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 | | | From the Board | |
 As we continue to see uncertain economic conditions around us, I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the value of a local .NET community during difficult times. Across North America and around the world, groups of people gather in person and online to share their knowledge and engage in conversations relating to software.
These groups often call themselves user groups, guilds, or associations, and focus on a variety of aspects related to working with Microsoft .NET technologies. Attendees may contain (but not be limited to) developers, designers, architects, or business analysts. These groups and their associated communities of software professionals represent a tremendous resource and provide some of the best training opportunities that exist today.
The presentations that take place in monthly user group meetings are a great opportunity to learn more about the constant flow of new technologies we are faced with today and continue learning how to better utilize the existing tools and technologies that we have today. Many groups also have smaller special interest or study groups that will dive deeper in to specific technologies or areas of interest. Groups also organize free conference like events such as Code Camps that bring together a variety of industry speakers and local experts for an entire day (or two) of sessions. These events are a great addition to your existing training resources that you may have available.
These local communities also provide important interaction and networking opportunities with your industry peers and associated organizations. These groups can provide support and motivation to help you solve problems, pursue certifications, or get connected to employment opportunities. If you're considering a certification, check with your local group and see if there are any study groups in place. User group presentations typically lack much of the standard sales content that we are so often forced to listen to, tend to include more experiences and lessons learned. If you're a company or recruiting firm looking for some talented .NET skills, check out your local groups as well. These are the people putting in the extra effort to pay attention to technology and grow their skills.
We're working hard at INETA North America to enable us to continue offering resources to strengthen the .NET community through popular programs like our INETA Speaker Bureau. As well, we're working to roll out new programs to help your user group communities do more. Our Regional Speakers and Virtual Events programs are two examples of how we're trying to help groups extend their reach and enhance their content pool. At the same time, our Community Champions program is working hard to recognize and reward the individuals in the community who put in the effort behind the scenes to make these events possible.
Getting involved in your local user group, either attending events, and/or volunteering to help or present is a great way to get involved, make new contacts, and help expand your skills and expertise. For those of you already actively involved in the user group community, please share with us the things you are doing in your areas to promote the value of your group and support your local .NET communities. Lastly, I would like to ask you to provide us with any
feedback on how we can do more to support your local efforts.
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| | | Community Champions Winners Announced | |
Community Champions Winners Announced Every day INETA members go above and beyond to support their communities. The purpose of the INETA Community Champion Award program is to recognize individuals with the highest levels of contributions. Those exceptional leaders and volunteers who devote innumerable hours towards hosting user group meetings, organizing Code Camps and special events, mentoring and supporting their members, publishing newsletters, updating web sites, and the list goes on and on. This relatively new program has been gaining momentum as user group leaders across North America have been recording their activities. During the past quarter we had over 3.6 million points submitted! The Community Champions program provides INETA with an opportunity to showcase the efforts of our user group communities as a whole as well as provide individual recognition. Recognition that we hope will open doors to networking opportunities, potential sponsors, future employers or partnerships. Each winner of this prestigious annual award will be presented with a letter of commendation, a certificate of achievement, much deserved online recognition, and their choice of a MSDN Subscription, Xbox or $300 gift check. INETA Community Champion Award WinnersPlease join us in congratulating the recipients of the Q3 2008 INETA Community Champion Award! - John Baird
- Antonio Chagoury
- David Hockenberry
- Lori McKinney
- Michael Paladino
- Dan Rigsby
- Vishal Shukla
- Will Strohl
- Jason Townsend
- Chris Williams
Special thanks to everyone who took the time and energy to participate in this program. Keep contributing to your local developer community and submit your activities through the INETA Community Champion program. This is your chance to show the world what community leadership is all about and to gain some of the recognition that you deserve! All activities which take place from Jan 1, 2008 thru Dec 31, 2008 will be eligible for the Q4 2008 awards. For additional information and to view past winners, please go to
Community Champion Awards section of the INETA web site. INETA Community Champion Participant of the Month SpotlightHere at INETA, we also realize that it is the small contributions that make a difference. To that end, in addition to the quarterly Community Champion Awards, we are proud to offer the Community Champion Participant of the Month Award. To be eligible for this award all you need to do is record the volunteer work you perform for your user group, whether that be updating the web site, greeting new members, picking up pizza, etc. Each month we will pick someone at random to win a $50 gift check. Could we make it any easier? So what are you waiting for, log on toCommunity Championand submit your activities today using the new Silverlight based UI! The October 2008 Champs Participant of the Month goes to Supriyo "SB" Chatterjee. Congratulations SB and thanks for supporting the developers in your community! Now Accepting INETA Community Excellence Award NominationsThe 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. Tell us who you believe should be awarded this special honor and then enlist the participation of two people to endorse your nomination. 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 December 31, 2008. Log in to view past recipients, learn more, and submit your nomination by going to the
Community Excellence Awards section of the INETA web site. Please contact us with any comments and feedback.
INETA Community Champion Team
noram.champs@ineta.org Morgan Baker | morgan.baker@ineta.org | INETA North America, Vice President | www.ineta.org INETA |
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| | | INETA in a Virtual World | |
INETA in a Virtual WorldWelcome all to the first INETA virtual world article! This week I would like to introduce myself, Kyle "G", aka G2 Manhattan/Proto in the worlds of ReactionGrid and SecondLife respectively. So, what is a virtual world and why does the INETA audience need to know about it? A virtual world has many common elements with a video game but unlike a video game the players determine the content of the space. In Second Life,
http://www.secondlife.com/ this has translated into a massive virtual world developed by the users in every conceivable theme. There are space exhibits on NASA rockets, historical places like archaeological digs on the Pyramids all the way to modern technology as is often shown on Microsoft Island in Second Life.
