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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)	2/2/2010
Community Events Upcoming Conferences PyCon Atlanta GA 02/19-21/10 St. Louis Innovation Camp St. Louis MO 02/26/10 MIX10 Las Vegas NV 03/15-17/10 DevConnections Las Vegas NV 04/12-14/10 SharePoint Pro Summit Las Vegas NV 04/16-19/10 Tech·Ed North America 2010 New Orleans LA 06/07-10/10 devLink 2010 Nashville TN 08/05-07/10 Code Camps and Other Events SharePoint Saturday Boston Waltham MA 02/27/10 SharePoint Saturday New Orleans New Orleans  (... more)	2/2/2010
Upcoming Speaker Bureau Events Dubuque Dubuque IA Rocky Lhotka 02/02/10 New England Visual Basic Professional User Group Waltham MA Jim Wooley 02/04/10 Lubbock .Net User Group Lubbock TX Jeffrey Palermo 03/29/10 Ozarks DNUG Harrison AR Claudio Lassala 04/01/10 Northern Colorado .NET Special Interest Group Fort Collins CO Stuart Celarier 04/12/10 Hawaii Dot NET Users Group Honolulu HI Kathleen Dollard 04/21/10 Lincoln .NET Users Group Lincoln NE Kathleen Dollard 04/28/10  (... more)	2/2/2010
Conference Announcements Tech·Ed North America 2010 Registration is now open for Tech·Ed North America 2010 to be held in New Orleans, LA, June 7-10, 2010. Register at http://northamerica.msteched.com/Registration by February 28, 2010, to save $200.  If you are a user group leader, be sure to check the User Group Leaders Offers page for a special discount code.   devLink 2010 The devLink Technical Conference (www.devlink.net) invites you to submit session topics to be presented (... more)	2/2/2010
Free Publicity for Community Events Looking for a little free publicity for your free community event? Email Chris Williams with your event details (including: name of event, website, date, city & state) and he'll add it to the event listing at the bottom of his new, ongoing Embracing Community column in CoDe Magazine.  Just remember, this is a bimonthly publication and print media lead time is about 2 months.  Event submissions for Jan/Feb 2010 are already closed.  If you are planning something for the April, May, June 2010 (... more)	2/2/2010
Resources for Developers and User Group Leaders Take a look at Iron Ruby and add another versatile and flexible tool to your tool belt. Jimmy Schementi is the Program Manager for Iron Ruby at Microsoft and has put together these links to some recent presentations. And, he's willing to lend some help to anyone who wants to put together a user group or code camp presentation. You can catch up with him at jimmy.schementi.com RubyConf http://blog.jimmy.schementi.com/2009/12/ironruby-rubyconf-2009-part-1-summary.html  (... more)	2/2/2010
Explore Cloud Computing and Windows Azure Upcoming Cloud Computing and Windows Azure with MSDN Events Explore cloud computing and Windows Azure. Free admission and USB drive filled with resources. We’re taking MSDN Events to new heights with a developer-focused overview of cloud computing and the Windows Azure platform. Learn to build amazing new applications, explore data storage, SQL Azure, and deployment basics with Windows Azure. Sign up now for these free, live sessions in your local area. Visit www.msdnevents.com.  (... more)	2/2/2010
Community Event Reports We Are Microsoft - Dallas Give Camp Between hurricanes, earthquakes and the financial downturn, charities need our help more than ever, and I don't know about you but if I have to do any more painting I am going to pull my hair out. Well, three years back, Toi Wright (founder and president of the Dallas ASP.NET UG) and Chris Koenig (Microsoft Developer Evangelist for the South Central District) had a great idea — "Why don't we help charities with their development needs?" This allowed us to (... more)	2/2/2010
Ralph’s Rant – Training, Schmaining … Ok. Let me start by saying this article went through a couple of revisions to actually tone things down because it was truly a “rant” in the Dennis Miller/Lewis Black style. So, in advance, let me absolve my company, my managers, my clients and my co-workers from any and all implications that they might have anything to do with anything. Let’s just say that my rant really is to those whiners who I don’t know at all who complain about lost training budgets and opportunities. Rats, I think (... more)	2/2/2010
Tech·Ed North America 2010 Mark your Calendars: INETA Community Leadership Summit at Tech·Ed North America in New Orleans We are still working on details, but wanted to get the word out in time for people to make the appropriate travel arrangements. Based on popular demand we’re coordinating a community summit at Tech·Ed. We’re targeting for Sunday, June 6, 2010. Watch for your invitation and more information to be released soon on this great opportunity to network with other members of our community, learn, and (... more)	2/2/2010
DevConnections Special offer for INETA Members April 12-14, 2010, developers from around the world will gather at the world famous Bellagio for the Microsoft Visual Studio Launch Conference & Expo, ASP.NET & Silverlight Conference & Expo and SQL Server Conference & Expo. You can be a part of this exciting event while you enjoy one of the most stunning hotels on the Las Vegas Strip at a great conference rate! INETA members receive a $200 discount off the registration fee by entering the code INETA10 during the online registration (... more)	2/2/2010
Nominations Now Being Accepted for INETA North America Board of Directors The INETA NorAm Board of Directors is now accepting nominations for the following positions. General commitment is around 15-20 hours/month including regular bi-weekly Board conference calls and up to two expense-paid in-person weekend Board meetings per year. DIRECTORS There are six (6) Director positions which have a one (1) year term. Directors are responsible for overseeing the operation of various projects undertaken by INETA. Nominations must be submitted by any user (... more)	2/2/2010
2009 INETA Community Champions Excellence Award Twice a year the INETA Community Champions Selection Committee has one of the hardest decisions to make. They have to sift through the pile of nominations and select one person to receive this prestigious award. This time it was no different and, with so many outstanding nominations, they could only select one. It is our distinct pleasure to thank Chris Pels for everything he has done and announce him as the recipient of the 2009 INETA Community Champions Excellence Award. Chris (... more)	2/2/2010
Upcoming Speaker Bureau Events Greater New Orleans .NET User Group Metairie LA Ted Neward 01/12/10 Orlando DotNetNuke User Group Orlando FL Joe Brinkman 01/12/10 Tampa DotNetNuke User Group Tampa FL Joe Brinkman 01/13/10 Dallas/Fort Worth Connected Systems User Group Irving TX Stuart Celarier 01/13/10 HAL-PC C# SIG Houston TX Ken Getz 01/19/10 Dubuque Dubuque IA Rocky Lhotka 02/02/10 New England Visual Basic Professional User Group Waltham MA Jim Wooley 02/04/10 -- from (... more)	1/24/2010
Community Events Upcoming Conferences   CodeMash v2.0.1.0 Sandusky OH 01/13-15/10 PyCon Atlanta GA 02/19-21/10 MIX10 Las Vegas NV 03/15-17/10 DevConnections Las Vegas NV 04/12-14/10 Tech·Ed North America 2010 New Orleans LA 06/07-10/10   Code Camps and Other Events   SharePoint Saturday Virginia Beach Virginia Beach VA 01/09/10 We Are Microsoft - Charity Challenge Weekend Dallas TX 01/15-17/10 Twin Cities Give Camp Bloomington MN 01/15/10 SQL (... more)	1/24/2010
Conference Discounts PyCon CODE magazine, the leading independent .NET resource, is offering a one-year subscription free to attendees of PyCon 2010, the annual conference of the Python programming community. The core PyCon conference runs February 19-21 at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta, GA. More details about the conference and registration can be found at http://us.pycon.org. Early-bird registration (through January 6) is just $450, and further discounts are available for students and (... more)	1/24/2010
Free Publicity for Community Events Looking for a little free publicity for your free community event? Email Chris Williams with your event details (including: name of event, website, date, city & state) and he'll add it to the event listing at the bottom of his new, ongoing Embracing Community column in CoDe Magazine.  Just remember, this is a bimonthly publication and print media lead time is about 2 months.  Event submissions for Jan/Feb 2010 are already closed.  If you are planning something for the April, May, June 2010 (... more)	1/24/2010
Current Offers Free Guest Pass for OnDemand! Library from Pluralsight All INETA members can receive a free Guest Pass into the Pluralsight On-Demand! library by requesting it directly from here: https://www.pluralsight.com/main/olt/subscribe/requestguestpass.aspx For details on this and other offers for INETA members and user groups, please visit the Offers pages on the INETA site.   Limited Time Offer - 30% off Expression For a limited time (promotion ends January 31), (... more)	1/24/2010
Community Event Reports Baton Rouge .NET User Group Speaker Idol Summary The idea of our Speaker Idol event was established in early 2009, shortly after forming an Events Committee for the Baton Rouge .NET User Group. This committee consists of two members and is responsible for coming up with event ideas that would add variation to our current meeting format and for planning additional events that would add value to our development community. Speaker Idol was the first event established by this committee with the (... more)	1/24/2010
User Group Leader Discount Code for Tech·Ed North America 2010 In appreciation for all you do as a member of the Microsoft community, Tech·Ed North America 2010 is offering INETA User Group Leaders a $500 discount off your full-conference registration price. This special price of $1,695 is good through February 28, 2010. Please visit the User Group Leader Special Offers page under Resources on the INETA website for the discount code. -- from the INETA NorAm January 2010 Newsletter  (... more)	1/24/2010
Help Rebuild New Orleans At Tech·Ed NOLA Now that registration is open for Tech·Ed North America, why not consider arriving a little early and do a little good for the city? Four years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the gulf coast as the worst civil disaster in American history, the city itself is still struggling to rebuild. One of the biggest needs is new housing. INETA Speaker and Director Steve Andrews is organizing a volunteer group to spend a day working with Habitat for Humanity to help rebuild New Orleans on Saturday, (... more)	1/24/2010
Nominations Now Being Accepted for INETA North America Board of Directors The INETA NorAm Board of Directors is now accepting nominations for following positions. General commitment is around 15-20 hours/month including regular bi-weekly Board conference calls and up to two expense-paid in-person weekend Board meetings per year. DIRECTORS There are five (5) Director positions which have a one (1) year term. Directors are responsible for overseeing the operation of various projects undertaken by INETA. Nominations must be submitted by any user group (... more)	1/24/2010
Community Champions Winners Announced Please join us in congratulating the recipients of the Q4 2009 INETA Community Champion Award! Gaines Kergosien (Nashville Web Developers Group) Chris Eargle (Columbia Enterprise Developers Guild) John Dunagan (South West Florida .NET Developers Group) Michael Wood (Cincinnati .NET Users Group) Peter Kellner (Silicon Valley CA) The purpose of the INETA Community Champion Award program is to recognize individuals with the highest levels of contributions. Those (... more)	1/24/2010
New on INETA Live! We are pleased to be releasing a new series of content through the INETA Live site. This content comes to us thanks to the hard work of Shawn Weisfeld, INETA Director of Community Activities. Shawn has assembled a presentation recording setup and recorded a number of community presentations to share with a larger audience. He detailed the equipment configuration in a blog post entitled My Recording Rig v1. The following new recordings have been posted to INETA Live Videos:  (... more)	1/24/2010
Upcoming Speaker Bureau Events .Net Gold Coast Users Group of South Florida Boca Raton FL Tim Huckaby 12/04/09 SouthBayNet Users Group Richmond CA Claudio Lassala 12/08/09 WNC .NET Developers Guild Arden NC Jason Bock 12/08/09 -- from the INETA NorAm December 2009 Newsletter  (... more)	1/24/2010
Community Events Upcoming Conferences CodeMash Sandusky OH 01/13-15/10 Tech·Ed North America 2010 New Orleans LA 06/07-10/10 Code Camps and Other Events SharePoint Saturday DC Reston VA 12/05/09 Windows Mobile Phone Camp Tampa FL 12/05/09 SharePoint Saturday Denver Denver CO 12/12/09 SharePoint Saturday Kansas City Overland Park KS 12/12/09 -- from the INETA NorAm December 2009 Newsletter  (... more)	1/24/2010
Tech·Ed North America 2010 Returns to New Orleans Registration is now open for Tech·Ed North America 2010 to be held in New Orleans, LA, June 7-10, 2010. Register at http://northamerica.msteched.com/Registration by December 31, 2009, to save $300. -- from the INETA NorAm December 2009 Newsletter  (... more)	1/24/2010
Limited Time Offer for User Group Program Members from O'Reilly Special offer for O'Reilly User Group program members: Along with your 35% discount off print books, you can now get 45% off all ebooks you purchase direct from oreilly.com for a limited time. When you buy an O'Reilly ebook you get lifetime access to the book, and whenever possible we make it available to you in four, DRM-free file formats--PDF, .epub, Kindle-compatible .mobi, and Android ebook--that you can use on the devices of your choice. Our ebook files are fully (... more)	1/24/2010
More Azure Resources Windows Azure Platform Videos “What is Azure?” whiteboard videos Windows Azure Platform (bit.ly/WhiteBoardVideo) Windows Azure(bit.ly/WindowsAzureWhiteboardVideo) SQL Azure (bit.ly/SQLAzureWhiteboardVideo) Service Bus & Access Control  (bit.ly/ServiceBusWhiteboardVideo) Training Kit (Revamped for PDC) Windows Azure Training kit – http://bit.ly/AzureTrainingKit Online Resources MSDN Azure Platform Developer Center (new and improved) Channel 9 Training (... more)	1/24/2010
User Group Leader Training: Cloud Computing and Microsoft's Azure platform Two Sessions Available: Thursday, December 10, 2009 – 4 PM (PST) Wednesday, December 16, 2009 — 8 AM (PST) Cloud Computing is a paradigm shift, with tremendous buzz. We want to ensure you can discuss Microsoft’s approach in your user groups. To the end, we are inviting you or designated individuals interested in cloud computing to join either one of two “train the trainer” sessions regarding Windows Azure and SQL Azure. Goal: Equip you with the amazing Azure (... more)	1/24/2010
Community Event Reports NotAtPDC The second annual NotAtPDC ad-hoc virtual conference was held the week of PDC. This event, organized and executed by community volunteers, consisted of presentations on many different topics done using Microsoft Live Meeting. The presentations were recorded and those recordings are being made available on the NotAtPDC site, notatpdc.com. If you have an interesting community event report to share, contact us at noram.marketing@ineta.org. -- from the INETA NorAm (... more)	1/24/2010
PDC 2009 Thanks to INETA, I was able to experience my first big conference this year at Microsoft's PDC.  I really didn't know what to expect.  I asked other developers before I left but nothing quite prepared me for the hugeness of the experience.  Even the conference center itself was monstrous as it is over 400,000 square feet.  About 1000 or so people came to the keynote the first morning, we learned about some of the new initiatives coming from Microsoft, such as their Dallas project - a data (... more)	1/24/2010
Community Champion Deadline This Month Just a reminder that you should submit your entries for Community Champs. The fourth quarter draws to a close at the end of this month. Don't miss your chance to be recognized for all you do for your local community. Or nominate your local community hero. Enter your tasks at the Champs website. The deadline is December 31, 2009 and covers your activities between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009, meaning you can submit everything you have done for your user group community during (... more)	1/24/2010
Free Publicity for Community Events Looking for a little free publicity for your free community event? Email Chris Williams with your event details (including: name of event, website, date, city & state) and he'll add it to the event listing at the bottom of his new, ongoing Embracing Community column in CoDe Magazine.  Just remember, this is a bimonthly publication and print media lead time is about 2 months.  Event submissions for Jan/Feb 2010 are already closed.  If you are planning something for the March, April, May 2010 (... more)	1/24/2010
Birds-of-a-Feather Sessions @ PDC09 a Resounding Success! Many of the Birds-of-a-Feather (BOF) sessions at the Microsoft PDC09 were standing room only and there was lively discussion on a wide variety of topics, which can be viewed here. The BOF discussion sessions are organized entirely by volunteers from the community and our thanks go out to this year's volunteers that helped make these sessions a huge success! In addition, the community members who acted as hosts to lead the discussions did a great job and we thank them for their interest (... more)	1/24/2010
What a Year It Was It’s hard to believe that we’ve reached the end of yet another year. I think it’s fair to say that 2009 has certainly been an adventure for most of us. During the year we have seen a large number of new groups form, targeting a variety of interests as well as an increase in attendance as people turn toward their local communities as a valuable learning resource. Our peers continue to be one of the best learning and motivational resources available to us. With 2010 comes a new wave of (... more)	1/24/2010
Upcoming Speaker Bureau Events GC.NUG (Greater Charleston .NET User Group) Charleston SC Chris G. Williams 11/12/09 .Net Gold Coast Users Group of South Florida Boca Raton FL Tim Huckaby 12/04/09 SouthBayNet Users Group Richmond CA Claudio Lassala 12/08/09 WNC .NET Developers Guild Arden NC Rachel Appel 12/08/09 -- from the INETA NorAm November 2009 Newsletter  (... more)	1/24/2010
Community Events CodeMash Registration is open for CodeMash. What is CodeMash? CodeMash is a unique event that will educate developers on current practices, methodologies, and technology trends in a variety of platforms and development languages such as Java, .Net, Ruby, Python and PHP. CodeMash will take place in Sandusky, OH, at the Kalahari Resort January 13-15, 2010. Early bird pricing of $175 is available until November 30. http://codemash.org Upcoming Conferences DevConnections Las (... more)	1/24/2010
Fall Conferences DevConnections Fall ‘09 November 9-12, 2009 Las Vegas, NV • Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino STAY CONNECTED & Keep your competitive edge at the Premiere Event for ASP.NET & Visual Studio Developers Microsoft Corporate Vice President Scott Guthrie will present a keynote about many of the new features coming for ASP.NET developers while Dave Mendlen, Director of Developer Marketing, talks about the upcoming release of Visual Studio 2010. Train with 125+ Microsoft and industry experts at (... more)	1/24/2010
Wanted: Killer apps! Reward: $12,000 prize! Spread the word—there’s a contest for developers blazing trails with the .NET Framework and Visual Studio, Windows, Windows Server, Windows Azure, SQL Server, or SharePoint. We’re looking for interesting, powerful and unique solutions based on the latest Microsoft technologies. And the winners get their choice of a 15 day Galapagos Islands Adventure or a new Smart Car! Two ways to win! Judges Choice: Impress the panel of technology industry leaders and Microsoft gurus for the (... more)	1/24/2010
Students! Want $10,000? Imagine Cup is a technology competition in which students are asked to create an innovative solution using our technologies to address the UN´s Millennium Goals: hunger and poverty, child health, gender equality, among other challenging topics. There are different categories they chose from: Software Design, Game Design, Web Design, IT Challenge, and Digital media. At the end of this competition, students find Imagine Cup to be one of the best (... more)	1/24/2010
Visual Studio 2010 Beta and Training Available Visual Studio 2010 & .NET Framework 4 Training Kit The October preview of the Visual Studio 2010 & .NET Framework 4 Training Kit has been released. The content in this training kit has been tested with Beta 2 and is ready for you to use. Download: Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Training Kit   Training Course on Channel 9 Channel 9 has launched an online learning center that will play host to developer focused training courses created by developers (... more)	1/24/2010
Community Event Reports St. Louis Coders 4 Charities The first Coders 4 Charities St. Louis event was held by the St. Louis .NET User Group the weekend of October 16-18. Nine local charities had sought assistance with their web sites or other applications. Over 50 volunteers from St. Louis metropolitan area participated in the 48 hour event.  They kicked off the event on Friday evening with pizza.  The teams were formed and introduced to the existing applications from the various charities.  The teams planned and (... more)	1/24/2010
Resources for User Group Presenters Update: Two new Powershell for Developers presentations have been added to .NET University in October. The .NET University site is live again (www.dotnet-u.com), which includes about 40 full presentation kits (slides, speaker notes, demos, demo scripts, webcast video) that may use for presentations. This includes the things Lisa Feigenbaum and Doug Turnure from Microsoft partnered on recently. Technically, this site is maintained by Doug and Mark Dunn, so it is a hybrid of (... more)	1/24/2010
PDC09 Birds-of-a-Feather Events Special Event:  INETA BOF Community Roundtable 6:00 to 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, November 17, 2009 Join David Chappell, Scott Hanselman, Patrick Hynds, Fritz Onion, Miguel de Icaza, and Sara Ford for an open discussion on anything technology related. Carl Franklin will moderate the discussion and be recording the event as a .NET Rocks! show. PDC09 Birds-of-a-Feather @Lunch Featured Sessions Visit www.pdcbof.com Will Cloud Computing Change Your Life? Co-Hosts: Simon Guest, David (... more)	1/24/2010
Free Publicity for Community Events Looking for a little free publicity for your free community event? Email Chris Williams with your event details (including: name of event, website, date, city & state) and he'll add it to the event listing at the bottom of his new, ongoing Embracing Community column in CoDe Magazine.  Just remember, this is a bimonthly publication and print media lead time is about 2 months.  Event submissions for Jan/Feb 2010 are already closed.  If you are planning something for the March, April, May 2010 (... more)	1/24/2010
Get Your SWAG and Member Offers Here Update: New offers have been added for INETA members from ComponentOne and Wrox and for user groups from Intertech. Check them out. Two new pages have been added to the INETA website to serve as a clearinghouse for special offers to INETA members and user groups. The members page includes offers for training, components, conferences and books from several well known companies. The user group leaders page has offers for meeting give-aways and includes contact information for participating (... more)	1/24/2010
NorAm News New Board of Directors Members Elected The Board of Directors of INETA NorAm is happy to welcome a few new people. Paul Comeau was elected to the open spot as Treasurer and Julie Yack and Joe Guadagno were elected to Director positions. We'd like to thank all of those who participated in the interim election either by running for a position or for nominating such a well qualified slate of candidates. Regional Speakers Program Continues To Grow The Regional Speakers Program continues (... more)	1/24/2010
Upcoming Speaker Bureau Events Hampton Roads .NET Users Group Virginia Beach VA Rachel Appel 10/13/09 Bellingham.NET Bellingham WA Robert Green 10/14/09 Tri-Cities .NET User Group Kingsport TN Wally McClure 10/20/09 Denver Visual Studio User Group Denver CO Markus Egger 10/26/09 San Diego .NET User Group San Diego CA Michele Leroux Bustamante 10/27/09 .NET Rockford User Group Loves Park IL Tim Rayburn 10/27/09 GC.NUG (Greater Charleston .NET User Group) Charleston SC Chris (... more)	1/24/2010
Community Events Upcoming Conferences VSLive! Orlando 2009 Orlando FL 10/04-07/09 SharePoint Conference 2009 Las Vegas NV 10/19-22/09 Austin Monospace Conference Austin TX 10/27-30/09 DevConnections Las Vegas NV 11/09-12/09 PDC Los Angeles CA 11/17-19/09 Code Camps and Other Events Carolina Code Camp Charlotte NC 10/10/09 NoVa Code Camp 2009.2 Reston VA 10/10/09 Coders-4-Charities St. Louis 2009 St. Louis MO 10/16-18/09 Code Camp 12:Boston  (... more)	1/24/2010
Fall Conference Discounts DevConnections Fall ‘09 November 9-12, 2009 Las Vegas, NV • Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino STAY CONNECTED & Keep your competitive edge at the Premiere Event for ASP.NET & Visual Studio Developers Microsoft Corporate Vice President Scott Guthrie will present a keynote about many of the new features coming for ASP.NET developers while Dave Mendlen, Director of Developer Marketing, talks about the upcoming release of Visual Studio 2010. Train with 125+ Microsoft and industry experts at (... more)	1/24/2010
Training and Software and Azure, Oh My Dive into Azure today! Deploy your first app in the clouds in as little as 30 minutes. Here’s how: GET: Get a free Windows Azure CTP account in minutes Go to http://go.microsoft.com/?linkID=9672641 Log in using a Live or Hotmail ID, and look for the “Product Keys” link on the top left Sign in at Azure.com, go to “Accounts” and claim this key Download the August version of the Azure training kit here if you have not already FOLLOW ALONG: A 14-minute screencast on deploying (... more)	1/24/2010
Special Offers for INETA Members MaxESP-Elastic Shared Platform Enterprise Shared Hosting Trial Accounts from MaximumASP We are proud to introduce MaxESP, Elastic Shared Platform, the first highly available completely PCI compliant (web + data) Microsoft ASP.NET shared web hosting platform. The MaxESP core focus is to cater to all aspects of the application life cycle. MaxESP empowers you to quickly upgrade from the standard plan if needed to make any of your websites load balanced and more robust. Best of all (... more)	1/24/2010
Community Event Reports Inaugural Vermont Code Camp Saturday, September 12, was the first Vermont Code Camp.  We had over 85 attendees, participants and speakers join us for our inaugural event. Everyone we've spoken with has expressed their appreciation for this event and to all of our donors who made it possible.   The Vermont Code Camp Team included Laura Blood, Rob Hale, Bradley Holt, Julie Lerman, Carl Lorentson, Matthew Weier O’Phinney, Rob Rohr, and Margot Schips. The event was held in Kalkin (... more)	1/24/2010
Presentation Resources for User Group Presenters The .NET University site is live again (www.dotnet-u.com), which includes about 40 full presentation kits (slides, speaker notes, demos, demo scripts, webcast video) that may use for presentations. This includes the things Lisa Feigenbaum and Doug Turnure from Microsoft partnered on recently. Technically, this site is maintained by Doug and Mark Dunn, so it is a hybrid of MS and community owned as a site. What is .NET University? Their mission is very simple. To give you a good (... more)	1/24/2010
PDC09 Birds-of-a-Feather Announces Special Lunch Sessions and Community Roundtable PDC09 Birds-of-a-Feather Announced Special Lunch Sessions Visit www.pdcbof.com We are excited to announce two special BOF @Lunch sessions for PDC09. On Tue 11/17 the topic will be ASP.NET MVC – Share Your Stories from the Trenches and on Wed 11/18 Will Cloud Computing Change Your Life? Visit http://microsoftpdc.com for more details. In addition, proposals for hosting sessions are now being accepted and will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis through 10/31/2009. (... more)	1/24/2010
Nominations Now Being Accepted for INETA North America Board of Directors The INETA NorAm Board of Directors is now accepting nominations to fill vacancies and complete the balance of the current term through 04/01/2010 for the following positions. General commitment is around 15-20 hours/month including regular bi-weekly Board conference calls and up to two expense-paid, in-person weekend Board meetings per year. TREASURER The Treasurer is one of four Officer positions (President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer) that are responsible for running the (... more)	1/24/2010
These Are The Champions, My Friends Please join us in congratulating the recipients of the Q3 2009 INETA Community Champion Award! David Hockenberry Will Strohl Joe Walling Philip Japikse Joe Olsen Andy Schwam Marc Ziss Kevin Grossnicklaus 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 (... more)	1/24/2010
Component Code Challenge Winners Announced We are honored to announce the winners of the INETA Component Code Challenge and would like to extend a big thank you for all of the great contributions and the help of all of our judges. All submissions can be viewed online at http://www.inetachamps.com/codechallenge. Winners: Chris White Ron Puckett Runner up: Toi Wright Honorable Mention: Aaron Coleman Chris Eargle Greg Bray Greg Pugh Jonathan Marbutt Keith Richardson Mike Brown -- from the INETA (... more)	1/24/2010
Get Your SWAG and Member Offers Here Two new pages have been added to the INETA website to serve as a clearinghouse for special offers to INETA members and user groups. The members page includes offers for training, components, conferences and books from several well known companies. The user group leaders page has offers for meeting give-aways and includes contact information for participating companies. If you know of other companies that would be interested in adding an offer to either or both pages, please ask them to contact (... more)	1/24/2010
From the Board The year has certainly had been challenging for all of us in both personal and professional ways. Many members of our community have had their lives impacted by the poor economic conditions. Many of our member groups have seen an increase in attendance with people turning to user groups as a source of training and career networking. At the INETA level, we have seen a large increase over the last year in the number new groups forming as more specialized meetings take place focusing on specific (... more)	1/24/2010
Sponsors  (... more)	1/24/2010
Upcoming Speaker Bureau Events Western Mass .Net Users Group Easthampton MA Pete Brown 09/01/09 Cleveland .NET Special Interest Group Cleveland OH Russ Nemhauser 09/08/09 Billings Users Group Billings MT Tim Huckaby 09/08/09 Fox Valley .NET User Group Appleton WI Pete Brown 09/09/09 Central California .Net User Group Fresno CA Tim Huckaby 09/10/09 Shreveport .NET User Group Shreveport LA Jeffrey Palermo 09/21/09 .Net Rockford User Group Loves Park IL Chris G. Williams  (... more)	1/24/2010
Community Events Upcoming Conferences VSLive! Orlando 2009 Orlando FL 10/04-07/09 SharePoint Conference 2009 Las Vegas NV 10/19-22/09 DevConnections Las Vegas NV 11/09-12/09 PDC Los Angeles CA 11/17-19/09 Code Camps and Other Events Tallahassee .NET Code Camp Tallahassee FL 09/05/09 SharePoint Saturday NY New York NY 09/12/09 Vermont Code Camp Burlington VT 09/12/09 Raleigh Code Camp Raleigh NC 09/19/09 Utah Code Camp South Jordan UT  (... more)	1/24/2010
Presentation Resources for User Groups NETA and several of the product teams at Microsoft are working together to make relevant content available for user group presentations. This month we're covering some resources from the language teams and the Azure team. Here are a few places where the language teams keep walkthroughs. Walkthroughs in Visual Basic and Visual C#: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/7a61f8ks(VS.71).aspx Walkthrough: Writing Queries in C# (LINQ): http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb397900.aspx (... more)	1/24/2010
Springboard Series Virtual Roundtable on Windows 7 Springboard Series Virtual Roundtable Windows 7 Application Compatibility Part 2: Virtualization Date: Thursday, September 24 Time: 9:00am Pacific Time https://ms.istreamplanet.com/springboard Hear from a panel of experts how virtualization tools can help you with application compatibility concerns whether you’re migrating from Windows Vista or Windows XP. Join us to discuss how presentation virtualization, desktop virtualization and application virtualization can reduce testing (... more)	1/24/2010
Special Offers for INETA Members Pluralsight On-Demand! Training – The Road to Success for Unemployed User Group Members Pluralsight is helping developers ramp up on Microsoft technologies and sharpening their skills to get back in the job market with premier .NET training. Unemployed? Put yourself back in the driver’s seat with a free 1-month pass to Pluralsight On-Demand!. We’re hearing your victories through gained employment and new skill sets in emerging Microsoft technologies. Contact your Group Leader (... more)	1/24/2010
Community Event Wrap-up: DevLink 2009 in Nashville, TN It was so bright, warm and sunny arriving Thursday morning at DevLink. This time around, Devlink Chairman John Kellar had donated the ticket I won at the local Nashville Web Developers Group a few months ago. I had read up on the DevLink.Net website all about the sessions, tracks, speakers, and every other detail required to know which sessions to attend and how to get there. Another thought too was to attend at least one Open Spaces session, and I was there when Alan Stevens of (... more)	1/24/2010
Development Tools Ecosystem Summit You’re invited to attend the Development Tools Ecosystem Summit focused on Visual Studio extensibility on October 19-23, 2009 at the Microsoft Conference Center in Redmond, Washington. Whether beginner or expert, you’ll learn tips and tricks, best practices, and meet 1:1 with developers and architects. Visual Studio is an open, extensible platform that can be customized for everything from individual productivity tools to enterprise-wide development needs. The Visual Studio Shell (... more)	1/24/2010
Program Updates Component Code Challenge The Component Code Challenge deadline was extended one week to September 1.  A quick note of thanks to everyone who participated in the INETA Component Code Challenge and a special thanks to the component vendors who sponsored the contest. The decision is now in the hands of the judges. The winners of two scholarships to PDC in November as well as an iPod Touch and prize packs of components from our sponsoring vendors will be announced soon.  (... more)	1/24/2010
PDC09 Birds-of-a-Feather Session Host Proposals Now Being Accepted PDC09 Birds-of-a-Feather Session Host Proposals Now Being Accepted Visit www.pdcbof.com Once again INETA is organizing the Birds-of-a-Feather (BOF) sessions at PDC09 in Los Angeles, November 17-19, 2009. BOF sessions are moderated open discussions on technology related topics proposed by developers attending PDC ’09. BOF sessions are not formal presentations, no slides or software demonstrations. The format is casual and open with a microphone and whiteboard available to (... more)	1/24/2010
Newsletter in a Nutshell In addition to the monthly conference and code camp listing and scheduled INETA speaker appearances, this month's newsletter includes several opportunities for you to pick up some new topics for presentations.  The Birds-of-a-Feather team is looking for session hosts for PDC in November.  A few more of the regional speakers are highlighted.   The Component Code Challenge has wrapped up and the entries are in the hands of the judges. It's time to be sure to get your Community Champion entries (... more)	1/24/2010
INETA Windows Azure Train-the-Trainer Sessions Windows® Azure is a cloud services operating system that serves as the development, service hosting and service management environment for the Windows Azure Platform. Windows Azure provides developers with on-demand compute and storage to host, scale, and manage Web applications on the Internet through Microsoft® data centers.  Windows Azure is currently in Community Technology Preview. Commercial availability for Windows Azure will likely be at the end of calendar year 2009. Windows (... more)	1/24/2010
Upcoming Speaker Bureau Events Chattanooga Area .NET User Group Chattanooga TN Mark Dunn 08/11/09 Huntsville VS.NET Users Group Huntsville AL Rachel Appel 08/11/09 San Diego .NET User Group Connected Systems San Diego CA Brian Noyes 08/12/09 Houston .NET User Group Houston TX Jason Bock 08/13/09 SouthBay.NET User Group Torrance CA Brian Noyes 08/13/09 Twin Cities Languages User Group Golden Valley MN Ted Neward 08/13/09 Dallas .NET Users Group Dallas TX Billy Hollis  (... more)	1/24/2010
Community Events Upcoming Conferences DevLink 2009 Nashville TN 08/13-15/09 KickStartz Nashville Nashville TN 08/15-16/09 Best Practices Conference Washington DC 08/24-26/09 St. Louis Day of .NET St. Louis MO 08/28-29/09 VSLive! Orlando 2009 Orlando FL 10/04-07/09 SharePoint Conference 2009 Las Vegas NV 10/19-22/09 DevConnections Las Vegas NV 11/09-12/09 PDC Los Angeles CA 11/17-19/09 Code Camps and Other Events Jacksonville .NET Code Camp  (... more)	1/24/2010
PDC News See the Future of Microsoft Technology at PDC09! Learn about the future of Microsoft's platform when the PDC returns to Los Angeles November 17-19, 2009. Join leading-edge developers and architects to jumpstart product planning and get immersed in keynotes featuring luminaries Ray Ozzie and Bob Muglia, sessions about the future of Windows, the Web, devices, developer tools, and our services platform. Exchange ideas with peers and Microsoft technology experts during (... more)	1/24/2010
News to Help You Thrive Thrive is offering the following webcasts on starting an IT consulting business and on career development. Thrive Live! Getting Started in IT Consulting Are you thinking of making the leap into IT consulting? Do you want to join the ranks of small business owners making their own mark in the world? You can! In this webcast, we'll discuss the requirements and best practices for setting up your own business. We'll also explore the many hats you'll wear as a consultant and business (... more)	1/24/2010
Special Offer for INETA Members from InnerWorkings InnerWorkings Hands-On Developer Training – 25% Catalog Discount We’re known for our fresh approach to developer training – with a focus on active learning by doing, solving real coding challenges, and automated code judging. This month only, we’re offering INETA members a 25% discount on all learning paths in our 600+ hour catalog of self-paced .NET developer training. Use the coupon IWINETA0809 at checkout to claim your savings before August 31st, 2009 or contact us for more (... more)	1/24/2010
Community Event Reports Homegrown MSDN Western New York was the place to be on July 21st. Microsoft’s Northeast Evangelists Jim O’Neil, Chris Bowen, and Dan Stolts spoke at the prestigious free workday event, Greater Buffalo IT/Dev. Day. Over 300 attendees came from as far as Vermont and Ohio to experience the vast knowledge, numerous giveaways, delicious meals, and all day networking. You may wonder how all of this could be made possible in just three months time? As you might have guessed it took a lot of (... more)	1/24/2010
INETA Champs: New Badges for your Blog/Website The INETA Champs Team is proud to announce a new "badging" feature to the INETA Champs Website (http://www.inetachamps.com). You can now get an "Official INETA Champs" badge for your blog or website. But the best part is the badge is that the badge is dynamically updated so that as you tell us more about the great things you are doing in the community your badge with change from Bronze, to Silver, to Gold, and if you are at the highest levels of contribution and earn a Champion or (... more)	1/24/2010
Meet the Regional Speakers Looking for a speaker for an upcoming meeting or event? Maybe one of the over 150 community-minded folks who have registered to be INETA regional speakers would fit your agenda. Visit the Regional Speakers Program page and search for a person interested in presenting on a range of topics in your area and submit your request to get the process started.  Topics span  the range from Agile development methodology through XNA. We'd like to focus on a few of the people who have (... more)	1/24/2010
Newsletter in a Nutshell This month, we are coming up to the end of the Component Code Challenge. Be sure and enter for your chance to win a trip to PDC. We highlight a few of the people who have signed up for the Regional Speakers program. A new badge is available for your blog or website to reflect your current Community Champion status. David Hockenberry provides information on planning a community event and Jay Smith gives a wrap-up of an event he recently attended. A new special offer from InnerWorkings gives (... more)	1/24/2010
Code Challenge Deadline This Month Ask any .NET developer and I bet the vast majority will tell you that PDC is the MUST attend conference of the year.  Here at INETA, we realize that times are tough and thought now would be a good time to give away two trips to PDC.  Each trip includes air, hotel and conference pass.  All we ask is you take some time to build an application using some third party components. This could be something new or even something that you have been working on for a while.  It could even (... more)	1/24/2010
Upcoming Speaker Bureau Events KC .NET User Group Overland Park KS Tim Huckaby 07/21/09 CRINETA - Cedar Rapids INETA Cedar Rapids IA Miguel Castro 08/03/09 LA C# Developers Group Los Angeles CA Claudio Lassala 08/04/09 Southern California .Net Developers Group Long Beach CA Claudio Lassala 08/05/09 Iowa .NET User Group Des Moines IA Paul Sheriff 08/06/09 Southern Maryland .NET California MD Kevin McNeish 08/10/09 Chattanooga Area .NET User Group Chattanooga TN Mark Dunn  (... more)	7/22/2009
Community Events Upcoming Conferences Best Practices Conference Washington DC 08/24-26/09 DevLink 2009 Nashville TN 08/13-15/09 St. Louis Day of .NET St. Louis MO 08/28-29/09 SharePoint Conference 2009 Las Vegas NV 10/19-22/09 Code Camps and Other Events SharePoint Saturday Dallas Irving TX 07/25/09 Baton Rouge SQL Saturday Baton Rouge LA 08/01/09 South Florida SQL Saturday Miramar FL 08/08/09 Jacksonville .NET Code Camp Jacksonville FL 08/29/09  (... more)	7/22/2009
Thrive for Developers now Live Learn from industry leaders and community developers who are sharing their top recession survival strategies. These seasoned coders are tackling the economy head-on – and coming out on top. At Thrive for developers, you’ll also find career advice, job postings, training resources. Visit Thrive for Developers today. www.microsoft.com/thrivedev -- from the INETA NorAm July 2009 Newsletter  (... more)	7/22/2009
Pluralsight Offers for INETA Members Pluralsight On-Demand! Training – 30% OFF a 1-Year subscription ($500 value) Pluralsight is the premier Microsoft® .NET Training provider and home to many of the top authorities on .NET today.  On-Demand! is a subscription-based library of online Microsoft® .NET Training modules you can access from anywhere, anytime, while still learning from the best in the field. Subscribe using Promo Code: INETANEWS-100-SFG5-5ZM8 or click here for more information. Unemployed? Get (... more)	7/22/2009
What's New on INETA Live INETA: Career Webinar Series The INETA: Career webinar series, presented by Hector Hernandez of Sherlock Technology Staffing, has been completed.  All of the presentations are now available on INETA Live! You don't need talent to succeed, but Everything else Counts... How to talk to your manager about your career and actually make it happen... Unlocking the hidden value of your organization through people, technology and innovation... Unlock YOUR potential, by (... more)	7/22/2009
It's All About the Tools Russ’ Tool Shed presents… It’s All About The Tools – the TV Show! Microsoft Developer Evangelist Russ Fustino has put together an internet-based TV series filmed in front of a live studio audience that is entertaining, enlightening, and educational.  Three episodes have already been released on Channel 9 with more to come.  All three episodes run approximately one hour each. Episode 1 covers tools including Live Services Virtual Earth integrated with SQL 2008 Geospatial (... more)	7/22/2009
Community Champions News INETA Community Champion Award Winners Q2 2009 Please join us in congratulating the recipients of the Q2 2009 INETA Community Champion Award! Andrew Karcher Michael Steinberg Rachel Appel Todd Stone David Mohundro Zachariah Young 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 (... more)	7/22/2009
