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 | | | INETA Launches New Website! | |
The last few months have been very action packed for the INETA Technology Team, including reaching a major milestone and launching the new INETA North America website. The website has been in the works for quite a while now, end were very happy to see it online. There is growing list of features that we plan to add as we move forward.
INETA is a volunteer organization, and efforts like the web site are made possible through the time and efforts contributed by individuals. The Technology Team is made up of volunteers, who's contributions create and maintain the websites and infrastructure for the organization. I'd like to personally thank everybody that was involved in getting the site online, and continuing to work on enhancements.
Over the next few months we have some very exciting plans for the main INETA website, INETA Live, and some tasks supporting upcoming INETA projects. If you're interested in being a part of one of these projects, and contributing to the INETA community, and a chance to work with some of the most exciting new Microsoft technologies please let us know.
Rob Zelt
INETA, VP Marketing |
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| | | Community Champs Program | |
 We are excited to announce the launch of the
Community Champions Program! In 2005, INETA began conceptualizing a program that would recognize the efforts of user group leaders across North America. INETA, an organization dedicated to assisting user groups, realizes that the user group community relies on the vast amount of time and energy that volunteers invest in running user groups, hosting events, and supporting our peers. User group leaders and key support volunteers are devoted to enriching the lives of developers. Their contributions enable the members to continuously expand their technical skills and to establish long-lasting professional relationships. As leaders, their passion for helping others often places the good of the community before themselves. They give, share, and invest in the community; and now we have a way to return some of that investment. INETA is partnering with Community Credit and Microsoft to provide the recognition that these unique, exceptional individuals, so richly deserve.
The INETA Community Champions, or "Champs" program as we call it, offers two levels of recognition. The Community Champions Awards and the Community Excellence Awards. The two programs complement each other to recognize both current and long-term commitments. The
Community Champions Award are based on contributions within the developer community. Participants earn points based on the tasks typically associated with running user groups; such as, publishing a newsletter, managing email lists, giving presentations, mentoring new speakers, updating web sites, organizing code camps, ... the list goes on. In logging the tasks performed, INETA user group leaders and volunteers will not only receive recognition, but they will also help to capture the individual and collective power of their influence upon the developer community. Each quarter, the top Community Champions will be presented with an annual award, which includes a letter of commendation, certificate of achievement, online recognition and select prizes. Let there be no doubt about the magnitude of this award. Microsoft has generously donated MSDN subscriptions for the first round of winners! The current award cycle will end on June 30, 2008; so this is your call to action. User group leaders and volunteers, log on to the INETA web site and start entering your contributions! Do it NOW (well ... after you read the rest of the newsletter.) The
Community Excellence Awards are given to those who have made a significant and prolonged impact within the developer community. These lifetime awards are presented semi-annually and use a nomination process to select the key individuals who represent the true spirit of community leadership and vision that INETA strives to represent and support. INETA selected the first three recipients (see following article); but now it's up to YOU, the INETA user group community, to submit nominees. Tell us who you believe should be awarded this special honor and then enlist the participation of two people to endorse your nomination. Twice a year, the nomination requests will be reviewed by a selection committee consisting of past winners, Microsoft representatives and INETA board members. Nominations for the current award cycle will be accepted from now thru June 30, 2008. So times a wasting ... Log in to learn more, submit your nomination, and set the gears in motion to get them selected! The Community Champions Program, like everything INETA does, is for the community, by the community. This is your chance to show the world what community leadership is all about and to gain some of the recognition that you deserve! We look forward to your participation. Please contact us with any comments and feedback.
Community Champs Team
noram.champs@ineta.org |
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| | | Community Excellence Award Recipients | In celebration of launching the Community Champions Program, INETA has chosen three outstanding community leaders to be the first recipients of the Community Excellence Award. This prestigious lifetime award goes out to those who have made a significant and prolonged impact within the developer community. We did not need to look far to find our top candidates. They are more than just community leaders; their generous contributions helped forge INETA's foundation. Congratulations go to Bill Evjen, Dave Noderer and Julie Lerman!
