Article Information	Modified
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 (... more)	11/12/2008
Contacting INETA North America 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, (... more)	11/12/2008
Sponsors  (... more)	11/12/2008
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 (... more)	11/12/2008
Upcoming Regional Events SQL Heroes Unite Join 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/  (... more)	11/12/2008
Upcoming INETA Speaker Bureau Local Events Location City State Speaker When San Luis Obispo .NET User Group San Luis Obispo CA Phil Weber 11/11/08 Spokane .NET Users Group Spokane WA Todd Bleeker 11/12/08 Little Rock .Net Users Group Little Rock AR J. Ambrose Little 11/13/08 Huntsville VS.NET Users Group Huntsville AL Kathleen Dollard 11/16/08 Naples .NET Developers Group Naples FL John Papa 11/18/08 San Diego .NET User Group ASP.NET SIG San Diego CA Daniel Larson 11/18/08 Central (... more)	11/12/2008
Experience the Power of Connections with INETA Experience the Power of Connections with INETA Highly Recommended! If you are currently enjoying DevConnections, you are not alone. Several INETA Board members at our INETA booth so please come by to say hello. We can answer any questions that you have and give you the inside scoop about all of our current and upcoming programs. But wait, there's more.... Just around the corner, DevConnections Orlando begins. Mark Your Calendars. It is sure to be a great event and we (... more)	11/12/2008
UGTV - User Group Television The next edition of User Group TV is out! You may have heard about UGTV, the "TV news" program especially for user groups.  The next edition is now out and you can see it at http://channel9.msdn.com/Search/Default.aspx?Term=UGTV for developers, and http://edge.technet.com/Search/Default.aspx?Term=UGTV for IT Pros. If you have ideas for articles, and/or want to appear on UGTV, send an email to ugtvidea@microsoft.com -- from the INETA NorAm November 2008 Newsletter  (... more)	11/12/2008
Join MSDN Ramp Up and Summit Your Career! Join MSDN Ramp Up and Summit Your Career! Learn new development skills with free step-by-step training plans and premium technical content, and get valuable discounts on select certification exams and Microsoft Press training kits. http://msdn.microsoft.com/rampup -- from the INETA NorAm November 2008 Newsletter  (... more)	11/12/2008
User Group Specials Register for DevTeach and get VS 2008 Professional, Expressions Web 2 and more DevTeach believes that all developers need the right tool to be productive. This is what we will give you, free software, when you register to DevTeach or SQLTeach. Yes that right! We're pleased to announce that we're giving over a $1000 of software when you register to DevTeach. You will find in your conference bag a version of Visual Studio 2008 Professional, Expression Web 2 and the Tech-Ed Conference DVD (... more)	11/12/2008
Microsoft P&P Community Live Meeting Series We are thrilled to announce the start of a monthly live meeting series with members of the Microsoft patterns & practices team. In this 60-75mins long live meeting, topics ranging from Enterprise Library, Composite application guidance, application architecture will be covered. Details including topic, date and time for the debut live meeting will be sent out shortly. Your suggestions on topics for future meetings are welcome. -- from the INETA NorAm November 2008 Newsletter  (... more)	11/12/2008
User Group Above and Beyond A slight correction and update to last month's announcement... In our last newsletter we told you about the "We Are Microsoft" Charity Challenge Weekend that will be happening Jan 16-18. In this event, developers lead by Toy Wright, president of the Dallas ASP.NET User Group are volunteering to develop websites for charities. The developers are going to lock themselves inside a building for 72 hours  and when it is all over 20 charities will have new ASP.NET applications. You can find out (... more)	11/12/2008
MSDN Developer Conference: Coming to a City Near You. Register Today MSDN Developer Conference: Coming to a City Near You. Register Today The 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 (... more)	11/12/2008
INETA in a Virtual World INETA in a Virtual World Welcome 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 (... more)	11/12/2008
Newsletter in a Nutshell This month's INETA Newsletter announces our newest Community Champions (who all now get their choice of an XBox, MSDN Subscription or $300) as well as our monthly Champs Participant winner (who is now $50 richer). You can learn where to meet some of INETA's Board members if you are attending DevConnections. INETA user group members also have access to some great specials. You can learn about what is going on in the User Group community, with a focus on some pretty amazing work that INETA is (... more)	11/12/2008
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. (... more)	11/12/2008
Microsoft ISV Partner Webcast Series Microsoft ISV Partner Webcast Series: Learn to Use Applications Optimized for Mobile PCs Which applications work best when you're on the go with your notebook, Tablet PC, Ultra-Mobile PC, or Windows SideShow device? This new webcast series provides an in-depth look at applications built for Windows Vista mobility. Special features include: data synchronization power management ink annotation ink recognition network awareness data access enhanced UI for touch and Windows (... more)	10/16/2008
INETA Europe gets into full swing INETA Europe is growing - the newest members listed are .NET User Groups in Norway and Belgium. Now we can count 36 user groups in 14 countries. With the recent INETA actions, Microsoft has been and is sending some cool gadgets for distribution to user group members joining the December and January meetings. INETA Europe's Speakers Bureau launched in December and now user groups can request speakers for their meetings. Included in the European Speakers Bureau are the well-known speakers (... more)	10/16/2008
User Group Above and Beyond "We Are Microsoft" Charity Challenge Weekend Have you ever wanted to get recognized by your peers for building a really cool application? How about if you could help someone in need at the same time? That is the mission of the "We Are Microsoft Charity Challenge Weekend". On January 16-18, 2009 an enthusiastic group of volunteer developers from the south central part of the US will descend on BravoTECH (http://www.bravotech.com) in Dallas, Texas. At the end of this 72 hour coding marathon, (... more)	10/11/2008
Upcoming Regional Events SQL Heroes Unite Join 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/  (... more)	10/11/2008
Upcoming INETA Speaker Bureau Local Events Location City State Speaker When Southeast Valley .NET User Group Chandler AZ Keith Pleas 10/16/08 VTdotNet Huntington VT Rod Paddock 10/20/08 Northwest Ohio .NET User Group Toledo OH Wally McClure 10/20/08 CINCYSQL Mason OH Russ Nemhauser 10/21/08 Findlay, Ohio Area .NET User Group Findlay OH Wally McClure 10/21/08 HAL-PC C# SIG Houston TX Rod Paddock 10/21/08 Pacific Northwest Access Developer Group Redmond WA Bill Vaughn 10/21/08  (... more)	10/11/2008
UGTV - User Group Television The next edition of User Group TV is out! You may have heard about UGTV, the "TV news" program especially for user groups.  The next edition is now out and you can see it at http://channel9.msdn.com/Search/Default.aspx?Term=UGTV for developers, and http://edge.technet.com/Search/Default.aspx?Term=UGTV for IT Pros. If you have ideas for articles, and/or want to appear on UGTV, send an email to ugtvidea@microsoft.com -- from the INETA NorAm October 2008 Newsletter  (... more)	10/11/2008
User Group Specials Great Microsoft Learning Offers! Microsoft Learning has released a collection of valuable offers for the Ineta user group community.  Get the Microsoft Learning products that you want for less. Take advantage today of these special offers for developers by visiting: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/offers Get a free "Second Shot" at passing a Microsoft Certification exam, please visit:  http://www.microsoft.com/learning/secondshot For free offers and learning "snacks" on Windows (... more)	10/11/2008
