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 In This Issue
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LinkFrom the President
LinkLeadership Summit TechEd
LinkBOF Call for Topics
LinkSpeaker Events
LinkContact INETA
LinkFrom the Marketing Team
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 Sponsors
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Microsoft


Verio

Telerik

Microsoft
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 From the President
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Amanda Murphy

February each year marks the anniversary of INETA as an organization. Six years ago, our community was formed based on the actions and vision of several user group leaders and today we stand strong representing over 250 groups with almost 150,000 members throughout North America. We continuously look at ways to grow and strengthen the relationship we have with our members.

On February 29th, the INETA North America board of directors will be meeting for an In Person Board Meeting in Las Vegas. This represents our second opportunity as a board to meet in person to plan operational activities and discuss plans for the upcoming year. Las Vegas was selected due to its central location, cost and the availability of board members in that location during that particular weekend. In our March newsletter I will provide an update of items discussed during our weekend meetings.

As we prepare for these meetings, I am very interested in hearing from our members. So if you have any suggestions on things we are doing well, things we can improve or areas you would like us to discuss during our In Person Board Meeting, please fill out the form located at http://www.wedevelop.net/inetafeedback.aspx to let us know. All information submitted via the form will be confidential and shared only with key INETA representatives.

As we continue the process of building up our services and programs to support our growing community, we are continuously looking for new team members to help us in our various endeavors. Understanding that availability for volunteer work may vary amongst many of you, we appreciate all levels of involvement. For some this might include a permanent role in one of our teams such as Marketing, Technology or Community Activities. For others, it may be writing a short article for our newsletter or website covering an important topic or exciting event in your area. To learn more about how you can get involved with our various divisions, teams and programs, please email noram.volunteers@ineta.org. We would love to hear from you!

Amanda Murphy
President, INETA NorAm
amanda.murphy@ineta.org
St. John's .NET User Group
INETA - The Face of .NET

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 Community Leadership Summit: TechEd Edition
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If you are a leadership Team Member of an INETA user group, or would like to learn more about becoming one, you are invited to attend the INETA Community Leadership Summit on Monday June 2nd, 2008 at Tech Ed. The event will take place in the late afternoon and early evening. The gathering will provide an opportunity to network with other user group leaders from across North America and around the world.

Exact details of the event will be made available in the coming weeks, but we wanted to start getting the word out as soon as possible to allow people to fit it into their travel plans.

See you at Tech Ed!

Rob Zelt
VP Community Activities, INETA NorAm
rob.zelt@ineta.org
Triangle .NET User Group
INETA - The Face of .NET

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 Birds-of-a-Feather - Call for Topics - Tech Ed U.S. 2008 Developers
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Are you thinking about going to Tech Ed in Orlando this June? Do you have topics you'd like to discuss with other attendees?

Submit your ideas as topics for Birds-of-a-Feather (BOF) discussions and volunteer to be a moderator!

According to some of last year's attendees, BOFs were one of the 3 best things about Tech Ed 2007. While it may seem far in the future, it's time to start thinking about topics for the Birds of a Feather sessions at Tech Ed Developers in June. 

With the conference split into two consecutive Tech Ed events for the first time this year, INETA is organizing the Birds-of-a-Feather sessions at Tech Ed 2008 Developers in Orlando June 3-6, 2008 while our sister organization, Culminis, is organizing the BOF sessions at Tech Ed IT Professionals, June 10-13.

If you're not familiar with the concept, a Birds-of-a-Feather session is an open discussion lead by a moderator who is not a Microsoft employee. The sessions are not presentations, there are no projectors. Unlike the Keynotes and Breakout sessions which are mostly one to many communication, Birds-of-a-Feather sessions are many to many communication and don't necessarily focus on Microsoft products or technology.  They are about people talking with people - connecting, sharing, networking, and creating community. It's that simple, and that's what we do best.

Over the past several years Birds of a Feather sessions have become fully integrated into the Tech Ed agenda.  This means you'll see them in the online scheduling tool and they'll be listed in the mini-guide.  There will be daytime sessions along with the other conference technical tracks, as well as an All-BOF Night on Wednesday, June 3rd from 6:30 to 9:00 PM.

As a result of this integration, BOF Submissions and Voting close on March 19th!

The BOFs are all about community participation, and community is a critical part of their success. INETA and Culminis solicit session proposals - you submit topics you would like to have discussed - your peers vote on they you want to see as BOF sessions - and then the organizers select, schedule, publicize and organize the Birds-of-a-Feather sessions.  If your BOF topic submission is selected, you are then asked to moderate the session.  You are welcome to submit more than one topic!!  Anyone attending a BOF can contribute to the discussion.