Up to the Challenge? Ask any .NET developer and I bet the vast majority will tell you that PDC is the MUST attend conference of the year.  Here at INETA, we realize that times are tough and thought now would be a good time to give away two trips to PDC.  Each trip includes air, hotel and conference pass.  All we ask is you take some time to build an application using some third party components. This could be something new or even something that you have been working on for a while.  It could even (... more)	7/22/2009
Newsletter in a Nutshell In this newsletter, we offer updates on two programs announced last month, the Regional Speakers Program and the Component Code Challenge, the new Community Champions winners and new website, details on a series of presentations on tools you might find useful, new resources available on INETA Live!, information from Thrive on how to differentiate yourself during today’s tough economy, a special offer on training, and the usual lists of Community Events and Upcoming Speakers Bureau events.  (... more)	7/22/2009
Regional Speakers Program Last month, INETA NorAm announced the new Regional Speakers Program. The goal of the program is two-fold: to provide a place for user group leaders to find speakers to come talk to their groups' meetings and other events and to provide people interested in speaking at a regional level more experience and increased presentation skills through resources and speaking opportunities.  To date, over 100 people have signed up to join the program.  For those who want to speak, all (... more)	7/22/2009
Upcoming Speaker Bureau Events Sarasota .Net Developers Group Sarasota FL Don Demsak 06/04/09 Pensacola SQL Server Users Group Pensacola FL Don Demsak 06/06/09 .NET Users of Fort Wayne Fort Wayne IN Wally McClure 06/09/09 Bloomington .NET Users Group Bloomington IL Chris G. Williams 06/09/09 Chippewa Valley .NET User Group (CVNUG) Eau Claire WI Caleb Jenkins 06/09/09 Ann Arbor .NET User Group Ann Arbor MI Steven Smith 06/10/09 Michiana Area .NET Users Group (MADNUG) South (... more)	6/2/2009
Three New ASP.NET Tracks added to Ramp Up Ramp Up (www.MyRampUp.com) is a free online learning program for developers. We've just launched three ASP.NET tracks: “Web Development with ASP.NET”, “Move from ASP to ASP.NET”, and “Move from PHP to ASP.NET”. These tracks, along with the other currently offered ones (e.g., Windows Mobile 6, SharePoint for Developers, Visual Studio 2008), teaches the important skills in a guided path, making the learning process easier and more efficient. The easy-to-access content (provided by (... more)	6/2/2009
Windows Azure Update New Apps and Demos PHP SDK for Windows Azure As part of Microsoft’s commitment to Interoperability, this open source project is an effort bridge PHP developers to Windows Azure. PHPAzure is an open source project to provide software development kit for Windows Azure and Windows Azure Storage – Blobs, Tables & Queues Windows Azure Management Tool (MMC) The Windows Azure Management Tool was created to manage your storage accounts in Windows Azure. Developed as a managed MMC, the tool (... more)	6/2/2009
Community Events Upcoming Conferences DevTeach Vancouver Vancouver BC 06/08-12/09 VSLive! Las Vegas Las Vegas NV 06/08-11/09 Best Practices Conference Washington DC 08/24-26/09 SharePoint Conference 2009 Las Vegas NV 10/19-22/09 Code Camps and Other Events SQLSaturday - Portland Greshem OR 06/06/09 SQLSaturday - Pensacola Pensacola FL 06/06/09 ORM Firestarter Mason OK 06/13/09 2nd Hartford Code Camp Hartford CT 06/13/09 Desert Code Camp  (... more)	6/2/2009
Windows Client: Windows 7 RC1 is released. Time to get ready! With the public release of the Windows 7 RC1 bits on May 5th, Microsoft indicated that the newest and possibly the most exciting version of the Windows operating system is nearing its final stages of development. With the public disclosure that it will be available before the 2009 holiday season, we all need to build our awareness of what’s new and exciting in Windows 7 and be ready for it. First and foremost, if you haven’t already downloaded and installed Windows 7 RC1, do so as soon (... more)	6/2/2009
Special Offers Second Shot Offer Ends June 30, 2009 The Second Shot offer provides a free retake if you fail your certification exam. Now you'll also get an E-Learning collection for just US$35 (usually priced up to US$349). But hurry, this offer ends on June 30, 2009. You May Be a Tech Whiz, but Are You Certifiable? Join the almost 200,000 other developers who are having fun while practicing, for free, for a Microsoft certification exam. Choose a character, select your expertise, and play against a (... more)	6/2/2009
June INETA: Career Webinars and INETA Live Presentations We know that times might be tough right now, and we want to help! INETA in partnership with Sherlock Technology (http://sherstaff.com) is pleased to present the INETA: Career Webinars Series. So if you need help seeking new employment, tweaking your resume, or better positioning yourself at your current job this webcast series is for you! Attend them live via LiveMeeting or watch the recordings on INETA Live (http://live.ineta.org).  Hector Hernandez and Alex Funkhouser of Sherlock Technology (... more)	6/2/2009
new CloudApp() Azure Services Platform Developer Contest new CloudApp() is a US-based developer challenge to promote the new opportunities and innovative ideas developers are creating with cloud computing on the Azure Services Platform. Write an application running on Windows Azure and the Azure Services Platform. .NET and PHP category applications will be judged by industry leaders, Om Malik and Michael Cote. Entries will be evaluated based on user experience and user interface, innovation and creativity of the application, applicability to (... more)	6/2/2009
The Best User Group Benefit You May Not Know You Have Did you know that one of the benefits of INETA membership is a free Live Meeting account? Regular and virtual groups can use this benefit to give and record presentations. If you have not requested your Live Meeting account, contact your INETA Membership Mentor. An hour-long Live Meeting training entitled "Best Practices for Presenting Using Live Meeting" is being offered to help you get started managing virtual presentations in collaborative, online events, and eLearning scenarios. The (... more)	6/2/2009
Community Champs Entries and Excellence Nominations Due This Month INETA Community Champion Second Quarter Entries Due This Month We are in the last month of the second quarter, and we know you have been doing great things in the community. The INETA NorAm Champs program is our way to Thank You. So take a few minutes to go to the Community Champions Award section of the INETA web site and tell us what you have been doing. The last day to get your entries in for this quarter is June 30th, so what the heck are you waiting for! INETA Community (... more)	6/2/2009
Tech·Ed Wrap-up In May, many developers and IT professionals made their way to Los Angeles for Tech·Ed 2009, a yearly Microsoft conference event. INETA’s participation at the event included a booth in the Community Lounge area where we showcased the “Stars of Community” and introduced user groups to attendees. Community Stars including INETA speakers, user group leaders, and volunteers, were all invited to autograph a star for us and place it on our INETAWood wall of fame. It was a great opportunity for (... more)	6/2/2009
Announcing the INETA Regional Speakers Program We would like to introduce the INETA Regional Speakers Program. This new initiative is designed to help user groups coordinate speaking engagements for meetings and community events such as code camps connect with local and regional speakers. Long term, we hope to use this as a staging ground to evaluate regional speakers for the national Speakers Bureau. The first phase of the program, registering speakers and connecting user groups with Regional Speakers, is being (... more)	6/2/2009
Newsletter in a Nutshell As summer starts to heat up here in North America, we have several HOT announcements and a little TO DO list to help you out today. The lawn can wait a few more minutes while you think about the application you will create for the INETA Component Code Challenge. Grab a lemonade and register yourself for the new Regional Speakers program or find a speaker for your group or event among the registered speakers. You can get a few more Community Champion entries in for the quarter, submit (... more)	6/2/2009
Win a Trip to PDC with the INETA Component Code Challenge Win a scholarship to PDC 2009 in Los Angeles, CA, by building .NET applications with reusable components Build a .NET Application (WinForms, ASP.NET, WPF, Silverlight, Compact Framework, etc.) using at least 2 components from at least 2 different approved vendors then make a 3-5 minute Camtasia video showing your entry and describing what components you used and why your application is cool. Our judges will review the submissions and the best two will win a scholarship to PDC 2009 in Los (... more)	6/2/2009
Upcoming Speaker Bureau Events CNY .NET Developer Group East Syracuse NY Kathleen Dollard 05/06/09 New England Visual Basic Professional User Group Waltham MA Claudio Lassala 05/07/09 Ottawa .NET Community Ottawa Canada Rob Windsor 05/07/09 Tech Valley .NET User Group Clifton Park NY Kathleen Dollard 05/07/09 Central Ohio .NET Developers Group Columbus OH Rachel Appel 05/08/09 Billings Users Group Billings MT Kathleen Dollard 05/12/09 East Bay.NET Pleasanton CA Rob Windsor  (... more)	5/5/2009
What’s Great for Developers in Internet Explorer 8 Microsoft’s next generation browser Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) is all about compatibility and supporting Web standards. And it’s about key features to make it the developer platform of choice. Compatibility By default and by design, Windows Internet Explorer 8 displays content using its most standards-compliant mode, the IE8 Standards mode. The Internet Explorer 8 team went to great lengths to insure compatibility with Web standards and contributed to tests that demonstrate more (... more)	5/5/2009
Community Events Stir Trek: May 8, 2009 – Columbus, OH We’re bringing MIX to you! For just $25 you’ll get the best of MIX at a location that is a little closer to home and in the comfort of a movie theater. Attend Stir Trek in Columbus, Ohio on May 8, 2009 to learn all about the exciting announcements from the MIX09 conference. This eventful day will include lunch, a raffle with significant prizes, AND a private screening of the new Star Trek movie, which opens in theaters the day of this event. Check (... more)	5/5/2009
Offers You Should Be Aware Of You may be a Dev Rock Star…but 'Are You Certifiable?!?' Have you ever considered taking a certification exam? Here's your chance to practice, in a very fun way. Choose an avatar, select your expertise, and pit yourself against a worldwide community in a quest for Tech IQ supremacy, a top spot on the leader board—and ultimate bragging rights! Are You Certifiable?!? Find out today at: www.areyoucertifiable.com NEW! Career Assist Package – up to 90% off the usual price for one (... more)	5/5/2009
Submit Azure Sessions to Web 2.0 Expo plus How Do I Videos for Azure Show off your best Azure thinking at a national event! Don't pass up the chance to showcase your brilliant Azure thinking to a host of influentials and potential clients. Submit session ideas for the Web 2.0 Expo in NYC, Nov 16-19. The deadline is 5/26/2009. Web 2.0 Expo is a mixture of implementation and inspiration, so attendees know what they need to do in the next 6 months, and what going to happen in the next 18. Case studies, war stories, and technological deep-dives are (... more)	5/5/2009
INETA Live and INETA: Career Webinars INETA Live Webcast Series What is INETA Live? INETA Live is a forum for virtual events and webcasts via Microsoft Live Meeting. What can I present? Whatever you want! Speakers can present a full presentation that they may present to user groups, or this can be an intro to one of their talks, or a topic of current interest. The choice is completely up to you! When do the webcasts happen? INETA Live webcasts are typically done during the week at 12 noon or 8pm eastern time. Feel (... more)	5/5/2009
Windows Client: Developing Applications on the Microsoft Surface The Microsoft Surface is a table-like computer with massive multi-touch capabilities that allow for collaborative experiences. You touch the Surface and interact naturally with your data, rather than using a mouse or keyboard. For the next step in this “Windows Client Development” series, we’ll take a look at developing for the Surface using the Surface SDK. Are you familiar with WPF? If so, you’re most of the way there! Many of the Surface controls derive from and have similar (... more)	5/5/2009
new Cloud() Azure Services Platform Developer Contest new CloudApp(): The Azure Services Platform Developer Contest new CloudApp() is a US-based developer challenge to promote the new opportunities and innovative ideas developers are creating with cloud computing on the Azure Services Platform. Write an application running on Windows Azure and the Azure Services Platform. .NET and PHP category applications will be judged by industry leaders, Om Malik and Michael Cote. Entries will be evaluated based on user experience and user (... more)	5/5/2009
The Best User Group Benefit You May Not Know You Have Did you know that one of the benefits of INETA membership is a free Live Meeting account? Regular and virtual groups can use this benefit to give and record presentations. If you have not requested your Live Meeting account, contact your INETA Membership Mentor. An hour-long Live Meeting training entitled "Best Practices for Presenting Using Live Meeting" is being offered to help you get started managing virtual presentations in collaborative, online events, and eLearning scenarios. The (... more)	5/5/2009
Tech·Ed BOF and WomenBuild Sessions Once again INETA and Culminis are organizing the Birds-of-a-Feather (BOF) sessions at Tech·Ed in Los Angeles, May 11-15, 2009. These open discussion sessions on a variety of technology topics are led by volunteer moderators. There are daytime BOF sessions (Room 501A) and a special BOF event with 16 sessions Thursday evening, May 14, as part of the "Jam on IT" night. If you are interested in seeing the BOF session topics, visit http://www.msteched.com/sessionlist/default.aspx and search on (... more)	5/5/2009
See and Be Seen Among the Stars at the INETA Booth at Tech·Ed If you plan on attending Tech·Ed, stop by the INETA booth in the Technical Learning Center Community Lounge for your chance to meet other members of the community, including members of the INETA Board, speakers from the INETA Speakers Bureau and User Group leaders from all over.  The INETA Walk of Fame will feature well known INETA Speakers Bureau stars and up and coming stars from local communities.  Come by and add yourself to the Wall of Stars. During Tech·Ed, like always, we want (... more)	5/5/2009
Newsletter in a Nutshell In addition to lots of details about the various programs at Tech·Ed, this newsletter contains details about your free Live Meeting account, an INETA User Group membership benefit, a new Windows Client article on developing for the Microsoft Surface, details on the on-going INETA LIVE webcast series and INETA:Career webinar series, details on a new Azure developer contest, new Cloud(), plus information to start getting you up-to-speed on Microsoft Azure to enter that contest and several (... more)	5/5/2009
Tech·Ed North America 2009 Next Week Tech·Ed North America 2009 is just days away. If you are fortunate enough to be going to Los Angeles for the event, you will have many opportunities to make and renew your user group contacts. INETA would like to invite you to take part in the many community opportunities. From the many diverse topics and conversations of the Birds of Feather sessions and the diversity conversations of the WomenBuild Women in Technology session to the information, conversation and just plain fun and games at (... more)	5/5/2009
Upcoming Speaker Events Tampa Bay .NET User Group Tampa Bay FL Keith Elder 04/23/09 St. Louis .NET User Group St. Louis MO Rachel Appel 04/27/09 Boulder .NET User Group Boulder CO Amanda Laucher 04/28/09 Western New York .NET User Group Amerst NY Kathleen Dollard 05/04/09 San Diego .NET Developers Group San Diego CA Phil Weber 05/05/09 SouthColorado.Net Colorado Springs CO Paul Sheriff 05/05/09 VDUNY Rochester NY Kathleen Dollard 05/05/09 CNY .NET Developer (... more)	4/28/2009
Community Events Coders for Charities, April 24-26, Kansas City, MO Coders For Charities is a 3-day charity event that pairs charities and local software developers. Charities often do not have the funds to implement a new website or intranet or database solution. Software developers often do not volunteer for charities because their skills do not apply. This event is the perfect marriage of these two needs; software developers volunteering their time to help charities better serve their community though (... more)	4/28/2009
Keeping up with INETA   Did you know that beyond the INETA newsletter and website, you can follow the goings-on of INETA on the INETA Live! blog, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn? INETA Live! INETA on Twitter INETA Speakers on Twitter INETA on Facebook INETA - North America on LinkedIn -- from the INETA NorAm April 2009 Newsletter  (... more)	4/28/2009
WomenBuild at Tech·Ed The WomenBuild program is specifically designed to address the decline of female talent and leadership in the computer science industry. Microsoft partnered with LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY (LSP) through Robert Rasmussen & Associates to create a unique interactive workshop, using LEGO® Bricks to model solutions for growing strong female leaders in the software industry. WomenBuild is not only a program but a growing community that provides accessibility to female role models, access to (... more)	4/28/2009
Get a Little INETA in your Silverlight for Extra Prizes in ServerQuest II Microsoft is running a Silverlight Game contest which closes April 30th. We want to encourage the INETA Developer Community to get involved. If your app wins, we’ll also provide an extra special INETA prize pack! (If it’s not an INETA entry that wins, we’ll divide up the prizes amongst the INETA entries). How will we know it's you? In order to track your game as an INETA entry, we need you to either include INETA in the title or description of the game, or preferably display an (... more)	4/28/2009
Virtual User Groups vir·tu·al us·er group [vur-choo-uhl  yoo-zer groop]- noun 1.        An organized group of professionals that meet regularly online (virtually) to help one other with professional development 2.      Also known collectively as VUGs --note: this entry is new and its definition is ever-evolving, but it’s still pretty cool, right? User groups have been around a long time. No one is quite sure when, but they came about sometime after the dinosaurs but before man (... more)	4/28/2009
INETA Live Webcasts and INETA: Career Webinars Series INETA Live Webcast Series INETA Director of Technology and Speaker Bureau member Steve Andrews and Speaker Bureau member Rachel Appel are hosting the first in a new series of INETA Live Webcasts. These presentations will be done via Live Meeting and will also be available for viewing on the INETA Live site (http://live.ineta.com). If you are interested in doing a live webcast for INETA Live, please contact Steve Andrews (steve.andrews@ineta.org) *All times are Eastern (... more)	4/28/2009
New Board of Directors Holds Spring Meeting INETA NorAm is pleased to announce the election of the following individuals to the Board of Directors for the term beginning April 3, 2009. The four primary officers were elected to serve a two year term and the five directors, a one year term. This team of people has significant experience in the community as user group leaders and volunteers. Congratulations to the new board and to all of the highly qualified candidates. The new Board of Directors got together for their first (... more)	4/28/2009
Community Champion Award Winners for Q1 2009 Announced INETA Community Champion Award Winners Please join us in congratulating the recipients of the Q1 2009 INETA Community Champion Annual Award! Tim Tyrrell - Northwest Arkansas Ryan Duclos - Lower Alabama Brandon King - Harrison, Arkansas Ben Scherman - South Texas Becky Isserman - Olathe, Kansas Ben Hoelting - South Colorado Julie Yack - South Colorado The purpose of the INETA Community Champion Award program is to recognize individuals with the highest levels of (... more)	4/28/2009
Tech·Ed Birds-of-a-Feather Session Hosts Needed Once again INETA and Culminis are organizing the Birds-of-a-Feather (BOF) sessions at Tech·Ed in Los Angeles, May 11-15, 2009. These open discussion sessions on a variety of technology topics are led by volunteer moderators. There are daytime BOF sessions and a special BOF event with 16 sessions Thursday evening May 14th. If you are interested in seeing the BOF session topics, visit http://www.msteched.com/sessionlist/default.aspx and search on “BOF”. In addition to the moderator for (... more)	4/28/2009
INETA to go Hollywood at Tech·Ed On May 11th, developers from all over the world will be descending on Los Angeles, CA for Tech·Ed North America 2009 (http://www.msteched.com). If you plan on attending Tech·Ed, stop by the INETA booth in the Technical Learning Center Community Lounge for your chance to meet other members of the community, including members of the INETA Board, speakers from the INETA Speakers Bureau and User Group leaders from all over. This is your chance to shake hands and rub elbows with members of (... more)	4/28/2009
Newsletter in a Nutshell In addition to lots of details about the various programs at Tech·Ed, this newsletter contains information about the first quarter Community Champion Award winners, the spring Board of Directors meeting, a new INETA Live webcast series, and a series of webcasts to help with your career. An article written by Membership Mentor Julie Yack gives details about a new type of user group that is growing in popularity -- the Virtual User group.  There are also details on the Silverlight game (... more)	4/28/2009
Time For Tech·Ed North America 2009 Together with the Microsoft team, INETA and Culminis have put in a massive effort to make sure that there are useful and exciting things for you as an INETA user group member attending Tech·Ed 2009. There are meetings, parties, competitions, sessions, events and more you can take part in to build and renew your user group contacts. Can't make it this year? Not to worry as you can take part in Tech·Ed online. Refer to the newsletter sections below for details on Tech·Ed events and (... more)	4/28/2009
VistaDB Save $50 off any VistaDB edition, the #1 fully managed embedded database engine for .Net developers.  1 MB true xcopy deployment, TSQL Procs, Views, multiuser access and more.  Free 30 day trial, and source available.  Coupon Code: INETAGROUP   Offer updated April 2009  (... more)	4/28/2009
How Do I Start a .NET User Group? Visit the INETA forums and post questions for other user group leaders to answer Contact your local Microsoft regional representative. You can locate your local Microsoft regional office at http://www.microsoft.com/about/companyinformation/usaoffices/default.mspx. Download the Starting and running a user group white paper. Contact your INETA User Group Relations Committee liaison with questions.  (... more)	4/14/2009
New in User Group Specials Want great deals on stuff you really need? eWEEK - The Enterprise Newsweekly offers 51 free issues DotNetBuilders offers a 20% discount to INETA Members on their Constructor() tool Silk Webware offers 20% discount to INETA Members on their web controls and components SSW offers 15% discount on their Access Reporter .NET for IIS Franklins.NET is offering a 15% off enrollments until September Visit the Specials page at INETA.ORG for these and other great deals -- from the (... more)	4/14/2009
Upcoming Speaker Bureau Events Ozarks DNUG Harrison AR Claudio Lassala 04/02/09 Twin Cities Languages User Group MN Cory Smith 04/04/09 Oklahoma City .Net Developer's Group Oklahoma City OK Rachel Appel 04/06/09 Edmonton .NET User Group Edmonton Canada Rod Paddock 04/07/09 Regina .NET Regina Canada Rod Paddock 04/08/09 RI .Net User Group Bristol RI Steve Andrews 04/08/09 Phoenix Connected Systems User Group Phoenix AZ Robert Green 04/09/09 Winnipeg .NET Users Group  (... more)	3/30/2009
HDI- VS Debugger HOW DO I: VS-Debugger: Tips and Tricks for Debugging in Visual Studio In a debugging session, it is possible to view and explore the values of elements. It is also possible to modify those values in an effort to determine how a new value affects the outcome. In this video, Todd Miranda demonstrates how to use watch and immediate windows to test various scenarios while debugging. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/dd442479.aspx HOW DO I: VS-Debugger: Create a Breakpoint Using Hit (... more)	3/30/2009
Join Ramp Up and Help Advance Your Career Ramp Up is a free, online, community-based program that can help you save time in learning Microsoft technology. The easy-to-access content, provided by subject-matter gurus, is specifically tailored for the Ramp Up program and offered in a variety of forms, including articles, virtual labs, "codecasts" and "slidecasts." Find out the details at http://www.MyRampUp.com -- from the INETA NorAm March 2009 Newsletter  (... more)	3/30/2009
Windows Client Column #3 I'm a developer not a designer so why do I need Expression Blend? If you are a .NET Developer today you probably have heard of Microsoft Silverlight. You may have noticed a .xaml file in your project, saw it was all xml and wondered why anyone would code an app in xml. After all I am a VB/C# programmer not a designer right? All that xml is a language called XAML which stands for eXtensible Application Markup Language. Its true power lies in its ability to serialize out your objectives into a format that is universally readable. In fact since .NET 3.0 (... more)	3/30/2009
INETA Makes the MyDevConnections Magazine Rob Zelt and several user group leaders are quoted in some articles in the current issue of MyDevConnections! Plus, many INETA Speakers have technical articles in the magazine. Check out the issue and videos online! -- from the INETA NorAm March 2009 Newsletter  (... more)	3/30/2009
Getting Started with the SDL Threat Modeling Tool The Microsoft Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) Threat Modeling Tool allows developers to identify and mitigate potential security issues early, offering a methodology that any software architect or developer can use easily and effectively. In the article Getting Started with the SDL Threat Modeling Tool, Adam Shostack invites you to follow Deb (a developer), Paul (a program manager), and Tim (a tester) through the process of developing their first threat model, and he discusses each (... more)	3/30/2009
Get a Word in on Azure The MSDN team recently launched a series of free "YouTube" style videos on the Azure Services Platform and they want YOUR feedback. These short screencasts are designed to help customers "see" the Azure Platform in action without a token or access to the CTP. Topics range from " How Do I: Get Started With Azure?" to "How Do I: Use the Microsoft Live Framework Resource Browser?", and most topics include code downloads. So what do you think? Are there other topics you would like to see from (... more)	3/30/2009
Microsoft patterns & practices Monthly Webcast The Microsoft patterns & practices (p&p) team is responsible for delivering applied engineering guidance that helps software architects, developers, and their teams take full advantage of Microsoft's platform technologies in their custom application development efforts. p&p releases include Enterprise Library, Composite Application Guidance, ESB guidance and more. Starting January, we will be hosting a monthly technical sessions with p&p over live meeting. The topics will cover one of many p&p (... more)	3/30/2009
The Microsoft MVP Award Program Blog Launch The Microsoft MVP Program has recently launched The Microsoft MVP Award Program Blog, showcasing some of the amazing and inspiring contributions of Microsoft's Most Valuable Professionals! With a fresh new post each day, learn how MVPs are helping technical community watchers like you to find information and share knowledge with a global audience. Take a look at the blog, be inspired and tap into the rich knowledge and connections of our awesome community! The blog is currently in (... more)	3/30/2009
TechDays Developer 2009 Defy All Challenges 24 Hour Virtual Event Registration Is Open! - Influencers getting the word out! We are excited to announce that registration is now open for Tech·Days Developer 2009 - Defy All Challenges 24-Hour virtual event!  For the first time, we are gathering developers from all over the world in one continuous 24 hours of learning around the clock on April 1, 2009. Through the Tech·Days virtual event portal, attendees will be able to access more than 95 sessions in person or on-demand later at their convenience with renowned technology experts.  Tech·Days (... more)	3/30/2009
Community Excellence "Lifetime Achievement" Award Recipient: Bill Jones Jr. INETA Community Champion Award Winners Twice a year the Champs Selection Committee has one of the hardest decisions to make. They have to sift through the pile of nominations and select one person to receive this prestigious award. This time it was no different and, with so many outstanding nominations, they could only select one. As always they have made a good choice in selecting Bill Jones Jr. Bill is a VB.NET MVP, INETA User Group Leader, INETA Membership Mentor, speaker, Code (... more)	3/30/2009
Coders for Charities, April 24-26, Kansas City, MO Coders For Charities is a 3-day charity event that pairs charities and local software developers. Charities often do not have the funds to implement a new website or intranet or database solution. Software developers often do not volunteer for charities because their skills do not apply. This event is the perfect marriage of these two needs; software developers volunteering their time to help charities better serve their community though the latest technology! For more information, (... more)	3/30/2009
From the Board INETA NorAm is pleased to announce the election of the following individuals to the Board of Directors starting April 3rd. Rob Zelt, President Mike Vincent, Vice President Scott Spradlin, Secretary Morgan Baker, Treasurer Steve Andrews, Director Lori McKinney, Director Randy Walker, Director Shawn Weisfeld, Director Chris Williams, Director We look forward to having this great group of people working on behalf of the developer community. We would also like to thank (... more)	3/30/2009
Community Champions Winners Announced INETA Community Champion Award Winners Please join us in congratulating the recipients of the Q4 2008 INETA Community Champion Award! Adam Machanic - New England SQL Server Users Group Chris Eargle - Columbia Enterprise Developers Guild Teresa Hennig - Pacific Northwest Access Developer Group and Seattle Access Group Supriyo 'SB' Chatterjee - Connecticut .NET Developers Group Chris Hammond - St. Louis DNN User Group Scott Cate - Arizona .NET User Group Greg Pugh - TRINUG (... more)	2/4/2009
Upcoming Speaker Bureau Events Central Maryland Association of .NET Professionals Laurel, MD Rachel Appel 02/03/09 Boise .Net Developers User Group Boise, ID Stuart Celarier 02/05/09 Capital City .NET Users Group of Florida Talahassee, FL Todd Bleeker 02/05/09 Kansas City Office Geeks Leawood, KS Daniel Larson 02/07/09 Northern New Jersey .NET User Group Parsippany, NJ Les Pinter 02/10/09 Twin Cities Developers Guild Edina, MN Shawn Wildermuth 02/10/09 Tampa User eXperience (... more)	2/4/2009
User Group Survey Microsoft has requested our help in running a survey for them. This satisfaction survey is intended to identify what benefits you and your members get from the user group community and how INETA and Microsoft can be as effective as possible in supporting you as a user group leader. This is a good opportunity to tell Microsoft what you think and how they can help you better. We are looking for at least a thousand responses by the end of February from a mix of user group leaders and members, (... more)	2/4/2009
Geeks Without Borders There's another new entity on the interwebs, Geeks Without Borders. Founded by Inland Empire .NET User's Group President, James Johnson, and driven by a renewed sense of volunteerism, Geeks Without Borders is a social network of concerned people who realize the potential and promise of technology, and work together devising unique ways to distribute technology - hardware, software, training and support - to areas of the world less technologically fortunate than where the typical (... more)	2/4/2009
INETA Makes the MyDevConnections Magazine Rob Zelt and several user group leaders are quoted in some articles in the new issue of MyDevConnections! Plus, many INETA Speakers have technical articles in the magazine. Check out the issue and videos online! -- from the INETA NorAm February 2009 Newsletter  (... more)	2/4/2009
Upcoming Events 2009 Orlando DevConnections March 22-25, 2009 Orlando, FL Connect to over 75 Microsoft Architects and Industry experts at Microsoft ASP.NET & Visual Studio Connections March 22- 25, 2009 at the JW Marriott Orlando, FL. The first 800 people to register will be mailed a copy of SQL Server 2008 Std with 1 CAL. In this economy you need to make connections and stay on top of your game! And, there's a special offer for User Group leaders to earn passes. First you have to register to (... more)	2/4/2009
Microsoft patterns & practices Monthly Webcast The Microsoft patterns & practices (p&p) team is responsible for delivering applied engineering guidance that helps software architects, developers, and their teams take full advantage of Microsoft's platform technologies in their custom application development efforts. p&p releases include Enterprise Library, Composite Application Guidance, ESB guidance and more. Starting January, we will be hosting a monthly technical sessions with p&p over live meeting. The topics will cover one of (... more)	2/4/2009
MIX09 – Bill Buxton to Keynote, New Sessions, and More! Calling all web designers and web developers - it's time to show how much you <3 Your Web, and MIX09 is the place to do it. At MIX, you'll get access to the tools, knowledge, and vision to create the next generation of UX, applications, and web design. You'll also have an opportunity to exchange ideas with fellow designers and developers (representing some of the world's top sites and interactive agencies) and network with Microsoft's thought-leaders in the web space. New Keynote (... more)	2/4/2009
Nominations Now Being Accepted for INETA North America Board of Directors The INETA NorAm Board of Directors is now accepting nominations for following positions. General commitment is around 15-20 hours/month including regular bi-weekly Board conference calls and two expense-paid in-person weekend Board meetings per year. OFFICERS The four Officer positions (President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer) are two (2) year terms and are the individuals responsible for running the not-for-profit corporation. DIRECTORS There are five (5) (... more)	2/4/2009
Windows Client Column #2 – Internet Explorer 8 is coming, are you ready for it? Over the past couple of years the browser has become one of the most critical components of our daily computing experiences. With Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) Microsoft has invested heavily in a couple of different areas to improve the user experience as well as provide additional features that can be taken advantage of by web site developers. A couple of examples of these areas include: 7 Accelerators: Most people who do anything on the web have become accustomed to copy/paste (... more)	2/4/2009
Newsletter at a Glance IE 8 RC1 is here.  Are you ready? Joe Shirley, Technical Evangelist from Microsoft gives us another look-see into the upcoming platform for our .NET solutions. Feeling altruistic but not ready to join the Peace Corp?  Check out the article on Geeks without Borders. Events in this newsletter's spot light include DevConnections in Orlando, Online session from the Microsoft Patterns & Practices group and MIX09 in Vegas where what happens there will actually be worth taking back with (... more)	2/4/2009
From the Board For many years INETA has been organizing the popular Birds-of-a-Feather (BOF) sessions at TechEd and other conferences. These are informal, open discussions on any technology related topic led by a volunteer moderator. This year, volunteers from INETA in conjunction with Culminis are organizing what should be a great set of BOF sessions. There will be sessions during the daytime and once again a special BOF evening event on Wednesday 5/13/2009. Proposals are now being accepted for (... more)	2/4/2009
MSDN Developer Conference: Coming To a City Near You 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 version of the Windows client operating system. Sessions include the latest (... more)	1/15/2009
Upcoming Speaker Bureau Events GatorMUG Gainesville, FL John Papa 01/15/09 Tallahassee SharePoint Experts Exchange  for Developers (SPEED) Tallahassee, FL Todd Bleeker 01/20/09 Philly .NET User Group Dresher, PA Julie Lerman 01/21/09 Florida .NET - West Palm Beach West Palm Beach, FL John Papa 01/22/09 Montgomery Area .NET Developer Group  (Alabama Code Camp) Montgomery, AL Keith (... more)	1/15/2009
Upcoming Events 2009 Orlando DevConnections March 22-25, 2009 Orlando, FL Connect to over 75 Microsoft Architects and Industry experts at Microsoft ASP.NET & Visual Studio Connections March 22- 25, 2009 at the JW Marriott Orlando, FL. The first 800 people to register will be mailed a copy of SQL Server 2008 Std with 1 CAL. Register for your room at the JW Marriott before Feb 3rd and receive a free room night based on a minimum stay of 3 nights. In this economy you need to make connections and (... more)	1/15/2009
Silverlight: Write and Win! Start the year off with some Silverlight fun in our "Silverlight: Write and Win!" Holiday Edition contest. What you have to do is to write a cool article and submit it at www.SilverlightShow.net or editorial@silverlightshow.net. This time all the submittals will be judged by jury with members: Adam Kinney, Chris Anderson, Dave Campbell, Emil Stoychev, Michael Sync, Shawn Wildermuth and Tim Heuer. But what is Christmas without presents? The first three articles will be awarded with (... more)	1/15/2009
Lego SeriousPlay WomanBuild Workshop  Lego SeriousPlay WomanBuild Workshop Missed the WomenBuild workshop at PDC?   Come join the Lego SeriousPlay WomenBuild workshop at the MSDN Developer Conferences! Open to both MEN and WOMEN FREE to anyone registered for the MSDN Developer Conference ($99 registration fee). What is WomenBuild? Designed to address how do we attract and grow Women in Technology through creative out-of-the- box thinking. A place to brainstorm solutions on how (... more)	1/15/2009
Birds-of-a-Feather Session Proposals Being Accepted for TechEd 2009 Proposals are now being accepted for Birds-of-a-Feather (BOF) sessions for Microsoft TechEd conference in Los Angeles, CA May 11-15, 2009. BOF sessions are open discussion topics of mutual interest to Tech·Ed attendees. They give developers and IT professionals the opportunity to meet with people who have similar interests and challenges in an open-forum environment that promotes discussion and interaction. Anyone attending Tech·Ed who is willing to moderate a discussion is encouraged to enter (... more)	1/15/2009
Nominations Now Being Accepted for INETA North America Board of Directors The INETA NorAm Board of Directors is now accepting nominations for following positions. General commitment is around 15-20 hours/month including regular bi-weekly Board conference calls and two expense-paid in-person weekend Board meetings per year. OFFICERS The four Officer positions (President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer) are two (2) year terms and are the individuals responsible for running the not-for-profit corporation. DIRECTORS There are five (5) Director (... more)	1/15/2009
From the Board It is a fresh new year and INETA is bringing your fresh new faces! Periodically, new speakers are brought into the INETA NorAm Speakers Bureau. Only 16 slots were available this round and were filled with very qualified individuals. We are happy to be able to support your user group by providing the Speakers Bureau. Be sure to take advantage of that resource and request a speaker today! Please help me congratulate the 16 new speakers! Steve Andrews Rachel Appel Jason (... more)	1/15/2009
INETA Community Champions INETA Community Champions Q4 2008 Submissions Selections for the Q4 2008 Community Champions Award are coming up soon, so be sure to enter your activities and have a chance at being recognized for your contributions to the user group community. The deadline is December 31, 2008 and covers your activities between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2008, meaning you can submit everything you have done for your user group community during this time period. If you are among the 10 most active (... more)	12/11/2008
Get in on the PhizzPop Online Challenge action! Web Developers and Designers from across the U.S. and around the world are having their skills put to the test as they compete in four successive challenges of increasing complexity. Faced with a problem statement, you will combine your creative genius with the provided challenge-specific (free) training materials to create a solution that solves the posed issue. You have the opportunity to win valuable prizes and receive bragging rights by winning either the judged or people's choice (... more)	12/11/2008
Upcoming INETA Speaker Bureau Local Events Fort Smith .NET User Group Fort Smith AR Kate Gregory 12/08/08 Orlando .NET User Group Orlando FL Mark Dunn 12/08/08 Central Florida .NET User Group Lakeland FL Mark Dunn 12/09/08 Northwest Arkansas .NET User Group (NWADNUG) Fayetteville AR Kate Gregory 12/09/08 Baton Rouge .Net User Group Baton Rouge LA Kate Gregory 12/10/08 Bellingham.NET Bellingham WA Phil Weber 12/10/08 Space Coast Dot Net User Group Melbourne FL Mark Dunn 12/10/08  (... more)	12/11/2008
Announcing Regional Speaker Mentors Applications are now being accepted for the INETA NORAM Regional Speaker Mentors. The responsibilities will be to help existing and new speakers in your region, help maintain the policies and procedures, speaker selection process, etc. Simply email noram.speakers@ineta.org with your interest in the position and the reasons you would be the best candidate. We will then select 1 for each of the 26 current NORAM regions. Thanks, David Walker VP INETA Speakers Bureau -- from the INETA (... more)	12/11/2008
Nominations Accepted for Speaker Bureau and the new Regional Speakers Bureau In an effort to meet user group demands and speaker requests, applications are now being accepted for the INETA NORAM Speakers Bureau until Midnight CST, Dec 28th, 2008. Simply fill out the form located here: http://www.ineta.org/newsletters/INETA%20Speaker%20Candidate%20Form%202007.doc Email it and any questions to:   noram.speakers@ineta.org Since only a select amount of new speakers can be added, don't get discouraged. You will also be considered for the new INETA NORAM (... more)	12/11/2008
TechEd 2009 Birds-of-a-Feather Sessions The always popular Birds-of-a-Feather (BOF) sessions will be held again at TechEd 2009 in Los Angeles, May 11-15, 2009. Details on topic submission and voting will be provided in the January 2009 INETA Newsletter. BOF sessions are community moderated discussions on any technology topics. Put your thinking caps on and get ready to submit topics that you would like to moderate! -- from the INETA NorAm December 2008 Newsletter  (... more)	12/11/2008
Microsoft patterns & practices Monthly Learning Series The Microsoft patterns & practices (p&p) team is responsible for delivering applied engineering guidance that helps software architects, developers, and their teams take full advantage of Microsoft's platform technologies in their custom application development efforts. p&p releases include Enterprise Library, Composite Application Guidance, ESB guidance and more. Starting January, we will be hosting a monthly technical sessions with p&p over live meeting. The topics will cover one of many (... more)	12/11/2008
Baking Security in Comics Discover Heroes of the Virtual World in The Amazing Adventures of Kevlarr and the SDL. Contoso is under attack. Villains from the Legion of Malware are tearing down the newly constructed walls of an application in development-threatening the company's security and success. Can one man stop the destruction and save the project in time? Follow weekly the quest of Kevlarr, an ordinary developer, as he learns to find his inner super powers to build and protect a more fortified (... more)	12/11/2008