Product Team Meetings Product Team Meetings By Mike Vincent In mid September, I, along with other INETA NorAm board members, had the pleasure of meeting with several product teams at Microsoft while in Redmond for an INETA board of directors meeting. Our objective was to explore ways in which we can work more closely together to bring additional information and content to our user groups and help the product teams effectively reach the developer community. In our product team meetings, we shared our (... more)	10/11/2008
The Underground @ PDC The Underground @ PDC Whether you're attending PDC or not, The Underground is the place to be! Microsoft and INETA have joined forces to bring you a truly amazing experience in downtown Los Angeles on the Wednesday during PDC. We've got a fantastic speakeasy evening lined up, one that's sure to leave a lasting impression. It'll be a great night of vignettes, networking, music, dancing, food and drinks! Register early, there is limited space for this premier event. (... more)	10/11/2008
INETA Champs Program: Participant of the Month Spotlight INETA Champs Participant of the Month Spotlight Every day INETA members go above and beyond to support their communities. The purpose of the Community Champions program is to recognize those individuals with the highest levels of contributions. Yet we here at INETA also realize that it is the small contributions that make a difference. To that end, in addition to the Community Excellence lifetime award and the quarterly Community Champions Awards, we are proud to announce the (... more)	10/11/2008
The New Community Champs Section Community Champs has a Silverlight Facelift   We are very pleased to announce that a brand new Silverlight based, UI has been created for the Community Champions program.  We have received alot of great feedback from everybody who has participated in the program and have taken it very seriously.  You will see a brand new version of the Community Champs program that should improve your experience in letting INETA know about your contributions to the User Group Community.  -- from the (... more)	10/11/2008
Community Champion Winners Community Champion Winners Last quarter when we launched the INETA Community Champions Program it generated over 2 million points by eligible participants. The top ten participants were chosen based on the total points accumulated for their contributions within the developer community. Be sure to enter your points again for this quarter, and remember, if you entered points for last quarter but weren't chosen, those points carry forward. Community Champions are all about community (... more)	10/11/2008
Experience the Power of Connections Experience the Power of Connections Highly Recommended! In just over a month November 10-13, the highly recommend DevConnections conference will be held. You can expect tremendous .NET content, a chance to meet members from the INETA Board and our kick off event for the Silverlight competition.    Discount Code: INETA $100 INETA Member Discount Best of all, as a member of INETA you get a $100 discount by registering with the INETA code of INETA. Be sure (... more)	10/11/2008
Newsletter in a Nutshell This month's INETA Newsletter brings some really great announcements. We announce the new Community Champions interface that includes the great feedback provided by you.  We also show off the First quarter's Community Champions as well as the currently monthly Champs Participan wnner(who is now $50 richer). We Recognize Toi Wright and Chris Koenig for a great upcoming Geek Charity event they are planning.  Lastly, you can find out about DevConnections and some of the other great events that (... more)	10/11/2008
From the Board The INETA community is built by the involvement and efforts that many individuals make in their local, regional, and the broader .NET Development Community. In many cases, members' involvement in the community has in no small part contributed to recognition for MVP and Regional Director Awards. Exposure through such involvement has also helped many people to advance their careers to more senior positions and new job opportunities. While it's great to see the success of our community, it's (... more)	10/11/2008
Experience the Power of Connections Experience the Power of Connections Highly Recommended! Coming up in October (Just 1 week away) and November (Just a month away) are two conferences that we highly recommend. These conferences will provide tremendous content for those of you in the .NET and Architect spaces.  Discount Code: INETA $100 INETA Member Discount Best of all, as a member of INETA you get a $100 discount by clicking on either of the banners here.  (... more)	10/1/2008
Virtual Earth News and Webcast Virtual Earth News and Webcast Coming up on Oct 3 is a Deep Dive on Virtual Earth web cast on Channel 9. Learn about the next major release of Virtual Earth. Come see the improvements to the parsing and geo-coding engines, clustering, localization, and routing. Hear how the new Virtual Earth Web Services provides server-side support for building location-based applications on desktops and mobile devices. For the new stuff, they have just released version 6.2 AND Virtual Earth Web (... more)	10/1/2008
The Underground @ PDC The Underground @ PDC Whether you're attending PDC or not, The Underground is the place to be! Microsoft and INETA have joined forces to bring you a truly amazing experience in downtown Los Angeles on the Wednesday during PDC. We've got a fantastic speakeasy evening lined up, one that's sure to leave a lasting impression. It'll be a great night of vignettes, networking, music, dancing, food and drinks! Register early, there is limited space for this premier event. (... more)	10/1/2008
Join the InformIT Product Review Team Join the InformIT Product Review Team InformIT has an opportunity for you to join the team of reviewers to provide valuable feedback and suggestions on current and new releases from Addison-Wesley, Cisco Press, Exam Cram, IBM Press, Prentice Hall, Sams, and Que. Your feedback allows them to continue publishing the best new titles available on key technology topics. In exchange for your review postings on various industry sites, they offer a complimentary review copy and the opportunity to (... more)	10/1/2008
Product Team Meetings Product Team Meetings In mid September, many of your INETA NorAm board members had the pleasure of meeting with several product teams at Microsoft while in Redmond for an INETA board of directors meeting. Our objective was to explore ways in which we can bring them closer to the user group community. In addition to INETA Speakers, we are trying to get product team members out to your user group meetings. Turns out they need you as much as you need them. Look for upcoming ways that you can get (... more)	10/1/2008
Special Announcements   Special Announcements INETA working closely with Microsoft Product Teams Special Discounts on DevConnection and IASA connections Become a Product reviewer for InformIT The Underground @ PDC Virtual Earth News and Webcast (... more)	10/1/2008
Procedure for Existing .NET User Groups to become an INETA Member Complete a membership application on-line at http://ineta.org/BecomeAMember.aspx . BE SURE TO REGISTER AND SIGN IN ON THE INETA.ORG HOME PAGE BEFORE FILLING OUT THE APPLICATION! Receive email verifying receipt of your application. An INETA User Group Relations Committee member for your geographical area will contact you during the approval process. This member is also your contact person after approval for any user group issues related to INETA. Download the INETA User Group Report. (... more)	9/8/2008
Procedure for Starting a new INETA .NET User Group Complete a membership application on-line at http://ineta.org/BecomeAMember.aspx   Receive email verifying receipt of your application. An INETA User Group Relations Committee member for your geographical area will contact you during the approval process. This member is also your contact person after approval for any user group issues related to INETA. Hold your first user group meeting (See the information on How Do I Start a .NET User Group?). Download the INETA User Group Report. (... more)	9/8/2008
Sponsors  (... more)	9/2/2008
A Word from the Marketing Team So like didn't summer just get started the other week or something?  Where did all that time go! Oh yes, a little thing called "hiatus."  My user group tends to take one in the summer to give everyone a chance to unwind away from the intense grind of .NET day in and day out and night in and night out and ... well, for most of us it is part of our day jobs as well so certainly after all the marinating we have to eventually cook the thing at some point.  Ok, I have labor day cook-out on my (... more)	9/2/2008