 Bill Evjen is an INETA Speaker, a Microsoft Regional Director, a Microsoft MVP for ASP.NET and has authored numerous books. He has been actively involved with .NET ever since 2000 when the first bits were released. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, Bill founded one of the first .NET user groups,
St. Louis .NET User Group. By 2001, Bill was already laying the foundation for the International .NET Association. He pitched the idea to Microsoft to receive funding and went on to build the highly regarded INETA Speakers Bureau consisting of the top .NET presenters in the world. Catch the excitement by viewing the
INETA video. Those early days of INETA were truly inspiring as the initial team of volunteers witnessed the phenomenal growth of user groups worldwide. We owe it all to you Bill!  Dave Noderer, an MVP for Visual Basic, laid the foundation for the
Florida .Net User Group, which now has meeting locations in Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Miramar and West Palm Beach. Dave has a passion for the community and become involved with INETA in the early days. Dave joined the Board of Directors in 2002 and headed up the User Group Relations Committee which was tasked with assisting membership worldwide. He was INETA's first newsletter editor and coordinated the first Birds of a Feather sessions at PDC 2003 and TechEd 2004. Always an innovator, Dave also organized Florida's first Code Camp which is now in its fourth year. Dave can usually be found any given week coordinating a user group meeting, staffing a community event, hosting a Geek Dinner or hoping over to the Bahamas to help launch a new group. Thanks for continuing to support the developer community no matter where you are Dave!  Julie Lerman has also been involved in INETA since its early days and was an integral part of the growth from a handful of user groups to a worldwide organization. Julie worked on the User Group Relations Committee and went on to hold a board member position. Along with assisting membership and publishing newsletters, she was also a member of the Speakers Bureau Committee. Julie is an INETA Speaker, an MVP for SQL Server, and an accomplished author. She runs the
Vermont .NET User Group, based in Burlington, VT. Anyone who has had the pleasure of meeting Julie in person or hearing her speak knows that she epitomizes the true meaning of community with her unbounded enthusiasm for technology and bringing people together. Thanks Julie for making our community better in so many ways!
Learning more about the Community Excellence Award... Read more about their inspiring contributions on the
Community Excellence Awards section of the INETA website.
Now that we have selected the first three awardees, it's up to YOU to nominate the next Community Excellence Award recipient. Simply log on to the INETA website as a registered user and submit your nomination from the
Community Champions section.
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| | | The Lighter Side of INETA | |
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| | | UGTV News | |
User Group TV (UGTV) is LIVE NOW!
 BREAKING NEWS!! User Group TV is Live! You can even watch the very first episode on
TechNet Edge and
Channcel9. Now, if you are hearing about UGTV for the first time, let me explain why everybody is so excited... User Group Television (UGTV) is a monthly webcast dedicated to bringing informative programming to User Groups worldwide while providing Microsoft the ability to introduce up and coming informatino to user group communities as well as highlight our engagement with them.
The first show includes interviews with Trisha Cardell, Community Leader for Microsoft US subsidiary, John Martin, Director, Server and Tools Online and John Molloy, Director of Community with Developer Division, as well as a video montage highlighting the MVP Summit in April. Look for your favorite UG Leader in on-the-spot interviews captured with them. UGTV is hosted by Michelle Fleming Toure and Alan le Marquand. Got Feedback? Email
ugtvplan@microsoft.com. Got Ideas? Email
ugtvidea@microsoft.com |
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| | | IT Pro News | |
 Microsoft puts the spotlight on an unsung hero - the I.T. pro
TechNet interactive campaign lets the geek get the glory
Just when you thought your eyes had finally healed from years of straining to make out pixelated adventure game graphics, Server Quest rolls into your browser like an avalanche of early nineties gaming action. This spring, prepare to be ushered into a world where the IT pro reigns supreme. "Don't they already?" you might ask. Maybe so, but this is your chance to prove it. You play as Matt and Alicia, IT geniuses navigating their way through the perils of office life, while trying to protect the network from malicious software and keep the entire staff booted up and logged on. Are you geek enough to keep the server safe and win the long-overdue respect of the office's arrogant sales guy, Chase? In order to find out, you'll have to dig deep into your surroundings, solve puzzles, and uncover Easter Eggs and mini games that will help you inch your way closer to the prize-and closer to carving your name into the annals of geekdom. Server Quest is an entertaining viral promotion that takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the challenges and annoyances that IT professionals face every day.
Look for it online at
www.server-quest.com. This spring, play Server Quest and give a geek a chance.