The Three New SDL Related Offerings Are you ready to develop more secure applications? Security is most effective when it is 'baked in' from the start-for the past several years the Security Development Lifecycle (SDL), the industry-leading security assurance process, has been continually improving the built-in security of Microsoft flagship products, including Windows Vista, SQL Server, and Microsoft Office. The SDL empowers developers to create more secure applications through education, defined methodology, and (... more)	12/11/2008
Lego SeriousPlay WomenBuild Workshop Missed the WomenBuild workshop at PDC?   Come join the Lego SeriousPlay WomenBuild workshop at the MSDN Developer Conferences! Open to both MEN and WOMEN FREE to anyone registered for the MSDN Developer Conference ($99 registration fee).What is WomenBuild? Designed to address how do we attract and grow Women in Technology through creative out-of-the- box thinking. A place to brainstorm solutions on how we can make technology and a career in technology more accessible to women.  (... more)	12/11/2008
MSDN Developer Conference: Coming to a City Near You 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 version of the Windows client operating system. Sessions include the latest (... more)	12/11/2008
Do More, Make a Greater Impact My name is Steve Andrews, and I have a challenge for you this holiday season. In 2007 over 35.5 million people in the United States and Canada went hungry during the holidays. Given the current state of the world economy, this number is expected to be significantly higher in 2008. To that end I am issuing this challenge: For all user groups to hold a food drive as part of their meeting in December. This is our opportunity as community leaders to improve the lives of our friends (... more)	12/11/2008
Board Member Nominations In mid-January the nomination process for INETA North American Board (USA & Canada) positions will take place. Details on what positions are open and the associated responsibilities will be posted in the January 2009 newsletter and distributed to all INETA user group leaders. All nominations must come from an INETA user group leader. Pass the word along to anyone who might have an interest in running for a Board position. -- from the INETA NorAm December 2008 Newsletter  (... more)	12/11/2008
Getting Started with the Windows Presentation Foundation When the .NET Framework 3.0 shipped with Windows Vista back in late 2006, one of the key features it introduced was the Windows Presentation Foundation (or WPF for short.) As a technology, WPF was quite ambitious, and managed to: Decouple user interface appearance from behavior, enabling complete freedom of design Enable developers and designers to work together simultaneously on projects, each using tools appropriate for their skills Unify access to 2D, 3D, raster image, vector image, (... more)	12/11/2008
Newsletter in a Nutshell In this newsletter you will find multiple opportunities to become involved in the community.  Nominations, applications, open positions, everywhere you turn there are opportunities.  We encourage you to consider getting involved and giving back.  Make 2009 a fresh start.   If you are a speaker - or want to be come one - there are opportunities just for you outlined in this newsletter.  Even if you think you need help before you hit the national circuit, this is the perfect time to get (... more)	12/11/2008
From the Board As 2008 draws to a close I decided to take a moment to reflect back on the year that was. 2008 was an extremely exciting year with the release of major products like Visual Studio 2008, Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008. We received exciting updates like Silverlight 2 and the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1, and many previews of new technologies which certainly  fueled many heated discussions throughout the year. The broad developer community has also had a very busy (... more)	12/11/2008
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)	11/30/2008
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)	11/30/2008
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)	11/30/2008
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)	11/30/2008
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)	11/30/2008
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)	11/30/2008
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)	11/30/2008
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)	11/30/2008
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)	11/30/2008
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)	11/30/2008
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)	11/30/2008
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)	11/30/2008
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)	11/30/2008
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)	11/30/2008
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)	11/30/2008
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)	11/30/2008
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
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
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 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 RD, Oregon) who does a lot of speaking for Microsoft around the world. We were pointed to this by one of the new LATAM speakers, Argentina MSDN Regional Director, Daniel Seara. Gracias Daniel! -- from the INETA NorAm April 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	4/9/2008
Speaker Chris Kinsman bounces from Coast to Coast In February, Chris Kinsman flew from Seattle to the East Coast not once but twice. His first trip was to  Burlington Vermont to speak at the VTdotNET User Group. Chris got treated to two days of skiing and dinner at the home of a VTdotNET member as well as dinner at the ski lodge of the Boston.NET User Group leader, Chris Pels. Chris (Kinsman) learned a little bit about icy eastern skiing and in return, he showered VTdotNET with a slice of his astounding knowledge of .NET. Less than (... more)	4/9/2008
User Group creates fun ASP.Net Open Source project The Northwest Ohio .NET User Group (NWNUG) has come up with an exciting way of having fun with .NET while still being educational. Their Open Source ASP.NET Interactive Quiz game is dubbed "Quizzard" and boasts a buzzard as mascot that heckles participants! There is a finished version (MC) and one under development (MU). Quizzard MC requires a quizmaster or MC to ask the questions and is played in front of an audience split into teams. The inspiration for this initiative came about after (... more)	4/9/2008
Latin American Speaker Bureau Kickoff a big success! Cerezo, Seara, Sant'Anna, Garza, Seven, Llibre, Pleas, Getz Star Studded Cast hits South Beach in Miami! On March 20th and 21st, two days of meetings and training were held in the beautiful Sheraton Bal Harbor in North Miami Beach. In attendance were the members of the Latam Speakers Bureau: David Garza, Mexico Juan Llibre, Dominican Republic Mauro Sant'Anna, Brazil Daniel Seara, Argentina Guillermo Som Cerezo, Spain Doug (Siete) Seven, USA Ken Getz, USA Keith (... more)	4/9/2008
Newest INETA Members 18 New Groups joined INETA in March. They come from all over the world! In South America: Columbia, Equador (2 groups), Venezuela (3 groups) and Costa Rica. In Europe, U.K. (2 groups), Spain and Turkey. In Canada: Alberta, Winnipeg, Vancouver (2 groups) and New Bruswick, and in the U.S., 2 new groups in New Jersey. -- from the INETA NorAm April 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	4/9/2008
Need a presentation? Check out the INETA Repository! Greg Huber from the Northwest Ohio .NET User Group wrote in the forums that he loved being able to get presentations from other user groups that have been uploaded to the repository. He says "I encourage UG's to use the repository-- there is some great material in there." -- from the INETA NorAm May 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	4/9/2008
In the INETA online Forums How to get feedback- User group leaders discuss the issue of getting feedback from members to help with the direction of the user group. -- from the INETA NorAm May 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	4/9/2008
MSDN News MSDN Website Changes msdn.microsoft.com has a new face and a new image. They have organized content into "Developer Centers". Lots of changes. Lots of new content. Check it out MSDN RSS Feeds MSDN is now publishing their news in RSS feeds. These are a great resource for your user group website. For the uninitiated, RSS feeds are a specially formatted XML file containing headlines, links and a short description, that is constantly updated. There are already a number of feeds. One that (... more)	4/9/2008
Speakers Bureau News Two Speaker Bureau members have lovely new baby boys that we would like to brag about. Matthew Paul Litwin was born on Monday April 14th and Joseph Andrew Duthie was born on Friday, April 18th. Congratulations to Paul Litwin and his wife and to G. Andrew Duthie and his wife. Congratulations also to Chris Sells and Asli Bilgin who have been hired by Microsoft. Chris is on the Content Team for MSDN and Asli is a .NET Developer Evanglist for the Eastern U.S. Sadly, this does mean that they (... more)	4/9/2008
ASPNetPro Magazine INETA and Informant Communications are pleased to bring you a sweet deal for your group and your members. For groups in the US and Canada (only), your members can get a subscription to the highly acclaimed ASP.NET Pro magazine for the lowest price ever, AND, a portion of the proceeds of the subscription fee are shared with INETA  and  with the user group the subscriber belongs to. To participate in this program, all you need to do is promote it to your members (a special banner on your site, (... more)	4/9/2008
New in User Group Specials Want great deals on stuff you really need? Wintellect offers you a chance to win a .NET Nirvana Geek Cruise Deep Training offers a $250 discount on any of their courses Windows Developer Network is offering a special on the CD-ROM 6.0 article and code archive as well as a free on-line subscription US Internet offers a hosting special Transcom Software offers a 25% discount on their Rapid Development Platform Visit the Specials page at INETA.ORG for these and other great (... more)	4/9/2008
INETA to be featured on .Net Rocks! .NET Rocks! Carl Franklin and Mark Dunn's .NET Audio Q & A show will be featuring INETA in a soon to be released show (dates TBA). A panel of INETA folks, including a number of board members, will be available to answer all questions about INETA past present and future. You can participate in this show too. Email .Net Rocks! with comments, suggestions and ideas for the INETA leadership so we can make this dynamic, all volunteer organization, as successful as it can be. You can also (... more)	4/9/2008
It's Official! Windows Server 2003 and Visual Studio .NET are in full Release April 24th was the big day. Windows Server 2003 and Visual Studio .NET are now released. No more betas. VS.NET upgrades can be had for $29. Make sure your user group members know about this because it is a limited time offer. -- from the INETA NorAm May 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	4/9/2008
INETA Meetings at TechEd Dallas in June Are you planning to attend TechEd - the premier training conference for developers using .NET technology?  This year Tech·Ed offers a comprehensive technical agenda across both infrastructure and developer topics with content covering the entire Microsoft Platform, including Windows Server 2003, Exchange Server, SQL Server, Visual Studio .NET, Microsoft .NET Framework, Microsoft Office System, and more. INETA will be there in full force. We will have a full day of meetings on Sunday, (... more)	4/8/2008
Newest INETA Members 22 New Groups joined INETA in April! They hail from Germany, Austria, Ukraine, The Netherlands, Malaysia, India (3), Venezuela (2), Peru, Puerto Rico and Canada. In the U.S, there are new groups in Utah, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Florida, Oregon, New Jersey (2) and Tennessee. -- from the INETA NorAm May 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	4/8/2008
Community Starter Kit in Full Release The Community Starter Kit is no longer in Beta. A number of changes have been made. Note that you can not upgrade directly from the beta to the full release mode. Read more here and don't forget there is a forum especially dedicated to the CSK on the www.asp.net  website here. -- from the INETA NorAm June 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	4/8/2008
Keep those presentations coming into the INETA Repository! The INETA repository has already proved to be a great resource for many user group leaders. Keep the content coming! Upload presentations and other documents you would like to share with your fellow UG Leaders. -- from the INETA NorAm June 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	4/8/2008
In the INETA online Forums There have been some interesting chats in the INETA forums. User Group Leaders have discussed how to get people to RSVP for meetings, sharing books in their libraries, and the Community Starter Kit. There was also a silly thread about Dave Totzke's (www.cttdnug.org) mission to have more posts in the forums than Julie Lerman (www.vtdotnet.org). These are two very talkative people, so it is a tough contest! All in good fun!! As of the morning of June 12th here is the status.Julie claims (... more)	4/8/2008
.NET News The final release of ASP.NET Version 1.1 is now available for download. ASP.NET V1.1 has many great new features including: IIS 6.0 integration, mobile device support through built-in mobile controls, and improved ISP hosting support. See more at www.asp.net. Web Matrix (Reloaded) - Yes even the ASP.Net team is making this joke! The new version of Web Matrix is available. Initial reviews are great. Check it out! -- from the INETA NorAm June 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	4/8/2008
Moscow User Group hosts .NET Day Mike Yasnev from the Bauman Moscow State Technical University .NET Developers Group (BMSTU.NET) sent us the following news from his user group. On May 19th, BMSTU .NET, with support from Microsoft, organized the .NET Day conference in the Bauman Moscow State Technical University. You can find a report with photos about this conference (special version in English) on our site. There were the following interesting events at this conference: Student Projects Cup Students (... more)	4/8/2008
Special Thanks to Our Supporters INETA wishes to thank the following companies for their support of the User Group Leader Conference held at TechEd in Dallas, Texas.  Their generosity is greatly appreciated and helped to make this a memorable event! Addison-Wesley APress Brinkster Component Source Data Dynamics DBI Technologies Inc. Desaware Inc. Dundas Software Fawcette FMS Franklins NET Infragistics Janus Systems SA Larcom & Young LEAD Technologies Inc. LogiSense Corporation  (... more)	4/8/2008
New in User Group Specials Want great deals on stuff you really need? Canadian Training and Consulting Corporation Object Sharp offers 15% discount on training Brinkster waives setup fee and offers first month free .NET hosting to INETA members developmentor extends "Summer of Love" corporate special to user groups - get VS.NET EA 2003 free when you attend Check out the user group programs from Addison-Wesley, APress, Manning, O'Reilly, Osborne, and SAMS. Visit the Specials page at INETA.ORG for these (... more)	4/8/2008
Free ListServ for your User Group INETA Speaker Steven Smith, who also runs the ASPAlliance online community has set up a place for free mailing list listservs for your user group. Once the Mailing List has been created for your group, members can sign up to participate in it and they will have an easy way of communicating with each other. The mailing lists will be listed on the ASPAlliance site here,  which could allow another avenue for potential members to find out about the user group (since the host, AspAdvice gets a (... more)	4/8/2008
Visual Basic .NET – "Summer of Love" A truly amazing training event hosted by DevelopMentor and featuring the Visual Basic product team in Redmond from July 8th-11th.  Workshops covering everything from ASP.NET to developing secure applications, and some quality time spent with the Visual Basic .NET team.  The training comes complete with Visual Studio .NET Enterprise Architect 2003.  For more information, visit www.develop.com/summeroflovemsdn503 or call 800 699 1932 to register. -- from the INETA NorAm June 2003 (... more)	4/8/2008
13 New Speakers added to Speaker Bureau At the end of May, the Speaker Committee announced the addition of 13 new people to the Speakers Bureau. Details about these folks are on the Speaker page of the INETA site. Here are their names. Tom Barnaby Jason Beres Jon Box Andrew Brust Sam Gentile Kate Gregory Richard Hale Shaw Scott Hanselman Pat Hynds Brian Noyes Carl Prothman Martin Shoemaker Shawn Wildermuth  -- from the INETA NorAm June 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	4/8/2008
User Group Relations Committee is growing In order to accommodate the rapid growth of INETA, the User Group Relations Committee is expanding and reorganizing its ranks. We are bringing more people on board to act as liaisons to our user group members. Our goal is to make sure that all of you have a personal contact with INETA. In the U.S., each person is assigned a handful of states in their own area. We also have two people assigned to Canada. Watch for emails from these committee members introducing themselves. Next month we will (... more)	4/8/2008
INETA Featured on MSDN TV and .NET Rocks! MSDN TV came around to the INETA booth during TechEd. Check out the video! See the faces of people you know but have never met. See it here!                .NET Rocks! Carl Franklin and Mark Dunn's .NET Audio Q & A show featured INETA in early June. Interviewed were Executive Directory Bill Evjen, President Brian Loegsen, LATAM Organizer Jose Berrios and Vermont.NET User Group Leader Julia Lerman. Carl and Mark kept the entertainment level up for us. This is slated to be released (... more)	4/8/2008
INETA Meeting at TechEd was a Great Success! At our day long meeting on Sunday Thanks to John Bristowe from the Infrastructure committee for his great note taking and the following write-up. INETA held its annual meeting on June 1st, 2003 in Dallas, Texas to coincide with TechEd 2003. Its purpose was to bring together various representatives of INETA to discuss present and future work. This year's meeting hosted individuals from a variety of countries including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, India, Russia, Peru, and the United (... more)	4/8/2008
Newest INETA Members 28 New Groups joined INETA in May! They hail from Australia, Canada, Denmark, the Honduras, Russia and the U.K. In LATAM, Brazil (2), Columbia (7), Mexico and Venezuela (2). And in the U.S.: Alabama (2), California (4), Georgia, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Welcome to all of our new members! -- from the INETA NorAm June 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	4/8/2008
INETA BOOTH & Ask the INETA Experts We have a booth on the tradeshow floor where we'll be hosting "Ask The INETA Expert" sessions during tradeshow hours.  We've recruited members of our Speakers Bureau to be experts, and we'll also have some time for our volunteers to talk about how to run a user group.  It should be a fun place to be during the tradeshow hours - we're in Booth #687 in the Developer Tools and Web Services area. Here is who will be at the booth at various times throughout the conference: Mike (... more)	4/8/2008
Special User Group Meeting Tuesday Night! INETA will be hosting a special User Group meeting of local .NET User Groups on Tuesday night, June 3rd from 6:30 - 8:30 pm. The meeting will be held at Hyatt Regency in the Landmark Ballroom A. The address is 300 Reunion Blvd. Phone 800 233-1234. Keith Pleas and Billy Hollis, both INETA Speakers, will present on .NET Architecture and Design. All are invited to attend. INETA will provide food and drinks. Local participating user groups: Application Developer Issues (... more)	4/8/2008
SPECIAL EDITION! TECH-ED 2003 NEWS INETA TO HOLD FULL DAY OF SPECIAL MEETINGS ON SUNDAY JUNE 1st. All User Group Leaders are invited to participate!! UPDATED SCHEDULE AND OTHER INFORMATION Are you planning to attend Tech-Ed - the premier training conference for developers using .NET technology?  This year TechEd offers a comprehensive technical agenda across both infrastructure and developer topics with content covering the entire Microsoft Platform, including Windows Server 2003, Exchange Server, SQL Server, (... more)	4/8/2008
Hong Kong .NET User Group The First Gathering Day was held by the Hong Kong .NET User Group in August to let local .NET developers meet up and interact with each other. Two technical seminars about ASP.NET Caching and .NET Compact Framework was presented and led to fruitful discussions in the Q&A sessions. After the presentations many members left behind to enjoy the refreshment and chit-chat until late. Hong Kong .NET is led by Colt Kwong who is very involved in the .NET Community in other ways. He is a Microsoft (... more)	4/2/2008
MICROSOFT OFFICE SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT CONTEST Enter this development contest to win a car lease or $11,000 CASH! Win other great prizes! You have to submit code that uses the new wave of Office 2003 products and developer technologies: InfoPath, Word, Excel, SharePoint products and technologies, Visio, Visual Studio Tools for Office, FrontPage and more. Send us your XML transforms for InfoPath or Word, your ASP.NET Web parts, your VB.NET or C# code-behind. Lots of "how-to" information is on MSDN and in the Office 2003 Beta 2 kit. The (... more)	4/1/2008
.NET News to share with your User Group members FXCop v1.21 is now available on GotDotNet to analyze your .NET Framework 1.1 applications against the .NET Programming and Design Guidelines. This is a great way for you and your members to check your code and learn more about programming in .NET. FXCop is not meant to enforce guidelines, but to highlight and instruct. Application Blocks Microsoft has released a slew of Application Blocks to encapsulate best practices and some great code for some of  your most often used functions. These (... more)	4/1/2008
Oklahoma City .NET Developer's Group Keith Nicholson from the Oklahoma City .NET Developer's Group sent us some great pics to share in the newsletter.  A very happy user group member, Seven Williams, after winning some GREAT swag (copy of VS.NET Enterprise Edition donated by Microsoft) and Rocky Lhotka from the INETA Speaker Bureau explaining Business Objects to the crowd. -- from the INETA NorAm July 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	4/1/2008
Hired by Microsoft, again! We've been joking around lately about Microsoft plundering our speakers bureau by hiring the speakers as Microsoft employees. Well, it doesn't seem to stop there! Congratulations to MaineBytes leader Paul Stubbs, who will be moving with his family to Redmond this summer to become part of the Visual Studio Team. Tim Durgan will be taking over as user group leader. Welcome aboard Tim! -- from the INETA NorAm July 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	4/1/2008
Microsoft SQL Server Summer Academy in Europe - July 14-16 Microsoft Adriatics in co-operation with the local chapter of INETA - User Groups within Croatian Programmer Association (HUPRO), supported by PASS (Professional Association of SQL server Users) and Microsoft MVP Program is organizing first Microsoft SQL Server Summer Academy in Europe from July 14th to 16th in Dubrovnik, Croatia. In-depth Microsoft SQL Server related technical trainings by recognized experts from Microsoft development team, Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals - (... more)	4/1/2008
.NET Down Under If you didn't know, they say Perth is the most isolated city in the world (although a nice place). We need to fly for about 3 hours to get to another city either in Australia or in Asia. Therefore the recent event that occurred here in Perth Western Australia on Wednesday was big news for the .NET community. We had two exciting speakers fly into Perth to present at the MSDN update session and then the .NET Community of Practice.   The actual user group meeting which followed the (... more)	4/1/2008
User Group Relations Committee: Your personal contact to INETA The User Group Relations committee is made up of a large (and growing) number of volunteers who are YOUR personal liaisons to INETA. We are trying to make sure that you have someone you know whenever you have a question for INETA. Here are the U.S. and Canadian liaisons. Next month we will list those for other parts of the globe. Click on their location to see their user group web site. Bill Zack  NYC .NET Developers Group (and more) Chris Pels  Boston .NET Users Group Dan (... more)	4/1/2008
Now serving over 100,000 user group members worldwide! With the addition of the Mobile.NET from Seoul, South Korea, and it's membership of 800, INETA is now helping out over 100,000 .NET developers around the world. Congratulations to user group leader Jin Ho Seo for helping INETA to achieve this milestone! -- from the INETA NorAm July 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	4/1/2008
INETA Academic Committee is Going: Full Throttle! The International .NET Association Academic Committee is a lot like the new Charlie's Angels movie: going FULL THROTTLE! Ok, so we admit Jason Beres and his newly formed Academic Committee are not all that similar to the Charlie's Angels crew, but they are very committed to helping start, grow, support, and prosper academic .NET user groups throughout the world. More similarly, there is no question they are going full throttle in this effort! In addition to the volunteer committee members, (... more)	4/1/2008
INETA Speaker Bureau holds 100th Event! INETA Speaker Keith Pleas' June 10th presentation at Vermont .NET marked the 100th INETA Speaker Bureau event. Less than one year ago, in this very newsletter, we were struggling to convince you that the Speaker Bureau was real. Sept 2002 INETA Newsletter: Can INETA be for real? Is it too good to be true? We have been hearing from UG leaders who don’t really believe that INETA can help their User Groups. One person said "I had no idea INETA was so ... relevant! But now I am (... more)	4/1/2008
Newest INETA Members 14 New Groups joined INETA in June! They hail from  Columbia (3), Ecuador, Mexico (2), Peru, South Korea and Pakistan. In the U.S. California, New York. Florida, Michigan and Maryland. Welcome to all of our new members! -- from the INETA NorAm July 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	4/1/2008
The New INETA.org! INETA Launches New Website The International .NET Association unveiled a new web site, designed to offer enhanced services to .NET user group leaders and members throughout the world. This new site dramatically improves the usability of the organization’s site, streamlining design elements to make navigation simpler, and enabling user group leaders to access important resources more quickly than ever before. The site was developed by INETA volunteers in conjunction with Smooth Fusion, a (... more)	4/1/2008
A Word from the Marketing Team As somebody who has been involved in user groups and development communities for many years now, it never ceases to amaze me at how technology continues to grow; and right alongside it are the User Groups and members who make our community thrive. For any given technology, there is never a shortage of people to evangelize it for no other reason than their love of the technology itself. When you attend events like TechEd, you have a chance to see what is on the bleeding edge in our (... more)	4/1/2008
Upcoming Regional Events Devconnections Conferences and Expos When: April 20-23, 2008 Where: Orlando, FL Another great way to keep your career up to speed is by attending the Devconnections Conferences and Expos.  Keynote speakers for the spring conference include Norman Guadagno, Director of Product Marketing for VS Team System; Scott Guthrie, General manager, .NET Developer Platform; Tom Rizzo, Director of SharePoint and Office Server; and Quentin Clark, General Manager of the Database Engine group.  (... more)	4/1/2008
Upcoming INETA Speakers Bureau Local Events User Group City State Speaker When .netBC Burnaby BC Mark Miller Apr 2 Southern California .Net Developers Group Buena Park CA Phil Weber Apr 2 Wisconsin .NET Users Group Milwaukee area WI Mark Miller Apr 5 Tucson .NET User Group Tucson AZ Paul Litwin Apr 7 Arizona .NET User Group Scottsdale AZ Paul Litwin Apr 8 SouthCT.NET SIG Shelton CT J. Ambrose Little Apr 8 Chippewa Valley .NET User Group (CVNUG) Eau Claire WI Rockford Lhotka Apr (... more)	4/1/2008
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)	4/1/2008
CodeZone Wrox/Wileyhas provided  Professional LINQ, by Scott Klein and the Silverlight team has provided  First Look: Microsoft Silverlight 2, by Laurence Moroney.  INETA would like to thank both groups for their gracious donations to INETA. If you are a user group leader and your group is not registered in CodeZone, we encourge you to do so. As part of the current CodeZone shipment, INETA has partnered with two groups to bring you bonus books.> -- from the INETA NorAm April 2008 (... more)	4/1/2008
The Lighter Side of INETA How to Overcome Writer's Block  (... more)	4/1/2008
Speaker's Corner: Breaking Through Your Greatest Fear This month's Article will be the first in our monthly column aimed at helping us to become better public speakers. It addresses one of the most deep seeded fears that affects us as directly as User Group Leaders, the fear of pubic speaking.  Each month, Marsha Freedman will offer her advice and wisdom on public speaking and communication skills to help us improve our presence as we lead our technical communities.    Breaking Through Your Greatest Fear   It's not death or spiders ... Did (... more)	4/1/2008
User Group Above and Beyond INETA recognizes what local user groups are doing in the community. This month, we are featuring two User groups that are stepping out in new directions. Congratulations to Second Life. NET and to Inland Empire .NET. You are truly taking community, commitment and recognition to new levels. INETA and the .NET community applaud your endeavors!   Second Life .NET User Group:  Whether you are an avid Second Life member or just heard of it through the grapevine, it is hard to ignore the unique (... more)	4/1/2008
INETA North America Board of Directors Membership Position Nominations Now Being Accepted for an INETA North America Board of Directors Position After over 6 years of volunteering with INETA, Chris Wallace has decided to step down as VP of membership. Chris, thank you for your many years of service. Chris's shoes will clearly be hard to fill, but we will begin this month by taking nominations for this position. If you, or somebody that you know, would like to get involved with INETA at the Board level, this is an opportunity that does not come along (... more)	4/1/2008
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!  Register by April 4 and save US$200 Stop by the INETA booth and let us know what user group you represent. -- from the INETA NorAm April 2008 Newsletter  (... more)	4/1/2008
New Just-In-Time Birds-of-a-Feather Sessions Announced for TechEd 2008 There will be a new and exciting type of Just-In-Time Birds-of-a-Feather (BOF) session at TechEd 2008 in Orlando, FL on Wednesday evening June 4th in addition to the regular BOF sessions. This new type of BOF sessions will provide an opportunity for attendees to have a more impromptu informal discussion. Additional details on the logistics will be provided in the May INETA newsletter. Voting for regular BOF sessions ends on Mon 4/7/2008 so get on-line and vote for your favorite (... more)	4/1/2008
Newsletter in a Nutshell This month's INETA newsletter showcases the latest in INETA local and regional events, gives recognition of User Group Communities that are going the extra mile, includes a new monthly column aimed at helping us to improve presentation skills and, lastly, shares a bit of humor to help everyone start the month off with a smile. Anticipating that all this will pique your interest in joining the INETA team, we also talk a bit about some upcoming opportunities and how YOU can express your interest (... more)	4/1/2008
From the President Spring is here, and change is in the air. The same is true here at INETA. As April arrives, we begin with wishes of wellness for our current President Amanda Murphy. Amanda, who is stepping down to focus more time on her family, has been a tremendous influence on INETA and the entire .Net community. As DeAnn Hollis said, "The heart of a volunteer is not measured in size, but by the depth of the commitment to make a difference in the lives of others." And this is definitely true for Amanda (... more)	4/1/2008
Organizing a Conference John Hopkins continues his multi-part series on organizing a conference. Assembling Your Team You're going to need a lot of help pulling off your event, so the recruiting of volunteers to carry out the multitude of tasks you'll be facing needs to happen as soon as you make the decision to hold your event. While you may not need an army of volunteers, an ideal event team would include, at a minimum, coordinators to handle speakers, sponsors, registration, and finances. As mentioned (... more)	3/31/2008
Organizing a Conference John Hopkins continues his series on organizing a conference with his thoughts on Venue Selection Selecting A Venue Once your event structure is defined and your team is in place, it is time to shop around for a location. As discussed in last month's article, college and university campuses are ideal locations for developer events. The costs for renting rooms and facilities are usually very reasonable and the classroom environment is very well suited to technical (... more)	3/31/2008
Organizing a Conference John Hopkins continues his series on organizing a conference with a discussion on handling sponsors. As discussed previously, many developer and user conferences tend to be free of charge for attendees. Free of charge, however, does not necessarily mean free to plan. You will have expenses for food, the venue, logo'd items and printed materials. This is where sponsors come in. A quality stable of sponsors is key to running a first-class event. The first step in recruiting sponsors (... more)	3/31/2008
The Importance of Web Presence We spend a lot of time working on our user groups; finding speakers, searching for sponsors, writing newsletters, maintaining websites and handling inquiries take a lot of effort. The result of all of this work are smoothly run - and hopefully well attended - meetings. Your regulars see this, but how do you get the word out to others? We typically advertise ourselves by putting together a basic website - and then stop. Planning a web marketing strategy is a lot of work and may be prohibitive (... more)	3/31/2008
Meet Your Membership Mentors Get to know your user group INETA Membership Mentor - your number one contact for membership assistance with INETA in the USA and Canada! "Membership Mentors act as advisor, counselor, guide, tutor, teacher, and guru of Membership to our member user group leadership and user groups. Membership Mentors recommend membership of new user groups and membership renewal of current user groups. Membership Mentors make themselves available for personal contact and are outgoing in building and (... more)	3/31/2008
Free Day of XML & Web Services Training In Boston Aug 13th - Yasser Shohoud, Don Box and more! Microsoft would like to invite you to attend the .NET Web Services Developer Day August 13th in Boston, MA, co-located with the XML Web Services One Conference. Attendance to this event is FREE. A full day of technical sessions will be provided by Microsoft’s top engineers on building Web services on the Microsoft platform. Learn about exciting new tools that Microsoft will be releasing and understand how to incorporate security and other advanced capabilities into your Web services (... more)	3/30/2008
Mobile.NET - South Korea Jinho Seo wrote us to thank us for making his group Mobile.NET one of new INETA members. Here is a photo of the group after an evening studying Windows CE.NET. Jinho is on the right with the big smile in the black t-shirt. -- from the INETA NorAm August 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	3/30/2008
MSDN Events For Developers - Kicking off August 12 in cities near you MSDN Events are free events for developers, packed with intense, how-to technical information on developing solutions with Microsoft tools and technologies. Come to an MSDN event and learn working solutions to real-world issues facing developers, see live code demos, share ideas with your peers, and get answers to your tough questions from Microsoft Developer Experts. Register for an MSDN Event today: www.msdnevents.com -- from the INETA NorAm August 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	3/30/2008
Chennai .NET User Group - Students Chapter The Chennai .NET User Group - Students Chapter is a part of the Chennai .NET User Group (CNUG) which focuses on college students around the city of Chennai, India. The Students Chapter was created after a few student member who were part of the wider group, felt the topics were too complex/in-depth and they wanted to start from the basics. The chapter will have sessions in the campus of some of the cities colleges and will have speakers from the Chennai .NET User Group coming in to (... more)	3/30/2008
Infrastructure Committee is Growing...Two new positions available! Wanted: 2 energetic, committed and enthusiastic User Group leaders to be Infrastructure committee volunteers. Volunteers would be responsible for documenting and developing architectural schemas and development guidelines for the various INETA websites. Mostly lots of writing and documenting, but some actual development. Time commitment will probably be a minimum of 5 hours a week. Please send bio and brief description of qualifications to infrastructure@ineta.org. -- from the INETA NorAm (... more)	3/30/2008
INETA Europe Newsletter Beginning in September INETA Europe will start distributing on a monthly basis a European newsletter. The contents of this newsletter will mainly consist of information about User Group leader meetings, newly founded user groups in Europe, upcoming User Group meetings and Microsoft events. The newsletter will first be distributed to all European INETA User Groups. We will also offer the possibility for individuals to register to receive the European INETA newsletter. To make this (... more)	3/30/2008
INTERNATIONAL User Group Relations Liaisons Last month we listed the people on the User Group Relations committee that are the liaisons to U.S. and Canadian User Groups. This month we will introduce you to the rest of the globe. As the International scene in INETA heats up, there will be more and more liaison coverage. Here are your contacts currently. Latin America Jose Berrios: Caribbean User Groups Co-founder of the Miami Florida Dot Net User Group and frequent speaker. Member of the User Group Relations Committee and (... more)	3/30/2008
Modifying your User Group Information If you need to modify your user group information here is how to do that. You will need to be logged into the site. On the home page you will find a link that says More about becoming a member group. Follow this link to the "Becoming a Member Group" page. On the left you will see the link to Edit your user group information. There were some server issues when we transitioned to the new site which created problems logging in. This should be cleared up. If you need to report any problems (... more)	3/30/2008
INETA Announces Reorganization The board of directors has been working on a plan for INETA to keep pace with the dramatic growth of the organization. The goals - Allow the board to focus on international expansion now that North America is running quite well and there is a good start in Europe, Latin America and India. - Provide a volunteer framework that can expand and include new people as our scope of operations grows. - Make sure we can spread the work to be done over multiple volunteers so that no one person (... more)	3/30/2008
Newest INETA Members 19 New Groups joined INETA in July! They hail from Austria, Canada, Germany, New Zealand (2), Pakistan  and Sweden. In LATAM, Brazil (2), Columbia (2), Peru (2) and Venezuela. And in the U.S.: Alabama, California, Colorado, Massachusetts and Virginia. Welcome to all of our new members! -- from the INETA NorAm August 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	3/30/2008
Ooh Baby! Special congratulations to the  assistant editor of this newsletter, Manuel Dennis (gnonug.xocomp.net) and his wife on their new baby, Corbin, born August 27th. -- from the INETA NorAm September 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	3/30/2008
New in User Group Specials Want great deals on stuff you really need? Mach5 offers a 20% discount on their Mailer and Analyzer products Fog Creek Software offers a 20% discount on FogBugz or any other product More... Visit the Specials page at INETA.ORG for these and other great deals -- from the INETA NorAm September 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	3/30/2008
INETA Wear - Here, there and everywhere CapeCod .NET User Group member, Bob Mattey, proudly donned his new INETA shirt after winning among his age group in the 2003 Emerald City Open Water Swim event held in Seattle. It's a mind/body thing. INETA Speaker, Sam Gentile (far right) wears his t-shirt in a group picture with son, Jonathan's (center, top row) soccer team, for which Sam is the team manager. -- from the INETA NorAm September 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	3/30/2008
INETA Authors Congratulations to INETA Executive Director Bill Evjen and INETA Board member Farhan Muhammad on their recent .NET Books. Bill's follow up to his XML Web Services book is entitled Web Services Enhancements, Understanding the WSE for .NET Enterprise Applications, published by Wiley. Farhan's book, Real World ASP.NET Best Practices, published by APress, has already been getting rave reviews. Of course, there are many other published authors among the ranks of INETA Committee members, speakers and (... more)	3/30/2008
A note about the INETA North America Summer Sizzler When you or your member is ready to register their copy of SourceGear Vault that was included in the summer sizzle shipment, they should contact SourceGear directly. Their online system does not recognize these copies of the software. You can register by contacting Erica Wells ewells@sourcegear.com or Nancy Harvey nancy@sourcegear.com and they will help you out with everything you need -- from the INETA NorAm September 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	3/30/2008
MSDN News to Share Explore the New Mobility and Embedded Developer Center! Visit the new one-stop shop for all mobile and embedded application development information, including the .NET Compact Framework, Visual Studio .NET, Windows Mobile-based Pocket PC and Smartphone, and Windows CE .NET.    -- from the INETA NorAm September 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	3/30/2008
INETA Takes off in Pakistan Following Microsoft's highly successful Professional Developers Conference (PDC) held in June 2003, INETA has seen a rapid growth in user group communities throughout the country. Karachi has so far been the more active city having five user groups span in just the last three months. Leading Universities including NU-FAST, NED, SZABIST and KIIT have also taken the lead in establishing user groups within the educational community. Co-operation among various user groups INETA in Pakistan has (... more)	3/30/2008
ASK THE INETA EXPERTS INETA will be running "Ask The Experts" sessions at the following industry events. You’ll be able to chat one-on-one with some of the most respected names in the industry: members of the INETA Speakers Bureau. Microsoft ASP.NET Connections & Visual Studio Connections Oct 12-15, 2003, La Quinta Resort & Club, Palm Springs, CA User group members save $200. Microsoft ASP.NET Connections, now the largest ASP.NET event in the industry, co-locates with Visual Studio Connections for the unique (... more)	3/30/2008
INETA Europe Speaker Bureau Very Active Here are upcoming  plans for speakers: Hannes Preishuber, 5-Oct-2003 .NET Developers Group Berlin, Brandenburg, Germany Alex Homer,  DotNet Developers Group, UK Goksin Bakir, 20-Sep-2003  ASPNedir?com, Turkey .NET: Remoting and Reflection and ASP.NET Mobile Controls Christian Weyer, Sep-2003 .NET User Group Styria, Austria Christian Weyer Sep 2003 .NET Meeting Klagenfurt, Austria Michiel van Otegem, TBD Belgian .NET User Group, Belgium: ASP.NET v2 Dino Esposito, TBD  Stitching dotNed, (... more)	3/30/2008
INETA Speaker Perspective by Jeff Prosise Want to know a dirty little secret? INETA speakers aren't in it for the glory, for the frequent flyer miles, or even to curry favor with the Mother Ship (Microsoft, that is). They do it for the free food. My favorite moment at an INETA event is when the stack of pizza boxes arrives. The hard part, of course, is trying to look gracious by hanging at the back of the line. INETA speakers are graded on their ability to look as if they don't care while the pizza disappears (... more)	3/30/2008