A Word from the Tech Team I wanted to take this opportunity to share a few words from the INETA Tech Team. First of all, it is my pleasure to officially announce the appointment of Lori McKinney to Assistant Vice President of Technology. Lori has been an active, hard working volunteer that has made a huge difference in a number of major INETA projects including the new website. Thanks Lori for all of your dedication, hard work, and technical expertise that you have given the organization. The INETA Tech Team is a (... more)	9/2/2008
Upcoming Regional Events Houston TechFest September 13th Houston Texas     Tulsa TechFest Thursday Oct 9th and Friday Oct 10th Tulsa, Oklahoma   2008 Las Vegas DevConnections November 10-13, 2008 Las Vegas, NV -- from the INETA NorAm September 2008 Newsletter  (... more)	9/2/2008
Upcoming INETA Speaker Bureau Local Events Location City State Speaker When SouthColorado.Net Colorado Springs CO Caleb Jenkins 09/02/08 Western Mass .Net Users Group Easthampton MA Julie Lerman 09/02/08 Roanoke Valley .NET User Group Roanoke VA Brian Noyes 09/04/08 Los Angeles .NET Developers Group Los Angeles CA Phil Weber 09/08/08 WNC .NET Developers Guild Arden NC Tim Huckaby 09/09/08 Bellingham.NET Bellingham WA Bill Vaughn 09/10/08 CNY .NET Developer Group East (... more)	9/2/2008
Speaker's Corner: Using Your Voice as an Instrument of Influence Improved Presentations in Five Easy Steps, Part I OK, you're a brilliant IT professional. Your services are in demand, and your customers worship the ground you walk on. But now, you're asked to deliver a presentation and the ground rules have changed. You're expected not only to be brilliant, but to speak expressively, stand confidently, and engage the audience. Oh boy--- stress, here we come! In this article, I will provide you with three ways to improve your presentations. In the (... more)	9/2/2008
User Group Television The next edition of User Group TV is out! You may have heard about UGTV, the "TV news" program especially for user groups.  The next edition is now out and you can see it at http://channel9.msdn.com/Search/Default.aspx?Term=UGTV for developers, and http://edge.technet.com/Search/Default.aspx?Term=UGTV for IT Pros. If you have ideas for articles, and/or want to appear on UGTV, send an email to ugtvidea@microsoft.com -- from the INETA NorAm September 2008 Newsletter  (... more)	9/2/2008
INETA Special Announcements Great Microsoft Learning Offers!Microsoft Learning has released a collection of valuable offers for the INETA user group community. Get the Microsoft Learning products that you want for less. Take advantage today of these special offers for developers by visiting: www.microsoft.com/learning/offers Get a free "Second Shot" at passing a Microsoft Certification exam; please visit: www.microsoft.com/learning/secondshot For savings on SQL Server learning resources, (... more)	9/2/2008
User Group Above and Beyond -- Charity Fragathon This month we are featuring a Charity event organized by Chris Williams of the Twin Cities XNA User Group, one of the new categories of User Groups that INETA has recognized this year.  IMHO, this event (the Charity Fragathon) crosses some new boundaries and ties into a tremendous recent trend of using our computer skills to help out the community.  Who could ask for a better use for anybody's time then in wiping out your fellow computer geeks in Halo 3 while raising money for a really (... more)	9/2/2008
INETA Champs Program: Participant of the Month INETA Champs Participant of the Month Spotlight Every day INETA members go above and beyond to support their communities. The purpose of the Community Champions program is to recognize those individuals with the highest levels of contributions. Yet we here at INETA also realize that it is the small contributions that make a difference. To that end, in addition to the Community Excellence lifetime award and the quarterly Community Champions Awards, we are proud to announce the (... more)	9/2/2008
Newsletter in a Nutshell This month's INETA Newsletter brings some really great announcements. We announce the first monthly winner for Community Champs participant of the month (who is now $50 richer)  and we recognize Chris Williams for his Charity Fragathon. We also cover the latest in UGTV, introduce you to Microsoft Snacks and a bevy of other useful user group resources.  On top of that, we have our usual collection of specials for INETA Members, upcoming events and advice for User Group Leaders and members. (... more)	9/2/2008
From the Board This has really been one fast moving year for  INETA with many new and exciting programs to support the user group community.  In our last newsletter Mike Vincent, INETA's treasurer, wrote about all of the new INETA programs and I would like to reach out to the User Group Community to hear what you think.  If you are a member of a User Group member leader, let us know what you think.  Are there programs that you would like to see featured?  What are your thoughts on the new programs we are (... more)	9/2/2008
How can I become a member of the speaker's bureau? The INETA Speakers Bureau selects candidates from time to time to maintain a list of available speakers. The selection process begins with filling out the candidate form found here. You can contact the Speaker's Bureau at noram.speakers@ineta.org.  (... more)	8/18/2008
A Word from the Marketing Team I just came back from a l-o-o-o-o-o-o-n-g (ok, it was three weeks) vacation. I took with my family, putting my user group on hiatus as I drove from Chicago to Seattle, back again and then to New York and back again.  I did all the driving and if that's not enough to know what a trucker feels like, it at least lets me sympathize with one better.  I sort of did the "Great American Road trip" before in my college years and was struck by the differences I have seen from back then to now ... I (... more)	8/6/2008
Upcoming User Group Events/Meetings Meeting/Event When Where State CMAP August Meeting - Introduction to Workflow Services 8/5/2008 at 6:30 PM. 6751 Columbia Gateway Drive Columbia, MD 21046 MD Philly Geek Dinner 8/5/2008 at 8:00 PM. 22 S 3rd St Philadelphia, PA 19106 PA RV.NUG August Meeting - Wii Night 8/7/2008 at 6:00 PM. 5925 Cove Rd Roanoke, VA 24019 VA Midlands PASS Chapter Monthly Meeting 8/7/2008 at 6:15 PM. 250 Berryhill Road Columbia, SC 29210 SC Potomac Area FoxPro Users (... more)	8/6/2008
Upcoming INETA Speaker Bureau Local Events Location City State Speaker When Northern Colorado .NET Special Interest Group Fort Collins CO Tim Huckaby 08/11/08 Wisconsin .NET Users Group Madison WI Jeffrey Palermo 08/12/08 Iowa .NET User Group Des Moines IA Paul Sheriff 08/13/08 TRINUG (Triangle Net User Group) Cary NC Jeffrey Palermo 08/13/08 Northwest Arkansas .NET User Group (NWADNUG) Fayetteville AR Jeffrey Palermo 08/14/08 Tulsa SQL Server Group Tulsa OK David Yack 08/18/08  (... more)	8/6/2008
MSDN Rampup Ever have problems finding resources through MSDN when attempting to learn about a new technology? There is so much information out there that it's often not simple or intuitive to find what you're looking for. MSDN recently launch a new program, rampup, which has been specifically designed to help developers more easily access the materials they need to quickly get up to speed on a topic. What's exciting about rampup is that the training materials for each track are packaged into a simple (... more)	8/6/2008
FarPoint Madness The FarPoint Challenge! A Challenge to .NET User Groups Across the United States-Want to be given some free software, show off your development skills and have the chance to be a hero to your user group by winning them $500.00? FarPoint Technologies is proud to announce a first of its kind contest involving their Spread for ASP.NET and Spread for Windows Forms components! Create an application using one of these controls and win your user group $500.00! Entries are due February 1st and a (... more)	8/6/2008
UGTV - User Group Television The next edition of User Group TV is out! You may have heard about UGTV, the "TV news" program especially for user groups.  The next edition is now out and you can see it at http://channel9.msdn.com/Search/Default.aspx?Term=UGTV for developers, and http://edge.technet.com/Search/Default.aspx?Term=UGTV for IT Pros. If you have ideas for articles, and/or want to appear on UGTV, send an email to ugtvidea@microsoft.com -- from the INETA NorAm August 2008 Newsletter  (... more)	8/6/2008
