 100+ Microsoft and Industry expert presenters, expo hall, jam session and networking opportunities. You will not want to miss Microsoft rolling out many surprise announcements. INETA members may register with discount code INETA on www.DevConnections.com to receive a $100 discount only one discount offer applies BONUS: Co-located at Mandalay Bay will be Microsoft's "Ready for A New Day IT Pro event focused on Windows Vista, Exchange Server 2007, and Office, DevConnections attendees will have free access to those sessions as well.
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 From the Editor
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Scott Spradlin There's still a lot of changes happening here at INETA. Chris Pels outlines the annual budget above and we need help spending it! If you have time to devote, read his column about how to volunteer. We would love to have you on the team.

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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