INETA LATAM Newsletter INETA LATAM (Latin America) is about to begin publishing a Newsletter that will be produced in a variety of languages spoken across Latin America. It will contain news of INETA and User Group related events in the region as well as sections like:  LATAM  Initiatives, Calendar INETA LATAM and other varied sections of interest.  Thanks to Manuel Carruitero Gonzalez, Willy Marroquin and William Chiquito. For more information, please send an email to manuel.carruitero@ineta.org. -- from the (... more)	3/30/2008
Denver User Group Coordinates Local, Affordable Visual Studio .NET Practical Skills Training Chris Wallace, who is the leader of the Denver Microsoft Visual Studio .NET User Group sent us this great story about how the group has worked to help their members become stronger in the marketplace. Early in 2002, a volunteer band of user group members from the Denver Microsoft Visual Studio .NET User Group determined that we needed .NET training - a .NET "Practical Skills" course and we needed it now! Little or no training was available and that which was available was too expensive. (... more)	3/30/2008
Is your User Group Information Up to Date? Is your User Group Record up to date o the INETA website? We are finding that a number of user group listings have bad URL's to their user group website. We are also getting some emails bouncing back when we send out mailings such as this newsletter. The saddest cases are if your mailing address is not correct because we cannot get the periodic INETA packages of goodies nor the MSDN Quarterly User Group packages to you. Another very useful thing to do is to make sure your user group (... more)	3/30/2008
Newest INETA Members 21 New Groups joined INETA in August! They hail from Bolivia, Brazil(6), Colombia, Ecuador(2), Mexico, New Zealand(2), Pakistan(2), Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Uruguay, USA(Indiana) and Venezuela. Welcome to all of our new members! There are now 359 User Groups representing nearly 109,000 user group members worldwide! -- from the INETA NorAm September 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	3/30/2008
MSDN News for your User Group Members MSDN has posted the Visual Basic Resource Kit (also including lots of good stuff for C# programmers as well). The kit includes many free (fully licensed) controls from Component One, Infragistics, Dundas and Sax as well a lot of sample code, multi-media content and white papers. You can download the resource kit (though it is quite large) from MSDN or order a CD, for which you will have to pay shipping and handling.  http://msdn.microsoft.com/vbasic/vbrkit -- from the INETA (... more)	3/30/2008
New in User Group Specials Want great deals on stuff you really need? Save a cool $50 on Drop-in Editing Power - CodeWright for Microsoft Visual Studio .NET from Borland For more User Group Specials visit the INETA User Group Specials page. -- from the INETA NorAm October 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	3/30/2008
HELP WANTED INETA Marketing Committee No pay, no benefits, weekly meetings required along with volunteer work! With an introduction like that, you can be sure we need some help! The marketing committee is looking for a new member with graphics skills. This highly motivated and talented person will provide expertise on a limited but regular basis to support the mission of INETA and the Marketing Committee. We teleconference Wed. at 1:00 EST so you will need to set aside that time. There actually are some pretty exciting benefits, (... more)	3/30/2008
Become an Author... on ASPAlliance ASPAlliance, the ASP.NET Community run by INETA Speaker, Steven Smith, would love to promote individuals (user group leaders and members) by publishing articles written by them. If you're interested, please contact Steve at aspalliance.com/feedback.aspx. -- from the INETA NorAm October 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	3/30/2008
More INETA Authors Rob Foster, a member of the INETA Academic committee recently had his book, Programming Windows Server 2003, published by Manning Press. The book covers new features of the operating system and teaches real-world techniques on how to apply them to .NET applications. It illustrates best practices by developing a start-to-finish example and covering topics important to intermediate and advanced .NET developers and architects. Read more about the book at www.manning.com/foster . Rob Foster is the (... more)	3/30/2008
ASK THE INETA EXPERTS in October INETA will be running "Ask The Experts" sessions at the following industry events. You'll be able to chat one-on-one with some of the most respected names in the industry: members of the INETA Speakers Bureau. Microsoft ASP.NET Connections & Visual Studio Connections Oct 12-15, 2003, La Quinta Resort & Club, Palm Springs, CA User group members save $200. Microsoft ASP.NET Connections, now the largest ASP.NET event in the industry, co-locates with Visual Studio Connections for the unique (... more)	3/30/2008
Things that warm a user group leaders heart Dave Totzke from Canada's Technology Triangle .Net User Group recently emailed us to share his great satisfaction at having recently connected a user group member with a .NET job that had been brought to his attention. This type of networking is not only invaluable in a user group, but is one of those things that really does make all of our hard work well worth it. -- from the INETA NorAm October 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	3/30/2008
INETA and .NET Trivia Game Late this year a brand new trivia game tailored to the INETA community will be available. The purpose of the game is to help build community among the INETA user groups, inform people about .NET and INETA, and of course HAVE FUN. Once the game is created, a pack of cards with 100 questions will be mailed to each user group. We are taking submissions from user groups for trivia questions on the following five categories: "History", ".NET", "Languages", "Web" and  "Geek Culture". Anyone who (... more)	3/30/2008
INETA Sponsors Don Box Presentation at Boston .NET User Group Don Box and the crowd with Miguel de Icaza, and INETA Speakers. Patrick Hynds and Carl Franklin, in the front row Over 150 people spent an enlightening evening listening to Microsoft's XML Messaging architect Don Box at the Boston .NET User Group August meeting. Don gave a live demonstration of Whidbey, the next version of Visual Studio .NET for almost two hours. In addition, Miguel de Icaza of Ximian fame was also present. There was a very spirited discussion between Don and (... more)	3/30/2008
ASP.NET User Group Tour - Coming to a city near you! Rob Howard and Scott Guthrie, Product Unit Managers for ASP.NET, will be touring 12 US cities between the months of October - March, to deliver exciting content about Microsoft's premier Web development platform. Attendees will come away with all the basics to get you started as well as deep technical information to improve your current skills. Stay tuned to the INETA website and to msdn.microsoft.com for more information! -- from the INETA NorAm October 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	3/30/2008
Bring PDC To Your User Group! Over 100 attendees of this year's PDC will be reporting on the sessions and technologies they see before, during and after the event. You can enhance your website with news from the PDC using the PDCBloggersFeed user control. Displaying news from PDC will keep your website fresh with new information so readers return often to check up on what's new. The PDCBloggersFeed user control displays an article list from PDCBloggers.net on any website. The list updates automatically when articles are (... more)	3/30/2008
INETA LATAM Regional Meeting and Road Show is a huge success!! The entire INETA Latin America region was represented at the first regional meeting for INETA LATAM September 15 - 17. The meeting, spearheaded by Jose Berrios, head of INETA LATAM, Federico Raggi from Microsoft and Eric Ewing from Microsoft, brought together representatives from countries including Mexico, Peru, Columbia, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and several others to the Microsoft offices in Buenos Aries, Argentina to hammer out the goals for INETA LATAM next year. The (... more)	3/30/2008
New User Group Relations Committee Liaison in Canada Joel Semeniuk, leader of the Winnipeg .NET User Group and an MSDN Regional Director, is now sharing the role of User Group Liaison in Canada with Guy Barrette of Montreal's GUVSM. Guy is the contact person for groups in the Quebec Province, so you can rest assured you have a nice French speaking person to help you out. Joel will cover the rest of Canada. As the number of groups in Canada grows, we will eventually add more liaisons. Thanks to Dwayne Lamb of Toronto's VBDogs for his help on the (... more)	3/30/2008
Got an INETA Speaker coming to your group? Grab  this graphic! Courtesy of Vermont .NET (where you can see it in action). Feel free to plaster this graphic on your website, in your newsletters, even on your gym locker if need be!  This is a great way to show your appreciation to all of the volunteers in INETA that work so hard to create these opportunities for you and your user group members. INETA Speaker Richard Hale Shaw at the Groupe d'Usagers Visual Studio Montreal in September INETA Speaker Mike (... more)	3/30/2008
International Organizational Meeting held in London Following on the successful LATAM kickoff event in early September, international INETA representatives and regional Microsoft management for developer relations gathered together in London with the INETA board to "Put the 'I' in INETA". Community leaders from Hong Kong, India, Austria, Turkey, South America, Brazil, and Russia worked together to define the organization for the four international INETA regions: Latin America, Europe (including the Russian Federation), Middle East / (... more)	3/30/2008
Newest INETA Members 14 New Groups joined INETA in September! In the US three new groups started in Alabama, Indiana, and Michigan. In other countries like Argentina, Brazil, (Canada) Ontario , Iceland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, Russia, Switzerland, and Venezuela, some new groups have joined INETA. Welcome to all of our new members! There are now over 360 User Groups representing nearly 109,000 user group members worldwide!-- from the INETA NorAm October 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	3/30/2008
MSDN News for your User Group Members New to .NET? Get started with free online training & labs Need a simple, flexible way to start learning .NET development and that's free, too? Microsoft's new .NET Developer Jump Start training sessions provide guided online learning through selected core skills of .NET Web and Windows application development. These sessions consist of a short set of free online learning seminars and hands-on labs, hosted by MSDN Online, that help you practice the skills (... more)	3/30/2008
San Diego .NET User Group Road Trip When the San Diego .NET User Group heard that members of the Redmond product team would be in Orange County talking about Whidbey, they sprang into action and chartered a bus to take members up to the meeting approximately 2 hours away. So a busload of .NET developers headed north. On the bus, they had tablet PCs with Whidbey installed, food and drinks. They even printed up event T-Shirts. "This was an awesome experience, everybody had a blast. If any user group has a chance to do (... more)	3/30/2008
Speaker Corner - Get to know the Speakers Bureau This month, Academic Committee member Jason Bunting, interviews Aaron Skonnard. JB - What is your area of specialty? AS - XML, Web Services, and Microsoft .NET technologies. JB - How long have you been using .NET technologies? AS - Since the very first Alpha releases. JB - What are you currently working on? AS - I've always loved teaching software developers about new technologies. Towards that end, I've spent the past several years writing and delivering courses for DevelopMentor at various locations throughout the world. Lately, however, I've been (... more)	3/30/2008
Bay.NET User Group Leader wins PDC Pass! Last month, Wintellect had the great idea of raffling off a PDC pass on their website. The lucky winner happened to be Bay.NET User Group leader Oliver Nguyen! Here's a picture of the happy attendee, Oliver, at PDC. -- from the INETA NorAm November 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	3/30/2008
INETA gets Blogging Thanks to GeekswithBlogs.NET for hosting new bloggers from INETA. Bill Evjen (Exec Director), Dave Noderer (Board Member), Brian Loesgen (President), Jason Beres (Academic Committee and Speaker), Devin Rader (Infrastructure) and Shervin Shakibi (Infrastructure) have all finally started blogging. There are already a host of INETA related volunteers with blogs. Too many to list here. Look for a list on the INETA website in the future. You can use an rss aggregator such as SharpReader or (... more)	3/30/2008
Thanks to Microsoft for support of Speakers Bureau at PDC We would like to thank Microsoft and particularly, Eric Ewing, for their support of the Speakers Bureau. Eric was instrumental in involving US, European, and LATAM speakers in the PDC as well as providing a professional speaker trainer - the incredible Richard Klees, getting speakers involved in Ask The Experts, and invited to parties. Thanks Eric! -- from the INETA NorAm November 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	3/30/2008
Regional User Groups Initiate and Coordinate INETA booth at Office 2003 Launch Event User group leaders from 3 cities and 2 states initiated and coordinated an effort to give INETA a presence at the MS Office 2003 launch event in Nashville, TN. Leaders from the Hunstville Ala. New Technologies User Group, the Chattanooga Tenn. Area .NET User Group, and the Nashville Tenn. Visual Studio .NET User Group  came together to represent INETA and their local user groups. Dan Wygant, of HUNTUG, and INETA UG Relations Committee member initiated the effort by acquiring the booth space. (... more)	3/30/2008
INETA Speaker Band Rocks the House at PDC Everyone knows that INETA has assembled under one roof some of the most prominent speakers in the industry. But did you know that INETA boasts some top-flight musicians, too? With a helping hand from Microsoft's George Bullock--an excellent musician himself--INETA assembled an ad hoc rock band at October's PDC and rocked the house with a set that included such favorites as Long Train Runnin' (Doobie Brothers), The Thrill Is Gone (B. B. King), Layla (Eric Clapton), and Daytripper (Beatles). The (... more)	3/30/2008
User Group Relations Committee News Three new volunteers have been added to the User Group Committee in the North American Region to help us maintain close relationships with INETA User Groups. From the Denver Microsoft Visual Studio .NET User Group is Chris Wallace who will be responsible for groups in Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming. From the Northwest Ohio .NET User Group, Greg Huber, will be responsible for User Groups in Ohio and Pennsylvania. And from the Omaha .NET User Group in (... more)	3/30/2008
INETA Hosts "Birds of a Feather" Sessions at PDC By Karsten Januszewski, Microsoft A big thank you to everyone who was involved with Birds of a Feather at PDC2003 this year. The biggest thank you goes to Dave Noderer, who worked hard both prior to the show and onsite to make the BOFs a success. Also, thanks to Shervin Shakibi, who helped out onsite and did the coding of the BOF site itself. And thank you to INETA in general for being part of this. From my perspective (although the overall attendee evaluations haven't been processed yet), the BOFs were incredibly (... more)	3/30/2008
ASP.NET Exposed! Road Show - through February The team that created ASP.NET is coming to city near you! This is your chance to learn from one of the creators of Microsoft's web development platform. Get the knowledge you need to start developing secure, next generation ASP.NET Web applications with ASP.NET and Visual Studio .NET. After the introduction, we'll dive deep into the product and help you bring your skills to the next level. Tour Schedule November 4 - Dallas November 13 - Mountain View, CA December 2 - (... more)	3/30/2008
PDC Wrap-Up Bill Gates describes Longhorn PDC '03 in Los Angeles was a significant and entertaining event. Microsoft unveiled an array of new technologies that will significantly impact the way software systems facilitate business processes over the coming years through a "Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). INETA organized "Birds of a Feather" sessions held each evening for informal discussions on a wide array of topics. The three major areas of new technology include the next version of Windows (... more)	3/30/2008
Newest INETA Members 18 New Groups joined INETA in October!  In the USA we have new groups in: California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, and Virginia. Internationally, we signed new groups from: Brazil, Canada, Columbia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Italy, Russia, and Switzerland.  There are now over 435 User Groups representing nearly 125,000 user group members worldwide! Welcome to our new members! -- from the INETA NorAm November 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	3/30/2008
MSDN News for your User Group Members Missed PDC but really curious? Microsoft has been releasing the DVD content on their sitestream site.  The sessions are streamed audio files (speaker's voice) synchronized with presentation slides and demos from the breakout presentations, lunch sessions and both the Security and Architecture Symposiums. They are available at microsoft.sitestream.com/pdc2003. You can also purchase these sessions as a DVD. For more information, go here. -- from the INETA NorAm December 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	3/30/2008
Speaker Corner - Get to know the INETA Speakers Bureau This month, Academic Committee member Jason Bunting, interviews Deborah Kurata. JB - What is your area of specialty? DK – I enjoy speaking about .NET application architecture, object-oriented design and development, best practices, and Whidbey. My “Best Kept Secrets in .NET” talk has been very popular; every user group member who has heard it has said that they learned something that they had not known before. JB - How long have you been using .NET technologies? DK - Since the Alpha releases. JB - What are you currently working on? DK – I have been doing a lot of (... more)	3/30/2008
Montreal INETA User Groups Get Together - Again Guy Barrette, Groupe d'usagers Visual Studio Montreal This fall, MSDN Canada organized the Bigger Better Basic event, a full day of Visual Basic .NET sessions that toured Canada. Craig Flannagan, MSDN program manager, invited the local Montreal MSDN and INETA user groups to participate in the local event by providing two tables for the groups. Jean-René Roy who runs the local Visual FoxPro UG and SQL Server UG contacted me with an idea for a special promotion for the event: a combined price for a membership for all three groups at a very low fee (... more)	3/30/2008
Phenomenal Growth of INETA LATAM (from INETA LATAM Newsletter) Today, INETA LATAM represents approximately 25% of the INETA Worldwide User Groups, with more than 100 User Groups both professional and academic. Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela and Peru maintain the greatest number of User Groups in Latin America. The high number of existing academic groups in Colombia stands out due to the activities that INETA altogether makes with the training centers of that country. Many activities are happening simultaneously around Latin America. -- from the INETA (... more)	3/30/2008
ASP.NET Exposed! Road Show - through February The team that created ASP.NET is coming to city near you! This is your chance to learn from one of the creators of Microsoft's web development platform. Get the knowledge you need to start developing secure, next generation ASP.NET Web applications with ASP.NET and Visual Studio .NET. After the introduction, we'll dive deep into the product and help you bring your skills to the next level. Tour Schedule December 2 - Denver December 4 - St. Louis December 8 - Seattle January 12 - (... more)	3/30/2008
Academic .NET Coding Contest for High School and College Students Eric Maino, a Microsoft Student Ambassador and leader of the Grand Valley .NET Users Group (GV.NET)  together with the Grand Valley State University Computer Science and Information Systems Department in Michigan  is holding the 1st International Educators Programming Contest (IEPC). This contest has been developed to focus on one of the most innovative new technologies: Microsoft .NET. This contest invites all high school and college students to compete. The main goal of this competition is (... more)	3/30/2008
Message from INETA Marketing The marketing committee would like to let everyone know that we do not directly endorse or recommend any product or service offered by any vendor including those listed on the sponsorship page at ineta.org. We list companies on the sponsorship page in recognition of their contribution to INETA and not as an endorsement or recommendation of their products or services. Also, the only specials that have been negotiated by INETA are those that are listed on the UG Specials page at ineta.org. We (... more)	3/30/2008
Past INETA Newsletters now available We have posted all of the past INETA Newsletters at www.ineta.org/newsletters. You may find some of the images missing in the older newsletters as we still need to repoint them to the new location they were given when we updated the website. -- from the INETA NorAm December 2003 Newsletter  (... more)	3/30/2008
Canadian Academic .NET Fall Tour In affiliation with the MSDN team and the Bigger Better Basic tour, Microsoft Canada Academic .NET Team organized the "Academic .NET Fall 2003" tour specially geared towards the academic crowd. The Academic Tour made stops in five cities in Canada: Calgary, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Students and professors from more then 20 post secondary institutions attended the talks. In addition to technical talks, an overview of Microsoft Canada’s student community initiative was (... more)	3/30/2008
A Happy .NET Holiday! Is your User Group doing something special for the Holidays?  A special meeting format? An organized event? Something charitable? Let us know so that we can include it in an article in the January Newsletter. Send your user group name, url and a short description of what your group did for the holidays and we will create a list to share with all. Pictures are always fun too! If you think your group did something extra special, please share it with the rest of the INETA community and send us (... more)	3/30/2008
INETA's CHOICE! Tell your User Group!! Have you ever thought to yourself: why don't any of the magazines that I read cover the .NET topics that I want to learn about? Well, starting January 1, 2004, your wish is .NET Developer's Journal's command! SYS-CON Media, in association with the International .NET Association, will be launching a program -  known as INETA's Choice - whereby you and all the other members of your .NET User Group will be able to actively participate in the selection of topics to appear in the 2004 Editorial (... more)	3/30/2008
FREE Website Hosting available for INETA User Group websites Do you need a website to let your members know about upcoming meetings and events?  Already have a site but interested in portal software like the ASP.NET Community Starter Kit or DotNetNuke?  Want both of these for FREE?  INETA is pleased to announce its new Web Hosting Program bringing you the best of the world of ASP.NET Web Hosting.  Just go to www.ineta.org/hosting and sign up with any of our participating hosting partners (more partners to be added shortly) to receive a free web hosting (... more)	3/30/2008
Newest INETA Members An incredible growth spurt for INETA in November as we gained 33 new user groups! Breaking them down by INETA's Regions the groups hail from: LATAM: Argentina, Brazil (5), Chile, Colombia, Peru, Portugal and Venezuela (2). North America: Canada: Alberta and British Columbia. US: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York (4), Ohio and Virginia. Europe, MEA and APAC: UK (3), Indonesia, Israel, Russia and Thailand There are now over 450 (... more)	3/30/2008
MSDN News to Share with your User Group Members ASP.NET Webcast Week - January 19-23, 2004 Learn about ASP.NET from the experts! These free events are live and interactive. Live code demos and attendees asking in depth engaging questions are all part of this live event. This is a great way to get educated, engaged, and enlightened on Microsoft developer tools. Starting on Monday January 19th there will be 19 different webcasts on ASP.NET topics. Some of them will even be presented by INETA Speakers Michele Leroux Bustamante, Ken Getz and (... more)	3/29/2008
Speaker's Corner This Month, Jason Bunting interviews INETA Speaker Sam Gentile editors note - For those of you who have wondered, it is pronounced "Gen-TILL-ee" JB - How long have you been using .NET technologies? SG - I have been using .NET technologies since the initial Alpha, when it was still called NGWS. One of the greatest things to happened to me (and my career) was to be a member of the .NET Early Adopter Program (EAP) in 2000 while I was architecting my first .NET product for NaviSite. (... more)	3/29/2008
Arizona .NET User Group Raises funds for Needy Families Scott Cate, User Group Leader of AZDNUG found a way to have his user group help needy families in their area during the Holiday season. Scott arranged with a local c-Tech to donate a voucher for a free training class (any class at all whether it was one day or a whole week) and auctioned the voucher off on E-Bay . The auction raised over $1,000 and Scott's company, KBAlertz, matched those funds with another $1,000. The money was used to assist local families. You can read more of the very (... more)	3/29/2008
INETA's Choice What .NET Topic do you want to see written about? INETA and the .NET Developers Journal (a SYS-CON Media publication) are collecting ideas for topics to be covered in selected 2004 issues of the magazine! Enter a topic of your your own or vote on an already submitted topic at: http://www.ineta.org/inetachoice/ SYS-CON Media has provided a number of incentives to encourage your participation! The individual making the winning topic proposal will receive a free 1-year (... more)	3/29/2008
Wisconson .NET User Group Coordinates a Full Day Event With Sponsorship Wisconsin .NET is putting on a full day event with six big name speakers for their user group for free. This event, called "Deep in .NET" is a repeat of a similar one they did in 2003. Here is how the event was coordinated. - Invited speakers six months in advance. User Group Leader, Brian Tinkler says that he had confirmation from all six speakers within 24 hours. - Surveyed user group members to ensure that there would be a good match between what members wanted to learn and (... more)	3/29/2008
INETA Hosting Partner Click here to find out how to get free hosting for your INETA User Group from an INETA Hosting Partner! -- from the INETA NorAm January 2004 Newsletter  (... more)	3/29/2008
Leaders of Ohio.NET Meet In early December, several leaders from .NET User Groups in Ohio along with Microsoft Great Lakes Developer Evanglist, Alex Lowe, and MSDN Regional Director, Kevin Schuler, held a conference call to discuss several relevant topics. Attendees introduced themselves (some for the first time!), and spoke a little bit about each of their user groups. Best Practices for running a user group were discussed. For instance, Dan Cicerchi, who runs .NET SIG of Greater Cleveland  talked about the importance (... more)	3/29/2008
DevDays2004 DevDays2004: Registration Opened on January 7th DevDays 2004 promises to be one of the most rewarding events of the year for professional developers. With a focus on building secure Smart client and Web applications using the Visual Studio .NET infrastructure, this event will help you add power and security to your applications. Each attendee will also receive: OpenHack source code Visual Studio .NET "Whidbey" technology preview "Whidbey" pre-release software Microsoft (... more)	3/29/2008
Microsoft Canada Campus Tour with .NET Presentations Microsoft Canada is going to be conducting campus visits to over 30 universities across Canada during January and February. They will be doing talks on C#, Web Services and ASP.NET for Mobile Devices. For more information on these events, visit http://www.dotnetstudents.ca or contact Sasha Krsmanovic. Tour Dates Simon Fraser University 01/06/2004 University of British Columbia 01/06/2004 University of Victoria 01/07/2004 University of Saskatchewan  (... more)	3/29/2008
Boston .NET Vendor Night a Great Success! On November 12th the Boston .NET User Group held a vendor night where 20 vendors of .NET related products and services participated. Each vendor did a brief 3-minute presentation to the entire group of over 150 attendees followed by a trade show with individual tables for each vendor. Over 40 raffle prizes donated by vendors were auctioned off to attendees. A buffet dinner was also provided using vendor donations. The event provided a great way for members to learn about products from a variety (... more)	3/29/2008
INETA Membership More than Doubles in 2003 278 User Groups joined in 2003, more than doubling the number of member groups and bringing in over 38,000 .NET developers as their members. INETA is now serving over 135,000 developers around the world. Argentina 4 Egypt 1 Latvia 1 South Africa 1 Australia 9 France 2 Malaysia 2 Spain 2 Austria 6 Germany 11 Mexico 8 Sweden 1 Belgium 2 Guatemala 1 Netherlands 2 Switzerland 3 Bolivia 1 Honduras 1 New Zealand 5 Thailand 1 Brazil 23 Hong (... more)	3/29/2008
User Group Sampler Club de Programadores (Programmer's Club) Birmingham Software Developer's Association Puget Sound Dot Net Users Group .NET Developers Group in Ahmedabad, India Fort Worth .NET User Group Greenville Spartanburg Enterprise Developer's Guil KNOW .NET User Group Queensland MSDN User Group Cedar Rapids Area Web Developers Capital Area .Net Users Group .Net User group in the University of Houston buFusion.net .NET Developers group in Bangalore PocketPC User Group Muenchen Memphis .NET (... more)	3/29/2008
22 New Members in December! They hail from: APAC: Australia LATAM: Brazil, Chile, Colombia (3), Ecuador, Mexico, Venezuela EUROPE: Germany, Latvia, Russia, United Kingdom NORTH AMERICA: California (3), Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Ohio Welcome to our new members -- from the INETA NorAm January 2004 Newsletter  (... more)	3/29/2008
Happy New Year from all of us at INETA! Thanks to your involvement, INETA is growing and creating more opportunities for supporting .NET User Groups around the world. New in this Newsletter.  Anywhere you see this image, we consider it a GREAT IDEA for your User Group. Welcome to a new look for the INETA newsletter.  Thanks to the talents of the INETA Marketing Committee's, Sheri Nawrocki, we added some serious flare to our newsletter.  Luckily for us, Sheri is a professional designer and has agreed to take on the task of (... more)	3/29/2008
Don't Forget to Sign up For Your DevDays Booth If your user group is signed up for a booth at DevDays, be sure to finish up the paperwork that has been sent to you and keep an eye out for an email from the User Group Relations committee with some great advice for running a booth. If you still want to sign up and can't find the original email from Chris Pels of the User Group Relations Committee, email ugrelations@ineta.org asap for information. -- from the INETA NorAm February 2004 Newsletter  (... more)	3/29/2008
Speaker Corner Jason Bunting Interviews INETA Speaker, Andrew Brust JB - What was your first computer and language? AB - The first computer I ever used (in 7th grade -- 1978) was a DEC PDP 8, and I programmed it in BASIC. I even became a certified computer "operator" in my school's computer lab, which meant I knew the intricate dialog that had to be entered from a teletype terminal to start the darn thing! JB - What is your favorite aspect of .NET? AB - No-touch deployment is one of my (... more)	3/29/2008
Bring the Table PC Team to your user group and bring your customers to Tablet PC! Tablet PC Team going on the road The Tablet PC Team at Microsoft is going to be on the road in the U.S. over the next year or even more and would love to stop by and give a presentation on Tablet PC Development with the Tablet SDK. Please contact Arin Goldberg at tabvisit@microsoft.com to see if you can coordinate something with their schedule. And if you're user group members need some help convincing their bosses and clients to let them do some TabletPC development, this may just be (... more)	3/29/2008
User Group Liasons - Your First Point of Contact to INETA If you are a user group leader and your group is an INETA member, you should be familiar with your INETA User Group Relations Committee liaison. This is the person who you can contact if you have any questions with INETA or if you are having a problem and you don't know who to talk to about it. Also, if we have any news for your user group, it is likely that this will be the person who contacts you. It's a great person to know if you are an INETA member. If you don't know who your liaison (... more)	3/29/2008
New in User Group Specials DevTeach, the Montreal based conference coming in June, boasts Rob Howard and Scott Guthrie as its Keynote speakers and tracks in .NET, SQL and FoxPro. DevTeach is offering a $50US discount from the registration cost to all members of user groups registered with INETA. There is an additional Early Bird Discount of $250US until March 31st. User Group leaders can request this rebate code by emailing Jean-Rene Roy. -- from the INETA NorAm February 2004 Newsletter  (... more)	3/29/2008
DevDays 2004 DevDays 2004 promises to be one of the most rewarding events of the year for professional developers. With a focus on building secure Smart client and Web applications using the Visual Studio .NET infrastructure, this event will help you add power and security to your applications. Each attendee will also receive: OpenHack source code Visual Studio .NET "Whidbey" technology preview "Whidbey" pre-release software Microsoft Visual Basic®.NET Resource Kit ASP.NET Resource (... more)	3/29/2008
DevDaysBloggers.com DevDaysBloggers.com Visit DevDaysBloggers.com to get the inside scoop from many of the DevDays speakers around the country as they prepare for this 32 city event! Thanks again to Drew Robbins, leader of .NET Developers Group in Central Ohio and partner Kevin Schuler for the effort. -- from the INETA NorAm February 2004 Newsletter  (... more)	3/29/2008
Microsoft INETA Malaysia Microsoft conducted a huge event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in January with 1500 attendees. They discussed various communities with the audience, including INETA. There are currently two INETA member groups in Malaysia: dotnetmalaysia and the Malaysian Independent Developers Community -- from the INETA NorAm February 2004 Newsletter  (... more)	3/29/2008
Hosting Partner   (... more)	3/29/2008
Microsoft MVP and Regional Director Announcements January was an exciting month for many INETA volunteers as Microsoft announced a slew of new Most Value Professional (MVP) awards. MVP awards are based on a number of criteria which you can see at MicrosoftMVP.com. You will also find a full list of the MVPs on this site. In addition to the new MVPs, we were excited to hear that three of the newest Regional Director appointments were won by INETA volunteers as well. There are many Regional Directors involved with INETA either as part of (... more)	3/29/2008
User Group Photos - .NET Group Styria Klaus Aschenbrenner who runs the Austrian .NET Group Styria sent us some pictures from a recent meeting where INETA Speaker and head of the INETA Europe Region, Christian Nagel, was the speaker. We especially love the photo of the guys all dressed in black chatting - like back stage at a rock concert! Send us photos from your user group! -- from the INETA NorAm February 2004 Newsletter  (... more)	3/29/2008
Montreal Snapshots Steven Smith presenting at GUVSM in Montreal. -- from the INETA NorAm February 2004 Newsletter  (... more)	3/29/2008
INETA in 2003 and Where We are Heading in 2004 It is hard to believe that INETA is two years old this month. When we launched INETA in February of 2002, .NET was fairly new and we came to the scene with about 40 user groups in our association. Today, we have close to 500 user groups and more than 170,000 members from all over the world that are part of INETA! Our growth is more than anyone ever imagined and outstanding as it is, it is also one of the most difficult things in managing INETA. More growth means more speakers, more support and (... more)	3/29/2008
Keep Your User Group Up-to-Date Please be sure to keep your user group data up to date on the INETA website. Your group's website URL, your contact information and your group size are important pieces of information. If people are going to the INETA website to find a user group, and your link is broken, they won't be able to find you. You must be logged in to the INETA website to gain access to edit your information. Click Here  (... more)	3/29/2008
Find a User Group! It's A User Group Thing! Find One Today!  (... more)	3/29/2008
UG Sampler Portland Web Services Special Interest Group Mumbai User Group (MUG) IUPUI .NET User Group Grupo Usuarios .NET Mexico Grupo .NET Estado de México y Norte del DF Montreal FoxPro User's Group CSULA ACM - ASP.Net and Mobile User Groups MUG PIURA MUG-TRUJILLO Comunidades Universitarias PERU Adelaide Dot Net Users Group MU .Net User Group .Net Cells - Universidad Privada Antenor Orrego Norwegian .NET User Group Bergen MUG .NET Venezuela -- from the INETA NorAm February 2004 (... more)	3/29/2008
15 New User Groups joined INETA in January! APAC: Australia LATAM: Brazil, Peru, Venezuela EUROPE: Germany, South Korea, The Netherlands, Russia NORTH AMERICA: New York, Ohio, California -- from the INETA NorAm February 2004 Newsletter  (... more)	3/29/2008
New INETA Hosting Partner - MAXIMUM ASP We are pleased to announce that as of February 1, Maximum ASP is INETA's hosting sponsor. We gratefully acknowledge Maximum ASP's support of the user group community, and look forward to working with them. -- from the INETA NorAm February 2004 Newsletter  (... more)	3/29/2008
From the Editor People have been asking about the "Spring Thaw" box of SWAG that you've come to expect. The good news is we are activily working on completing that project RIGHT NOW! Those of you from the midwest, have you registered for this FREE event Deeper in .NET? What a great way to hear a group of INETA Speakers Bureau speakers in one place. Look me up, I'll be there. Archived newsletters are available on the INETA website at www.ineta.org/newsletters. Scott Spradlin, VP Marketing, INETA NorAm (... more)	3/29/2008
INETA Live -- Focus on Community Leadership Summit In order to focus our resources on the June 2nd Community Leadership Summit and subsequent TechEd activities, the INETA LIVE webcasts will be deferred until after TechEd. We will return reenergized and revitalized with great topics and material from the leadership summit; to say nothing of the fertile ground for recruiting new presenters. Yes, that means we are asking YOU to share your tips and suggestions with other user group members and leaders. But for now, let's think about the adage (... more)	3/29/2008
INETA User Group Recognition Program "Congratulations on your new INETA user group membership!" "Congratulations on your INETA user group membership anniversary!" Sweet words, yes? It's just too bad we all don't say them enough! Starting today, we are sending a certificate of recognition to each of you, our INETA family of user group leaders. This is our formal way to show you that we deeply appreciate your volunteer efforts as members of INETA to benefit our user group community. Current user group (... more)	3/29/2008
Speakers Corner INETA Speaker, Stephen Walther, becomes a Microsoft Software Legend Stephen Walther, one of the speakers on the INETA Speaker Bureau, was named a Software Legend by Microsoft on March 18th, in recognition of his contribution to the Microsoft developer community as an author, trainer and developer. Microsoft selected Walther to join the Legends because of his best selling title, ASP.NET Unleashed, which many developers cite as one of the most comprehensive and accessible resources on ASP.NET (... more)	3/28/2008
DevDaysBloggers.com DevDaysBloggers.com was originally set up to share the inside scoop from many of the DevDays speakers around the country as they prepared for this 32 city event! Now that many events have taken place, the site has evolved into a great discussion and further investigation of much of the DevDays content and continues to be a wonderful resource. Check it out. Thanks again to Drew Robbins, leader of .NET Developers Group in Central Ohio and partner and MSDN Regional Director, Kevin (... more)	3/28/2008
Get A Free Pass To TechED! Microsoft Tech-Ed 2004 Webcast Series Sweepstakes Get ready for Tech-Ed 2004 by attending any of over 50 free Tech-Ed series webcasts occurring in April. Each time you attend one of these webcasts you can enter to win a free Tech-Ed 2004 conference pass. -- from the INETA NorAm March 2004 Newsletter  (... more)	3/28/2008
May MSDN Webcasts - Starring INETA User Groups INETA User Groups have been invited to use the MSDN WebCasts to present to a wider audience than their regular user groups. Each Monday in May there will be 3 separate webcast slots available. The slots have already started filling up, so if you or someone in your user group would like to do a presentation on the webcasts, you should visit this website where all of the information on this project is (http://www.scottcate.com/Wiki/default.aspx/MyWiki.InetaWebCast). Once the slots have (... more)	3/28/2008
TechEd 2004 We are in the early stages of planning a User Group Leader Summit on Sunday, May 23rd. If you are planning to go to TechEd you may want to arrive on Saturday so you can attend this event. Current plans are to have speakers from INETA, Culminis (formerly ITPro Council) and Microsoft to speak on topics of interest to user group leaders and help your group get access to resources. Because of our success at PDC, INETA has been asked to organize these sessions (also known as BOFs) again at TechEd (... more)	3/28/2008
NETDA Adds Another SIG! As .NET gets older, we find that our groups gain more and more local expertise. Of course, .NETDA, the Redmond based user group has a little edge. Robert Green, from the Visual Basic team, is excited to be heading up a new Visual Basic SIG of the .NETDA User Group. It's wonderful to see even high visibility Microsoft folks getting the User Group bug. Welcome aboard Robert! -- from the INETA NorAm March 2004 Newsletter  (... more)	3/28/2008
The Inland Empire .NET User Group We recently received this wonderful article from IEDOTNETUG. This group was formed to fill a growing need in an area over 60 miles east of Los Angeles. This is grass roots at it's best! Welcome to our .NET Community! The Inland Empire .NET User's Group (IEDOTNETUG) was founded in the fall of 2003 by James Johnson, an IS student at the University of Redlands, and professional developer, Katherine Walters. The group currently has 25 members (and growing!) was formed in San Bernardino, CA. (... more)	3/28/2008
UG Sampler .Net_Miami Users Group .Net User Group Karachi .NET Web Developers Bangalore .NET User's Group Boise .Net Developers User Group Cuencanos en Microsoft FAUSIG.Net Gulf Coast .NET Users Group The Irish Developer Network - Dublin Chapter Microsoft .NET User Group of Trivandrum Microsoft Junior Developers New Hampshire VB User Group Northern New Jersey .NET User Group Oklahoma City .Net Developers Group RI .Net User Group Sharp Shooters .NET User Group Sydney VFP (... more)	3/28/2008
25 New User Groups joined INETA in February! SPAN class=boldIt>APAC: Australia EUROPE: Austria, Germany, Poland (2), Russia, Switzerland LATAM: Argentina, Portugal, Brazil (4), Mexico, Peru (2) MEA: India(2), Kerala, Andhra Pradesh NORTH AMERICA: Ontario Canada, Arkansas (2), Louisiana, Tennessee, Texas (2) Welcome to all of our new members!! -- from the INETA NorAm March 2004 Newsletter  (... more)	3/28/2008
INETA Reaches 500 Member User Groups In February, INETA approved the 500th user group as a member. The group is GO.NET from Sao Paolo, Brazil and is led by Matos Gladstone. The group had it's initation as part of the MVP Roadshow event in Sao Paolo, Brazil where there were over 300 attendees. As a result, GO.NET quickly realized a membership of nearly 80 developers. There are now 27 INETA User Groups in Brazil, with a total of 135 groups in the entire Latin America Region (INETA LATAM). LATAM groups represent more than 25% (... more)	3/28/2008