User Group Specials PASS Community Summit 2008 Microsoft has partnered closely with the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) to make their PASS Community Summit 2008 the don't-miss event for Microsoft SQL Server Professionals. The Summit is taking place this year in Seattle on Nov 18-21. Over 3000 attendees are expected for 3 full days of in-depth technical education and training on everything related to SQL Server. I am pleased to announce a special offer from PASS that has been extended to (... more)	8/6/2008
The Lighter Side of INETA Nothing good ever happens after midnight Below is Scott Fletchers blog on this: A coworker of mine gave me some sage advice that his grandmother once gave him. It is applicable to nearly every aspect of our lives: "Nothing good ever happens after midnight." This past week, I pulled an all-nighter. I am old enough to know better, but I did it anyway. I hadn't planned on staying up all night, but the clock kept turning and the problem kept... not getting fixed. I solved three of the four (... more)	8/6/2008
User Group Above and Beyond Inland Empire .Net User Group Launches the Most Valuable Member Program James Johnson's Inland Empire .Net User Group has kicked off the Most Valuable Member program just this past July.  It has generated quite a buzz and offers a great way to incentive members of his user group to get involved.   If you would like to find out what all of the buzz is about, please read the various blog posts listed below.  This is a program definitely worth mentioning because it is an innovative way to (... more)	8/6/2008
Community Champions Winners Announced INETA Community Award Winners In April, we announced the launch of the INETA Community Champions Program to recognize the efforts of user group leaders across North America. The response was overwhelming. Over 100 community leaders have participated in the program since its launch. As of the close of the first award cycle, ten outstanding individuals had been nominated for the lifetime Community Excellence Award and over 1000 community related activities had been entered by the (... more)	8/6/2008
Newsletter in a Nutshell This month's INETA Newsletter brings some really great announcement.  We are announcing our Community Champions and Community Excellence winners.  That's right, a number of individuals who have spent their time dedicated to the User Group Community have been rewarded with some really cool prizes and huge recognition.  You can also read about some of the great INETA initiatives that you may have never even known about.  We also mention a program that James Johnson, of the Inland Empire .Net User (... more)	8/6/2008
From the Board INETA is a volunteer organization that depends on funding from various sources in order to provide services to our user groups. As you may know, Microsoft is our biggest single funding source. One of my major responsibilities, as Treasurer for INETA, is to prepare our annual budget submission to Microsoft. We are just now finalizing our programs for the new Microsoft fiscal year began July 1. I'd like to share with you the programs we have planned. Speakers Bureau INETA Noram: (... more)	8/6/2008
INETA Speaker Bureau Terms of Service INETA Speaker Bureau Terms of Service Agreement Terms and Conditions of Use Welcome the INETA Speaker Bureau (“Service”). Your use of the Service will be subject to the terms of this Terms of Service Agreement (TOS). The TOS may change from time to time. Use of service after a change will subject you to the new terms. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS DO NOT USE THE SERVICE AS VIOLATION OF THE TERMS CAN LEAD TO SUSPENSION. Suspension Any user group that is found to not be in (... more)	8/5/2008
User Group Above and Beyond - This Month: Joe Kunk This month we recognize Joe Kunk, President of the Greater Lansing (MI) User Group for .Net  (or  GLUGnet ), and his team for delivering an over the top experience in their first CodeCamp.  Unlike any CodeCamp that I have ever heard of, they involved more than just techies, but included a closing keynote by the Mayor of Lansing and coverage by two local TV News stations.  Continuing with his style of going above and beyond, Joe has written an article for this month's newsletter on what it takes (... more)	7/1/2008
How to Host a GREAT Code Camp How to host a GREAT CodeCamp - By Joe Kunk  A CodeCamp is a fun and educational event that typically meets the following criteria: ·         hosted by a local .Net user group ·         free to attendees as a result of vendor and community sponsorships ·         community developed educational material without advertising or self-promotion ·         a variety of speakers ranging from less-experienced local user group members to experienced regional or national (... more)	7/1/2008
A Word from the Marketing Team TechEd has just passed and I hope that many people reading had an opportunity to attend. It was a tremendous event, IMHO. In past newsletters, we spoke about the many benefits of events like TechEd, specifically the networking opportunities that present themselves at the many parties and social gatherings. This month the word to remember is opportunity. One of the beautiful aspects of events like TechEd and PDC is that you can make your own opportunities. For example, if you want to (... more)	7/1/2008
A Word from the Speakers Bureau We have some very exciting news to share this month. Congratulations to Stephen Walther who has accepted a position with Microsoft and will longer be available for INETA events.  We are also very happy to be reactivating Carl Franklin as an available INETA Speaker as soon as his world Speaker Idol tour is over. Due to increased demands on particular topics, we are adding the following speakers to the INETA NorAm Speakers Bureau: Richard Campbell, Chris Hammond, Joe Brinkman, (... more)	7/1/2008
Upcoming Regional Events Second Life .NET User Group When: Every Saturday, 3:00 EST Where: In Second Life Event URL: http://www.sldnug.net The Second Life .NET User Group meets every Saturday. Can't make it to a local user group meeting? Don't have a local user group? Check their site for a list of topics - http://www.sldnug.net/    Ann Arbor Give Camp When: July 11th, 2008 Where: Ypsilanti, MI Event URL: http://annarborgivecamp.org/ Ann Arbor Give Camp is a unique weekend (... more)	7/1/2008
Upcoming INETA Speaker Bureau Local Events Location City State Speaker When Oklahoma City .NET User Group Oklahoma City OK Mark Dunn 07/07/08 Florida .NET - Miramar Miramar FL John Papa 07/08/08 Dallas/Fort Work Connected Systems User Group Irving TX Mark Dunn 07/09/08 Philly .NET User Group Dresher PA Billy Hollis 07/16/08 San Gabriel Valley .NET Developers Group Monrovia CA David Yack 07/16/08 Boise .Net Developers User Group Boise ID Kathleen Dollard 07/17/08 San Diego .Net User (... more)	7/1/2008
The Inetian presence at TechEd The Inetian Presence at Tech Ed Even before Tech Ed Dev week officially began, you could tell that the Inetian were making an impact - surpassing that of the Orlando heat. The kickoff was the Leadership Summit on Monday evening. Opening with great food and plenty of cold beverages, we quickly began making new friends and sharing tips. Then, Rob Zelt guided us into a new summit format. Each table got to identify a "challenge" for user groups. And wouldn't you know it, we then had to come up (... more)	7/1/2008
TechEd Developers 2008 Birds-of-a-Feather Sessions a Success! TechEd Developers 2008 Birds-of-a-Feather Sessions a Success! A BOF discussion session Wednesday evening BOF Event food and "beverage" The "crew" at the BOF Raffle on Thursday The energetic BOF attendees vying for raffle prizes Once again INETA organized the community-led Birds-of-a-Feather Sessions (BOF) at TechEd Developers 2008 which were a resounding success! In case you are not familiar, BOF sessions are informal discussions on specific topics (... more)	7/1/2008
