Are you ready to gain access to the latest tools, turning your hobby into a source of revenue, or expand your network?

Stop dreaming. Start building. Join us for a new series of Windows Phone 7 Bootcamps where you can get an inside track on how to be part of the next step of Microsoft’s mobile strategy and get hands-on training for building Silverlight-based applications.  These free, live learning sessions explore the latest tools, discuss tips and technologies, and provide access to Windows Phone 7 experts.

ATTEND these special events and learn about:

• the Windows Phone 7 platform
• building Silverlight Applications for Windows Phone 7
• submitting your application to the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace

Take advantage of this opportunity to explore with a Hands-on Lab where you can leverage the Windows Phone 7 Experts and your peers as you build your Windows Phone 7 Application.

Events run from 8am–5pm

Seating for the live event is limited, so register today.

For those of you in the Oklahoma City area, I’ll be presenting the opening Keynote at the upcoming Visual Studio 2010 Community Launch put on by the Oklahoma City Developers Group on August 2nd.  More information can be found at their website:

Visual Studio 2010 Community Launch

Come join us for all the fun!

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!

Jump start your development of Windows Phone 7 applications by attending Windows Phone 7 JumpStart. This free virtual live class, comprised of four instructor-led 3 hour sessions, will guide you in developing applications for the Windows Phone 7 platform using Silverlight and XNA.

Course sessions:

• July 20 – 10am: Session One: Getting Started with Microsoft Windows Phone and Silverlight
• July 20 – 3pm: Session Two: Programming Game Applications with XNA
• July 22 – 10am: Session Three:  Programming Applications with Silverlight
• July 22 – 3pm: Session Four:  Review and Wrap Up

Download the Windows Phone Developer tools beta to get started creating Windows Phone 7 applications today. This download includes: Visual Studio 2010 Expression For Windows Phone beta; Windows Phone Emulator beta; Silverlight for Windows Phone beta; Expression Blend for Windows beta; and XNA Game Studio 4.0 beta.

It looks like PDC10 will have an interesting twist, compared to previous PDCs:

• Held on the Microsoft Campus
• 2 days instead of 3
• Registration price reduced to $1,000

I also didn’t see anything about a schedule, so I don’t know if there will be pre-conference sessions this year. The site does say that the focus is going to be on “Cloud Services, Phone, Tools & Technologies, Internet Explorer and Gaming”.  I’ll provide more information once I learn more about it.  Make sure you keep an eye on http://microsoftpdc.com for more information as well!

I just received a note from the okcCoCo about an upcoming OpenBeta BarCamp in Oklahoma City.  Here’s the details from the email

BarCamp is back and will even bigger and better this year!

A BarCamp is an intensely participant-driven conference where attendees share and learn in an open environment. The primary goal of BarCamp is education of attendees. As compared to a traditional conference, the large majority of the talks, panels and other sessions are organized organically the day of the event. People propose presentations and it all gets sorted out at the beginning. Trust us, it just works. BarCamp is an event format that has been successfully applied across the country, including Oklahoma City.

We held the first BarCamp in Oklahoma City in July of 2009. We had approximately 60 attendees participate in 20 sessions divided into two simultaneous tracks. Session topics included HTML, Javascript, JQuery, Cloud computing, NoSQL, Python, PHP, Web 2.0 Business Models, Online Startups, and Growing Online Businesses. The theme of this year’s BarCamp is web development and entrepreneurship. The target audience is web development professionals and entrepreneurs.

Details
9am – 4pm (Main event), 5-8pm (Barbecue)
Date: Saturday, July 24th, 2010
Location: Oklahoma City Coworking Collaborative
Cost: $15

More Details Online

We’re looking for a few volunteers to help organize the event! If you are interested, email derrick@okccoco.com. Volunteers receive free registration!

If you’re interested in participating, feel free to reach out to Derrick as I’m sure he’d love to have your help!  I’m planning on attending, and I hope you can too!

In case you’ve been living under a rock, you might not know that the Northwest Arkansas area hosts an AMAZING developer community that has become exceptionally active over the last 2-3 years. Along with this week’s NWA TechFest, This weekend will host their first (and hopefully frequent) CodeJam.  The CodeJam is designed to help the local developer community develop web applications for their upcoming events, which include NWA GiveCamp and the NWA CommunityCamp.  If you’re interested in helping them build out these applications to support their upcoming events, head over to Jay’s blog and get all the details as well as the link to register:

http://jaysmith.us/post/Code-Jam-1-July-11th-2010-1200-PM-to-.aspx

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 ]

I had a great time over the weekend teaching and working with folks from all over South Central at our first ever Silverlightpalooza!  This two-day event was a combination instructor-led introduction to Silverlight, WP7, Blend and RIA Services and hands-on instructor-led-labs + code-a-thon.  Space was limited to 50 people to make sure we had enough mentors at the event to help people during their coding time with any question they had or to help them work through any issues that came up. My job was to give a Silverlight Development 101 session and help proctor the labs for 50 very excited attendees. Most had little to no Silverlight or WP7 development experience, so they were really starting from scratch when it came to XAML, Blend, Data Binding, etc.

At the end of the 2 days, there were several very interesting projects made during the weekend, including a live-camera feed WP7 application for horse shows, the beginnings of a Silverlight 4-powered tank game, and a WP7 controller for a Roovio Robot!  All in all, the projects were very well done considering the amount of time folks had to work on them, and all said that they were committed to completing their applications as soon as possible.

Everyone in attendance agreed that the weekend went off without a hitch – the instructors and mentors were well prepared, the attendees were excited, the food was great and the time was a total blast!  Teresa Burger did an amazing job of getting everything organized, as well as showing us all a thing or two about how truly powerful Expression Blend has become.

I can’t wait for the next one!

For more information about Silverlightpalooza, check out the web site at http://silverlightpalooza.dynamitesilverlight.com/. Teresa has added some posts on the individual development projects, and (hopefully soon) some pictures – or links to pictures – from the event.

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!