Speakers Corner INETA Speaker Steven Smith Deployed Steven Smith, who has been on the INETA Speaker Bureau since INETA began, recently told us that he has been called to return to Active Duty in the U.S. Army for the period of one year. We will miss Steve, who has been a leader in the ASP and ASP.NET communities for a long time. Steve looks forward to returning to a full release of ASP.NET 2.0 and no more messing around with goofy betas. We send along our pride and our prayers as he joins Operation (... more)	3/28/2008
Coming to a city near you the Microsoft Tablet PC Developer Tour The Tablet PC is a next-generation PC - the evolution of the notebook PC. Tablet PCs run the Microsoft® Windows® XP Tablet PC Edition operating system, which incorporates the convenient and intuitive aspects of pen and paper into the PC experience. The Tablet PC team is excited to offer a Free course providing an overview of Windows XP Tablet PC Edition features for developers, architects, systems integrators, and solution providers. Plan to spend a few hours with us and we'll teach (... more)	3/28/2008
Visual Basic 2004 Tour hits the Boston.NET User Group The Boston .NET User Group had the pleasure of having two members of the VB.NET team travel from Redmond as part of the VB.NET 2004 World Tour to present at our April 14th meeting. Before the main meeting we had what the VB.NET team called a Reverse User Group Meeting. A small group of members representing a diverse group of VB developers had the opportunity to voice any and all ideas and concerns to Amanda Silver and Steve Lees. Thom Robbins , a MSFT Developer Community Champion, (... more)	3/28/2008
Microsoft Day 2004 in the Bauman Moscow State Technical University On March 26th, there was a 'Microsoft Day 2004' conference in the Bauman Moscow State Technical University (BMSTU). It started a series of seven large scale conferences in the largest Russian universities. These events are supported by Microsoft Russia. Over 520 attendees visited the conference at BMSTU, doubling the attendance from last year's conference Terekhov from MS Russia Moscow Group Speed Coding Contest The main target of the conference was to present (... more)	3/28/2008
Cross-Technology User Group Get Together in Florida In March, Florida.NET participated in a one day conference called Tech Galaxy where user groups from many different technologies got together. Among the technologies represented were Java, .NET (fladotnet.net of course!), Cisco, Macintosh, Linux, Act, ACM Students, Palm OS, FL2600. Each user group did one of their own presentations so that the other groups could get a feel for what goes on in the other areas. There were 20 sessions total throughout the day, although attendees had to (... more)	3/28/2008
User Group Leaders -- Watch Your Inbox for Special INETA Marketing Newsletters Beginning in May, User Group leaders will begin to receive quarterly newsletters from the INETA Marketing Committee. Created out of the need for a vehicle to communicate outstanding offers to user group leaders, the marketing newsletter is designed to introduce you to the vendors who are interested in furthering the growth of the .NET community through sponsorship and discounts. The offers, unless otherwise noted, are for you to share with your user group members through your own form of (... more)	3/28/2008
INETA Forums The INETA forums are a great place to learn about how other user groups function and to talk with other user group leaders about ideas or questions you may have. Visit the Forums Today ! -- from the INETA NorAm April 2004 Newsletter  (... more)	3/28/2008
.NET Rock Star: Julie Lerman by: Sheri Nawrocki You may have asked yourself, as I have many times, where in the world does Julie find the time to get this newsletter out.  Well...once again I am amazed and shocked at how much this woman can do! Check out this article on the DevSource Website.  Not only is Julie the North American Chair of INETA's UG Relations Committee, she is also a Microsoft MVP, an ASP Insider, and an experienced software developer and computer consultant who's been programming for 20 years. (... more)	3/28/2008
TechEd Bloggers -- Connect with Your UG TechEd Bloggers is making it easier for professionals to connect with your user group. Readers of TechEdBloggers.net can use the Find A User Group feature on a page focused on INETA to locate user groups. Whenever an article is posted to TechEd Bloggers about INETA activities at TechEd, readers will see a link to Find A User Group in their news reader. You can also attract professionals to your user group website using news from TechEd. Attendees of this year's Microsoft TechEd will be (... more)	3/28/2008
UG Sampler Cal-PC Access/VB/.NET SIGHong Kong .NET User Group Willy .NetMitad del MundoUK SQL Server User GroupVancouver Microsoft .NET User GroupDotNET Developers Group (DDG)Valencia InteractivaCentral Canada .NET Users GroupYazgelistir.comCEUV .NetComunidad .NET- Universidad Santa MarC-a- VenezuelaNew Jersey Microsoft Developer's Group -- from the INETA NorAm April 2004 Newsletter  (... more)	3/28/2008
User Group Leader Summit Agenda Time | Topic 9:00 - 9:30 INETA Overview 9:30 - 10:45 Committee Updates 10:45 - 11:00 Break 11:00 - 11:30 Microsoft Overview 11:30 - 12:15 Lunch 12:15 - 12:45 Beyond PowerPoint Presentations, User Groups Doing Training 12:45 - 1:15 Working with Your Regional Office 1:15 - 1:30 Break 1:30 - 2:00 Working with Microsoft Federal 2:00 - 2:30 Working with Vendors 2:30 - 3:00 IT Pro Group Update 3:00 - (... more)	3/28/2008
24 New User Groups joined INETA in March! They come from Australia, Bangladesh, China, Egypt, South Korea, Nigeria, Russia(2), Spain, Turkey(2) In Latin America we have groups from Brazil, Colombia, Mexico(3), Peru(3) And in the U.S. new member groups are from Florida, Virginia, California(2) and Washington D.C. TechEd Bloggers: TechEdBloggers.NET is making it easier for professionals to connect with your user group.  Read More... -- from the INETA NorAm April 2004 Newsletter  (... more)	3/28/2008
INETA's 3rd Annual North American User Group Leader Summit! When: Sunday, May 23, 2004, 8:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Where: Westin Hotel in Downtown San Diego (910 Broadway Circle, San Diego, CA  92101) Who: The North American User Group Leader Summit is a coming together of INETA volunteers and user group leaders from the U.S. & Canada. If you are a user group leader from anywhere in the world attending TechEd in San Diego, please make plans to attend the Summit What: The aim of the Summit is to provide overall direction and vision for INETA and to (... more)	3/28/2008
Special Offers Fine Print TRADEMARKS. The INETA name and logo are trademarks of INETA. The names of other companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. LINKS TO THIRD PARTY SITES. Some of the links in this area allow you to leave the INETA Web Site. Linked sites are not under the control of INETA and INETA is not responsible for the contents of any linked site. The links are provided for convenience only. INCLUSION. INETA reserves the right to include or exclude offers (... more)	3/27/2008
Xceed Software Xceed Software is the internationally renowned developer of Xceed Zip, Xceed Grid and Xceed Smart UI amongst many other components for Microsoft Windows developers. Xceed prides itself on developing clearly designed, easy to use components that offer a wide range of features. To commemorate Xceed's 10 year Anniversary, Xceed is offering a 10% discount on all its components to INETA Members. Visit www.xceedsoft.com and use this coupon when ordering your Xceed product. (INETA-10) (... more)	3/27/2008
Vanatec Save 20% on Vanatec OpenAccess, the feature-rich object-relational mapping tool. Tightly integrated into Visual Studio, it offers all of the O/R mapping essentials built right in. And it separates the storage details from the object model, simplifying code and boosting productivity. (... more)	3/27/2008
United Binary Save 10% on HarnessIt(tm), the premier unit testing software for Microsoft's .NET Framework. Designed from the ground up for .NET, HarnessIt takes full advantage of .NET's language innovations to create a simple, flexible unit testing environment for your .NET and legacy code.  (... more)	3/27/2008
telerik Telerik presentation layer components can help you unleash the power of the Thin Client and deliver web solutions with the richness of Windows applications. Use code "UG2005" to get a 20% discount on any telerik product license. (... more)	3/27/2008
SyncFusion $100 DISCOUNT on Syncfusion’s Essential Studio. This comprehensive suite of components for Windows Forms and ASP.NET applications will accelerate the development cycle and help you build in quality. Please enter coupon code “INETA” to take advantage of this discount. Offer not valid on individual products.  (... more)	3/27/2008
SSW 15% off SSW Access Reporter .NET for IIS. Designed to keep Access open and available, SSW Access Reporter .NET for IIS lets you deliver your existing, great-looking Microsoft Access reports online now!  (... more)	3/27/2008
Silk Webware Silk Webware is a asp.net webcontrol and component developer. Silk Webware offers a 20% discount to all Ineta Usergroup Members. To receive this discount please email ineta@silkwebware.net and you will be sent an electronic voucher to use when purchasing. (... more)	3/27/2008
Self Test Software Pass your next certification exam the first time when you use Self Test Software's certification practice tests. Endorsed by Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco, Novell, Lotus, CIW and CompTIA, there is no better simulation of the real exam. INETA members SAVE 20%. (... more)	3/27/2008
RichTextBox RichTextBox is the no.1 content editor for ASP.NET. You can add it to a page using two lines of code (no plugins or Java). It supports bold, italic, styles, images, hyperlinks, + more. To get a 10% discount enter the code 'ug1'. (... more)	3/27/2008
Red Gate INETA members receive 10% discount off any product purchased from Red Gate Software. Products include tools for comparing and synchronizing SQL Server databases, understanding and fixing .NET code problems, and load-testing .NET web applications. Fully-functional, free trials available. (... more)	3/27/2008
Nevron LLC Nevron LLC provides consistent and powerful Data Visualization abilities to your Windows Forms and ASP.NET applications. INETA members can receive the most advanced Charting, Diagramming and User Interface Components for .NET with 20% discount by using the discount coupon INETAUG. (... more)	3/27/2008
iStudio iStudio is a simple and powerful add-in for Visual Studio.NET that brings essential features for C# developers: refactoring, coding styles, templates, handy navigation. Special prices for INETA members! Use promotion code INETA-MURANO-PROMO-431G for 20% discount. (... more)	3/27/2008
Microtools Access Whiz is a set of Access conversion tools for Access/.NET developers. It includes Access to ASP .NET, VB .NET, VB6, Crystal Reports Converters. INETA members can use the promotion code "INETA10" to get a 15% discount on any Microtools product license. (... more)	3/27/2008
Microsoft All user group members who fill out this brief survey will receive a FREE copy of Visual Studio .NET 60-day Trial DVD. Post this link to your site to ensure all your members are able to test-drive this incredible productivity-enhancing toolset created exclusively for developers and software architects!  (... more)	3/27/2008
Developer's Assistant $10 discount when purchasing Developer's Assistant, a must-have .NET code library. Try a free 30 day trial. Go to www.developersassistant.com. Use Promo Code 'INETA' when ordering to receive your discount. (... more)	3/27/2008
M5 Mach5 Mailer Gold provides scriptable email creation to deliver personalized messages to your customer list efficiently. M5 is glad to offer a 20% discount on both Mailer as well as our log analysis package Analyzer to user groups using discount code "ineta". Click Here (... more)	3/27/2008
Infragistics 20% off SRP on Infragistics NetAdvantage Suite! Enter coupon number into shopping list in INETA Component Store to claim discount. NetAdvantage Suite: 5E88-425A-69DD-6C95-04, NetAdvantage Suite with Subscription: E5B8-9B0C-FC82-E892-04, NetAdvantage Suite Enterprise Edition: EC38-C21B-0EE0-828A-04 (... more)	3/27/2008
IdeaBlade, Inc. IdeaBlade, Inc. is currently providing a variety of .NET development resources for the Microsoft developer community including a Royalty Free version of our DevForce Developer suite, a Smart Client Reference application and most recently our Composite Application Block Reference application currently seen on Microsoft’s patterns & practices site. (... more)	3/27/2008
Graphics Server INETA members - Save $200 on Graphics Server .NET. Easily add 2D/3D charts and graphs to your applications with the latest technology from the industry pioneer – Graphics Server. 100% managed C# code. Server licenses not required. Use PromoCode UG300 (... more)	3/27/2008
Genome Genome is an object-relational mapping tool for .NET. Depending on the type of application, efforts for development can be reduced by 20-80% while increasing maintainability and flexibility of the code. Get Genome Express for USD 99 only and 15% discount on other Genome editions. (... more)	3/27/2008
dot net builders Get 20% discount off Constructor(), an advanced toolset integrated into Visual Studio .NET that facilitates rapid application development driven from a UML model. With the ability to import a model, generate code, user interfaces and DDL script, Constructor() automates the tasks of turning a business model into an application. (... more)	3/27/2008
Desaware Save 20% on Desaware software. Discount is applicable to software purchases only. Not applicable to source code or bundled products, books or ebooks. Use code PK321. (... more)	3/27/2008
DeKlarit Create business frameworks and applications in record time without repetitive coding or cumbersome modeling. DeKlarit is the only Model Driven tool that combines agile database modeling, declarative business rules, and automatic code generation with seamless integration with Visual Studio. Buy DeKlarit at 15% off the list price. (... more)	3/27/2008
Dart Communications PowerTCP Internet components have been used worldwide since 1994. These ActiveX, .NET, and ASP.NET tools are backed by hundreds of full-size samples, an expert in-house support staff, and detailed documentation. Save 10% off any Suite by Dart Communications. Use code INETA05 when entering order. (... more)	3/27/2008
Cubic Compass If you like the IBuySpy portal sample, you‘ll love the .NET portal solutions from Cubic Compass. In use by developers worldwide, Passage is rapidly becoming the standard for .NET enterprise portals. INETA members receive a 20% discount on all products.  (... more)	3/27/2008
Cogenisys CodeEngine-an advanced Model Driven Architecture tool, providing code generation for the .NET framework. Using UML models from Rational Rose and Visio, it generates 80% of the code for scalable applications. Freeware version available. 30% off to INETA members. (... more)	3/27/2008
Aspose Aspose offers a wide assortment of powerful components which allow .Net developers to create, manipulate and save the following file formats: Excel®, Word®, PowerPoint®, Project® and PDF®. Aspose also offers a host of other components for charting, spell checking, emailing, ad hoc query generation and much more. Simply email a member of our sales staff and they will be glad to provide a 10% discount for any INETA member. (... more)	3/27/2008
Tornado Tornado, powered by ASPdb.Net, is an extremely powerful .NET application generator. It's the next generation of the award winning ASP-db database component, and brings together the power of .NET with the performance of a compiled, high-performance, feature rich database tool. (... more)	3/27/2008
devAdvantage devAdvantage combines features of a refactoring tool and code analyzer to create a unique tool for C# .NET development. devAdvantage detects and corrects issues surrounding best practices and standards in .NET. Request 15% discount at sales@AnticipatingMinds.com. (... more)	3/27/2008
Alachisoft We are pleased to offer 25% off to all ineta members. TierDeveloper is an object to relational mapping (O/R mapping) code generator that lets you develop extremely high performance .NET applications in record time. TierDeveloper lets you map and generate .NET business and data objects, ASP.NET apps, and Windows Forms apps. TierDeveloper, you’ll cut down your development time by 50% to 70% depending on your application. Use this code "APYZITSNCL5" to receive the 25% discount. (... more)	3/27/2008
9rays.net INETA members, save 20% on the most flexible and powerful .NET tools and components, including grids, tree views, obfuscators, user interface components and a report engine. Just email market@9rays.net and we will be glad to provide you with 20% discount. (... more)	3/27/2008
IP*Works!   $100 discount when purchasing IP*Works! or IP*Works! SSL .NET Edition. More than 30 .NET components implementing Internet Protocols such as HTTP, FTP, SMTP, POP, IMAP, SNMP, NNTP, MIME, Telnet, etc. Use Promo Code “INETAUG02” when ordering to receive discount.  (... more)	3/27/2008
Transcender Save 15%! TranscenderCert exam simulations are used by IT professionals worldwide to prepare for certification. Be sure to try the new TransTrainer videos, an excellent and affordable training tool. For volume discounts contact Miguel Jimenez at mjimenez@transcender.com or (615) 850-8270. (... more)	3/27/2008
SANS BRAND NEW! Our SANS .Net Security (SEC616) course teaches critical aspects of security in .Net, the Framework's internals, ASP.NET and XML Web Services. Receive a 10% discount by entering discount code (Step 3) "INETA10" on the registration form. http://www.sans.org (... more)	3/27/2008
ObjectSharp Canada's leading .NET Training & Consulting organization, ObjectSharp, is pleased to offer 15% off our hands-on classroom training (PromoCode: INETA15). Our Toronto & Vancouver classes are led by consulting instructors who share their real world experience, best practices and architectural guidance. (... more)	3/27/2008
newtelligence Get 15% discount on newtelligence open enrollment training classes so as TornadoCamp .NET, a five day .NET crash course, or the Service Oriented Architecture Workshop and 10% on standard rates for custom workshops. For discounts contact Bart DePetrillo at bartd@newtelligence.com or +49 (2161)-40-2600. (... more)	3/27/2008
New Horizons Got .NET training? We do and so can you. INETA members receive a 25% discount on .NET training. Experience the Integrated Learning Model and start using .NET today. To take advantage of this offer call 319-294-9035 x304 or click our logo. (... more)	3/27/2008
Intertech Inc. Intertech, Inc. delivers 3-5 day hands-on .NET workshops in ASP.NET, C#.NET, VB.NET as well as advanced topics like Distributed .NET and COM and .NET Interoperability. Andrew Troelsen, best-selling .NET author, leads Intertech's training. When registering, mention "INETAUG" and receive a 10% discount. (... more)	3/27/2008
Geek Cruises For groups of 5+, INETA members receive a 1% discount -- CUMULATIVE! (max 20% discount). Eg., if your group consists of 5 geeks, 3 spouses, and 2 kids, your group is 10, so everyone gets 10% off their cruise and 10% off their conference fee. (... more)	3/27/2008
Developmentor Summer of Love - A truly amazing training event hosted by DevelopMentor and featuring the Visual Basic product team in Redmond from July 8th-11th. Workshops covering everything from ASP.NET to developing secure applications, and some quality time spent with the Visual Basic .NET team. The training comes complete with Visual Studio .NET Enterprise Architect 2003. For more information, visit the link or call 800 699 1932 to register. (... more)	3/27/2008
Deep Training Deep Training offers hands-on training in ASP.NET, VB .NET, C#, and other .NET technologies taught by world-renowned .NET experts. Many Deep Training instructors are members of the INETA speakers bureau. Register for any class with sales code INETA250 and receive $250 discount. (... more)	3/27/2008
American IT American IT, with over 75 locations, is the nation’s largest partnership of independent Microsoft CPLS training centers. We would like to extend a 25% discount for all Microsoft Software Development and IT Professional technical training classes to INETA members. Contact us at 877.489.6042 or visit us at www.AmericanIT.org. (... more)	3/27/2008
Speakers Corner This Month Jason Bunting Interviews INETA Speaker G. Andrew Duthie JB: How long have you been using .NET technologies? GAD : Since May of 2000, when I attended an author's summit in Bellvue, for what was then called ASP+ and NGWS (Next Generation Windows Services), along with COM+ 2.0. In fact, I have an email address that dates from that time with aspplusguy in it, and had registered aspplusguy.com, in hopes of building a site called "Ask the ASP+ guy". When they renamed it to ASP.NET, (... more)	3/27/2008
Another User Group Born in Toronto, Canada On April 20th another brand-new .NET User Group was born in the Greater Toronto Area. (That's in Canada). The Toronto area is quite large and though there are five other INETA groups in Toronto, some of these groups are 100 miles apart. This new group services the Eastern areas of Toronto, and as of yet does not have a name, but the working title is "East of Toronto". Group founder and first-meeting speaker Kate Gregory led the meeting to a smashing success. EDS provided the (... more)	3/27/2008
The DevSource Utility Programming Challenge The DevSource Utility Programming Challenge Here's a great contest to share with your user group members! Can you write a better Window's utility program than your colleagues? Enter the DevSource Utility Programming Contest, and you could win one of 4 Fossil Wrist Net Smart Watches for MSN Direct-or even a free trip to the 2004 VS Live Developer Conference in New York City! -- from the INETA NorAm May 2004 Newsletter  (... more)	3/27/2008
New on MSDN to share with your User Group Members MSDN's "Improving .NET Performance and Scalability Guide" Micosoft's PAG (Platform Architecture Guidance Group) has put together a document which is the most direct, tangible way for Microsoft to hand over an aggregation of the best practices, customer lessons learned, proven approaches, and cumulative experience direct to developers. This document provides guidance for designing, implementing and tuning applications to reach performance objectives. The Guide is a major contribution (... more)	3/27/2008
User Group Relations Committee News Congratulations to Committee Member and DotNetUsers leader, Ruth Walther and her [INETA Speaker & Microsoft Software Legend] husband, Stephen, on the birth of their new baby girl, Athena, born on March 6th. We'd like to thank Ruth for serving as co-chair of the User Group Relations Committee since last June. Chris Pels, the leader of Boston .NET User Group, has recently taken over this role.  The committee's other co-chair, Julie Lerman, says that she expects Chris to be the (... more)	3/27/2008
TechEdBloggers.com TechEdBloggers.com TechEd Bloggers is making it easier for professionals to connect with your user group. Readers of TechEdBloggers.net can use the Find A User Group feature on a page focused on INETA to locate user groups. Whenever an article is posted to TechEd Bloggers about INETA activities at TechEd, readers will see a link to Find A User Group in their news reader.  -- from the INETA NorAm May 2004 Newsletter  (... more)	3/27/2008
The INETA Movie! Microsoft created a 12 minute video for their Global Conference last year to show their employees how important User Groups are in the development community as well as to Microsoft. We have uploaded two versions of this video. One for highspeed internet access and one for slower internet access. Click here to view the 56K video and click here to view the 300K video. Feel free to share this video! We are very proud of it and you should be too. Don't forget INETA's other (... more)	3/27/2008
Montgomery, Alabama User Group shares their key to increasing membership On May 6, 2004, the Montgomery Area .NET Developer Group (MADEV) in Montgomery, Alabama held it's monthly meeting to a standing room only crowd. It was the best attendance the group has ever experienced. The topic was "Integrating Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Service with .NET applications". The presentation was given by Bruce Thomas, who is currently the founder and leader of the MADEV user group. MADEV was typically averaging about 50-60% attendance each month, but this month MADEV had (... more)	3/27/2008
Spring Thaw to Arrive this Week North American user group leaders will be receiving their semi-annual shipment of "swag" - the Spring Thaw - this week. Contents in the box can be used as meeting giveaways, door prizes, etc. Vendors participating in this shipment include ComponentOne, Wiley, .NET Developers Journal, O'Reilly, CoDe Magazine, Infragistics, DeKlarit, Sams Publishing, Xceed Software, FMS, MSDN Magazine, Vista, XMLSpy, Apress and Xtras.NET . Comments, questions or concerns? Contact the marketing committee at (... more)	3/27/2008
INETA Holds APAC Planning Summit in April In late April, INETA held a planning summit in Bangkok. Twenty two user group leaders from across the Asia-Pacific region were brought together to discuss and plan the future of INETA in that part of the world. Countries represented were Thailand, China, India, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The event, led by Sanjay Shetty (India), Brian Loesgen (US) and Colt Kwong (Hong Kong) was a huge success. Over the course of 2 packed days, (... more)	3/27/2008
Keep your User Group Up to Date Please be sure to keep your user group data up to date on the INETA website. Your group's website URL, your contact information and your group size are important pieces of information. If people are going to the INETA website to find a user group, and your link is broken, they won't be able to find you. You must be logged in to the INETA website to gain access to edit your information. Click Here -- from the INETA NorAM May 2004 Newsletter  (... more)	3/27/2008
Birds of a Feather at Tech Ed! Kicking off the popular interactive sessions on Sunday night at 6pm is .NET Rocks featuring Carl Franklin, Rory Blythe and the attendees to discuss... "The Future!" Following the .NET Rocks session on Sunday and continuing on Tuesday and Wednesday nights are a series of topics that will be of interest to many TechEd attendees. These informal sessions are not presentations and have been designed to allow interaction between people with similar interests (although opinions may vary!!).  (... more)	3/27/2008
New UG's in April! 19 groups joined INETA in April. These groups are located in: LATAM: Argentina, Brazil (3 new groups), Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela NORAM: In Canada: Quebec; in the U.S.: California, Texas, Michigan and Wisconsin Europe: Germany (2 new groups), Greece, Norway, Russia, U.K. There are currently 539 member groups in INETA representing over 200,000 user group members around the world! -- from the INETA NorAM May 2004 Newsletter  (... more)	3/27/2008
3rd Annual UG Leader Summit Agenda When: Sunday, May 23, 2004, 8:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Where: Westin Hotel in Downtown San Diego (910 Broadway Circle, San Diego, CA  92101) Who: The North American User Group Leader Summit is a coming together of INETA volunteers and user group leaders from the U.S. & Canada. If you are a user group leader from anywhere in the world attending TechEd in San Diego, please make plans to attend the Summit What: The aim of the Summit is to provide overall direction and vision for INETA and (... more)	3/27/2008
INETA North American Representatives As INETA North America (NORAM) continues to grow, so does the list of INETA Liaisons on the User Group Relations committee who are your link to INETA. If you do not know your INETA Rep, be sure to contact him or her and introduce yourself. We are working hard to fulfill our mission of ensuring that each of you has your own personal friend in INETA to help with any questions you may have and also to help bring your regional community together. Name Area Ben Levy (Houston .NET (... more)	3/26/2008
Upcoming Events February 6-10, 2005 Moscone West, San Francisco February 15-17, 2005 Boston, MA INETA is sponsoring a Cabana Session, Wednesday Night (Feb. 16, 6:00 - 8:00 pm) Cabana Sessions are free and do not require pre-registration. February 6-10, 2005 Moscone West, San Francisco -- from the INETA NorAM February 2005 Newsletter  (... more)	3/26/2008
Around the World LATAM: INETA’s Latin America region continues to grow. Marden Menendez, who is the liaison for Brazil, is thrilled to share with us that there are now more than 70 INETA groups in Brazil and a new one has recently formed in the North Region of Brazil which is what we know as the Tropical Rainforest. Imagine! .NET is everywhere! (still trying to get some short news items from other regions)  Check out the LATAM Newsletter. -- from the INETA NorAM February 2005 Newsletter  (... more)	3/26/2008
Austin Interop On October 12th, six user groups in Austin, TX came together to present Austin Interop, a day-long event focusing on interoperability between .NET and J2EE systems. The event featured presentations by Bruce Tate and Ted Neward, Jon Kern, Roger Sessions, Coner Brankin, and J Sawyer. The event grew from a seed of an idea that was sown during Steve Ballmer’s address at the MVP Summit in April. Microsoft and Sun had just entered into an agreement to settle all pending litigation, and to work (... more)	3/26/2008
Coordinating INETA speakers with nearby user groups INETA Speaker Tim Huckaby's three-night 'Bama Road was a smash hit in the summer in the cities of Huntsville, Birmingham, and Montgomery, Alabama. Tim hit user groups in those cities on three consecutive nights, giving his presentation, "Building WMI and AD Management tools - .NET 101 for the System Administrator". The roadshow was organized through INETA by Dan Wygant, HUNTUG Public Relations Chairman and INETA User Group liaison for Alabama. Dan said "It's my opinion this is a great thing (... more)	3/26/2008
.NET User Groups Unite for First Annual Heartland Developers Conference In an effort to build a more tightly knit .NET community within the Midwest region, the Heartland Developers Network (www.heartlanddn.com) was born. Comprised of the User Groups located in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota, HDN hopes to provide a website community communication portal for all of the UG members. In addition to the website which will host developer profiles, forums, job postings, event calendars, area news, blogs, and a variety of other functionality, HDN (... more)	3/26/2008
About INETA Committees The INETA Committee Chair position also is a member of several major groups and committees keeping INETA functioning. These include the major working group of the 7 member Board, all 5 Committee Chairs (Academic, Infrastructure, Marketing, Speakers and User Group Relations), the INETA primary Microsoft contacts, and the INETA Executive Director; as well as a growing community relationship with Culminis. Besides the challenging day to day activities of INETA, the next major activity will be (... more)	3/26/2008
.NET Celebrities .NET Celebrities -- from the INETA NorAM February 2005 Newsletter  (... more)	3/26/2008
INETA Announces Two New Committee Chairs Bill Wolff Bill Wolff has accepted the position of Chair of the INETA Speaker Committee, one of the 5 committees working with the INETA Board of Directors overseeing all the activities of INETA. Bill is taking over the previous co-Chair position held by Scott Bellware. The Speaker Committee Chair oversees the INETA Speaker Bureau consisting of 45 industry renowned presenters. The Committee includes two noted speaker representatives, Keith Pleas and Ken Getz, and as (... more)	3/26/2008
INETA Speakers Participate in Benefit Auction for Tsunami Relief Efforts Jan 23 - Feb 2 INETA speakers from all of the INETA worldwide regions joined together with other .NET Celebrities to auction off one hour of their consulting time to benefit Aceh Aid at IDEP, a Sumatran aid organization that is doing amazing and heroic work to help the people of Aceh and Western Sumatra. The auction is being held on eBay. Bidding starts at $100 and all money goes directly to AAAI. Each of the top 30 winning bidders will be able to pick the brains of one of these gurus for an hour. We all hope (... more)	3/26/2008
How To Get Involved - A Call For Volunteers INETA relies heavily on the ideas, personal time, and energy of its membership, leaders, and officers. If you are a user group leader – or even an enthusiastic supporter of the .NET user community looking for a way to help, grow with your peers, and find out about volunteer opportunities. Throughout 2005, INETA will also be holding organizational and planning meetings, virtually and in various locations. If you would like to become part of the INETA volunteer team, please email (... more)	3/26/2008
The Great INETA Survey Thanks to all the user group leaders that completed the October 2004 INETA Meeting Attendance Survey. We had 247 user groups around the world complete the survey representing over 200,000 user group members! This information will help INETA improve its services in many ways going forward. The winner's of the XBOX for a user group raffle were: APAC-Dot NET Link, Porirua, New Zealand Europe-Clikear, Madrid, Spain USA/Canada-DHSMMug, Springfield, VA -- from the INETA NorAM February 2005 (... more)	3/26/2008
Keep Your User Group Up to Date Please be sure to keep your user group data up to date on the INETA website. Your group's website URL, your contact information and your group size are important pieces of information. If people are going to the INETA website to find a user group, and your link is broken, they won't be able to find you. You must be logged in to the INETA website to gain access to edit your information. Click Here -- from the INETA NorAM February 2005 Newsletter  (... more)	3/26/2008
INETA Appoints Two New Board Members! Chris Pels leads the Boston .NET User Group. Julie Lerman leads the Vermont .NET User Group. The International .NET Association (INETA) has appointed two new board members for a three year term. This brings the board membership to seven people. The two new board members are Chris Pels and Julie Lerman. Both of these folks have gone out of their way to help make INETA what it is today. They are both outstanding volunteers and are eager to help INETA grow in this next year. The (... more)	3/26/2008
INETA Interviews Executive Director, Samantha Spears Q. How did you hear about INETA? A. I first learned about INETA at Microsoft’s TechEd and PDC conferences in 2003 as well as with their visibility with the Imagine Cup. INETA’s Academic branch was my first introduction as I was working with professors in my prior association management experience. Q. Where do you live? A.I am actually a Georgia Peach, a true native, and live in the suburbs of Atlanta. Q. What experiences from AIS will directly help INETA? A. Working with a volunteer (... more)	3/26/2008
INETA 2004' UG Leader Summit - TechEd in San Diego INETA 2004' UG Leader Summit - TechEd in San Diego -- from the INETA NorAM February 2005 Newsletter  (... more)	3/26/2008
A Message from Bill Evjen, INETA Founder and Chairman 2004 was a stellar year for INETA. Our growth continues at some astronomical paces as more and more member groups are added from every point in the world. We started and have run INETA purely on a volunteer basis, from the board level and beyond. We ran INETA much in the way each of us (being user group leaders) ran our own user groups. We contributed to the greater cause in the promotion of a technology which we truly believed in through a face-to-face expression. There is a lot of power (... more)	3/26/2008
Upcoming Events ASP.NET, Visual Studio & SQL Connections in ORLANDO March 20-23, 2005 MSDN Events Winter Program through March 22 VSLive! Toronto April 13-16, 2005 -- from the INETA NorAM March 2005 Newsletter  (... more)	3/26/2008
Speakers Corner This month, Jason Bunting interviews INETA Speaker, Kate Gregory.  Kate is a Microsoft Regional Director, co-owner of Gregory Consulting in Toronto, Ontario and well known author, conference speaker and C++ guru. Kate Gregory JB.  When did you first start writing code? KG.  My standard line in talks is "I've been paid to program since 1979". I guess I wrote some Fortran in 1977... yikes! coming up on 30 years! It didn't utterly thrill me at first, but I guess (... more)	3/26/2008
Code Camp, Day of .NET and more. Explosion of community events around the country! In the past few months, a new phenomenon has begun to sweep the .NET community. It is called Code Camp. Code Camps are a community driven weekend event filled with .NET sessions given by our peers. The concept is not completely new – for example, Chicago is preparing for its sixth Day of .NET. What is unique about these events and others like them, such as the Heartland Developer Conference featured in last month’s newsletter, is that they are purely community driven. Although there may (... more)	3/26/2008
Microsoft Learning Microsoft certifications are one way to demonstrate your depth and breadth of knowledge on Microsoft .NET, and Microsoft Learning has a number of tools that help you prepare and certify. Skills Assessments: Test Your Knowledge of Microsoft Visual Studio .NET Microsoft now offers twelve free, online skills assessments on developing Windows-based and Web-based applications using Visual Basic .NET and Visual C# .NET.  Compare your score with other developers who have taken the (... more)	3/26/2008
Tech·Ed 2005 - Birds of a Feather Once again INETA and Culminis will be sponsoring the Birds of a Feather at Tech·Ed. These attendee hosted discussions can be on any topic. If you will be at TechEd we invite you to submit a session idea. If not attending Tech·Ed you still have the opportunity to be involved by voting for your favorite topics. The BOF session submission and voting are hosted on the Tech·Ed site at http://www.msteched.com/content/bof.aspx. For more information email the committee at bof@ineta.org -- from the (... more)	3/26/2008
INETA Speaker Bureau can help your group ride the new technology wave! With new technologies emerging this year, are your groups taking advantage of bringing in the top experts in our industry to give developers that cutting-edge? Some of our speakers are ready to share their insight on topics such as SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio 2005, and other hot topics. In the past you have been able to request up to 3 INETA speakers per year. For 2005, we are increasing the limit to four INETA Speakers due to the wave of new technologies. Bringing in industry recognized (... more)	3/26/2008
US/Canada UG Leaders: APPLY FOR TECHED / UG LEADER SUMMIT SCHOLARSHIPS BY MARCH 7TH A limited number of scholarships will be awarded to help defray the costs of attending the User Group Leader Summit. These scholarships are being made available to INETA User Group Leaders in the United States and Canada who have had significant involvement in their local developer community in 2004. There are two types of scholarship – Full (includes roundtrip airfare, up to six-nights hotel accommodations and a full TechEd conference pass) and TechEd Only (includes just a TechEd conference (... more)	3/26/2008
INETA announces UG Leader Summit (Tech·Ed 2005 - Orlando) On Sunday, June 5, 2005, INETA will host the fourth annual North American User Group Leader Summit at the JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes in Orlando, FL. Held in conjunction with Microsoft’s Tech·Ed, this year’s event is a collaborative effort between INETA and Culminis (ITPro organization). There is no cost to attend. All user group leaders attending Tech·Ed 2005 are invited to the Summit and to participate in INETA activities during the week. As in year’s past, the day-long event is (... more)	3/26/2008
President's Corner February 2006 marks the 4th anniversary of INETA which has grown to 900 user groups representing 465,000 members worldwide. Since our founding INETA has focused on fostering the local developer community through various programs and services for user groups with the help of over 75 volunteers. Thanks to all the INETA volunteers and those of you in the local community that contribute your time to this great effort! Since this fall over 470 user groups around the world are participating in the (... more)	3/13/2008
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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)	3/13/2008
About this newsletter The INETA newsletter is emailed to the contact person of User Groups that are members of INETA. Additionally, anyone can sign up to receive this newsletter on the home page of www.ineta.org. Archived newsletters will soon be available on the INETA website on the Repository page. Please send news (and pictures) from your user group so we can include it in a future newsletter! Contact us at: ugrelations@ineta.org We welcome your feedback on this newsletter. Please contact (... more)	3/13/2008
From the User Group Relations Committee Please let us know ways we can help your User Group be successful in its activities.  We’re always interested in hearing new ideas, requests, etc.  You may either post questions and comments in the forum section at www.ineta.org or contact us via e-mail at ugrelations@ineta.org. -- from the INETA NorAM December 2002 Newsletter  (... more)	3/13/2008
.NET News to share with your members It's Official: "Everett" Is Now Visual Studio .NET 2003 Look ahead to the new features for building .NET-connected software in Visual Studio .NET 2003, now in Final Beta and available for subscribers from MSDN Subscriber Downloads. http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/productinfo/vstudio03/default.asp Open Source .NET IDE soon to be coming out of beta #develop (short for SharpDevelop) is a free IDE for C# and VB.NET projects on Microsoft's .NET platform. It is open-source (GPL), and can be (... more)	3/13/2008
Tips for your User Group Website Let your members recommend links. Rather than be limited to links dug up by the webmaster, VTdotNet has a page where members can enter links that they find interesting. They can enter their name, the url and a description of the link. The data goes right into a sql server database and is then spit back out in a multi-paged datalist for all to see. Speaking of links, here is a great resource for WinForms questions. We came across this super FAQ and Forum resource for Winforms and thought (... more)	3/13/2008
In the Forums (of www.ineta.org) First some numbers: There are almost 1,300 registered users in the INETA forums. That's a large number for our short existence! And there are currently over 80 separate threads. These are all  leader to leader conversations. We think this is fantastic! Here is an interesting recent thread. NYC Dot Net Developer's group is trying to gear up for a C# study group, but realize that they have some strategic tasks to work out. Read some of this discussion under "User Group Leaders/Open (... more)	3/13/2008
Crossing Borders with INETA The International flavor of INETA is already very evident with over 30 countries represented. At ASP Connections in Orlando, we had the great fortune of representation from a number of these countries. We also met two men from India who are now helping us with our relations with user groups from that country. INETA Europe is getting truly revved up under the auspices of Christian Nagel. Here in North America, the community aspect of INETA gets even more interesting. Because of their (... more)	3/13/2008
New! INETA Content Managers INETA has created two new management positions called "Content Managers". Brian Tinkler from the Wisconsin .NET UG (www.wi-ineta.org) and Devin Rader from the St. Louis .NET UG (www.stlnet.org) have been selected for these positions and will collaborate together to help reach INETA’s overall objectives. Brian previously served as Co-Chair for the User Group Relations Committee and Devin played an instrumental role in the great success of the Speakers Bureau.  Both have worked with INETA since (... more)	3/13/2008
Just in time for the Holidays: the Winter Warmup In the spirit of facilitating communications between user groups and the thriving .NET third party community, INETA sent out a “Winter Warmup” shipment in November. Members of the .NET third party community contributed products to be given away at user group meetings. For this initial shipment, INETA sent these packages to 120 user groups throughout the US. Did we miss you? Not to worry: future shipments, as well as duplicating this program in other parts of the world, are both ideas that are (... more)	3/13/2008