HELP Wanted: INETA Volunteering Opportunities "Ask not what INETA can do for you, ask what you can do for INETA" On the heels of Greg Low's article on volunteering, INETA has many great opportunities to collaborate with the User Group Community.  The newsletter, INETA Live, recruiting and authors teams within INETA are looking for some help. Whether you have a spare 5 minutes a week or 5 hours a week are interested in one of our currently open positions or have a specific area you want to help out in, just let us know you are (... more)	7/1/2008
Finding and Keeping Volunteers We are fortunate this month to have an article on Volunteering,  written by Greg Low, who is world renowned as an authority on running successful user groups.  Enjoy...   I endlessly hear organizations complaining that they can't seem to find volunteers to help. A wise old saying is that the first step is to ask them. While that's true (as most people won't just volunteer themselves without prompting), I believe it's even more important that you have a clearly defined task for the volunteer (... more)	7/1/2008
UGTV Be sure to watch the latest episode of UGTV.  It covers the latest that is going on in the User Group Community including an interview with the leaders of INETA.  There is no shortage of corny jokes, but IMHO they keep getting funnier. If you are new to User Group Television (UGTV pronounced YOU GEE TEE VEE).  It is a monthly video show dedicated to bringing informative programming to User Groups worldwide while providing Microsoft the ability to introduce up and coming information to (... more)	7/1/2008
INETA is spreading it's wings This month, INETA would like to recognize the following individuals for new positions that they have specialized in as part of their leadership roles in INETA. Each has been selected based on their passions, hard work and dedication to the User Group Community.  We are very excited to welcome aboard the following individuals:     Mark Rosenberg Border of Directors and VP of Membership Mark is our newest Board member as well as the VP of Membership for INETA. Mark Rosenberg has been a (... more)	7/1/2008
The Lighter Side of INETA We are proud to present a bit of Silverlight Humor from one of the funniest guys on the planet, Billy Hollis Those top ten ridiculous reasons for rejecting Silverlight by Billy Hollis 10."I * love* writing JavaScript."" 9. "Because Macs rule, dude! What, it runs on a Mac too? I didn't know that." 8. "I love writing *lots* of JavaScript." 7. "Dim t As New TextBox'? What does that do?" 6. "I * really* like debugging JavaScript." 5. "Flex will predominate over Silverlight because of (... more)	7/1/2008
Community Champion and Community Excellence Awards Please note: Submission deadline is July 14th   If you are hearing about the Community Champs and Community Excellence awards for the first time, you are in for a treat, so be sure to read on.  If you are already familiar with these Reward and Recognition programs by INETA, be sure to submit all of your contributions for the period of July1st, 2007 to June 30th, 2008 some time over the next two weeks (July 14th is the last day) so that you will have an opprotunity to be recognized for your (... more)	7/1/2008
asp.netPRO Teams with INETA North America Have you always wanted to be published? Do you have a keen interest in writing? If so, you will definitely want to read the following press release about an exciting new opportunity involving INETA and asp.net PRO Magazine June 10, 2008 (Sacramento, CA) -- asp.netPRO is teaming with members of INETA North America to provide the very best solutions for the many challenges faced by today's developers. Every month, beginning with our November 2008 issue, asp.netPRO will spotlight the work of a (... more)	7/1/2008
Newsletter in a Nutshell This month's INETA Newsletter brings quite a mix of content.  We have two articles written by special  guest authors.   Pictures and stories capturing the excitement from our recent TechEd and BoF sessions.  The latest (and greatest IMHO) episode of UGTV.  Last but certainly not least, we include a Tremendous Announcement for anybody who might be interested in writing or becoming a published author. On top of that, we have our usual collection of specials for INETA Members, upcoming events, (... more)	7/1/2008
From the Board I have been asked to write this month's "From the INETA Board" column. Who am I? I am the newest board member, and the Vice President for Membership, Mark Rosenberg. I have been a software developer for over 10 years, and currently work as a trainer for Quickstart Intelligence in Los Angeles, CA. I also am deeply involved in the developer community. I book speakers for two user groups, help organize 2 code camps per year, and was also the membership mentor for Southern California. It (... more)	7/1/2008
A Word from the Marketing Team Hello again from the busy, busy (well maybe not as busy as you) marketing team.  You might have noticed a theme going on with us at INETA with the "volunteers" thing.  Well, it's true, a grass roots organization like INETA runs by members who are actually user group leaders dealing with the day in day out tasks of managing our lives AND our user groups will always need all the help it can get.  But it does not have to be someone that belongs directly to a committee (... more)	6/8/2008
Upcoming Regional Events TechBash When: May 10, 2008 Where: Pennsylvania, USA Since its inception in 2005, TECHbash has evolved into the premier technology conference in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Join an estimated 300 Developers, IT Professionals, CIO's and Industry Experts from Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and host-state, Pennsylvania. This one day event brings together a broad spectrum of Technology Professionals to network, knowledge share and discuss existing technology solutions to (... more)	6/8/2008
INETA Speakers/Volunteer speaking at TechEd The INETA Speakers Bureau is one of the favorite INETA benefits to user groups around the world.  Quite a few of the speakers will be speaking at TechEd this year.  You already know the quality of these speakers -- their sessions should be on your list of "must attend" this year.   Speaker Names Session Title Andrew Brust A Developer's Guide to the Microsoft Business Intelligence Stack Andrew Brust Not Just Spreadsheets: Microsoft Office and Excel As a Business Intelligence (... more)	6/8/2008
Upcoming INETA Speaker Bureau Local Events User Group Location Speaker When CNY .NET Developer Group East Syracuse, NY Paul Sheriff May 7 RI .Net User Group Portsmouth, RI Tim Huckaby May 7 Nashville Visual Studio .NET User Group Nashville, TN Tim Huckaby May 8 VTdotNet Burlington, VT David Yack May 12 Chattanooga Area .Net User Group Chttanooga, TN Don Demsack May 13 PGHDOTNET: The Pittsburgh .NET User Group Pittsburgh, PA J. Ambrose Little May 13 Sarasota SQL Server User Group Sarasota, (... more)	6/8/2008
User Group Specials Every month we will announce promotions for INETA User Group leaders.  This month, we have a really tremendous offer to tell you about regarding Microsoft Live Meeting. Microsoft Live Meeting Offer We are delighted to be able to announce that in collaboration with Microsoft, INETA is now able to offer a free LiveMeeting account to each INETA User Group worldwide. We hope that this will prove to be invaluable to user group leaders in helping to run successful meetings, especially (... more)	6/8/2008
User Group Above and Beyond We don't often have the opportunity help out organizations that do good for our society. Many of us would love to, but it just never happens.  Sometimes it just takes somebody to present us with an opportunity to help and that is exactly what 3 user group leaders did last week.  This month, we recognize Coders4Charities, an event that resulted in the creation of complete websites for 5 charities through the help of 25 volunteer developers.   About Coders4Charities Since Coders4Charities is (... more)	6/8/2008
INETA Insight: What do you mean I only get TWO speakers per year? What will I do the rest of the time? In my time serving as an INETA User Group Liaison and now on the Speakers Bureau Team I have received numerous emails from people who have recently started user groups or are trying to revitalize an existing group.  One of the top questions is about finding speakers.  INETA provides user groups with a couple of speakers each year, but finding speakers can be tough on a monthly basis. The great thing is most of the time you actually don't need to look any further than your own members.  Here (... more)	6/8/2008