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| | | Upcoming INETA Speaker Bureau Local Events | | User Group | Location | Speaker | When |
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| Michiana Area .NET Users Group (MADNUG) | South Bend, IN | Paul Litwin | June 9 | | Huntsville VS.Net Users Group | Huntsville, AL | Mark Dunn | June 10 | | .NET Users of Fort Wayne | Fort Wayne, IN | Paul Litwin | June 10 | | Spokane .NET Users Group | Spokane, WA | Caleb Jenkins | June 11 | | Baton Rouge .Net User Group | Baton Rouge, LA | Mark Dunn | June 11 | | Acadiana .NET User Group | Lafayette, LA | Mark Dunn | June 12 | | Dallas .NET Users Group | Irving, TX | Les Pinter | June 12 | | Northwest Ohio .NET User Group | Toledo, OH | Wally McClure | June 17 | | Pacific Northwest Access Developer Group | Redmond, WA | Bill Vaughn | June 17 | | San Diego .NET User Group ASP.NET SIG | San Diego, CA | Scott Cate | June 17 | | Hampton Roads SQL Server Users Group | Virginia Beach, VA | Todd Bleeker | June 19 | | San Diego SQL Server User Group | San Diego, CA | Daniel Egan | June 19 | | Florida .NET - Miramar | Miramar, FL | John Papa | July 8 | | Philly.NET | Malvern, PA | Billy Hollis | July 16 | | Boise .Net Developers User Group | Boise, ID | Kathleen Dollard | July 17 |
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| | | Upcoming Regional Events | |
Carolina Community Leadership Summit The INETA Carolina Community Leadership Summit is scheduled to be held on Saturday June 21, 2008 just outside of Greensboro, NC. The Summit is a joint effort between INETA and the region's Microsoft Developer Evangelists. Everybody involved in (or wanting to learn more about) running a .NET focused user group in the Carolinas, Virginia, and surrounding areas is welcome to attend.
The Summit will consist of some meeting time devoted to discussions on how to more successfully promote and run a .NET User Group, as well as some quality social time to sit back, relax and enjoy the day with your peers from the user group community. This will be a great opportunity to interact with others running groups in the area, share common problems and solutions, and learn something new. The social event is open to the entire family, and our location includes a pool and plenty of space for outdoor activities.
Please RSVP if you will be able to join us by emailing
noram.communityactivities@ineta.org. We'll send a reply including more information, directions and hotel options. Ann Arbor Give Camp - July 11-13, 2008
Ann Arbor Give Camp is a unique weekend developer event designed to allow developers, designers, DBAs and web enthusiasts to donate their time and talent to developing applications for charities. Register today!
DevLink 2008
The devLink Technical Conference provides technical content of interest to Software Developers, Solution Architects, Database Administrators, Project Managers, Business Analysts, Technology Executives and IT professionals looking for the latest and greatest content. You will have the opportunity to learn from industry experts from around the world. You'll get cutting edge techniques to solve your development challenges today and build the next generation applications of tomorrow. Get your pass today! |
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| | | A Word from the Marketing Team | |
Change ... Seems to be the catchphrase of the year. I'm addicted to it, frankly. For me personally, going through many changes (all good, mind you, hold those e-mails) and in the world around me especially. It's palpable in fact. Ok, got to lower the excitement level perhaps with a glass of water. Where was I? Oh yes, change. Perhaps you are seeing it too? Have you noticed that Tech Ed is two weeks long this year? Certainly a change, although I must say they did try this back at the first Tech Ed in Dallas. I wonder if this format will work. If you are going, we definitely want to hear from you how it went and what you think about that especially if it did anything to help you as a User Group Leader with all those cool activities and programs, not to mention the swag.
Oh dear, I can't forget the other change that affects us - the updated web site! The All Volunteer creation looks great and certainly very functional. Booking a speaker is much easier than before. The updated personal profile is more in line with Web 2.0 (reminders to self and to readers ... go to the site, log in and update profile.) Do I see some Silverlight in there? Hmmm, my old roots are pulling for me to volunteer in the technical working group to work with cool stuff. It's ok, I'm good. Lot's to do here in marketing. It's still interesting and fun.
And speaking of that, I just heard that we are getting a number of volunteers and would like to be the first to say to the new folks WELCOME. Also, "
keep it coming." Do you know others in your organization looking for additional challenges, perhaps looking to stack the deck towards the community champion status? I do believe INETA participation counts. And I don't think that's just me.
Enjoy the changes! It's the only thing that is constant.
Ralph Rivas
Asst VP of Marketing, INETA NorAm
noram.marketing@ineta.org
Dot Net Basement Club, Northern Illinois Chapter
INETA - The Face of .NET |
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| | | Contacting INETA North America | |
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