INETA Revs up in South America Jose Berrios from the User Group Relations Committee has just returned from a very successful trip to Peru where he started the launch of INETA Latino America with the MUG-PERU DevDays in Lima. A presentation about INETA was made to the attendees and INETA also donated a library of books to the local user group or MUG. The event lasted two days and included speakers from across the Andean region in South America. In attendance were over 800 developers all eager to hear and devour the (... more)	3/13/2008
More Speakers Added! User Groups love the INETA Speakers Bureau. We send out well known authors and presenters who are leading .NET experts, software legends and more to local user group meetings and even pay for the pizza upon request! Given the popularity of this program, we would quickly reach capacity on our existing speakers’ ability to fill the huge number of requests that we’re receiving from Seattle to Jacksonville, Toronto to Quebec and all points in between. The solution: Invite more “.NET stars” to (... more)	3/13/2008
INETA Welcomes #200! We are very very happy to announce that we have just recently approved our 200th User Group into INETA!! The group that was the official #200 group hails from Mexico and is called: Grupo .NET Estado de México y Norte del DF. You can see their website at http://www.tutordes.com/comunidad.net -- from the INETA NorAM December 2002 Newsletter  (... more)	3/13/2008
From the User Group Relations Committee Please let us know ways we can help your User Group be successful in its activities.  We're always interested in hearing new ideas, requests, etc.  You may either post questions and comments in the forum section at www.ineta.org or contact us via e-mail at ugrelations@ineta.org. -- from the INETA NorAM November 2002 Newsletter  (... more)	3/12/2008
INETA Website news We have kept our webmasters busy busy busy with requests to make all of our lives easier! So first, big kudos and thanks to the Website Infrastructure committee. So what's new: Making YOUR lives easier are Home Page Revised Speaker Schedule Quick Sign Up for INETA Newsletter by Email Address  Speakers Bureau Page Speakers Bureau Page has a revised form which does not enforce selection of desired speakers. (Let us know how we can enhance it) INETA Membership Page Manage group leaders for (... more)	3/12/2008
Tips for your User Group Website We've been Swagged! Vermont .Net ran a contest to see if user group members knew what swag was and what the actual word meant. Check out some of the hilarious responses at top of www.vtdotnet.org! Remember: Your UG website is the perfect playground for learning ASP.Net and impressing friends, relatives and your fellow UG members! -- from the INETA NorAM November 2002 Newsletter  (... more)	3/12/2008
In the Forums (of www.ineta.org) Help on Creating a Non-Profit This is in User Group Leaders/Open Discussion. UG Leaders are seeking and sharing bylaws, constitutions and mission statements. This thread looks like the beginning of a great resource! We will likely make a section in the repository for people to share these documents with each other. -- from the INETA NorAM November 2002 Newsletter  (... more)	3/12/2008
Tips for your User Group Meeting: Creating a Community From Ruth Walther, www.DotNetUsers.org. Popcorn is a game to create community by showing appreciation to serving members and helping people identify each other. It's called popcorn because people are popping up and sitting down around the room as their names are called out to give them some applause. People pop up to thank others in the group for helping them, substituting the word popcorn for the words thank you. Tom says: "Popcorn John Smith for helping me at the Bring Your Own Laptop." (... more)	3/12/2008
Web Services Conference Discount for members Bill Evjen, the Executive Director of INETA, will be speaking at the conference, Building a Web Services Foundation. The event is scheduled for December 10-11, 2002, at the Hotel Nikko San Francisco.  As a result of this CNET Networks, TechRepublic and Builder.com are offering INETA User Group members a $200 registration discount for the conference.   To preview program content go to: http://webservices.cnetnetworksevents.com -- from the INETA NorAM November 2002 Newsletter  (... more)	3/12/2008
INETA Announces Volunteer of the Year for 2002 INETA is pleased to announce the first "Volunteer of the Year Award". Julia Lerman, founder and leader of the Vermont .NET Users Group (www.vtdotnet.org ) received the 2002 award during a meeting of INETA User Group Leaders held in Orlando Florida at the ASP Connections conference.   Julie earned the award through her work with the User Group Relations Committee where she has enthusiastically met newsletter deadlines, been an active participant in the INETA forums and has had interaction with (... more)	3/12/2008
.NET News to share with your members The beta version of the .NET Framework 1.1 Software SDK is now online. Try its new features and get up to speed for the rollout of .NET Server 2003.Download .NET Framework 1.1 Beta SDK Today Try out Visual Studio.Net online for Free! With the Visual Studio .NET Hosted Experience, you will have three hours of COMPLETE access to Visual Studio .NET Enterprise Architect, as well as a library of other valuable tools, resources, and code samples. It's SIMPLE — no complex setup or (... more)	3/12/2008
User Group Specials from your own website! We have received many requests from user group leaders to make the “User Group Specials” page more accessible. INETA has decided to allow direct-linking to this page in a manner that will eliminate the need to log in. We feel that this change will enable you to easily provide this valuable benefit to your members, without the previous hassle of a login id & password. We are hoping that every user group will want take advantage of this new benefit by placing the banner ad for the direct (... more)	3/12/2008
More from Orlando Getting the Help you need from your user group members During the INETA sessions a discussion on "Getting the Help you Need" was led by two members of the User Group Relations Committee, Ruth Walther of DotNetUsers and Julie Lerman from VTdotNet. Julie referred to herself as the BEFORE and Ruth as the AFTER, since Julie is still doing 100% of the work and Ruth has committees of people who help run her very large user group. Here are some highlights from that conversation. How much of the (... more)	3/12/2008
ASP Connections Roundup "It's a User Group Thing" Not only did the INETA t-shirts have that on the back, but that's what User Group leaders who attended the day long INETA meeting at ASP Connections had to say. INETA invited user group leaders and INETA volunteers from North America and Europe to attend a one day meeting immediately prior ASP Connections, VS.NET Connections and SQL Live in Orlando, FL in late October. The day long meeting and related events gave user group leaders the chance to talk about issues (... more)	3/12/2008
INETA Website News Do you have more than one user group leader? Now you can add additional user group leader emails to your user group information. Go to the Management tab on the www.ineta.org site to do this. -- from the INETA NorAM mid-October 2002 Newsletter  (... more)	3/12/2008
The .NET User Group Explosion Brian Tinkler, President WI .NET Users Group & Co-Chair of INETA UG Relations Committee (Brian will be presenting on "Working with Other User Groups" during our ASP Connections Sessions) No, this title is no misnomer and no, I’m not referring to explosion in the sense of a catastrophic event. However, there is really no other word that is as fitting of a description of what I have seen happen with the WI .NET Users Group. Started in a cauldron of .NET enthusiasm at the launch of Visual (... more)	3/12/2008
Workshop Highlights  NonProfitWays The folks who started NonProfitWays will be talking about this awesome user group project and how you can get involved. Read more at www.nonprofitways.com. Also, check out the article at www.ASPNETPRO.com about NonProfitWays. Learn more about how your user group can get involved in this win-win approach to enabling members to get hands-on .NET experience while helping your community. Engaging your User Group Members Getting user group members to actively participate in the (... more)	3/12/2008
ASP Connections is the Place to Be for INETA Members! Sunday, Oct 27th - Wednesday, Oct 30th Orlando, Florida INETA will be hosting a full day of meetings for User Group Leaders and INETA volunteers on Sunday, October 27th, immediately prior to the conference kickoff. All INETA User Group Leaders are invited to attend. Please RSVP to ugrelations@ineta.org if you plan to attend our meetings. There is no additional fee for the INETA Sunday meetings. ASP Connections Conference Fee Discounts for INETA MEMBERS All UG Presidents AND (... more)	3/12/2008
From the User Group Relations Committee The User Group Relations committee meets bi-weekly or more frequently as needed via conference call and we have been busy with: Planning Outreach program to INETA member groups Finalizing a User Group Starter Guide CD that will be mailed to all member groups in late October or early November Writing this monthly newsletter Planning presentations for the ASP Connections Conference where INETA will be hosting User Group leaders and INETA Committee Members for a planning meeting.  As (... more)	3/12/2008
From INETA Down Under Article by Mark Bogos, .Net Community of Practice in Perth Western Australia I am the Development Manager for Power Business Systems and also the User Group Leader for the .Net Community of Practice in Perth Western Australia. We recently had an interesting meeting. We had a debate between the .Net and JAVA technologies. We used a debate style with two teams of three people:  one supporting .NET and the other JAVA. Teams debated the advantages, best features and other facets (... more)	3/12/2008
Tips for your User Group Website Presentation Resources  Many of you have a page for listing past meetings. You may continually come upon resources that relate to the presentations in those past meetings. Why not continue to add those newly discovered resources to the page even though the meetings were in the past. Here is an example: www.vtdotnet.org/pastmeetings.aspx Remember: Your UG website is the perfect playground for learning ASP.Net and impressing friends, relatives and your fellow UG members! -- from the (... more)	3/12/2008
Tips for your User Group Meeting Philly.Net holds one or two hands on workshops during the month in addition to their regular meeting. A local training company provides them with space. According to Bill Wolff, the ug leader, "The training center usually builds the machine using one of their Ghost images. They also offer snacks in the hope that members will come back as billable students. We use books that most users got free at one of our meetings. One of our members leads the class" Have a unique idea that has (... more)	3/12/2008
In the Forums (of www.ineta.org) "Finding Other Local Leaders" Here is a thread where some user group leaders are trying to figure out how to encourage other people in their groups to help with some of the responsibilities of making the user group function. If you have ideas or need ideas on this topic, visit the thread and chime in. The thread is in: Forums/General Forums/Starting a User Group/Finding Other Local Leaders. Or click on the link above. There are also threads going on about establishing membership, (... more)	3/12/2008
News from Member User Groups Malaysia.NET has a very strong student developer community. The group has evolved out of a Digital Generation-X competition that is run each year which challenges students to build software projects for submission. Malaysia's User Group VTdotNet has NOT stopped bragging about having their September meeting at member Burton Snowboards' Worldwide HQ office. Trying to hide the computer geek image under the hip boarder dude persona? Stragglers hang with the latest Burton (... more)	3/12/2008
Community Building Ruth Walther, the user group leader for DotNetUsers.org in Redmond, WA and a member of the INETA User Group Relations Committee, has a fantastic perspective of having seen her user group evolve from being a small group solely run by one person, to a large, active user group with an enormous amount of participation. Ruth is going to talk to us in this newsletter periodically about this very important topic. Ruth will be leading a discussion on Engaging User Group members to help Run your (... more)	3/12/2008
.NET News to Share with Your Members The Microsoft .NET Framework version 1.1 Beta extends the .NET Framework version 1.0 with new features, improvements to existing features, and enhancements to the documentation. The major feature areas of this new release are outlined in this overview document. Learn more at http://msdn.microsoft.com/netframework/productinfo/next/overview.asp Microsoft has some new .Net related Office XP development offerings including the Office XP Web Services Toolkit 2.0, the Web Service References (... more)	3/12/2008
Shop INETA for .NET Tools Did you know that there’s a Component Store at the INETA site? Just click on the Component Store tab and you’ll be browsing through one of the largest collections of components available for .NET. Keep up with the latest exciting product releases, and see what the hottest sellers are, at the INETA Component Store. -- from the INETA NorAM October 2002 Newsletter  (... more)	3/12/2008
From the Speakers Bureau Committee   New and live on the www.ineta.org web site is a posting of where INETA Speakers Bureau members will be presenting.  We are pleased to see an increasing number of requests from user groups and are working on logistics of filling them.  If you’ll be attending various conferences like ASP Connections, MEC or others, be sure to look for our INETA Speakers Bureau members as they travel frequently to present on .NET. INETA Speakers have a new job: Pizza Delivery! Not only do we deliver an (... more)	3/12/2008
ASP Connections is the Place to Be for INETA Members! INETA will be hosting a full day of meetings for User Group Leaders and INETA volunteers on October 27th, immediately prior to the conference kickoff. We’ll be talking about INETA benefits and how to provide even more services to user groups, hear reports from each of the working committees and brainstorm future directions. We will also be holding presentations and workshops on some of the hot issues about running a user group. We have User Group leaders attending from over 30 US cities, (... more)	3/12/2008
About this Newsletter The INETA newsletter is emailed to the contact person of User Groups that are members of INETA. We welcome your feedback on this newsletter. Please contact ugrelations@ineta.org. -- from the INETA NorAM September 2002 Newsletter  (... more)	3/11/2008
From the User Group Relations Committee This committee has been busy too. We have many energetic, active volunteers who are: Producing and growing the content of the newsletter, Adding new member groups as they apply and we’re up to 150, Creating a CD to aid new user groups that will go to production in September (including a User Group Start Up Guide, information about INETA and resources, such as code for your User Group web site), and Planning the ASP Connections User Group meeting -- from the INETA NorAM September (... more)	3/11/2008
From INETA Europe INETA Europe was officially announced in July at TechEd Barcelona. Since then INETA Europe has been very active, and currently has 23 groups in Austria, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Switzerland, and UK. The INETA Europe board has representatives from Norway, Russia, Italy and France. All user group members in Europe are offered a free trial ASP.NET hosting solution: http://europe.webmatrixhosting.net. We are also building a European Speakers Bureau and have (... more)	3/11/2008
Tips for Your User Group Website Add a webservice! DotNetJunkies has published webservices that let you incorporate headlines of their latest tutorials and How-to's. There are a number of different configurations. Look for the "Content Web Services" on their website: www.dotnetjunkies.com Your UG website is the perfect playground for learning ASP.Net and impressing friends, relatives and your fellow UG members! -- from the INETA NorAM September 2002 Newsletter  (... more)	3/11/2008
Tips for your User Group Meeting The Sydney .NET Users Group (www.ssw.com.au/ssw/NETUG) suggests that members bring a "hot tip" on any .NET related topic to the meeting. They then set aside some time during their meeting to share some of these tricks with each other. Have a unique idea that has enhanced your meetings? Share it with INETA members in the next newsletter. Contact us at: ugrelations@ineta.org -- from the INETA NorAM September 2002 Newsletter  (... more)	3/11/2008
In the Forums (of www.ineta.org) "Who pays for all that Pizza?" Here's a thread in the "General Forums"/"User Group Ideas" where leaders of different user groups are sharing different ways of funding their feeding. Don't forget the forums as a great resource for getting or sharing ideas with other user group leaders and communicating with INETA committee members, Microsoft reps and others. -- from the INETA NorAM September 2002 Newsletter  (... more)	3/11/2008
News from Member User Groups Please send news (and pictures) from your user group so we can include it in a future newsletter! Contact us at: ugrelations@ineta.org -- from the INETA NorAM September 2002 Newsletter  (... more)	3/11/2008
Community Building Your user group is a gold mine for building a real community among your area programmers. Enable networking at your meetings, through mail list servers, etc. INETA is turning out to be a gold mine for extending this community. User Group leaders are sharing ideas and helping each other out with questions about running their groups. New Hampshire's UG leader recently presented at Vermont's .Net meeting. Now some members have been going to each other's meetings. -- from the INETA (... more)	3/11/2008
.NET News to Share with Your Members Service Pack 2 of the .NET Framework was released on August 8 and can be downloaded from http://msdn.microsoft.com/netframework/downloads/sp/default.asp. Get on the .NET Speech Newsletter Today! The .NET Speech SDK is a new set of VS.NET integrated tools that allow developers to take ASP.NET Web applications and easily extend them with speech recognition. With this technology, Web applications can be given a new user interface medium: sound Microsoft is also working on a platform to serve (... more)	3/11/2008
Call for Volunteers Get involved with INETA and you’ll go places, literally. We are inviting up to 40 User Group leaders to our User Group Meetings at ASP Connections and paying their travel expenses to attend. We plan to have even larger meeting sessions at Microsoft PDC in the spring. Volunteer with one of INETA’s committees and learn from other User Group leaders while you contribute. And you may even get to go places this Spring! Email us at ugrelations@ineta.org. -- from the INETA NorAM September 2002 (... more)	3/11/2008
From the Speakers Bureau Committee The Speakers Bureau is live along with a request form that we hope all User Groups will use soon.  Follow this link to see the speakers list and the request form!We have had positive responses from our early bird User Groups who have already had speakers come to the local meetings. Doug Seven, Asli Bilgen, and Paul Sherrif all received high marks when they presented at various locations. We have 10 User Group speaker requests currently and have confirmed 6 future dates, and are working on (... more)	3/11/2008
INETA Speakers: Cheaper than pizza and free delivery, too! Can INETA be for real? Is it too good to be true? We have been hearing from UG leaders who don’t really believe that INETA can help their User Groups. One person said "I had no idea INETA was so ... relevant! But now I am looking forward to taking advantage of what they have to offer." It's true. Did you realize that when you request a speaker from the Speakers Bureau, we will fly them right to your door and pay their expenses? Check out our stunning list of speakers at  (... more)	3/11/2008
FlaDotNET does Charity! The Florida Dot NET user groups, www.fladotnet.net, has launched a series of projects intended to give developers the chance to work on a real .NET project AND provide a benefit local community groups. To support this effort David Silverlight, Jason Beres and Sheri Nawrocki created a new sister website www.nonprofitways.com . Response has been strong with over 70 volunteers signing up for the 3 projects currently under ways. Other user groups are invited to utilize the site for their own (... more)	3/11/2008
CHECK OUT THE NEW FORUMS! We've added a variety of forums to support INETA and User Group activities. Be sure to check them out. At this time we are not setup to handle all the users in your group, but all User Group Leaders are encouraged to try them out! You will need to create a user name and password to get access to the forums and other unique services on the site. -- from the INETA NorAM August 2002 Newsletter  (... more)	3/11/2008
GREAT NEWS - WE JUST KEEP GROWING   The INETA community now has more than 140 user groups Our #100 group is the Groupe d'usagers Visual Studio Montréal. We still have a backlog of groups to approve and volunteers are working on that as fast as they can. Watch for updated numbers on the INETA website. Some statistics: - 140 user groups. - Over 41,000 developers world wide. - Members are located in 20 countries and 38 states. - Watch for UG Leader meetings Orlando in October (27th-30th) at ASP Connections conference - (... more)	3/11/2008
INETA is pleased to announce that the User Group Specials page is now available at User Group Specials The password-protected User Group Specials page allows people to receive significant discounts and other benefits from third party vendors. There are currently 25 vendors participating, with more being added every day! As a member benefit of belonging to INETA, your user group members can get access to this page. You should have received an announcement notice that you could relay to your members. If you did not, or if you need it re-sent, please drop us a note at ugspecials@ineta.org  (... more)	3/11/2008
INETA Speakers' Bureau Activities The INETA Speakers Bureau is now taking requests for speakers. If you would like to request a speaker for your user group, please visit http://www.ineta.org and complete the request form shown on the Speakers Bureau page. The INETA web site now has a complete listing of the participating Speakers' Bureau members, a process in place for User Groups to request speakers at their meetings. We currently have 19 speakers available to fulfill these requests. Doug Seven, INETA Speakers' Bureau (... more)	3/11/2008
Report on the Milwaukee .NET Users Group Meeting By Brian Tinkler President, WI .NET Users Group I received a dreadful scare, just 2 days before our first Wisconsin .NET Users Group meeting.  Rushing back from a meeting with a client from my day job, I grabbed 2 minutes of free time to check my voice mail.  I had received a call from our scheduled speaker saying that he couldn’t make it. After a few minutes of expletives, I gathered my composure and began thinking about how I was going to be able to find a (... more)	3/11/2008
INETA Speaker Bureau Information Farhan Muhammed and Keith Pleas are jointly coordinating the creation of the Speakers’ Bureau by inviting qualified .NET experts to join, collecting their biographies and building an infrastructure to support numerous invitations by User Groups.  They are being assisted in their efforts by Linda Bookey, of Bookey Consulting, Inc. a vendor who specializes in Marketing and Program Management. Check the web site at INETA Speakers Bureau to view all of the current speakers. -- from (... more)	3/11/2008
Message from the Executive Director INETA’s vision to provide a structured, peer-based organizational, educational, and promotional support to the growing worldwide community of Microsoft® .NET user groups is now a reality. To date 92 user groups around the world, who represent over 34,000 members, have joined INETA. In the near future an INETA Europe will be established and activity in Australia, Latin America, Asia, Japan and India are developing now.  Our thanks to Microsoft: a charter sponsor, for funding some of the (... more)	3/11/2008
Upcoming Speakers Bureau Events RSS Feed NETA offers a public RSS feed for upcoming Speaker Bureau events. The feed URL is http://www.ineta.org/rss/speakerschedule.aspx.  (... more)	3/11/2008
Useful Links Microsoft .NET Framework Redistributable .NET Development Visual Studio.NET ASP.NET Microsoft Developer's Network MSDN User Groups Contact INETA  (... more)	3/11/2008
INETA on MSDN TV The MSDN TV crew caught up with INETA at their booth at TechEd 2003! Watch it here...  (... more)	3/11/2008
INETA on .NET Rocks Carl Franklin interviews a gaggle of INETA folks in this June 23, 2003 show. Listen here!  (... more)	3/11/2008
The INETA Video In June 2003, MSDN created a video about INETA, .NET User Groups and their relationship to Microsoft. It's great fun to watch and you can get some insight into being a user group leader as well! 56k Version (1.2 MB) 300k Version (10 MB)  (... more)	3/11/2008
Who is my D.E.? The Microsoft Developer Evangelist is your best personal connection to Microsoft. These are the folks who work with a particular region of the country and really want to be involved with the developer community. They can introduce you to other community members, assist you with coordinating events and maybe even find you some illusory swag! But who is your D.E.? Below is a list of the current D.E.s in the U.S. and Canada. Also you can visit the Canada MSDN Team page and the US Offices page (... more)	3/10/2008
Community Events Register Here... May 7th in Long Beach, CA Code Camps! Greater Pennsylvania - April 23 - 24 Mid Atlantic District - May 7 Atlanta - May 14 Code Camp OZ (Australia!) - April 24 - 25 Day of .NET (Chicago, IL) - April 30 -- from the INETA NorAM April 2005 Newsletter  (... more)	3/10/2008
Microsoft WebCasts Check out the MSDN Tablet PC Webcast page for updated offerings of webcasts in the continuing series for Tablet and Mobile PC Applications Development. -- from the INETA NorAM April 2005 Newsletter  (... more)	3/10/2008
Upcoming Conferences Register Now!  Save $300 June 5 - 10, 2005 in Orlando, FL Register today! June 18 - 22, 2005 Montreal Register by April 27! Save $300 Register Today! May 3 - 5, 2005 Washington DC -- from the INETA NorAM April 2005 Newsletter  (... more)	3/10/2008
INETA Welcomes DotNetNuke DotNetNuke is powerful, full-featured, and FREE open source software for community building. In keeping with INETA's own charter services, DotNetNuke meets the needs of .net user groups on a variety of fronts. User group leaders and staff will appreciate user friendly design that supports multiple languages, newsletter publishing, integrated site search, and user registration with opt-in or opt-out member services. A sophisticated architecture, a rich array of free and commercial modules (... more)	3/10/2008
Bridging the Knowledge Gap in Your User Group Are you finding the range of .NET knowledge is widening in your user group, with people interested in intro and advanced topics? The Boston .NET User Group, noticed this too, and here’s how their Executive Committee set out to solve it. About two years ago they implemented the following multi-session meeting format to cover both audiences. 5:00-6:15 Technology Study Group 6:15-6:30 Break 6:30-6:50 Announcements, Book Reviews, etc. 6:50-8:30 Main Presentation The (... more)	3/10/2008
Going Deeper in .NET Four hundred hungry .NET developers packed the local Radisson Hotel early on a Saturday morning Milwaukee, WI, all gathered for the annual day-long "Deeper in .NET" produced by the WI .NET Users Group. This event included some of the communities most knowledgeable speakers: Right To Left: Scott Guthrie, Rob Howard, Rocky Lhotka, Jason Beres , Chris MayoThese amazing speakers also enabled the WI .NET UG to attract 14 sponsors that let the event afford a great hotel, and (... more)	3/10/2008
User Group Pre-Meeting Power Points GUVSM, in Montreal, has a very innovative way of sharing news and events with user group members at their meetings. User Group Leaders, Guy Barrette and Eric Cote create a PowerPoint slide show of all the information about the current meeting, upcoming events in their area, notable .NET News etc. While attendees are arriving and getting settled, the slide show is running on the screen. At the start of the meeting, one of the leaders then uses the deck as talking points to make sure they (... more)	3/10/2008
Birds of a Feather Sessions at TechEd A conference can only cover a fixed set of topics, but what about the other topics you find important or interesting? At Tech·Ed 2005 you'll be among thousands of your peers: how do you find the group of folks who share your questions or passions on some particular technology or concern? That's what Birds of a Feather sessions are for! A Birds of a Feather session is a one-hour open discussion on any topic that concerns you. It is not a talk or presentation; there are no slides or projectors. (... more)	3/10/2008
INETA UG Leadership Summit at TechEd 2005 Make Plans to Attend the North American User Group Leader Summit on June 4th Planning for the North American User Group Leader Summit (UGLS) is in full swing and this year’s event promises to be chock full of useful information. Produced in conjunction with Culminis, the UGLS is a full day of interactive sessions, networking with peers and more at the JW Marriott in Orlando, FL. All user group leaders and active members of groups are invited to attend at no cost. To register for the event, (... more)	3/10/2008
Upcoming Events Texas .NET User Group Olympics http://www.dotnetolympics.org/ -- from the INETA NorAM May 2005 Newsletter  (... more)	3/10/2008
Register Visual Studio 2005 Beta2 for a free online book from Micrsoft Press Download and register your copy of Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2 today, and receive access to a free developer book from Microsoft Press. Chose from online versions of Introducing ASP.NET 2.0, Introducing Microsoft® Visual Basic® 2005, and Writing Secure Code, 2nd Edition. http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/vs2005/get/ -- from the INETA NorAM May 2005 Newsletter  (... more)	3/10/2008
Code Camps and Events Around the World The past month has seen another slew of wonderful community events in the NORAM community and around the world. Most of these originate with the communities that have grown out of your user groups. Here are some highlights from a few events:   Mid Atlantic Code Camp drew 200 developers to Microsoft's very cool office in Reston, VA. There were 5 tracks and 29 sessions. The Code Camp was from 9am - 9pm and it took the help of many user group leaders to make it happen. The evening prior to (... more)	3/10/2008
User Group Events Held at Conferences When conferences come to town, they bring a talent pool of out of town speakers, and provide a great opportunity for the local user group communities. For example, in Montreal, DevTeach is being held from June 18 -23.  GUVSM, one of the local .NET User Groups, will have their meeting at the conference location. DevTeach will open up the evening's events to the entire local community, for free, as part of the "DevTeach User Group Night" which will include Bonus Sessions.  The DevTeach (... more)	3/10/2008
INETA NORAM User Group Relations Announces our Newest User Group Liason's for the Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin Brian Tinkler (Wisconsin .NET Users Group, Waukesha), brian.tinkler@ineta.org Brian has been a part of INETA in one capacity or another since formal inception back in early 2002. Most recently he has been working on the INETA Academic Committee and the INETA Academic Student Committee. With his extensive experience with the academic community, Brian will make a great judge for the Imagine Cup Nationals in Redmond this year. There, (... more)	3/10/2008
Hosting a Certification Study Group In addition to the lecture style monthly meetings, many user groups are creating certification study groups that meet throughout the month. Certification study groups are another great way for your user group members to benefit from being part of a community. Michael Wharton, who is a member of the   Piedmont Triad Dot Net User Group  in North Carolina, has created a number of Technology Study Groups and even has a website devoted to this format at www.technostudy.com. Here are some (... more)	3/10/2008
INETA UG Leadership Summit at TechEd 2005 In conjunction with Microsoft’s Tech•Ed, on Sunday June 5th INETA will host the NORAM UG Leader Summit at the JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes in Orlando, FL. This year’s event is a collaborative effort between INETA and Culminis (IT Pro Organization).  All user group leaders are invited to attend at no cost. Please email your name, user group name, city, state, and email address to teched@ineta.org to register. Agenda Time Session 8:00 a.m. Registration 8:30 a.m. Welcome  (... more)	3/10/2008
Get Ready for SQL Server 2005 Roadshow in a City Near You A href="http://www.windowsitpro.com/roadshows/sqlserverusa/"> Get the facts about migrating to SQL Server 2005. SQL Server experts will present real-world information about administration, development, and business intelligence to help you implement a best-practices migration to SQL Server 2005 and improve your database computing environment. Receive a one-year membership to PASS and one-year subscription to SQL Server Magazine. Register now-- from the INETA NorAM August 2005 Newsletter  (... more)	3/9/2008
SQL Server Migration Competition SQL Server Marketing is offering a Custom Chopper for the best migration from Oracle to SQL Server. The chopper is valued at approximately US $50,000! The award will be presented to the winner at the SQL Server 2005 Launch Event in San Francisco. For more details http://www.sqlserverchopper.com/ Call to Action: SPREAD THE WORD! Let all your friends know. Forward as appropriate. Make sure you mention this in your blogs, news groups, conversations, chat rooms … · Refer a friend  (... more)	3/9/2008
Software Quality Engineering Home of Better Software magazine and StickyMinds.com, the most comprehensive print and online resources for helping you produce better software is calling for authors and speakers in the industry. Better Software magazine and StickyMinds.com provides insight and techniques to improve results throughout the software development lifecycle. Have a great idea for an article or think you would be a great author--email us at editors@bettersoftware.com. Or, share your real-life experiences in person (... more)	3/9/2008
MS Learning Get Ready for Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005 Whether you are a developer or a database professional, you will find classroom training, books, free skills assessments, and free e-learning to help you get up to speed on the newest features of the software. Assessments help you analyze your current skills, and provide you with a learning plan that recommends books, e-learning, classroom training, and MSDN resources. Microsoft E-Learning lets you learn on your own schedule and feature (... more)	3/9/2008
Connected Systems Competition - Win $50,000! Do you Dare? Demonstrate your skills with SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio 2005 and BizTalk by entering the Connected Systems Developer Competition. There are 15 categories that will be used to judge the competition; show us how good you are by entering an application into one or more of the competition categories. Entries will be judged in one or more categories like: Best Extension of a SQL Server 2005 database using the SQLCLR Best integrated application using XML in (... more)	3/9/2008
Demand for Speakers Bureau on the Rise Contributer:  Bill Wolff, VP INETA Speakers Bureau The Speakers Bureau is having a banner year in 2005. Demand has increased with the impending release of Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005. Our committee has processed close to 250 events. Unfortunately, the books are now closed for this year. If you have a request pending, we will try our best to make that event happen. Requests are now being accepted for 2006. Since demand has increased, we need to make some rules to (... more)	3/9/2008
PDC Flair Help promote PDC by putting some flair in your blogs! Get listed on the "Flair Sightings List" on Channel 9 Community site. In fact, you can Blog your way to PDC. Click here for more info. Pick a piece of INETA flair, put it on blog today! -- from the INETA NorAM August 2005 Newsletter  (... more)	3/9/2008
Birds of a Feather Flock to PDC05 Contributer:  Stuart Celarier INETA is chairing the Birds of a Feather track at PDC 2005. This community-driven activity brings together conference attendees for open, moderated discussions on topics of shared professional or community interest. INETA has organized and led these highly successful Birds of a Feather sessions at previous PDC and TechEd conferences, at TechEd 2005 they attracted over 1,700 conference goers. We invite INETA user group leaders and members to get (... more)	3/9/2008
Samantha Spears (INETA Exec. Director) Earns Certified Association Executive Credentials Contributer:  Brian Tinkler Washington, D.C. June 22, 2005 -- The American Society of Association Executives has announced that Samantha Spears, Executive Director of INETA has earned the Certified Association Executive (CAE) credential. The CAE is the highest professional credential in the association industry. Less than five percent of all association professionals have earned the CAE. To be designated as a Certified Association Executive, an applicant must have a minimum of (... more)	3/9/2008
INETA Community Launch Team Contributer:  Morgan Baker INETA and Microsoft are pleased to announce the opportunity for each INETA user group to nominate a user group member to be part of the upcoming Visual Studio and SQL Server Launch activities by becoming a member of the Community Launch Team. The Community Launch Team user group member will have inside access to information and training on the new products before they become available to the  public. The member will be responsible for attending (... more)	3/9/2008
INETA North America UG Leader Summit A HUGE Success Contributer:  Amy SorokasThanks to all of you who attended the TechEd User Group Leader Summit, visited the INETA station in the Community Cabana, or took some time to get to know folks from the INETA community. The level of excitement around INETA at TechEd last month in Orlando was fantastic, and the energy level of the volunteers, new board, and international leads, was incredible. Over 185 developers and IT Pros attended the one day collaborative event between INETA and Culminis. (... more)	3/9/2008
A New Face Of INETA Coming Soon! INETA is going through a whole new growth process! Thanks to our strong and growing list of user groups, user group leaders, user group members, and sponsors, we have seen tremendous growth. There are a number of exciting changes in the very near future that will begin making their way to you next month. Some of the exciting new things we are working on to enhance your experience with INETA include: A new INETA North America Board of Directors has been elected, including new division (... more)	3/9/2008
Certification Second Chance For a limited time, you can get a free second chance to pass your Microsoft Certification exam. Register now at www.microsoft.com/learning/2ndshot -- from the INETA NorAM March 2006 Newsletter  (... more)	3/9/2008
Membership We are excited to bring you speakers for your meetings, boxes of swag, participation in events like our recent Community Launch program, free passes to events like Microsoft MIX06, discounts to events like TechEd 2006, and more. Our Membership monthly user group surveys are part of an effort to better understand you, our membership, so that we can provide better programs and services. We want to do more for you, but we are at a loss when it comes to paying for more services. Our (... more)	3/9/2008
Win a Mobile Smartphone or a Wireless Keyboard! Help create great Microsoft Certification exams. Take the Beta version of one or more of the following developer exams and you will be automatically entered to win one of two Windows Mobile Smartphones and one of 10 Microsoft Laser Desktop 6000 Keyboards. PLUS, you will get a free exam voucher for taking and passing an exam. 71-547 PRO: Designing and Developing Web-based Applications by Using the Microsoft. .NET Framework 71-548 PRO: Designing and Developing Windows.-based Applications by (... more)	3/9/2008
Speakers Bureau The INETA Speaker Bureau enters year five going strong. We passed our 500th event in 2005 and expect to complete more than 300 events this fiscal year which runs from July 2005 to June 2006. This represents a 50% increase over last year. There are now 50 active speakers with 5 more being added this month. Congratulations to our new speakers! Scott Cate, Robert Green, Richard Hundhausen, Sahil Malik, and Wally McClure were selected as alternates in the September 2005 enrollment (... more)	3/9/2008
MIX06 Winners INETA gave away free passes to four lucky user group leaders to MIX in Las Vegas March 20-22 courtesy of Microsoft!  Each pass is valued at $995. A live conversation between consumer web developers, designers and business leaders in at the Venetian with Bill Gates and Tim O’Reilly, MIX is all about high-fidelity commerce, media, services and security for the web that goes beyond the browser. At MIX, developers can dive deep into the latest Microsoft web (... more)	3/9/2008
Community Activities Since November, over 470 user groups throughout the globe have been participating in our Community Launch Program as part of the launch of Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005. Working on this event with all of you has been a tremendous experience for our team and we are extremely excited to announce some additional initiatives INETA will be introducing to you in 2006. In an effort to reach out and connect with our members more, INETA will be hosting a series of web casts that (... more)	3/9/2008
President's Corner February 2006 marks the 4th anniversary of INETA which has grown to 900 user groups representing 465,000 members worldwide. Since our founding INETA has focused on fostering the local developer community through various programs and services for user groups with the help of over 75 volunteers. Thanks to all the INETA volunteers and those of you in the local community that contribute your time to this great effort! Since this fall over 470 user groups around the world are participating in the (... more)	3/9/2008
From the Editor I know, yet another newsletter that we don't have time to read. Going forward, we are going to attempt to get the newsletter back on a regular monthly schedule and only bring you information that helps you be better equiped as a local user group leader or that brings value to the user group community as a whole. Stay tuned to up-coming issues and give us your feedback. We really do listen. So many great things are happening at user groups around the world, we'd like to share those success (... more)	3/9/2008
Activities for You (With FREE stuff!) INETA User Group Leadership Summit User Group Leaders today faces many challenges such as promoting your group, financing, engaging existing members, recruiting speakers, finding new sources of content, leveraging local Microsoft relationships; etc. The New England INETA user groups along with INETA, in hopes of building a more close knit community, invites you all to join us on Sunday June 11th, prior to the start of TechEd 2006 to explore, share and learn about what has worked and what (... more)	3/9/2008
Happenings Around INETA NorAm Amanda Murphy provides details later in this newsletter about several new programs for our membership that are the result of many hours of volunteer effort over the past several months. These first two programs are part of an effort to bring local developer communities together in a variety of formats so they can learn from one another. We are excited about these new programs and look forward to your feedback. Regional User Group Leadership Summits The Northeast Regional User Group (... more)	3/9/2008
From the Editor Look at that! Two incredible newsletters from the same organization in the same day! We had so much good news we couldn't wait another month to share it. Enjoy the bonus editions. We look forward to putting your photo in an upcoming issue as a big winner of one of the gift cards. Just make sure you enter the contest - you can't win if you don't play. Archived newsletters are available on the INETA website at www.ineta.org/newsletters. Scott Spradlin INETA NorAm Vice President - (... more)	3/9/2008
Tale of a Code Camp South Florida Code Camp 2006, February 4th, 2006 DeVry University, Miramar, FL We just wrapped up an incredible Code Camp! It was three days of events with Russ Fustino hosting pub clubs Thursday night in Miami at Mangos, Friday night in Weston at Tarpon Bend for speakers and volunteers and again Saturday night for attendees. As usual his camera was busy and he has posted pictures on his website at http://www.russtoolshed.net. Although it is hard to say exactly how many attended the code (... more)	3/9/2008