Speaker's Corner: Six S's to a Successful Start Saddle up for a winning presentation by Marsha Freedman, M.S. Imagine being at the track and you've just bet one hundred dollars on the favorite. The gate opens and all the horses take off running, except one -- yours! Think about how you feel during those first few seconds. Wouldn't you be disappointed? Wouldn't your expectations about the race drastically change? A horse in a race getting off to a weak start is a metaphor for what happens in some presentations. The speaker may begin (... more)	6/8/2008
UGTV is Coming!!! Microsoft is piloting a video series focused on User Group communities worldwide.  The pilot, titled UGTV (User Group Television), will air monthly beginning May 28 on TechNet Edge and Channel 9.    While you are waiting, check these sites often for behind the scenes clips on "The Making of UGTV". Then tune in each month to get the full show packed with the latest news, information and technical previews specifically targeted at Developer and ITPRO User Groups.    BREAKING NEWS!! The (... more)	6/8/2008
The Lighter Side of INETA Out of CTRL Know of something funny that is tech related? Please tell us about it at LighterSide@INETA.org -- from the INETA NorAm May 2008 Newsletter  (... more)	6/8/2008
Tech Ed Registration The last few Tech·Ed events have sold out.  Don't miss out on this year's keynote from Bill Gates followed by more than 615 learning events! The event is June 3-6, 2008.  Sign up as quickly as you can to insure your place at this incredible event!  Stop by the INETA booth and let us know what user group you represent. -- from the INETA NorAm May 2008 Newsletter  (... more)	6/8/2008
Tech Ed Mini-Summit Attention User Group Leaders, INETA Volunteers, and Speakers! We invite you to join us for a Mini-Summit on Monday June 2nd, 2008 at the Orlando Convention Center. We're going to be holding a somewhat informal gathering from 3-7 pm to provide user group leaders and chance to network, meet the new board members, and spend some quality time talking with us about community.   If you are planning to attend please RSVP by emailing noram.communityactivities@ineta.org  and we'll send you the (... more)	6/8/2008
Tech-Ed Birds of a Feather Sessions Birds-of-a-Feather Sessions Announced for TechEd 2008 The 39 Birds-of-a-Feather (BOF) sessions for Microsoft TechEd Developers conference in Orlando, FL June 3-6, 2008 have been selected and are now available for viewing on the TechEd 2008 web site (filter on Session Type=Birds of a Feather). Check out the great list of sessions and add them to your Session Builder. Wednesday June 4th BOF Night! In addition to the daily BOF sessions there will once again be a special BOF Night on (... more)	6/8/2008
Newsletter in a Nutshell This month's INETA newsletter brings a lot of INETA Goodness.  For starters, we talk on the many hidden benefits of volunteering (and some of the obvious ones).   Tech Ed is right around the corner and you can find out what INETA speakers are attending that you can meet and discuss your favorite technologies with at our mini-summit.  User Group  TV (a.k.a. UGTV) is also being announced and, if you are like me, you will love this idea instantly.  Last but not least, no newsletter would be (... more)	6/8/2008
From the Board Wow... time has really been flying! I can't believe that it is already May. We have been very busy here at INETA working on some great benefits for the developer community. Look for an announcement about these new programs in next month's newsletter. I hope that you will be as excited as I am for these opportunities. Speaking of great opportunities, I want to take this space to ask a few questions of our members. Would you like to work very closely with the newest technology? Would you (... more)	6/8/2008
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 (... more)	6/8/2008
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 (... more)	6/8/2008
Upcoming INETA Speaker Bureau Events User Group Location Speaker When 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 (... more)	6/8/2008
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 (... more)	6/8/2008
UGTV News 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 (... more)	6/8/2008
The Lighter Side of INETA Know of something funny that is tech related? Please tell us about it at LighterSide@INETA.org -- from the INETA NorAm June 2008 Newsletter  (... more)	6/8/2008
INETA Silverlight Challenge We are very excited to announce the Silverlight Challenge. We will be holding a contest to recognize the most talented Silverlight Developers in North America. The INETA Silverlight Challenge is a skill contest designed to recognize participants who demonstrate excellence in developing Silverlight-based business applications. If your eyes lit up when you read this announcement, please visit the Silverlight Challenge section on the INETA website to let us know that you are interested and to (... more)	6/8/2008
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 (... more)	6/8/2008
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 (... more)	6/8/2008
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 (... more)	6/8/2008
Newsletter in a Nutshell This month's INETA Newsletter brings one of the most exciting announcements that we have had in a long time. In fact, if you are going to read one newsletter this year, this should be the one. For starters, we talk about our brand new Website and INETA Live, our new INETA Video Site.  We also proudly announce the community Champions and Community Excellence award programs to recognize you for all of your hard work.  Tech Ed is happening this week, so you can meet many of your fellow Inetians.  (... more)	6/8/2008
From the INETA North America Board As Daniel mentioned last month, a Board member will have the opportunity to share information and thoughts in this column each month. The major focus for INETA in recent weeks is preparing for a variety of activities that will benefit members of the developer community at the upcoming TechEd Developers in Orlando, FL  June 3-6, 2008. First, we'll be hold a Community Summit event on Monday afternoon. User group leaders and other integral to the success of user groups will have the (... more)	6/8/2008
A Word from the Marketing Team - TechEd is more than just for Learning If somebody were to say the word TechEd and ask you what are the first words that come to mind, what would you say?   If you are like most people, you might say "Technology" or "Learning".  You might be surprised to learn that many people think "Networking" or "Socializing" or "Partying". I think that the first group should learn a lot from the latter.  While it is true that TechEd will offer no shortage of learning about the newest technologies, do not downplay the importance of the social (... more)	5/20/2008
INETA Speakers/Volunteer speaking at TechEd The INETA Speakers Bureau is one of the favorite INETA benefits to user groups around the world.  Quite a few of the speakers will be speaking at TechEd this year.  You already know the quality of these speakers -- their sessions should be on your list of "must attend" this year.   Speaker Names Session Title Andrew Brust A Developer's Guide to the Microsoft Business Intelligence Stack Andrew Brust Not Just Spreadsheets: Microsoft Office and Excel As a Business Intelligence (... more)	5/20/2008
Party with Palermo Party with Palermo: Tech Ed 2008 Developers Edition   No technical conference would be complete without a Party with Palermo.  The INETA Board members will be there, many of the INETA Speakers and a whole bunch of your closest tech friends.  The cover charge is 1 business card and it is free to attend and enjoy free finger food, free drinks and free swag.   I highly recommend that you read the "Word from the Marketing Team" article at the end of the newsletter before attending. Here are the (... more)	5/20/2008
TechEd Tweener Event As you may be very well aware, TechEd this year will be organized with a Developer Week followed by an IT Professional Week. So what happens in between? The answer is simple....the Tweener Event. Regardless of which week you will be attending, you can take advantage of a serious learning opportunity on the weekend of June 7th to 8th at the Florida Tweener Event. So what is it?  Basically, the Florida User Group Communities were asked what would they do with the Orlando Convention Center (... more)	5/20/2008