The world of ReactionGrid is more of a niche world based on the
OpenSimulator.org project that uses the same Second Life client. This project is built on the .NET Framework and coded in C# with open source licensing under BSD. This project is perfect for INETA followers as it allows them to use their C# and Visual Basic skills in 3D to create particle effects, interact with web applications and more. Finally,
VastPark.com is a P2P application that recently went open source as well, and is coded in C#, allowing developers to hack up and expand this world as well.
This article will attempt to follow any virtual worlds that have a strong MSDN presence, or are coded in such a way that our community can easily download and modify the world as they see fit. Stay tuned for more explanations, video, and even code samples on how you can get involved in these brave new media. INETA themselves now have a full simulator on
ReactionGrid.com and use the facilities of Microsoft Island's presence in Second Life to meet regularly with developers worldwide, so watch their site for news. Thanks for listening and see you in 3D!
more images |
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| | | MSDN Developer Conference: Coming to a City Near You. Register Today | |
MSDN Developer Conference: Coming to a City Near You. Register TodayThe nature of software development is radically changing ... Are you ready? Attend the MSDN Developer Conference for
a glimpse into the future of the Microsoft Application Platform. You will experience Microsoft's vision for
Cloud Computing and building applications that seamlessly bridge the gaps between PC, Web, and phone. Be among the first to see the full range of advances in
Windows 7, the next major version of the Windows client operating system. Sessions include the latest developments in
.NET,
Silverlight,
Surface,
Parallel Programming,
Live Mesh, and more. Register and attend so
you can stay current in an ever-competitive job market, enhance your engineering skills and gain access to the next generation of tools and technology. The cost to attend is just $99. And, did we mention that attendees will get some cool giveaways? If you are a developer who enjoys diving deep into the Microsoft platform or you are responsible for the technical strategy of your organization, then the MSDN Developer Conference is for you. Don't miss this premier developer event coming to major cities. Check out SPAN> </
http://www.MSDNDevCon.com </
so you can attend the MDC coming to you! When registering, please use RSVP Code: MDCINETA Hope to see you at the MDC!! Here's where you can find us: Houston: 12/9/08
Orlando: 12/11/08
Atlanta: 12/16/08
Minneapolis: 1/13/09
Chicago: 1/13/09
Washington, DC: 1/16/09
New York: 1/20/09
Boston: 1/22/09
Detroit: 1/22/09
Dallas: 1/26/09
San Francisco: TBD
San Diego: TBD |
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| | | UGTV - User Group Television | |
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| | | Upcoming Regional Events | 
SQL Heroes UniteJoin 3,000 of your Peers at the Largest SQL Server Event of the Year! Attend PASS Community Summit 2008, Seattle, Nov 18-21 PASS Community Summit 2008 is the most in-depth SQL Server conference of the year with over
150 technical sessions;
14 pre-conference seminars; the Microsoft Ask the Experts Lounge; hands-on labs; onsite Certification Center; SQL CAT Best Practices; and more, all dedicated to SQL Server. Learn more at:
http://summit2008.sqlpass.org/ SPECIAL DISCOUNT FOR INETA MEMBERS: $100 OFF REGISTRATION! Use the promo code INET3D during registration and save $100 off the current rate. |
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| | | A Word from the Marketing Team | |
140.That is my magic number for 2008. I am wondering how many of my INETA User Group Leader brethren and compatriots know what that number represents. For that matter, how in touch with all the new technologies and changes are we these days with changes (of ALL kinds) coming at us at hurricane force velocity?
Change can be good and change can be fun. Change can give us a great restarting point or reinvigorate sagging aspirations. I really believe that. As I approach my 5th decade, I find that I am not as surprised to feel good about change as other people who have come this way and seemed to pour cold water over my youthful enthusiasms. Getting into .NET was something I dove into head first, full immersion and have not regretted a second of it. I have embraced every incarnation and even went further than I envisioned by delving into some of the "tools" and platforms such as Expression (Visual Studio for artists?) and SharePoint (the Swiss army knife of web portals.) And with all that I have been getting into the aspects of "Web 2.0" that are not necessarily on .NET but riding on the same idea and promise. I got into things like MySpace, LinkedIn, CDBABY and Windows Live to name but a few.
The operative word for me these days while things get busy and we find ourselves hunkering down for a swing down the rapids is keeping in touch. We try to keep in touch with our families, friends, colleagues and members through email, text messaging, blogs, etc. The unprecedented communication facilities we have today are truly heralding the changes yet to come that I look forward to. With all that's out there I find myself actually less long winded than I used to be. That's a good change some would say especially since most of my wind is limited to 140 characters. Ok, let's let in the others who are not sure about that number in on it. 140 is the character limitation for TWITTER. It's a bit shorter than a text message but extremely compact and very useful a tool we can all use in our day to day communications with our members as well as others. Have you tried it yet? Speaking of which, I have some tweeting to do for my group right now. Have fun!
Oh, and by the way, you can find me on TWITTER at
twitter.com/bigpix2000.
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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