"INETA $urvey$ Benefit YOU - Sweepstakes" Attention: INETA User Group Leaders, Members, and Volunteers Enter our "INETA $urvey$ Benefit YOU - Sweepstakes" - You and your INETA user group are automatically entered when your INETA User Group Leader or Representative submits your INETA monthly user group survey for your INETA user group. When they submit your INETA monthly user group survey, here are the chances of wining EACH MONTH: One of THREE $100 USD gift cards for your INETA user group, and One of THREE $50 USD gift (... more)	3/9/2008
New Programs and Services For INETA NorAm Members We have gotten some great ideas from our membership and put the finishing touches on several new exciting programs and services for our members during our recent Board meeting. A brief summary is included below and look for details in the next newsletter. New Fundraising Effort As a not-for-profit corporation INETA relies solely on funds from our sponsors and is always on the lookout for new sponsors. We are excited to announce that in partnership with the Girl Scouts of America we will be (... more)	3/9/2008
Your Invitation to Join the Vista Influentials Program The US Windows Vista Client Team has created the Vista Influentials Program (VIP) for our technical audiences in the U.S. The goal of this program is to get Vista beta bits into the hands of our top-tier, valued customers early and often so they have the opportunity to work with Windows Vista prior to its release later this year. We are limiting the program to a very small portion of our audience. The Windows VIP program includes the following: All major Windows Vista CTP builds until RTM (... more)	3/9/2008
Webcasts Live from Redmond! Introducing an exclusive new series of Live Meeting presentations designed specially for the community (even more specifically for members of INETA user groups!) by members of the Microsoft product teams - Live from Redmond! Below you will find the full list of the presentations in the Live from Redmond! series available exclusively for INETA user group members. This is a fantastic opportunity for your group members to get a special benefit because their user group belongs to INETA. Be (... more)	3/9/2008
Happenings Around INETA North America (NorAm) Several times each year the members of the NorAm Board of Directors hold an in-person Board Meeting during a weekend to discuss and plan the services we provide our members, you the user group leaders. These meetings supplement our weekly conference calls. Two weeks ago we held our first meeting of 2006 which included discussions about the new academic speakers program, the start of INETA Live, the monthly meeting information survey, the Northeast User Group Leadership Summit on Sunday (... more)	3/9/2008
CoDe on the Road CoDe (Component Developer) Magazine, The leading independent publication for .NET Developers announced that they will feature a page in each issue dedicated to .NET related events where CoDe Magazine is present. Whether it is INETA events, Code Camps, User Group meetings, or developer-centric conferences or meetings, CoDe Magazine is in the thick of it! Have your event, speaker, or group featured in CoDe Magazine with "CoDe on the Road." Simply send in a picture of a featured speaker, your (... more)	3/6/2008
From the Editor So, there I was, standing in the doorway of a room that contained a room of about 400 developers. Julie Lerman was on stage talking about ASP.NET and SQL Server 2005. We had just been fed as much pizza as we could eat. Like the other speakers at WI's Deeper in .NET day long extravaganza, Julie was scheduled to speak for an hour and a half. "There's no way these people will stay awake for that long after eating that much pizza" I thought to myself. But, just like the pizza, the crowd ate up (... more)	3/6/2008
March Winners Announced - INETA Membership Survey Sweepstakes $100 to Chattanooga Area .NET User Group, Chattanooga, TN, USA and $50 to Anthony Bowman $100 to Greater New Orleans .NET User Group, Kenner, LA, USA and $50 to Mike York $100 to Wichita Developers .NET, Wichita, KS, USA and $50 to Joey Brenn plus to INETA Membership Manager, Territory: AL, LA, MS $50 to Dan Wygant We are excited to bring you the first awards in our INETA monthly membership survey sweepstakes. Congratulations to each of the above winners who won a $100 USD or a $50 USD (... more)	3/6/2008
Alabama Code Camp #2 - dotNet Rocks in Rocket City The volunteers for the Code Camp (from HUNTUG.org and elsewhere) showed up at 5:30 this morning (April 22, 2006) to setup the Virginia College classrooms in Huntsville for Alabama's second dot-Net Code Camp. About 7:30 DCC Russ Fustino rolled into code camp along with flunky, DE Joe Healy. Techies from all reaches of Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Florida and Georgia began flooding in for the 8:30 start of the all day event  including the after-hours Pub Club. Once inside, the volunteers (... more)	3/6/2008
Speaker's Corner with Kathleen Dollard INETA Speaker Kathleen Dollard visited three INETA user groups on an extended trip to the Gulf Coast this spring. She shares with us her impressions of what she saw as well as how the .NET community is doing there. Being there in person clearly made a huge impact on Kathleen which she shares with us here. The Gulf Coast is an interesting place right now. On the one hand, it's almost impossible to imagine what the storm and engineering failures did. Yet on the other, the beaches and bayous (... more)	3/6/2008
How To Have a Successful Day-Long Conference I am the president of the WI .NET Users Group, and we held our 4th annual Deeper in .NET conference on April 22, 2006 (our first since I became president last year). The event was a great success, and people keep talking to me about wonderful they thought it was. I've just posted a summary of the work that went into that, as well as our results. Deeper in .NET 2006 was a great success with about 400 people in total attendance. We had five incredible speakers - Michele Leroux Bustamante, Scott (... more)	3/6/2008
Happenings Around INETA North America (NorAm) As I got more involved as a volunteer in INETA over the past four years I learned about how the organization works internally and thought it would be worthwhile to share some of that with you this month. INETA has five worldwide regions (Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Middle East-Africa, and North America), each of which is led by one of my peers. Each region is responsible for planning and execution of programs and services, all of which is done by volunteers. The regional leads also (... more)	3/6/2008
From the Editor The New INETA Logo and Slogan On June 1st INETA North America will officially launch our new logo found in the header of this newsletter and the slogan, "The Face of .NET" as part of a broad marketing effort which is a companion to our new Sponsorship Program. The new INETA logo and slogan encompass our core ideal and focus of bringing software developers together in person, face-to-face, in user group meetings as well as other regional, national, and worldwide events. You will see the (... more)	3/6/2008
Get the 2007 Microsoft Office System Beta Preview the 2007 Microsoft Office System Beta to experience the new features and functionality and to position yourself to drive IT decision making. Click here to get the 2007 Microsoft Office System Beta. -- from the INETA NorAM June 2006 Newsletter  (... more)	3/6/2008
Birds of a Feather Flock to Boston for TechEd INETA is co-chairing the Birds of a Feather track at TechEd 2006, sharing the duties with our sister organization, Culminis, on the IT Professional side of the house. As the two premier user group associations for Microsoft technologies, we bring the community face to TechEd. And you can get involved, help us, and help INETA in four different ways! If you haven't been to one, a Birds of a Feather session is an open discussion lead by a moderator. They are not presentations, there are no (... more)	3/6/2008
April Winners Announced - INETA Membership Survey Sweepstakes $100 to Iowa .NET User Group, Des Moines, IA, USA and $50 to Nick Parker $100 to Lethbridge Dot Net User Group, Lethbridge, AB, Canada and $50 to Fred Gravel $100 to New England Visual Basic Professional User Group, Waltham, MA, USA and $50 to Andrew Novick plus to INETA Membership Manager - New England, Territory: CT, NJ, NY, MA, RI, ME, NH, VT $50 to Andy Beaulieu Once again we are very excited to bring you the second awards in our INETA monthly membership survey sweepstakes. (... more)	3/6/2008
Day of .NET -- A Powerful Force A powerful force -- that is the result of joining three INETA user groups from Southeast Michigan and Northwest Ohio into a "Day of .NET" conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan. User group leaders and volunteers coordinated and presented this free event focused on a wide variety of .NET topics to benefit their user group members. Quick facts: Over 140 members attended 20 sessions in 4 separate tracks chocked full of .NET related topics 25 corporate sponsors provided funding and swag Over (... more)	3/6/2008
Speaker's Corner with Phil Weber INETA Speaker Phil Weber gets hit with some hard-hitting questions by Julia Lerman. Q. At what point in your life did you awaken to the geek calling? A. While perhaps not as hardcore as some readers of this newsletter, I've had geekish tendencies for as long as I can remember: I watched first-run "Lost in Space" episodes in black-and-white, I played with a chemistry set and those 200-in-1 electronics kits as a child, and I was the co-founder and Admiral of the Star Trek Club in junior high (... more)	3/6/2008
Northeast Regional User Group Leadership Summit You're invited to join us at the at the Northeast Regional User Group Leadership Summit on Sunday 6/11/2006 at the Microsoft Waltham, MA office. User Group Leaders today face many challenges such as promoting your group, financing, engaging existing members, recruiting speakers, finding new sources of content, leveraging local Microsoft relationships; etc. The New England INETA user groups along with INETA, in hopes of building a more close knit community, invites you all to join us on Sunday (... more)	3/6/2008
Secure the Web Contest Create the future in trusted web services with Cryptoflex .NET smart cards. Enter this developers contest with prizes totaling over $30,000 USD. This contest aims at proposing and developing innovative applications in the field of secure Web Services. For more information on how to enter, please visit http://www.securetheweb.axalto.com/ -- from the INETA NorAM June 2006 Newsletter  (... more)	3/6/2008
Mega User Group Meeting at TechEd In cooperation with the New England INETA user groups we have organized an exciting and informative Mega User Group Meeting on Monday 6/12 from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at TechEd. There will be a lively panel discussion on Developing with .NET in 2006 - What's Hot and What's Not! featuring an outstanding group of experts including Bob Beauchemin, Sam Guckenheimer, Patrick Hynds, Fritz Onion, and Jeff Prosise. Bring your questions for the panelists! Check out the details and register now! We anticipate (... more)	3/6/2008
So You Want to Start a User Group This webcast happens TODAY, May 31st, 2006 at 3:30 EST Are you looking to start a user group but not really sure where to begin? Maybe you are part of a user group now but want to get more involved in its leadership. If so then be sure to check out our next INETA Live! webcast focused directly on the things you need to know to get a user group up and running or give your existing group a boost. This webcast will be a panel-based discussion featuring some of our organization's most experienced (... more)	3/6/2008
Happenings Around INETA North America (NorAm) TechEd 2006 in Boston from June 11-16 is fast approaching and INETA NorAm has several excting events planned, organized once again by our great volunteers. The week will kick off with the New England Regional User Group Leadership Summit on Sunday 6/11. If you help organize and lead a user group in some capacity this will be a great opportunity to meet and learn from fellow user group leaders in New England and around the United States and Canada. The INETA booth opens Monday at 11:30 a.m. and (... more)	3/6/2008
From the Editor TechEd Debrief - A week with the .NET stars TechEd was a big hit this year. If you've never been, start planning now for next year's big event - you should go to at least one in your life. It's good to find out that those other genius industry leaders you only read about are just people like you and me. Most of them had to stand in line and wait for their meat-patties at lunch like the rest of us. Speaking of food - overall, I thought that the free meals were quite tasty. So, at the end of (... more)	3/6/2008
Download the Free Digipede Network Developer Edition Digipede Technologies announces the availability of its free Digipede Network Developer Edition. The Digipede Network is a Windows grid computing solution that delivers dramatically improved performance and scalability for real-world applications. It's the only commercial grid computing solution built on the .NET platform. The Digipede Network includes the Digipede Framework, through which .NET developers can build scalable, high-performance, distributed applications. (... more)	3/6/2008
May Winners Announced - INETA Membership Survey Sweepstakes $100 to Chippewa Valley .NET User Group (CVNUG), Eau Claire, WI, USA and $50 to Doug Rhoten $100 to Connecticut .NET Developers Group, Farmington, CT, USA and $50 to Supriyo "SB" Chatterjee $100 to Utah .NET User Group, South Jordan, UT, USA and $50 to R. Aaron Zupancic plus to INETA Membership Manager, Territory: Pacific Northwest - AK, GU, HI, ID, OR, WA $50 to Paul Mehner How do you win? You and your INETA user group are automatically entered when your INETA User Group Leader or (... more)	3/6/2008
Lang .Net 2006 Compiler Symposium Registration is now open for the Lang .Net 2006 Compiler Symposium which will be held July 31st through August 2nd on the Microsoft Campus in Redmond, Washington. Technologists from all platforms (CLR, Java, etc.) who want to come and share their research and implementation experiences are welcome. Lang .Net 2006 is a forum for discussion on programming languages, managed execution environments, compilers, multi-language libraries, and integrated development environments. The conference (... more)	3/6/2008
Speaker's Corner with Brian Noyes Julia Lerman was able to catch up with INETA Speaker Brian Noyes in between his crazy speaking, travel, training, consulting and writing schedule! Q: Your career path was a little more Hollywood than Comp-Sci. Do tell! My first career was as a Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) flying F-14 Tomcats in the Navy. I did one operational tour in VF-111 flying off the USS Carl Vinson and USS Kitty Hawk, and graduated from TopGun (U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School). I entered the U.S. Naval Test Pilot (... more)	3/6/2008
Startup Stories The Igloo Coder (aka Donald Belcham) who is the president of the Edmonton .NET User Group, has written a wonderful series of posts about his experiences and lessons of starting up that group along with a posse of others. Julia Lerman says "I love that he talks about things like motivation in addition to more practical matters. Highly recommended reading." Check it out at http://igloocoder.com/archive/2006/06/13/350.aspx -- from the INETA NorAM July 2006 Newsletter  (... more)	3/6/2008
CoDe Magazine to debut "CoDe on the Road" Feature in Sept/Oct issue! CoDe (Component Developer) Magazine, The leading independent publication for .NET Developers announced that they will feature a page in each issue dedicated to .NET related events where CoDe Magazine is present. Whether it is INETA events, Code Camps, User Group meetings, or developer-centric conferences or meetings, CoDe Magazine is in the thick of it! Have your event, speaker, or group featured in CoDe Magazine with "CoDe on the Road." Simply send in a picture of a featured speaker, your (... more)	3/6/2008
Promoting and Growing Your User Group Through Strategic Marketing INETA Live! Webcast July 26th at 3:30PM EST Perception is reality. But in order for there to be a perception about your user group, your target audience and potential partners need to know you exist and understand the value you bring to the developer community as a whole. That's where marketing comes in. During this fun-filled hour, join INETA Vice President and Wintellect's Director of Marketing - Sara Faatz - as she delves into the five principles of marketing theory and how they apply to (... more)	3/6/2008
Happenings Around INETA North America (NorAm) First I would like to thank all the INETA Board members and volunteers that spent countless hours before and at TechEd 2006 in Boston to make all of the INETA activities a resounding success. Amanda Murphy and Rob Zelt organized a highly successful New England Regional User Group Leadership Summit where about 30 user group leaders had some great discussion and shared many ideas that will improve their user groups. Once again Stuart Celarier and Michael Wiley did a fabulous job organizing the (... more)	3/6/2008
From the Editor Yet Another Call for Volunteers Are you involved in your local user group? Do you enjoy working with other volunteers? We have so many new things on the INETA plate that we need your help! Send an email to Nancy Mesquita and tell her you want to get involved today! She has a list of ways you can volunteer. Personally, I need help with this newsletter. I need people who would like to occasionally track down a story for me. Do you have ideas on how we can improve? Contact Nancy! Scott (... more)	3/6/2008
June Winners Announced - INETA Membership Survey Sweepstakes June Winners Announced - INETA Membership Survey Sweepstakes $100 to Enterprise Developers Guild, Charlotte, NC, USA and $50 to Bill Jones Jr $100 to Michiana Area .NET Users Group (MADNUG), South Bend, IN, USA and $50 to Eric Landes $100 to Inland Empire .NET User's Group, San Bernardino, CA, USA and $50 to R. James Johnson plus to INETA Membership Manager, Territory: Carolinas - NC, SC $50 to Chris Williams How do you win? You and your INETA user group are (... more)	3/6/2008
.NET 3.0 Roadshow Don't miss the .NET 3.0 Roadshow, coming to a city near you in October! Dr. Dobb's SD Events is thrilled to announce the new .NET 3.0 Roadshow, coming to a city near you this October! Microsoft's new .NET Framework 3.0 (formerly WinFX) technology platform will revolutionize how .NET programmers develop applications. These two day in-depth sessions offer a profound insight into this new technology and its applications. You'll shave months off your learning curve and leave with a (... more)	3/6/2008
Speaker's Corner with Jim Duffy Our friend Julia Lerman digs the truth out of INETA Speaker Jim Duffy. 1. Let's get the stats out of the way. Where do you call home? Married? Kids? We'll be polite and not ask your age. Home for me is Raleigh, NC though, like many of us, my office is located where ever my laptop is. My lovely wife Christine and I will be celebrating our 15 year anniversary this September. My company and I wouldn't be where we're at now without her help. She has been very instrumental in our success. As for (... more)	3/6/2008
Mobile Connections Plan to attend the premier event for all things mobile this November 6-9 in Las Vegas. Mobile Connections will showcase mobile development technologies for both mobile PCs (laptops, Tablet PCs, Ultra-Mobile PCs) and mobile devices (Smartphones, Pocket PCs). View the session list and register now to take advantage of the early-bird rate. -- from the INETA NorAM August 2006 Newsletter  (... more)	3/6/2008
Website Beta Testers Wanted! Over the past few months a small group of people have been beta testing an updated web site for INETA NorAm. We are now ready to expand the testing group and are looking for people to spend 6-10 hours between now and September 1st doing testing. All testers will receive a special t-shirt after we launch the updated web site. The requirements to be a tester are: 1) a high speed Internet connection 2) a major browser (IE, Firefox, etc.). We are looking for regular user group members and user (... more)	3/6/2008
INETA Live Series Continues SharePoint 1, 2, 3! SharePoint 1, 2, 3! is a new concept in community-based training being offered to the development community by the development community. SharePoint 1, 2, 3! offers six sessions designed to train developers to install, use, and develop custom software for Microsoft's Windows SharePoint Services. SharePoint 1, 2, 3! is designed to be a start to finish training session that has a 100 level course, a 200 level course, and a 300 level course to get into all aspects of (... more)	3/6/2008
Happenings Around INETA North America (NorAm) We just finished the first year for the current INETA Board so I thought it would be worthwhile to provide a synopsis of our activities over the past year and some insights into our goals for the coming year. The high level goal for the past year was to evolve the internal operation of INETA towards a formal not-for-profit corporation while beginning to expand the services and resources for our membership. Operations: There has been significant effort and progress in the area of internal (... more)	3/6/2008
From the Editor There's still a lot of changes happening here at INETA. Chris Pels outlines the annual budget above and we need help spending it! If you have time to devote, read his column about how to volunteer. We would love to have you on the team. Scott Spradlin, Vice President - Marketing, INETA NorAm scott.spradlin@ineta.org -- from the INETA NorAM September 2006 Newsletter  (... more)	3/4/2008
DevConnections Las Vegas www.DevConnections.com The premiere developer & DBA event returns to Las Vegas Microsoft ASP.NET Connections VS and & .NET 3.0 Connections Mobility and SQL Server Connections Nov 6 - 9, 2006 at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, NV The largest Developer & DBA conference for Microsoft technology returns to heat up the strip again with 200+ in-depth sessions, 100+ Microsoft and Industry expert presenters, expo hall, jam session and networking opportunities. You will not want to miss Microsoft rolling out (... more)	3/4/2008
July Winners Announced - INETA Membership Survey Sweepstakes July Winners Announced - INETA Membership Survey Sweepstakes $100 to Florida .NET - Ft Lauderdale (formerly Boca Raton), FL, USA and $50 to Morgan Baker $100 to Denver Visual Studio User Group, Denver, CO, USA and $50 to Chris Wallace $100 to Central California .Net User Group, Fresno, CA, USA and $50 to Gustavo Cavalcanti plus to INETA Membership Manager, Territory: Great Lakes - MI, OH, PA $50 to Greg Huber Congratulations to this month's winners! Look for changes to our survey (... more)	3/4/2008
Wally's Alabama Road Cruise The buzzing of the katydids rising over the noisy freeway seemed to mimic the building buzz of excitement surrounding the impending release of Wally's new book, "Beginning AJAX with ASP.NET", during his Alabama Road Cruise. Wally, aka Wallace B. McClure -- MVP, Author, host of the ASP.NET Podcast, and one of the most recent additions to the INETA Speakers Bureau -- spends a lot of hours on the road traveling from his Tennessee home to support our .NET community. Helping User Groups has been his (... more)	3/4/2008
InnerWorkings.NET 3.0 Test-Drive: Windows Communication Framework Everyone's talking about Windows Communication Framework (WCF). Would you like to get a better understanding of WCF and actually try it out? Then get yourself to an InnerWorkings .NET 3.0 Test-Drive, where you'll see it in action via a "real-life" Visual Studio .NET 2005 solution that highlights working with WCF contracts. Here's a preview of some of the material that we'll cover: Connecting to a WCF Service using a Proxy: Defining what a proxy is, and how to work with a generated proxy  (... more)	3/4/2008
Mobile Connections Plan to attend the premier event for all things mobile this November 6-9 in Las Vegas. Mobile Connections will showcase mobile development technologies for both mobile PCs (laptops, Tablet PCs, Ultra-Mobile PCs) and mobile devices (Smartphones, Pocket PCs). View the session list and register now to take advantage of the early-bird rate. -- from the INETA NorAM November 2006 Newsletter , the INETA NorAM October 2006 Newsletter and and the INETA NorAM September 2006 Newsletter  (... more)	3/4/2008
INETA Live Series Continues INETA Live from Redmond continues with more indepth webcasts directly from the product teams at Redmond. Go to http://live.ineta.org for a complete schedule and registration links. Here is a sample list of talks: Smart Client: Offline Data Synchronization and Caching for Smart Clients Windows Forms: An Overview of Windows Forms in Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Visual Studio: Developing Local and Mobile Data Solutions with SQL Server Everywhere (WinFX) Windows Forms: How to Leverage (... more)	3/4/2008
Happenings Around INETA North America (NorAm) Each year at this time we sit down with our Charter Sponsor Microsoft as they start a new fiscal year to discuss how much funding they can provide INETA NorAm during the upcoming year and what areas to target with those funds. We are pleased to announce that Microsoft will once again provide significant funding in the amount of $310,000 to INETA NorAm for the period July 2006-June 2007. As you may have read in various news reports Microsoft is tightening their financial belts as are many (... more)	3/4/2008
From the Editor Well, the newsletter is a little light this month. Primarily because we've been incredibly busy here at INETA working on plans to bring more benefits to the user groups! Secondarily, I could use some additional help with pulling great content from the user groups. We hear about so many great things happening in the community, but we don't have the resources to cover it all. If you have a flair for writing and would be interested in occasionally covering something that's of interest to our (... more)	3/4/2008
Speaker's Corner with Chris Menegay Our friend Julia Lerman has uncovered an interesting trend among INETA speakers! In the June INETA Newsletter, INETA Speaker Phil Weber told us that he learned to program by hanging out at the local Radio Shack and playing on their TRS-80. This month's INETA speaker interview is with Chris Menegay, a Team System guru who lives in Texas, also credits his local Radio Shack and a TSR-80 for his binary beginnings. We'll certainly have to monitor this trend. You are a big name in VSTS. How have (... more)	3/4/2008
INETA Live Series Continues INETA Live! Monthly webcasts for and by user group leaders and members. Sharing technical and administrative expertise through live webcasts and downloadable files. Please visit http://live.ineta.org to read about the current topic, register for the webcasts and to download archived presentations. INETA is all about leveraging and sharing knowledge, so please invite your members to join us. And, we are always looking for good topics and new presenters. So, if you have suggestions or would (... more)	3/4/2008
Happenings Around INETA North America (NorAm) INETA is an organization comprised primarily of volunteers that are responsible for the planning and implementation of the services provided to the developer community as well as all the business operations. During the weekend of October 14th I was at Microsoft in Redmond along with NorAm Board members Brendon Schwartz (Technology), Scott Spradlin (Marketing), and Chris Wallace (Membership) for a meeting of the INETA Worldwide Council. The Worldwide Council is comprised of a representative (... more)	3/4/2008
From the Editor One of the cool things about being an INETA volunteer is being involved in all kinds of community activities. Everything from helping out in a smaller user group to helping plan next year's TechEd. Would you like to help out some user groups in your area? Would you like to try your hand at making a presentation at a user group? Email us today and find out how you can get involved. Or better yet, email your local user group leader directly and ask them what you can do for their group right now! (... more)	3/4/2008
New INETA North America Staff Person Recently we added Stacey McKown a second paid staff person to work with Nancy Mesquita. Stacy lives in North Carolina and will be an integral part of our INETA team. She has an accounting background and will help with the important task of bookkeeping and working with our Treasurer Michael Wiley on tax returns and other financial matters. In addition, Stacey has taken on the role of Project Manager for our Marketing, Membership, and Sponsorship teams. In that capacity she will work with the (... more)	3/4/2008
Upcoming INETA Speakers Bureau Events User Group Location Speaker Date Utah .NET User Group South Jordan, UT Robert Green 12/14/06 Lehigh Valley .NET Bethlehem, PA Sam Gentile 12/18/06 -- from the INETA NorAM December 2006 Newsletter  (... more)	3/4/2008
Speaker's Corner with Sahil Malik Julia Lerman recently spent time with INETA Speaker Sahil Malik in Bulgaria together to present at the DevReach conference along with a number of other speakers, many who are also on the INETA speaker bureau. How do you keep up with this changing pace in technology? I don't. I gave up on that a long time back. I realized that since the world was creating information faster than I could consume it, it is a fruitless endeavor to try and be good at everything. Instead, I work on my learning (... more)	3/4/2008
INETA Live! Series Continues INETA Live! Monthly webcasts for and by user group leaders and members. Sharing technical and administrative expertise through live webcasts and downloadable files. Mark your calendar for the second Wednesday of each month, 12:30 PST Seeking Speakers and Topics The INETA monthly webcasts are an excellent opportunity to expand your reach - you'll be sharing your experience and expertise with fellow developers across North America. Pick you topic -- the spectrum goes from discussing ways to (... more)	3/4/2008
Exam Insurance Get two chances to pass your Microsoft Certification exam With Microsoft Exam Insurance, you can retake a Microsoft Certification exam if you need to. You'll have two chances to pass and validate your knowledge of critical IT job functions Or, pass on your first try and save 25 percent on your next exam You'll receive a 25 percent discount on any future Microsoft Certification exam. With each additional Microsoft Certification that you earn, you'll be further along the path to getting (... more)	3/4/2008
It Was Air Force VS Navy It was Air Force vs. Navy, Saturday October 7 -- one of the biggest rivalries in college football. The Commander in Chief Trophy was at stake. Navy has won three consecutive Commander in Chief Trophies, Air Force wants it back. No wait, this isn't about the Air Force game or is it? All of the hotel rooms on the north end of Colorado Springs were full of die hard football fans. Out of town speakers had no place to stay. Scott Golightly flew in from Salt Lake City and with no where to go, (... more)	3/4/2008
Speakers Bureau The INETA Speaker Bureau had a wonderful year in 2006. We completed more than 250 events including several special academic engagements at well known colleges and universities. For each event, our bureau coordinates speaker selection, user group leader logistics, travel planning, speaker and group expense reimbursements, and evaluation metrics. Our budget of more than $200,000 is carefully planned to maximize regional coverage and speaker utilization. Speaker travel, lodging, meal, and (... more)	3/4/2008
Happenings Around INETA North America (NorAm) This month I'd like to share some information about INETA Worldwide. As you may know INETA Worldwide is comprised of five geographical regions including Asia/Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Middle East/Africia, and North America (USA/Canada). In each of these regions there is a counterpart to myself that leads the region. During the weekend of October 14th/15th we held a meeting of these regional leads in Redmond, WA. In addition to the regional leads several members of the governing bodies (... more)	3/4/2008
From the Editor You have an advocate in your corner that wants to see your user group grow! Microsoft has Developer Evangelists assigned to all parts of the country. (Read the "Bring a Buddy Campaign" article above.) These individuals can be a great resource for your user group. If you don't know who your DE is, contact your INETA membership manager and they can introduce you. One of the things you can easily do to grow is make sure your user group has a presence at local Microsoft events including launch (... more)	3/3/2008
Free Copy of Microsoft Office Professional 2007 You are invited to participate in this unique experience, featuring the Windows Vista operating system, the 2007 Microsoft© Office system, and Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. You will be able to: Attend breakout sessions for developers and IT professionals Test-drive the products and evaluate their functionality Network with peers, Microsoft, and local technology partners Ask the experts Receive valuable resources to help you take full advantage of this new softwareSee what (... more)	3/3/2008
Windows Mobile Offers for INETA Members Develop, Activate, Upgrade. Cool phones, hot deals, and more for Microsoft Developers! You've earned it. Now Microsoft wants to thank you with great deals on Windows Mobile powered smartphones. Take advantage of this offer from T-Mobile or this offer from Sprint. -- from the INETA NorAM March 2007 Newsletter, the INETA NorAM February 2007 Newsletter and the INETA NorAM January 2007 Newsletter  (... more)	3/3/2008
Tulsa TechFest 2006 On October 14th, 2006, the Tulsa Developers .NET in partnership with several other regional user groups (NorthWest Arkansas DNUG, Wichita DNUG, Dallas DNUG, Dallas DNNDNUG, Tulsa SQL Server, Tulsa SharePoint Interest Group, Tulsa Java Developers, and more) made history, with the first annual Tulsa TechFest. The event was the largest one-day event that we are aware of. With over 60 speakers presenting on 20 tracks of 6 sessions throughout the day, with 120 1 hour presentations planned and only (... more)	3/3/2008
Upcoming INETA Speakers Bureau Events User Group Location Speaker Date Nashville Visual Studio .NET User Group Nashville, TN Juval Lowy 1/9/07 TRINUG (Triangle Net User Group) Research Triangle Park, NC Juval Lowy 1/10/07 Edmonton .NET User Group Edmonton, Canada Miguel Castro 1/15/07 Fox Valley .NET User Group Appleton, WI Robert Green 1/16/07 Montreal Microsoft .NET Architecture User Group Montreal, Canada Scott Cate 1/16/07 Great Lakes Area .NET User Group (GANG) Southfield, MI  (... more)	3/3/2008
Speaker's Corner with Dan Wahlin Julia Lerman catchs up with INETA Speaker, Dan Wahlin, who lives just outside of Phoenix, Arizona. Dan has been in the INETA Speaker Bureau since INETA began. We hear you have musical talents, play in a band, and even have a song dedicated to .NET! Do tell! "Musical talents" is quite subjective, but I have fun with music. I haven't had a band for a long time but may put something together one of these days if I get the time. I have made time to write and record two new songs (... more)	3/3/2008
Bring a Buddy Campaign Does size matter when it comes to user groups? It's probably not everyone's top concern when it comes to running their group. However, there are some really good things about a user group getting bigger. A growing user group is an excellent indicator of a healthy user group. A larger user group attracts more speakers and sponsors. Theres also the satisfaction of knowing your hard work is making an ever bigger impact. So how do you grow your user group? Some user group leaders in the central (... more)	3/3/2008
Exam Insurance Getting Microsoft Certifications Just Got Easier with Exam Insurance When you become a Microsoft Certified Professional, you've achieved a level of expertise that sets you apart and gets you recognized in the industry. Certification validates your technical skills, demonstrates your commitment to the industry, and gives you a competitive edge in the job market. Now, getting certified is easier than ever. With Microsoft Exam Insurance, you get two chances to pass any Microsoft Certification (... more)	3/3/2008
Heartland Developers Conference 2006 In its 3rd year, the Heartland Developers Conference main theme has been Tech-Ed on a budget. The HDC addresses the need for quality content at a discounted price in the Midwest. .NET is a development framework that caters to small business and many small businesses cannot afford the costs of sending employees across the country to events like Tech-ED or PDC. The loss of productivity can even outweigh the financial burdens, so The Heartland Developers Conference provides most of the same (... more)	3/3/2008
Nominate Someone for the INETA North America Board of Directors Elections are being held for the INETA NorAm Board of Directors in mid-March. From now through February 15, 2007 any user group leader of an INETA registered user group in the United States and Canada can nominate an individual for a Board position. The nominee can be any member of the developer community and does not have to be a user group leader. Experience and familiarity with the operation and needs of the user group community is beneficial. You cannot nominate yourself, but any other user (... more)	3/3/2008
Happenings Around INETA North America (NorAm) In an accompanying article we are soliciting nominees for positions on the INETA NorAm Board of Directors. This is the first time the nomination process is open to any user group leader of an INETA registered user group in North America (United States and Canada). This change is part of an effort to provide our membership with the opportunity to have a voice in how INETA is run and what benefits and services are provided to our members, you the user group leaders and members. There is no (... more)	3/3/2008
From the Editor We just experienced the coldest night this winter here in St. Louis. Thankfully, we've had hardly any snow! Yet during all of this cold weather, people still turned out for our user group meeting. We're committed to helping you find ways to grow your user group. If you have done something that you are particularly proud of, drop me an email and share it! Chances are good we'll write a story about it and pass the idea on to the other user group leaders. If you can get people to come hang out in (... more)	3/3/2008
Giving back to the community - leveraging your user group? Giving back to the community is not uncommon for successful individuals and organizations including INETA member user groups. In a sense, a user group is also an altruistic organization in its own right as members volunteer their expertise and time enriching the knowledge and experiences of other fellow members, who may, in some cases, need it for their very livelihoods. INETA certainly encourages groups to be as close to their communities as possible and are proud of our members who involved (... more)	3/3/2008
DevLink Nashville a "HUGE Success" In October 2006, the first DevLink Technical Conference was held in Nashville, Tennessee. The event offered software developers, architects, database administrators and other IT professionals the opportunity to experience a major conference in that area. Rob Foster, founder of the Nashville .NET user group, reported to us how well things went starting with John Kellar and the DevLink leadership doing a wonderful job promoting to the .NET community in the Nashville area. The speaker's list (... more)	3/3/2008
Upcoming INETA Speakers Bureau Events User Group Location Speaker Date Houston .NET User Group Houston, TX Chris Menegay 2/8/07 San Diego .NET User Group ASP.NET SIG San Diego, CA Ted Neward 2/20/07 Denver Visual Studio User Group Denver, CO Michele Leroux Bustamante 2/26/07 Boulder .NET User Group Boulder, CO Michele Leroux Bustamante 2/27/07 Portland Area .NET User Group Portland, OR Keith Pleas 2/28/07 Los Angeles .NET Developers Group Los Angeles, CA Russ Nemhauser 3/5/07 Victoria (... more)	3/3/2008
Speaker's Corner with Les Pinter Who knew that one of the INETA NORAM speakers created the starter bits for MS-Word! Les Pinter has a fascinating background that extends far beyond his life as a programmer. Our very own Julia Lerman catches up with Les. Do you think you were born a geek, or was there a turning point in your life that drove you to programming? When I was about six, my father told me that we were Hungarian, and that Hungarians had to learn lots of languages. He meant, of course, that if you (... more)	3/3/2008
Birds of a Feather - Call for Topics for TechEd 2007 in Orlando INETA is again co-chairing the Birds of a Feather track at TechEd 2007, sharing the duties with our sister organization, Culminis, on the IT Professional side of the house. As the two premier user group associations for Microsoft technologies, we bring the community face to TechEd. And you can get involved, help us, and help INETA in four different ways! If you haven't been to one, a Birds of a Feather session is an open discussion lead by a moderator. They are not presentations, there are no (... more)	3/3/2008
DEVCONNECTIONS ORLANDO - 2007 As a User Group leader and member of INETA, the largest and hottest event in the industry for developers invites you to participate in earning free passes for you and some of your members. Microsoft ASP.NET and Visual Studio Connections, SQL Connections and Sharepoint Connections Event, March 25 - 28 in Orlando would like to offer your user group members discounted registration to our event. We will create a custom code for your group to take advantage of this offer. In addition, for every 5 (... more)	3/3/2008
Nominate Someone for the INETA North America Board of Directors Elections are being held for the INETA NorAm Board of Directors in mid-March. From now through February 15, 2007 any user group leader of an INETA registered user group in the United States and Canada can nominate an individual for a Board position. The nominee can be any member of the developer community and does not have to be a user group leader. Experience and familiarity with the operation and needs of the user group community is beneficial. You cannot nominate yourself, but any other user (... more)	3/3/2008
Happy 5th Birthday INETA NorAm! Five years ago this month a small group of user group leaders got together to form an organization that would benefit leaders of .NET focused user groups in the United States. Microsoft joined as the Charter Sponsor, and as they say, the rest is history. In five short years INETA has grown from that small contingent of user group leaders to a worldwide organization with five regions representing over 800 user groups and 450,000 user group members. During this time .NET has evolved and become (... more)	3/3/2008
From the Editor It is March already! My how time flies these days. Not only is time flying, but technology is flying in formation right along side it. Raise your hand if you think it's a full time job just trying to stay current with everything. I have a circle of buddies that also try to weed through the barrage of information just to figure out what is important enough to learn. When one of them finds a nugget, we all share it and benefit. How can we help each other figure out what is important? Do you know (... more)	3/3/2008
Now Announcing: The INETA Membership Resources Program! David Walker, Assistant VP of our INETA Speaker's Bureau, has volunteered to lead a new project for INETA Membership to kick off our new INETA Membership Resources Program. Our goal for this project is to build a dynamic resource for you, our user group leaders and members, interested in community driven information on starting, maintaining and growing your user group. This also includes hosting monthly meetings and planning larger technology based events, such as Code Camps and larger (... more)	3/3/2008
Upcoming INETA Speakers Bureau Events User Group Location Speaker Date Tech Valley .NET User Group Clifton Park, NY Julie Lerman 3/13/07 Central California .Net User Group Fresno, CA Phil Weber 3/14/07 Baton Rouge .Net User Group Baton Rouge, LA Brian Noyes 3/16/07 Hawaii Dot Net User Group Honolulu, HI Scott Cate 3/20/07 Lower Alabama .NET User Group Mobile, AL Les Pinter 3/27/07 .netBC Burnaby, BC Canada Don Kiely 4/2/07 Los Angeles .NET Developers Group Los Angeles, CA Billy (... more)	3/3/2008
Speaker's Corner with Chris Kinsman Julia Lerman catches up with Chris Kinsman, one of the original speakers on the INETA NORAM Speaker bureau. Chris is also an MSDN Regional Director and a track chair for VSLive. Somehow he manages to fit a full time job in there, too. You've been on the INETA Speaker bureau since the beginning. What was the most interesting user group experience you have had in these five years. They are all interesting! Seriously. I love getting out and speaking with other enthusiasts about things we are (... more)	3/3/2008