Tech-Ed Birds of a Feather Sessions Birds-of-a-Feather Sessions Announced for TechEd 2008 The 39 Birds-of-a-Feather (BOF) sessions for Microsoft TechEd Developers conference in Orlando, FL June 3-6, 2008 have been selected and are now available for viewing on the TechEd 2008 web site (filter on Session Type=Birds of a Feather). Check out the great list of sessions and add them to your Session Builder. Wednesday June 4th BOF Night! In addition to the daily BOF sessions there will once again be a special BOF Night on (... more)	5/20/2008
TechEd Mini-Summit Join us to kickoff the start of TechEd 08! You are cordially invited to the INETA TechEd 2008 Community Leadership Summit, Monday June 2nd, 2008 3-6 p.m. The Summit will be a gathering of Community Leaders, INETA Volunteers, and INETA Speakers. The Summit will be an informal gathering, allowing attendees to meet each other, socialize, and discuss the topics related to the user group community. There will be several panel discussions on various topics of interest. This (... more)	5/20/2008
Newsletter in a Nutshell This special INETA newsletter is all about TechEd.  You see, we here at INETA find TechEd to be one of the most important events of the year and we look forward to informing our INETIANS about all of the events that are going on not only at TechEd, but within TechEd such as the Birds of a Feather Sessions and Tweener events (what is a Tweener? Find out more below).  The newsletter closes with some advice on how to take advantage of more than just the learning experiences.  Enjoy. (... more)	5/20/2008
From the Board It is hard to believe that TechEd is here already. Yep, right around the corner. If you are a regular reader of our newsletter, you have seen it mentioned more than once in the last few months, but in this Special Newsletter we put everything neatly in one place to make it easier to see everything that that your fellow Inetians wll be participating in. Our last newsletter inspired such a real explosion in volunteers, all looking to expand their horizons and help the User Group Community at (... more)	5/20/2008
Hosting Sponsor   (... more)	4/9/2008
Charter Sponsors Microsoft and MSDN are registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries and is used under license from Microsoft  (... more)	4/9/2008
.NET News to share with your members ASPAdvice.com is now OPEN for your questions. www.ASPAdvice.com's mailing lists have been created to fill the void that was left by the loss of ASPFriends.com. Thanks to ASPAlliance owner (and INETA Speaker) Steve Smith, Alex Lowe and Scott Watermasysk for this fantastic resource! Web Services Enhancments for .NET (WSE) This is the new and final name of GXA aka WSDK - the stuff that supports the latest web services capabilities. Read more and download the SDK at: (... more)	4/9/2008
Scenes from a User Group Meeting INETA Speaker Jeff Prosise looks on as Montreal-based GUVSM User Group Leader, Guy Barrette, (www.guvsm.com), warms up the audience at their December meeting. Over 100 people attended (including folks from the U.S.) and Microsoft provided an awesome meeting space in a local museum. Most attendees were in agreement that Jeff's unique style of all code and no PowerPoint was fantastique! -- from the INETA NorAm January 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	4/9/2008
In the Forums (of www.ineta.org) NEW: Latin Groups Discussions http://www.ineta.org/AspNetForums/ShowForum.aspx?ForumID=33 NEW: Academic Groups Discussions http://www.ineta.org/AspNetForums/ShowForum.aspx?ForumID=32 -- from the INETA NorAm January 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	4/9/2008
Web Task Force Created for Version 2 of www.ineta.org So much new content is being generated and requested, that the INETA Board of Directors determined it was time to move to the next step.  The Web Task Force (WTF) was recently initiated, including the entire Infrastructure Committee, the Content Managers, and Executive Director, Bill Evjen.  The WTF is working closely with all of the INETA committees to ensure efforts are aligned with the overall needs and desires of the user groups we are all working hard to support.  The WTF is taking on a (... more)	4/9/2008
INETA Repository is already filling up It was just a few short weeks ago that a call went out to leaders of INETA user groups for content and content suggestions. Already, many of you have started sending recommendations, uploading presentations and whitepapers to the Content Repository and truly answered our call for content. Thank you all. The Content Repository is a recent addition to the INETA web site, created by the Infrastructure Committee to provide a place for UG leaders to share presentations, whitepapers, source code, (... more)	4/9/2008
Speakers Bureau Update Requests for INETA speakers continued to grow in the month of November with 15 new requests submitted. The committee has worked hard to fill and schedule those requests, and existing ones, successfully confirming 31 requests. We are continuing to improve our process for filling and scheduling requests, and have worked hard to improve the speed of this process in order to serve our members for effectively. We look forward to working closely with the newly hired management firm in order that we (... more)	4/9/2008
INETA and the Student Developer Community There is a growing population of student .NET user groups popping up wherever there are students with a love of technology, and an interest in learning more than just what is taught in classes. Through the Student Ambassador program, more than 80 colleges and universities throughout the United States are building communities of students and faculty which have an interest in .NET technologies. Elsewhere students are coming together and forming groups to explore the possibilities which .NET (... more)	4/9/2008
INETA is GotDotNet's Featured site for January! This is great publicity for INETA and for letting developers find us and find other user groups. Check it out! www.gotdotnet.com -- from the INETA NorAm January 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	4/9/2008
INETA Statistics for 2002 220 User Groups joined INETA in it's first year, representing 70,152 members! The break down is: 139 in the U.S., 20 in South America, 8 in Canada, 36 in Europe and 17 in Asia, Australia and other parts of the world! There are 10 student user groups. In December alone there were 20 new user groups! INETA Forum Statistics: 1,451 Users in the Forums, 92 Threads, 345 Posts   -- from the INETA NorAm January 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	4/9/2008
HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of our members!!   (... more)	4/9/2008
User Group Relations Committee News The INETA User Group Relations Committee welcomes new committee members Chris Pels from Boston.Net, Dan Wygant from the Huntsville (Alabama) VS.Net Group and Scott Robertson from Los Angeles .Net Developers Group. The committee has all kinds of new ideas to implement in 2003 to enhance your INETA membership! We will surely keep these guys busy! -- from the INETA NorAm February 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	4/9/2008
Tips for your User Group Website If you are collecting emails or other member information for your mailing lists, etc, it is a good idea to have a privacy policy available to read on your site. If you need some assistance in creating one, Devin Rader, one of the INETA Content Managers and a co-leader of the St. Louis .Net group, pointed us to this site: http://cs3-hq.oecd.org/scripts/pwv3/pwhome.htm . Please do read their caveats about the statement generator. Also, take a look at some other user group sites to see what they (... more)	4/9/2008
Billy Hollis Rocks Wisconsin January 14, 2003 at the WI .NET Users Group Billy Hollis came to the frozen tundra and really heated things up as he presented "Objects in The Real World" to the largest audience the WI .NET Users Group has ever had, despite temperatures in the single digits. Over 110 .NET fanatics packed into an auditorium in Madison, WI to watch, listen and learn from one of the best speakers in the .NET world. Then, with introduction music from the Matrix movie playing, Billy Hollis walked up to the (... more)	4/9/2008
