Saturday, October 23, 2010 – http://nwacodecamp.org

In the fine tradition of other great CodeCamp events across the world, the Northwest Arkansas developer community has announced their next CodeCamp, scheduled for October 23rd at the Tyson World Headquarters in Springdale, AR.  The event is free to attend, and there are several great tracks being planned including software development, project management, IT professional and more!

CALL FOR SPEAKERS IS NOW OPEN!

If you are passionate about a topic you feel the Northwest Arkansas technical community would be interested in, please submit it at http://nwacodecamp.org. The cutoff for speaker registration is October 1, 2010 or when all sessions are filled. Speakers interested in presenting must register on the site and fill out the information for your presentation. We will have many certified professionals presenting at this event, but we are especially looking for local talent.

Topic ideas:

1) .NET 4 and related technologies (themed)
2) Current .NET development topics
3) Non .NET technologies (yes, these are accepted!)
4) UI Design and business related topics

Code camps are volunteer driven events that are free for attendees. As such, speakers are expected to provide for their own travel arrangements. If you are affiliated with an organization that would like to sponsor Northwest Arkansas Code Camp 2010, please contact jay@jaysmith.us.

I’ve submitted 2 sessions – hope to see you there!

We’re only 2 weeks away from the 3rd annual Dallas TechFest!  The schedule is set, the bags are being packed and the speakers (including me!) are polishing up their talks.  Dallas TechFest has something to offer everyone, regardless of your particular chosen (or favorite) programming Languages:

This year’s schedule features well-known and local speakers from across 6 different communities including .NET, Java, PHP, Adobe, ColdFusion, Apple and IT Pro.  Registration is normally $50, but if you use the code “dotnet” you can get a $25 discount!  Make sure you sign up today as space is filling up quickly!

As an added bonus, everyone will receive a lunch, free Wi-Fi and a bag full of goodies from all of our sponsors!  I hope to see you there!

It’s been a while since I made one of these posts, so I figured I’d put one out there.  I really need to do this every week like I used to. Except for the typical upcoming user group meetings that you can learn about from http://www.southcentralcommunity.com, here are a list of the community-oriented conferences

NWA TechFest 2010

Thursday, July 08, 2010 8:00 AM, Rogers, AR
First annual NWA TechFest! I’m presenting 2 sessions at the event: Developing Windows Phone 7 Applications with Silverlight and an Introduction to SketchFlow.  There are a lot of great speakers there, including several of my co-workers and a whole gaggle of MVPs so make sure you attend.  Besides – it’s free!
[ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]

Dallas TechFest

Friday, July 30, 2010 8:00 AM, Richardson, TX
Dallas TechFest is back and will be occuring at the University of Texas at Dallas this year! Look forward to another day of phenomenal education by some of the best speakers from around. As in years past we will be having sessions on a wide variety of technologies including Microsoft .NET, Java, ColdFusion, Flex and PHP. Your conference ticket will include access to all general sessions, Lunch & Snacks throughout the day and an attendee bag with information and software from our sponsors. What Sessions are available you ask? http://www.DallasTechFest.com has all the details!
[ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]

SQL (.Net) Saturday #28 Baton Rouge LA

Friday, August 13, 2010 12:00 AM, Baton Rouge, LA
Free SQL Server and .Net training! Chance to win great prizes! What more could a SQL Server Professional ask for? If this sounds good to you then don’t miss your opportunity to attend SQL Saturday! #28, the largest FREE training event dedicated exclusively to SQL Server, .Net, Development and Business Intelligence to hit Baton Rouge.
[ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]

OpenCa.mp

Friday, August 27, 2010 6:00 PM, Addison, TX
OpenCamp is the SouthWest’s first multi-platform web conference. With top speakers covering topics ranging from social media to technical development, content creation, revenue generation and more, webmasters and web developers, bloggers, podcasters and technologists on any platform are welcome.
[ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]

The time has come to add another fine event to the TechFest family – Northwest Arkansas TechFest 2010

Scheduled for Thursday, July 8th at the Center for Nonprofits in Rogers, Arkansas, NWA TechFest is a community-organized, community-staffed technical conference with a primary focus on providing training/teaching sessions that are immediately beneficial to the broadest range of developers and IT professionals in their day-to-day jobs. They accomplish this with numerous national and international speakers delivering 75 minute sessions on topics that range from Architecture, Development, IT Pro, Project Management and more!