Do your part to continue the community tradition and get involved now!  Here's how you can participate:

1. Get the word out.  Blog about the Call for Topics, or post the Call in forums you participate in.  Let folks know about the voting and about your favorite topics.

2. Propose a Topic. If you're going to be at Tech Ed - if there's a topic you'd like to discuss with your peers and you'd be willing to moderate that discussion- click through and submit the topic.

3. Vote.  Check the Tech Ed Developers BOF Voting Page and as you see topics appear that interest you, vote for them!

4. Stay Tuned. As BOF session ideas come in, they will be added to the Tech Ed Developers BOF Voting Page for you to select. When the Tech Ed Schedule Builder goes live in April, mark your calendars and plan to attend and join in great discussions. We'll also have more to say about how you can volunteer to be a Host at one or more BOF sessions in the next INETA newsletter.

For Instructions check out: http://www.ineta.org/newsletters/misc/2008-02/bof_instructions.pdf

Bob Goodearl
co-chair, Birds-of-a-Feather sessions for Tech Ed U.S. 2008 Developers
TechEd2008BOF@rgoodsoftware.com

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 Upcoming INETA Speakers Bureau Events
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User GroupLocationSpeakerDate
Space Coast Dot Net User Group Melbourne, Florida John Papa 2/20/2008
Visual Studio Team System Minnesota Bloomington, Minnesota Kathleen Dollard 2/20/2008
Florida .NET - West Palm Beach West Palm Beach, Florida Brian Noyes 2/26/2008
Maine Developer Network Augusta, Maine Russ Nemhauser 2/29/2008
Capital City .NET Users Group of Florida Tallahassee, Florida Caleb Jenkins 3/6/2008
Cleveland .NET Special Interest Group Cleveland, Ohio Miguel Castro 3/11/2008
Cincinnati .NET User Group Cincinnati, Ohio Miguel Castro 3/12/2008
SouthBay.NET User Group Torrance, California Russ Nemhauser 3/13/2008
Pacific Northwest Access Developer Group Redmond, Washington Bill Vaughn 3/18/2008
Philly.NET Malvern, Pennsylvania J. Ambrose Little 3/19/2008
San Gabriel Valley .NET Developers Group Monrovia, California Mark Miller 3/19/2008
New York City .NET Developers Group New York, New York Kevin McNeish 3/20/2008
Twin Cities XNA User Group Golden Valley, Minnesota Nickolas Landry 3/20/2008
Dallas ASP.NET Irving, Texas Markus Egger 3/25/2008
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 Contacting INETA North America
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noram.communityactivities@ineta.org The community activities team which coordinates all events and program with the community like launch events, user group leaders summits, etc.
noram.marketing@ineta.org The marketing team responsible for all external correspondence like this newsletter and emails to user group leaders.
noram.membership@ineta.org The membership team responsible for membership applications and member relations.
noram.president@ineta.org Any ideas, concerns, praise, etc. you want to send or if you do not get a response from another email address.
noram.speakers@ineta.org The speakers team responsible for scheduling and coordinating INETA expert speakers.
noram.sponsorship@ineta.org The sponsorship team responsible for acquiring and maintaining sponsors.
noram.technology@ineta.org The technology team responsible for infrastructure and email.
noram.volunteers@ineta.org Inquiries about becoming an INETA NorAm volunteer.
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 From the Marketing Team
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Darrell HawleyI just got an invite to the Central Ohio Day of .NET - my first Code Camp of the year! In my region, the Heartland District, spring is the time for several of these local events which, to me, are incredibly valuable. Not only are you renewing friendships, but you're also exposed to people who may not typically attend your user group meetings. Not all of these new people are developers. Often times, employers attend these events looking for talent to fill out their ranks or experts to guide them through their latest project. These are a great opportunities not to be missed.

Another way of getting people's attention at these talks is to present. When you research a topic thoroughly enough and present it in an effective manner, people may very well be interested in doing business with you. Does this sound great, but don't have any speaking experience? Pick out a new technology that hasn't picked up too many followers yet. Research it, blog about it, design a talk around it. You'll be amazed at the interest you can generate. A few ideas you may want to consider are IronPython, IronRuby, F#, WPF, WCF and XAML. If none of those are sparking your interest, find something that does and run with it. You'll be amazed by the amount of buzz you can generate.

Darrell Hawley
Vice-President of Marketing, INETA NorAm
darrell.hawley@ineta.org
Ann Arbor .NET Developer's Group
INETA - The Face of .NET

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Archived newsletters are available on the INETA website at www.ineta.org/newsletters.
Copyright 2008 by INETA
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