Manage your User Group Info on www.ineta.org Did you know that you have total control of your user group information on the INETA website? Once  logged in, you can go to the INETA Membership and see a link to edit your user group details. It is especially important to keep your URL and contact information current. We have discovered many out of date links to INETA User Group websites. -- from the INETA NorAm February 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	4/9/2008
And you wonder why they don't make more movies about us programmers! With all the twists and turns of a Hollywood movie, the Norfolk SQL Server User Group pulled off a great meeting with INETA Speaker, Dave Wanta, giving their January presentation. Scene 1: User Group schedules G. Andrew Duthie for their January 20th meeting Scene 2: Just days before the meeting, Andrew learns of a family emergency (all is well now, thank you) that means he is unable to fly across the country to the meeting Scene 3: Never fear, the INETA Speaker Bureau pulls through and Dave (... more)	4/9/2008
INETA User Group Specials Have you checked out the Specials page lately at INETA.ORG? You can get great deals on stuff you really need, such as conference discounts for DevTeach (Montreal May 10-14 in English) and programming tools such as RDP Enterprise. The Specials page is one more of the benefits you receive by being part of an INETA user group. We are always adding new specials, so keep checking back. -- from the INETA NorAm February 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	4/9/2008
Web Services guru Don Box to make special appearance at Multi-User Group Event   INETA is pleased to announce that they have arranged for world-famous software architect and guru Don Box to appear at a multi-user group event to be held in conjunction with the XML Web Services conference (http://www.xmlconference.com/santaclara/ineta.asp) in March. This event is FREE! If you belong to an INETA user group in the Santa Clara area, this is one event you won't want to miss. See the BAY.Net (www.baynetug.org/baynetug2) User Group Website for details on Don's special (... more)	4/9/2008
INETA Speaker News Congratulations go out to some of our INETA Speakers: In January, two more INETA speakers became Microsoft Regional Directors. Ken Getz is now the RD for Southern California and Chris Kinsman was named as RD for the Pacific West Region. Congratulations. And congrats are also in hand for Juval Lowy and his wife who have had a new baby, Eleanor, at the end of January. We can be sure this will be one smart baby!!! While we are at it, there is another MSDN Regional Director announcement (... more)	4/9/2008
Newest INETA Members 10 User Groups joined INETA in January: Represented are  Brazil,  Israel, India and York, England and in the U.S.:  Los Angeles, CA; , Derry New Hampshire; Oklahoma City, OK; University of Connecticut School of Business. 230 Members as of January 31 -- from the INETA NorAm February 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	4/9/2008
Let them eat Cake! At their February meeting, the Vermont .NET user group celebrated their first anniversary. VTdotNET member, Laura Blood, baked us a cake and we wanted to share it with you! And it was delicious, too! -- from the INETA NorAm March 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	4/9/2008
Community Websites now available from www.asp.net   During the VS-Live conference in San Francisco last month, Microsoft announced availability of the Community Starter Kit, a framework for building community websites for user groups, developer websites and news sites. The starter kit, one of several offered on the ASP.NET website (http://www.asp.net), includes six content modules and features the capability to send newsletters, create voting polls and provide now popular RSS news feeds. User Groups can download, install and (... more)	4/9/2008
.NET User Groups in India Anand M, who runs the Chennai.NET User Group in India also helps out the User Group Relations committee with new user group approvals from India. Anand is an .NET MVP. He has shared with us a little about the .NET phenomenon in India. India has one of the largest developer groups outside the US and a really large .NET developer population. But the concept of a User group has not been available here. It is more common to find people meet online in forums or in groups in offices to try to  (... more)	4/9/2008
INETA at VS Live Returning to the conference where INETA launched last year, INETA was front and center at the Microsoft booth. Brian Loesgen and Devin Rader manned the booth and walked the show floor at VS Live, along with many members of the INETA Speakers Bureau.  They had a chance to see old friends, and meet new ones, as they helped spread the word about INETA. -- from the INETA NorAm March 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	4/9/2008
David Chappell in Norway From Andreas Eide, leader of the Norwegian .NET User Group in Oslo, Norway On January the 28th we had this year's first user group meeting. This time we had the pleasure of having an international speaker present to us, none other than David Chappell. David Chappell is a well-known author and presenter and he is also on the INETA speaker bureau. David was touring Europe and we got hold of him for one hour before he had to leave for the airport. David's topic was 'Beyond SOAP'. He (... more)	4/9/2008
March 5th Reminder! Web Services guru, Don Box, at special Bay Area multi-User Group event INETA is pleased to announce that they have arranged for world-famous software architect and guru Don Box to appear at a multi-user group event to be held in conjunction with current XML Web Services conference. This event is FREE! If you belong to an INETA user group in the Santa Clara area, this is one event you won't want to miss. See the BAY.Net  User Group Website for details on Don's special presentation. A lot of people pulled together to make this event happen. Even at the last (... more)	4/9/2008
INETA-LatAm Kicks off its Speakers Bureau in a Big Way INETA-LatAm has lined up its Speaker Bureau. It includes Guillermo Som Cerezo (Spain), Daniel Seara (Argentina), David A. Garza Marin (Mexico), Juan T. Llibre (Dominican Republic), Fabio Galuppo (Brazil) and Mauro Sant'Anna (Brazil). Also included in the Latam SB are Ken Getz, Doug Seven and Keith Pleas. All of the speakers will be attending the kickoff meeting and speaker training in Ft. Lauderdale on March 20 and 21. While in town, local user groups like FAUSIG.NET, Florida .NET User (... more)	4/9/2008
Happy Birthday INETA!!! It's hard to believe, but INETA is officially one year old. Times have changed since that day in Feb 2002 when we launched with 40 charter members. We've since grown to nearly 250 member user groups, representing an aggregate membership of 80,000 developers and other professionals! What else have we done in our first year? Here are some highlights: Organization launched in Feb 12 2002 with 40 user groups as charter members Launched first version of www.ineta.org  (... more)	4/9/2008
Newest INETA Members 19 New Groups joined INETA in February. They come from Uzbekistan, Pakistan (3 groups), Israel, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ecuador, Dublin Ireland, Sydney Australia, Toronto Canada. In the U.S there are 4 from Florida and also groups in Idaho, New Hampshire, Virginia and Rhode Island. -- from the INETA NorAm March 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	4/9/2008
Feedback from User Groups who are adopting the Community Starter Kit From Eric King of www.chadnug.org "Our group is using the Community Starter Kit. It's fantastic! When you don't have time to do the work yourself, it's a real lifesaver. The best part is the GUI administration of the site. It's quick and easy. I highly recommend it. You'll be glad you did." Scott Lock of www.caparea.net reports that they are in the process of implementing the community starter kit for their user group as well. Look for an upcoming article in ASPNetPro Magazine about the (... more)	4/9/2008
New things to look for on www.ineta.org Speakers Bureau Page There is a very helpful list of FAQs about the process of requesting a speaker from INETA. Membership Page The User Group Relations committee has attempted to better explain the criteria for INETA membership, the application process and ideas for start up user groups. We would love to hear your feedback at ugrelations@ineta.org. -- from the INETA NorAm April 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	4/9/2008
Presentation Tips Check out the great list of presentation tips by Scott Hanselman (MSDN R