As a proud member of the TechFest family, NWA TechFest asks only that each attendee bring 2 cans of food to be donated to the NWA Food Bank or 2 bucks to be donated to the Jones Center.

REGISTER NOW

Zain Naboulsi, John Weston and I, along with 25 of our closest friends, will be presenting sessions across the 8 different tracks. I myself will be delivering 2 sessions at NWA TechFest – one on building Silverlight Applications for Windows Phone 7, and one on the SketchFlow features in Expression Blend 4.

Follow these links to stay connected to what’s going on with NWA TechFest 2010!

https://microsoft.crgevents.com/Register2010

Here are all the launch dates

• Denver – April 20, 2010
• Miami – April 20, 2010
• Milwaukee – April 20, 2010
• Orlando – April 22, 2010
• Boston – April 29, 2010
• Chicago – April 29, 2010
• New York City – May 13, 2010
• Dallas – May 18, 2010
• Washington, D.C. – May 18, 2010
• L.A. (Costa Mesa) – May 18, 2010
• Atlanta – May 20, 2010
• Houston – May 20, 2010
• San Francisco – May 20, 2010
• Detroit – May 25, 2010
• Philadelphia – May 27, 2010
• Minneapolis – May 27, 2010
• Seattle – May 27, 2010

Head over to the registration site and get signed up today before time runs out!  The first event is only few short weeks away!!!

Just in from John Weston, a.k.a. @TechnetGuy:

John Weston Stories, Information, and random thoughts. : Huge News!! Windows 7 XP Mode no longer requires hardware virtualization.

This is great news for people running older hardware that still need access to Windows XP from their Win7 machine.  I haven�t had the need to use this much myself, but I know quite a few people that had to get new hardware just so they could run the VM. Now, even more people will be able to take advantage of this technology!

You can get more information on this announcement from the XP Mode web site.

Hey everyone � just wanted to share the good news that Dallas TechFest is on the books for 2010!  We�ve secured a date and a location for the event, and are in the process of determining our session plan.  Here�s what you need to know:

July 30, 2010

Addison Conference Center

The call for speakers is also open � you can find the information on how to submit your session ideas, as well as keep up with all the other announcements coming out of the planning team at http://dallastechfest.com.

Speech Title: Introduction to Windows Server 2008 R2

Come learn about the great new features in Windows Server 2008 R2 with a focus on the benefits for IT Administrators. This session will cover many new features included in Windows Server 2008 R2 that improve the cost of ownership and IT administrator improvements. This overview session will cover the improvements to Active Directory, Windows PowerShell, Power Management, Group Policy enhancements, Scalability, Server Core enhancements, Windows Server Web application platform, and new Remote Desktop Services features and capabilities. You will also learn about Direct Access and Branch Cache- features enabled by using Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 together.

Location
Microsoft’s Las Colinas Office
LC1 Building (Right Tower)
7000 State Highway 161, Irving, TX

Speaker: Kevin Saye is a Senior Technical Product Specialist at Microsoft.  His focus is on Windows Server and he covers enterprise customers in Microsoft�s South Central District, which includes: Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.

Prior to joining Microsoft, Kevin has had a long career as an Enterprise Architect.  He has experience architecting and implementing many infrastructure technologies including: UNIX, AS/400, Oracle, Netware and Active Directory.  He is versed in many development technologies, including both Microsoft (.Net, C++, VB) and Java.

Kevin�s passion is around enabling IT organizations to realize the full potential with Microsoft and non-Microsoft technologies.

Cost: Free but please RSVP to help predict the amount of food needed.
RSVP: http://events.linkedin.com/DFW-Pro-Jan-Meeting-Introduction-Windows/pub/181691

Agenda:
6-6:30: Dinner and Networking
6:30-7:00: Announcements, and Business meeting
7 to 8:30: Presentation and wrap up

Give a ways: Books, Software, Shirts and more

Website: www.dfwitprofessionals.com