Atlanta Code Camp The organizing committee of this year's Atlanta Code Camp consisted of 7 people. These people fell under many different categories, including 5 user group leaders representing 3 user groups, 4 Microsoft MVPs, 3 INETA officers, 4 Atlanta Microsoft Professionals, 3 Atlanta Dotnet Regular Guys, 2 Microsoft Regional Directors and 1 Microsoft Developer Evangelist. This was the third code camp for most of these organizers, so they were striving to improve on the past two code camps. In particular, (... more)	3/3/2008
Stop the Presses! Last month's newsletter article entitled "Giving back to the community - leveraging your user group?" contained an inaccurate statement. It stated: Recently, we heard from Graham Jones of the Vancouver Technology User Group who tuned us into their efforts with the community program 3Spheres of Reciprocity. The corrected version should say: Recently, we heard from Graham Jones of the Vancouver Technology User Group who tuned us into their efforts with the community program IT Volunteering. (... more)	3/3/2008
INETA NorAm Elections The nomination process for our 2007 INETA NorAm Board elections has been completed and the following individuals have accepted nominations. Ballots will be distributed to the existing Board members shortly which are to be returned by Thursday, 3/15/2007. I would like to thank everyone who volunteered to run for a Board position. This is truly a community organization run by the community. The results of the election will be posted in the April newsletter. Chris Pels, President, INETA NorAm (... more)	3/3/2008
Happenings Around INETA North America (NorAm) Board Elections The list of candidates for the upcoming 2007 Board elections can be found in an accompanying article in this issue. It is rewarding to see people volunteering to help others in the community by working on the INETA NorAm Board of Directors. Our profession is quite unique given the level of camaraderie and interest in helping fellow professionals. Board Meeting First, I'd like to thank the Board members who took time away from their work and family to attend our recent (... more)	3/3/2008
From the Editor Well, the names of the new board members are announced above. It's good to see some fresh new names on the list and some old friends returning. It should be a good group of volunteers in our leadership positions! Let's all rally behind them and offer whatever support we can. This is a good time for you to get involved! Speaking of support, if you have done something in your user group that helped boost attendance or interest in your group -- and would be willing to share your idea with other (... more)	3/3/2008
Become an INETA Live Presenter INETA Live is all about sharing expertise with you fellow developers and leaders. They extend your reach far beyond your local community - all from the convenient location of your computer. Our first year included several topics to help user group with marketing, attracting sponsors, using SharePoint and creating a web site. While maintaining that type of support, we will be adding additional webcasts on technical topics. That's where YOU come in. We need YOUR suggestions for TOPICS and (... more)	3/3/2008
Exchange and Longhorn Roadshows Penton Media (publisher of Windows IT Pro, Exchange & Outlook Administrators, and SQL Server Magazine) is producing a series of roadshows this spring for Microsoft, 1) one focused on Exchange Server 2007 and Microsoft Unified Communications and featuring Paul Robichaux as the key speaker, and 2) one focused on Windows Server "Longhorn." INETA members qualify for a special $59 registration fee (regular price is $99). You can find the show details (including speaker bios and session (... more)	3/3/2008
Upcoming INETA Speakers Bureau Events User Group Location Speaker Date Los Angeles .NET Developers Group Los Angeles, CA Billy Hollis 4/2/07 Western Mass .Net Users Group Easthampton, MA Richard Hale Shaw 4/3/07 RI .Net User Group Portsmouth, RI Jason Beres 4/4/07 Huntsville VS.Net Users Group Huntsville, AL Shawn Wildermuth 4/10/07 Bellingham.NET Bellingham, WA Julie Lerman 4/11/07 Dallas .NET Users Group Irving, TX Sam Gentile 4/12/07 South Sound Users Group Olympia, WA Julie (... more)	3/3/2008
Birds of a Feather - Call for Topics for TechEd 2007 in Orlando INETA is again co-chairing the Birds of a Feather track at TechEd 2007, sharing the duties with our sister organization, Culminis, on the IT Professional side of the house. As the two premier user group associations for Microsoft technologies, we bring the community face to TechEd. And you can get involved, help us, and help INETA in four different ways! If you haven't been to one, a Birds of a Feather session is an open discussion lead by a moderator. They are not presentations, there are no (... more)	3/3/2008
Speaker's Corner with Richard Hundhausen Julia Lerman speaks with another INETA speaker Richard Hundhausen. For those of you keeping track, this is the third interview of someone who learned how to program computers by hanging out at Radio Shack! Welcome Richard, how long have you been speaking to INETA groups? I've been a member of the INETA Speakers Bureau for less than a year, but it's already been a rewarding experience, having spoken to some great user groups across the country. Thank you for the opportunity to (... more)	3/3/2008
.NET University March Madness is upon us and no doubt a lot of developers will be busy watching to see if their bracket predictions become a reality. After the dust has settled and a winner is crowned, developers will be looking to satisfy their .NET withdrawls and get back to coding. Why not look at setting up a .NET University course in your area? The primary goal of .NET University is simply to give people a way to learn about .NET at no charge. Currently the four course topics being offered are Windows (... more)	3/3/2008
INETA Live -- Fresh for the Spring Spring is here, at least it's showing up in some areas. Along with spring comes the time for things to get a fresh start. The INETA Live webcasts are back and ready to shine. That is, with your help. We're counting on your participation to keep our webcasts energized and informative. Please read more about presentation opportunities below. But now, we want to invite you to our April 11th webcast on Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF). Register NOW to see how easy it will be to create (... more)	3/3/2008
Devscovery Discount Attend Devscovery 2007 in Denver (April 17-19), New York (May 9-11), Redmond (August 14-16) or Silicon Valley (October 15-17) and get three days of intense .NET content from industry experts like Charles Petzold, Jeffrey Richter, Jeff Prosise, John Robbins, Jason Beres and others. With more than 30 sessions to choose from you will be treated to subjects such as WF, WPF, WPF/e, ASP.NET, AJAX, Security, the Framework, VSTS, Debugging and more! INETA newsletter subscribers save $100* off the (... more)	3/3/2008
INETA North America Elects New Board of Directors INETA NorAm is pleased to announce the following individuals have been elected to the Board of Directors for the July 2007-June 2009 term. This is a great team of people with significant experience in the community as user group leaders and volunteers who bring great enthusiasm which will result in some great new services and benefits for INETA members in the coming months. Congratulations to all! Amanda Murphy President Newfoundland, Canada Morgan Baker Vice President  (... more)	3/3/2008
INETA Community Leadership Summit -- Orlando, FL INETA and the INETA User Groups of Florida are hosting a regional Community Leadership Summit in Orlando on Saturday June 2, prior to the start of Tech Ed 2007. The summit is open to Community Leaders from the area, as well as those attending Tech Ed from across the country and around the world. It is an excellent opportunity for exchanging information and ideas. If you are a user group leader, or are involved in the leadership, planning, promotion, or day-to-day operations of a user group (... more)	3/3/2008
Happenings Around INETA North America (NorAm) Board Elections The recent Board election is a great step forward for INETA and another piece of our long term strategic plan (see accompanying article). INETA started as a grass roots effort of a few user group leaders with the goal of sharing knowledge and providing services to the greater user group community. In five short years INETA has become a worldwide organization with significant sponsor funding and is a not-for-profit corporation. While it is necessary to implement a variety of (... more)	3/3/2008
From the Editor As you can see above, plans are sailing smoothly for this year's TechEd. If you're not already registered for it and can go, sign up and stop by the INETA community space and say hello. We have several "unadvertised" user group benefits for those that stop by the booth. Who knows, someone might buy you lunch in the mess hall. So, do you have any summer time attendance booster ideas that have worked for you in the past? If so, email them to me and we can share them with the other user group (... more)	2/28/2008
Become an INETA Live Presenter INETA Live is all about sharing expertise with you fellow developers and leaders. They extend your reach far beyond your local community - all from the convenient location of your computer. Our first year included several topics to help user group with marketing, attracting sponsors, using SharePoint and creating a web site. While maintaining that type of support, we will be adding additional webcasts on technical topics. That's where YOU come in. We need YOUR suggestions for TOPICS and (... more)	2/28/2008
Upcoming INETA Speakers Bureau Events User Group Location Speaker Date South Colorado.Net Colorado Springs, CO Brian Noyes 5/1/07 Capital City .NET Users Group of Florida Talahassee, FL Chris Menegay 5/3/07 New Mexico .NET User Group Albuquerque, NM Tim Huckaby 5/3/07 Orange County C# Developers Group Rancho Santa Margarita, CA Scott Cate 5/8/07 San Luis Obispo .NET User Group San Luis Obispo, CA Scott Stanfield 5/8/07 Austin .NET User Group (ADNUG) Austin, TX Tim Huckaby 5/14/07 San (... more)	2/28/2008
Birds of a Feather INETA is again co-chairing the Birds of a Feather track at TechEd 2007, sharing the duties with our sister organization, Culminis, on the IT Professional side of the house. As the two premier user group associations for Microsoft technologies, we bring the community face to TechEd. And you can get involved, help us, and help INETA in four different ways! If you haven't been to one, a Birds of a Feather session is an open discussion lead by a moderator. They are not presentations, there are no (... more)	2/28/2008
Speaker Bureau Updates The INETA Speaker Bureau continues to provide exceptional talent and support to user groups throughout North America. We completed more than 200 events over the last year including 22 in April. We now have 56 well qualified speakers on our roster. This success has increased demand to the point that we need to adjust some of our guiding policies. Effective immediately: Calendar year 2007 is completely sold out No requests will be accepted until Q3 2007 Requests will be accepted on a (... more)	2/28/2008
INETA Community Leadership Summit - Saturday, June 2, 2007 - Orlando, FL INETA and the INETA User Groups of Florida are hosting a free regional Community Leadership Summit in Orlando at the Orlando City Hall on Saturday June 2 prior to the start of Tech Ed 2007. The summit is open to Community Leaders from the area, as well as those attending Tech Ed from across the country and around the world. It is an excellent opportunity for exchanging information and ideas. If you are a user group leader, or are involved in the leadership, planning, promotion, or day-to-day (... more)	2/28/2008
Happenings Around INETA North America (NorAm) It's TechEd Time! In a few short weeks several INETA Board members and key volunteers will be traveling to Orlando, FL for TechEd. Our Marketing team led by Scott Spradlin has been hard at work on the INETA booth in the community area. We'll be showcasing our benefits and services to user groups and their leaders, and as always having a few fun activities. If you are a user group leader, user group member, or just interested in learning more about user groups please stop by and say hello. (... more)	2/28/2008
From the Editor Well, my time as VP of Marketing for INETA NorAm has come to an end. Thanks to everyone that has helped the marketing division do it's job over the last two years. It has been a great experience for me and I highly encourage all of you to get involved with INETA at some level. All of the board members have teams to help them make things happen. (See "Contacting INETA NorAm" above.) Next month's newsletter will introduce you to the new board members. Take that opportunity to volunteer to help (... more)	2/28/2008
Become an INETA Live Presenter INETA Live is all about sharing expertise with you fellow developers and leaders. They extend your reach far beyond your local community - all from the convenient location of your computer. Our first year included several topics to help user group with marketing, attracting sponsors, using SharePoint and creating a web site. While maintaining that type of support, we will be adding additional webcasts on technical topics. That's where YOU come in. We need YOUR suggestions for TOPICS and (... more)	2/28/2008
Upcoming INETA Speakers Bureau Events User Group Location Speaker Date Fox Valley .NET User Group Appleton, WI Robert Green 6/20/07 San Gabriel Valley .NET Developers Group Monrovia, CA Tim Huckaby 6/20/07 Central Ohio .NET Developers Group Columbus, OH Scott Cate 6/20/07 Northwest Ohio .NET User Group Toledo, OH Scott Cate 6/21/07 Tampabay .NET Users Group Tampa, FL Miguel Castro 7/12/2007 Little Rock .Net Users Group Little Rock, AR Paul Sheriff 7/12/2007 Space Coast Dot Net User (... more)	2/28/2008
Speaker's Corner with Joel Semeniuk Julia Lerman gives us another insightful INETA Speaker interview, this time with with Joel Semeniuk. Although Joel is not a geek, he is a Microsoft Regional Director and Team System guru who hails from Winnipeg where he runs Imaginet Resources. What interests you the most of everything you have seen in .NET over the years? What interests me the most about .NET isn't the technology - it's the way that dev teams work together to write .NET solutions using Microsoft based tools (... more)	2/28/2008
CodeZone Community Portal As many of you may know Microsoft has developed CodeZone, a community portal, to support and promote community efforts. One valuable aspect of CodeZone is the User Group Experience, built to complement the current user group offerings provided by INETA. One valuable component for user groups is the User Group kit which include books, software and other swag that leaders can use at the user group meetings. INETA is collaborating with CodeZone to co-sponsor the next kit shipped to user groups (... more)	2/28/2008
Nominations Accepted for Treasurer Position on the INETA NorAm Board of Directors INETA North America's Treasurer, Michael Wiley, is stepping down from the Board since he has accepted a new position with Microsoft. Michael has done an outstanding job for INETA over the last couple of years and we congratulate him as he moves on to greener pastures. Nominations are now being accepted from any INETA registered user group leader in Canada or United States for the Treasurer position on the INETA North America Board of Directors until midnight EDT (GMT-5) Friday June 29, 2007. (... more)	2/28/2008
ONETUG Code Camp really delivers the goods The Orlando user group, under the leadership of MVP Shawn Weisfeld and Jessica Sterner along with MVP Ken Tucker from the Space Coast user group, did double duties this year when they combined a lot of learning with a lot of giving. It followed the almost standard all day technical presentation format, with the following topics being covered: AJAX, Architecture, ASP.NET, Chalk talk/Presentation, CodeGen, Data, DotNetNuke, GettingStarted, Intrinsics, Office, SharePoint, SmartClient, SMO, SMS, (... more)	2/28/2008
INETA Community Leadership Summit - Saturday, June 2, 2007 - Orlando, FL On Saturday June 2 over 50 members of the INETA User Group Community, representing 24 INETA User Groups gathered in Orlando for a Community Leadership Summit to share ideas and discuss issues. The day was made up of a series of workshops that included moderated discussions in key content areas. Topics included: Running a User Group Effective Content and Presentations User Group Promotion Developing Partnerships Through Community Leadership Summit events, INETA is working to both (... more)	2/28/2008
What can INETA North America Do For You? INETA is an organization that was created to foster the user group community. Our mission is to provide benefits and services that allow all user groups to better serve their members. We, the Board, are always thinking of new programs that can be offered which would help your user group. This month I ask you, our members, what we could do for your user group? Over the next month we will be finalizing our plans for the coming 6-12 months so send me your suggestions. What's Happening in Your (... more)	2/28/2008
From the Editor Yes, it's been a wonderful experience serving as the VP of Marketing. I'm excited to pass the position on to Darrell Hawley, who will bring a fresh new outlook and wonderful ideas into the position. As always, if you are interested in helping Darrell out on the Marketing team, don't be afraid to volunteer now. I've volunteered to help Pat Tormey out on the sponsorship team. Pat has done a wonderful job forming that team and getting it in motion. Our collective thanks to him for serving in (... more)	2/27/2008
Upcoming INETA Speakers Bureau Events User Group Location Speaker Date Little Rock .Net Users Group Little Rock, AR Paul Sheriff 2007-07-12 Tampabay .NET Users Group Tampa, FL Miguel Castro 2007-07-12 Lubbock .NET Users Group Lubbock, TX Ken Getz 2007-07-16 HAL-PC C# SIG Houston, TX Ken Getz 2007-07-17 Toronto Visual Basic User Group Toronto, ON Michele Leroux 2007-07-18 Space Coast Dot Net User Group Melbourne, FL Brian Noyes 2007-07-18 Greater Lansing .NET User Group East Lansing, (... more)	2/27/2008
CodeZone Community Portal As many of you may know Microsoft has developed CodeZone, a community portal, to support and promote community efforts. One valuable aspect of CodeZone is the User Group Experience, built to complement the current user group offerings provided by INETA. One valuable component for user groups is the User Group kit which include books, software and other swag that leaders can use at the user group meetings. INETA is collaborating with CodeZone to co-sponsor the next kit shipped to user groups (... more)	2/27/2008
INETA Stays Fresh -- Meet the New NorAm Board Starting July 1, 2007, there will be a number of fresh new faces in the INETA Board Room that we thought you should meet. Without further ado, here are your new INETA Board Members for 2007/2008. Please consider volunteering your time to assist these new board members in carrying out their new roles on the board. Volunteer today by sending email to noram.volunteers@ineta.org. Morgan Baker VP INETA NorAm Morgan is a System Analyst for the National Council on Compensation Insurance, (... more)	2/27/2008
INETA Welcomes VERIO as Platinum Sponsor The INETA team and the Verio team at the Verio booth at TechEd 2007 The photo above captures the very apparent partnership of INETA's newest Platnum sponsor, Verio Inc., a leading provider of online business services, hosting and managed solutions at TechEd 2007 in Orlando. The two teams shared some great moments to begin what will probably be a lasting relationship. Verio brings some very tangible benefits to the NorAm members of INETA. Your user group leaders will be receiving (... more)	2/27/2008
INETA Winners at TechEd 2007 In the INETA booth at TechEd 2007, attendees could sign up for a raffle. Each of the daily winners received a $100.00 gift certificate from Best Buy for themselves PLUS a pizza party for their user group! At the Birds of a Feather session, one winner received a new Zune! Plus, on the last day, Scott Lock won a Zune for his user group. Congratulations to all of the winners! Monday, June 4th Thanh Nguyen Orange County C# Developers Group Tuesday, June 5th Steward Johnston Santa (... more)	2/27/2008
Why are Developers a Community? Many times you hear the term developer community associated with our profession. What does this mean? The word community originated in 1375 from the Latin communis, meaning "common, public, shared by all or many". We all have writing code of one type or another and owning computers in common. Is this why we are a community? This does provide one component of a community which is a shared interest or knowledge. The term community also suggests a general sense of altruism, reciprocity, and (... more)	2/27/2008
From the Editor It's official. My term as Vice-President of Marketing for INETA NorAm has begun. When my predecessor, Scott Spradlin, started his tenure, it had been held by five people over a two year period. By adding stability to the role, he was able to ensure that newsletters went out on a timely basis, something I've referred to as INETA's "heartbeat". I feel the first part of my job is to make sure that heartbeat continues. This is the easiest part since all I have to do continue Scott's work. The (... more)	2/27/2008
The New Sprint Mogul with Windows Mobile 6 INETA is proud to announce that Microsoft and Sprint have established a special discount program just for developers! Not only is this a great Pocket PC that includes versions of Microsoft Office, but you can use Visual Studio to develop your own custom Windows Mobile 6 applications. Advertise this offer to your user group members! The Sprint Mogul is the newest Windows Mobile 6 device in the market. With 3G radio a 400+ Mhz processor and large memory capacity, it is a powerful (... more)	2/27/2008
Upcoming INETA Speakers Bureau Events User Group Location Speaker Date Dallas .NET Users Group Dallas, TX Miguel Castro 2007-08-07 Central California .Net User Group Fresno, CA Kathleen Dollard 2007-08-08 Huntsville New Technology Users Group Huntsville, AL Wally McClure 2007-08-14 San Diego SQL Server User Group San Diego, CA Bill Vaughn 2007-08-15 Southern California .NET Architecture Users Group Santa Ana, CA Brian Noyes 2007-08-16 Greenville Spartanburg Enterprise Developer's Guild  (... more)	2/27/2008
Planning a Regional .NET User Conference (Part 1 of 5) .NET developers can't get enough technical conferences and get-togethers. A quick survey of user group events across the country reveals a trend that is literally sweeping the nation: local and regional Code Camps, Deep Dives and Days of .NET are being organized in great numbers. But these conferences don't just materialize out of thin air; someone has to make the decision and take action to hold one. That 'someone' is usually a user group leader. So, what's behind the decision to hold a (... more)	2/27/2008
Thinking Outside the Lecture Hall We are interested in producing articles about other member activities to share through the INETA user communities. We are looking to trade ideas and methods rather than just topics and calendars. So as well as listing upcoming events, we will be including recaps on those that have occurred in the last month, with the good, the hiccups and the "we-need-a-different-approach" types. So what does your user group do, other than bring in speakers for regular full group presentations? If (... more)	2/27/2008
Are YOU a Mentor? Do YOU want to be a Mentor? YOU can become one of our INETA NorAm Membership Mentors! Our Membership Mentors are widely recognized as experienced advisers and supporters in all areas of user group leadership. Mentors advise, guide, and lend support to INETA member user group leadership within specific geographic territories of the United States and Canada. Mentors are our most vital link between INETA and our local user group leadership community specifically to ensure that we continue to provide quality (... more)	2/27/2008
INETA Recruiting New Speakers As many of you may have heard, Scott Hanselman is going to work for Microsoft. In doing so, he joins Josh Holmes and Carl Prothman who also accepted various positions at Microsoft this past year. The INETA Speakers Bureau Committee is very excited for them and wish them all the very best. As a result, we are now accepting resumes for qualified speakers for the North America INETA Speakers Bureau. If you would like to be considered to join the INETA Speakers Bureau, please send your (... more)	2/27/2008
INETA Community Leadership Summit - Southern California INETA and the INETA User Groups of Southern California are hosting a regional Community Leadership Summit on Saturday September 29. The summit is open to all community user group leaders, as well as those active in volunteering support. This will be an excellent opportunity to meet others in the community and for exchanging information and ideas. For all user group leaders, your leadership team members and those who are involved in the leadership, planning, promotion, or day-to-day (... more)	2/27/2008
INETA Announces New Treasurer This month, INETA North America welcomes Mike Vincent as Treasurer filling in the last remaining slot on the INETA board for the 2007-2008 year. Mike is a solutions architect with speakTECH, a Microsoft Gold Partner in Orange County, California providing clients with enterprise and software architecture and development services, primarily focusing on Microsoft .NET technology. Prior to speakTECH, he held corporate architect positions in financial services and ran his own consulting (... more)	2/27/2008
From the President July 2007 marked the start of a new term for the INETA North America Board of Directors. We have a fantastic new team of volunteers assembled that are all highly passionate and excited about serving our user group community. As President, I am very excited to be continuing my role with INETA and look forward to getting to know more of you as time progresses. New Programs Coming Your Way Already we are heavily involved in the development of new programs and services that will (... more)	2/27/2008
From the Editor Don't worry! Just because you see me here doesn't mean anything bad has happened. Darrell is still the Vice-President of Marketing. As part of his effort to build the Marketing team, he's asked us to take turns editing the newsletter from month to month. This gives all of us a chance to learn what it takes to put together the monthly newsletter and helps spread the knowledge around. So how did I get picked to go first? I didn't - I volunteered. I've known Darrell for almost six years (... more)	2/27/2008
Upcoming INETA Speakers Bureau Events User Group Speaker Date Santa Barbara .NET Developer Group Russ Nemhauser 9/12/2007 Fox Valley .NET User Group Steven Smith 9/19/2007 Boise .Net Developers User Group Scott Cate 9/20/2007 Groupe d'usagers Visual Studio Montréal Les Pinter 9/24/2007 San Diego .NET User Group Julia Lerman 9/25/2007 LA C# Developer's Group Dan Wahlin 10/2/2007 Southern California .Net Developers Group Dan Wahlin 10/3/2007 New England Visual Basic Professional User (... more)	2/27/2008
Speaker's Corner Speaking of Michele Leroux Bustamante, Julie Lerman catches up with Michele who has been educating and entertaining INETA user groups since INETA began. There seems to be a tradition of you telling a slightly naughty joke at the end of your awesome DotNetRocks interviews. How did that start? In fact there's some history there. First of all, Carl Franklin and I actually go back a ways. We first met at a VBITS conference in 1995. I was in the midst of writing my first book (Instant VB (... more)	2/27/2008
Special Edition to CodeZone User Group kits for Participating INETA Groups INETA is excited to support and promote community efforts in a variety of ways. As we continue to grow and expand, we are looking at effective ways to compliment our offerings by partnering with other user group centric initiatives. INETA has always recognized the value in sharing exciting giveaway and prize items to our members. Recently we contributed to the Codezone User Group Kits to include a great addition that we hope you will enjoy. The Codezone User Group Kits provide (... more)	2/27/2008
Using the Speakers Bureau As an updated policy arrives for utilization of INETA's vaunted Speakers Bureau program, we decided to take a quick look at how it has been used since we started keeping track in 2002. As a quick recap, the Speakers Bureau supplies high level Experts in the field of .NET at NO COST to INETA members who request them ahead of time - the NO COST feature being the most radical concept in user group support anywhere which we would hope has helped push .NET adoption throughout the world and (... more)	2/27/2008
Verio Offer Last month we sent a notice to all of the North American user group leaders about Verio's offer for free web sites. That is right, free web sites for all INETA members. Contact your user group leader today for details on how to participate and claim your new web site. Verio's EHS (Educational Hosting Services) program provides free Microsoft Windows websites to Developers and Designers to promote Microsoft Windows-based Hosting software and technologies. The Free services will be (... more)	2/27/2008
Organizing a Conference Last month I gave you a broad overview of what it takes to put together a regional developer conference. This month we'll take a look at the structure of the event. Structuring Your Event One of the first things you're going to have to decide is how your event will be structured. By 'structure', I'm referring to details such as when to hold the event, how long the event will be, how many sessions, how long each session will run, etc. If you have a large developer community in your (... more)	2/27/2008
New Speakers INETA Speakers Bureau, The Face of .NET, now has 15 new faces! The INETA Speakers Bureau has long represented some of the top speakers in the North American .NET community. Members of this highly prestigious group of speakers travel from coast to coast each year in Canada and the United States visiting user groups and sharing their deep wisdom around the .NET platform and related technologies. Delivering hundreds of events each year, The INETA Speakers Bureau has been a popular benefit (... more)	2/27/2008
Peru Relief Efforts Fellow User Group Members and Leaders, On August 15th, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake rocked the central coastal region of Peru killing hundreds and leaving many others in the region without electricity, water or suitable living conditions. Some of these people in need include our fellow .NET community members. In times like this helping our fellow community members means more than sharing code, but also providing humanitarian assistance. INETA NorAm (North America) is launching an (... more)	2/27/2008
Leadership Summit SoCal Community Leadership Summit is Almost Here The Southern California INETA Community Leadership Summit is coming! Join user group leaders from all around the region on Saturday September 29 at Quickstart Intelligence Corporate Headquarters in Irvine, CA. Topics will include Developing Partnerships, Effective Content and Presenters, The Future of User Groups and many others. Between sessions, you'll have plenty of time to meet your peers and discuss user group business or just talk (... more)	2/27/2008
From the President As you read this month's newsletter, you will quickly see that it has been another exciting month for INETA. We are preparing to launch several key new programs and already started on improvements to others such as the Speakers Bureau and INETA Live. In addition we are rapidly approaching our second Community Leadership Summit of the year which will be taking place in Southern California at the end of the month. You can read more below. We are also looking for your support in (... more)	2/27/2008
Leadership The people behind INETA INETA relies on all of the hard working volunteers on the Board of Directors and in the various committees to plan and deliver INETA programs and benefits to user groups worldwide. These individuals contribute massive amounts of their free time to help INETA help you, the user groups of the world. We gratefully acknowledge their efforts, and thank them on behalf of the entire community. INETA Board of Directors  (... more)	2/27/2008
Free Training Videos for Developers OnMicrosoft is a new video podcast series brought to you by Addison-Wesley, Prentice Hall, Sams, Cisco Press and InformIT -- imprints of Pearson Education. Each week they will talk to some of the IT Pro and Developer community's leading experts about a wide range of programming, systems, and software issues. Their video interviews include talks with Microsoft's Program Manager on the .NET Framework, Brad Abrams; Connected Systems Division Architect at Microsoft, Chris Anderson; Wintellect (... more)	2/26/2008
From the Editor Free Stuff Here! Is that why you started your own user group and, later, INETA?  As a user group leader who joined INETA in its first couple of years I have certainly been "basking" in the free stuff provided by INETA. Joining INETA made running my user group much easier.  I can get top notch speakers who would otherwise cost hundreds or even thousands to see at their normal venues (i.e., Tech Ed, V-Bits or as consultants come to call.)  I get "care packages" from various vendors and even (... more)	2/26/2008
Upcoming INETA Speakers Bureau Events User Group Location Speaker Date SacDotNet Sacramento, CA Robert Green 10/30/2007 Northwest Arkansas .NET User Group (NWADNUG) Fayetteville, AR Chris Menegay 11/6/2007 Tech Valley .NET User Group Latham NY Mike Amundsen 11/6/2007 CNY .NET Developer Group East Syracuse, NY Mike Amundsen 11/7/2007 SouthBay.NET User Group Torrance, CA Russ Nemhauser 11/8/2007 CRINETA - Cedar Rapids INETA Cedar Rapids, IA Paul Sheriff 11/12/2007  (... more)	2/26/2008
DevTeach 2007 Special Canadian User Group Leaders Take Note! Once again, DevTeach is hosting the Canadian User Group Leader summit on November 26th, 2007. This event will be held at the Vancouver Sheraton Wall Center. All Canadian User Group Leaders and Regional Directors are invited and encouraged to attend. This will be the perfect opportunity to share experiences and ideas for our community. Attending the User Group Summit will give you a free registration to DevTeach 2007. We would like to thank MSDN (... more)	2/26/2008
Thinking Outside the Lecture Hall In response to last month's request for information on what is happening other than lectures, Dan Wygant (http://Dan.Wygant.org) of the Huntsville Al users group volunteered his group's very positive experiences. (Ed) With our group in great shape, it was now time to take our dotNet community to the next level. Since our membership seemed to be notably interested in networking opportunities, it seemed natural to have a few 'Special Interest Groups' (SIGs). The idea for a VS.NET (... more)	2/26/2008
New Project Looking for Volunteers Later this fall we will be launching an exciting new project called INETA Live. Without spoiling the surprise, let's just say it's going to be all about you, the INETA Community. For more information, please stay tuned to http://live.ineta.org. We are looking for volunteers to join our team, and help us build out this exciting project. If you are interested in contributing, please contact us at noram.live@ineta.org Rob Zelt VP Community Activities, INETA (... more)	2/26/2008
Taking Nominations for New Board of Director Position The INETA NorAm Board of Directors is expanding to include one (1) additional member for a total of 10 people. The new Board position will be focused on sponsorship for the organization. Responsibilities will include: Develop and maintain a sponsorship plan for raising funds to allow INETA to provide the benefits and services to its members. Work with individuals responsible for different aspects of the organization to determine sponsorship needs. Work with the Treasurer during (... more)	2/26/2008
Verio Offer A couple of months ago we sent a notice to all of the North American user group leaders about Verio's offer for free web sites. We reminded you again last month and, yes, the offer still stands for all INETA members to get free web sites! As User group leaders, you will be the contact point for your folks who wish to take advantage of this tremendous offer. You will, in turn, contact Verio to get things set up for them. Verio's EHS (Educational Hosting Services) program provides free (... more)	2/26/2008
SoCal Community Leadership Summit Success Leadership team members from Southern California .NET user groups came together at Quickstart in Irvine to share ideas and resources on September 29th. The day's agenda consisted of a series of workshops that included moderated discussions in key subject areas including: Running a User Group Effective Content and Presentations User Group Promotion Developing Partnerships Future of User Groups Through Community Leadership Summit events like this, INETA is working to gather (... more)	2/26/2008
President's Note In September, we saw our second Regional Community Leadership Summit take place since June, marking yet another big month for INETA. These events represent the fantastic potential that exists when great minds and spirits from our community come together in a single room to share experiences and goals. More details on this event can be found below. As President, I am always interested in hearing from our members. So if you have any suggestions on things we are doing well, things we can (... more)	2/26/2008
From the Marketing Team CHANGE seems to be a very highly used word this year. Not just in the political spectrum here in the United States but also for us on the Marketing team as we lay down our resolutions for the New Year and eagerly await our next exalted leader, a new Marketing VP whose name may already be in the nominating lists submitted so far. Some of us, as user group leaders like you, are also looking at changes that we hope to implement be it growing our user groups, upgrading our web sites, getting more (... more)	2/26/2008
Speaker Events User Group Location Speaker Date San Diego .NET User Group San Diego, California Phil Weber 1/22/2008 Boulder .NET User Group Boulder, Colorado Tim Huckaby 1/22/2008 Wichita Developers .NET Wichita, Kansas Chris Menegay 1/31/2008 Florida .NET - Ft Lauderdale Ft Lauderdale, Florida Daniel Egan 2/5/2008 Bloomington .NET Users Group Bloomington, Illinois Daniel Egan 2/12/2008 SouthCT.NET SIG Shelton, Connecticut J. Ambrose Little  (... more)	2/26/2008
Nominations Being Accepted For INETA NorAm Board of Directors Position Marketing and Communications  The INETA NorAm Board of Directors has an opening for an individual focusing on marketing and communications for the organization. General responsibilities will include: Develop and maintain short and long term strategic plans for marketing. Develop and monitor annual budgets for marketing projects. Oversee volunteers working on marketing projects. Work with the Sponsorship Director to coordinate marketing efforts with relation to INETA sponsors. (... more)	2/26/2008
IIS7, ASP.NET and Web Security with MSDN Events Explore IIS7, ASP.NET and tackle Web security with MSDN Events. Free Admission. Free Resource Kit. Meet your fellow coding fanatics at MSDN Events. Join us for these free, half-day presentations delivered by some of the most seasoned developers in the business. Explore the latest tools and technologies you need to build cutting-edge applications, with lots of time to network and ask questions. Visit http://www.msdnevents.com. -- from the INETA NorAM January 2008 Newsletter  (... more)	2/26/2008
President's Note As the new year begins, many of us start to look at ways we can approach 2008 with a renewed sense of commitment, focus and priority. We look at how we can improve aspects of our life, while still maintaining existing progress and direction in other areas. INETA is no different. We are excited to be approaching 2008 with a vision and agenda to deliver more value and benefits to our growing membership while still continuing to offer the same positive experience with (... more)	2/26/2008
Stuart Celarier Stuart Celarier, Portland, Oregon, USA At-Large Stuart Celarier has been volunteering with INETA since 2002 working with member user groups. He is a founder and director of the Portland Code Camp, and presents regularly at user groups and code camps throughout the Pacific Northwest. He has chaired the Birds-of-a-Feather tracks at TechEd 2005 - 2007, and PDC 2005. He also serves on the Software Association of Oregon's Development SIG committee. Stuart is a staff software engineer with (... more)	2/20/2008
Shawn Weisfeld Shawn Weisfeld, Orlando, Florida, USA Florida - FL Shawn Weisfeld is a Sr. Developer at an Orlando FL based fortune 100 company. There he specializes in intranet and smart client development for internal line of business applications. Besides his day job Shawn also is an Adjunct Professor at The Florida Institute of Technology and Seminole Community College. He also does freelance software development work for local small businesses and training. In his free time he volunteers as the (... more)	2/20/2008
Scott Issacs Scott Isaacs, Milwaukee , Wisconsin, USA Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin - IL, IN, WI Scott Isaacs, born and raised a stone's throw from California's Silicon Valley, discovered an early interest in computers. As with many other 30-somethings in IT and software development, it started off with the Commodore 64 and BASIC. Having gone to college for Applied Mathematics, software was primarily a hobby for Scott until the late 90s. That's when Scott took his first software development job at (... more)	2/20/2008
Scott Cate Scott Cate, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA Southwest - AZ, NV, NM Scott Cate is the President of myKB.com, Inc., in Scottsdale, Arizona. myKB.com is a technology company specializing in commercial ASP.NET applications. His product line includes myKB.com (Knowledge Base Software), kbAlertz.com (Microsoft Knowledge Base Notifications), and EasySearchASP.net (a Pluggable Search Engine for ASP.NET sites). Scott also runs AZGroups.com (Arizona .NET User Groups), one of the largest and most active (... more)	2/20/2008
Rob Windsor Rob Windsor, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Ontario Canada - ON Rob Windsor is a Senior Consultant and the Director of Training with ObjectSharp Consulting - a Microsoft Gold Partner based in Toronto, Canada. Rob focuses on the architecture, design and development of custom business applications using leading edge Microsoft technologies. In addition Rob is a top rated instructor - authoring and teaching courses on .NET development, SharePoint and software architecture. As a member of the MSDN (... more)	2/20/2008
Randy Walker Randy Walker, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri - AR, KS, MO Randy Walker, in the early Alpha days of .Net, can remember being quite skeptical of all the promises that .Net was to bring to the VB community. Randy has now not only embraced the technology but works to passionately educate our programmer community to its unique use of technology and innovation. Randy's community efforts helped to found the Northwest Arkansas .Net User Group, being its first Vice (... more)	2/20/2008
Philip Wolfe Philip Wolfe, Omaha, Nebraska, USA North Central - IA, MN, ND, NE, SD Philip Wolfe is one of the top .NET leaders in the Midwest region. He has been the president of the Omaha .NET user group (http://www.OmahaMTG.com) off and on for the past six and a half years, assistant director of the Heartland Developers Conference (http://www.heartlandDC.com) for the last four years, and INETA Membership Mentor for Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, and Minnesota for the last two years. He is very (... more)	2/20/2008
Paul Mehner Paul Mehner, Olympia, Washington, USA Pacific Northwest - AK, GU, HI, ID, OR, WA Paul Mehner is an instructor and consultant for Wintellect, a training and consulting firm dedicated to helping clients ship better software faster. His expertise is with Windows Workflow and Windows Communication Foundation. For more than three decades, Paul has been a software developer, architect, project manager, consultant, speaker, mentor, instructor, and entrepreneur. He is co-founder of the South (... more)	2/20/2008
Nolan Zak Nolan Zak, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Pacific Canada - BC, YT Nolan Zak is an ASP.NET application architect. He has been leading the Victoria .NET Developers Association since June 2004 and has also operated three successful code camps. Nolan mentors other user group leaders on how to run their groups successfully. He also participates in regular discussions with other user group leaders on how to create successful online/offline communities. -- from the Febraury 2008 (... more)	2/20/2008
Mark Rosenberg Mark Rosenberg, Long Beach, California, USA Southern California - Southern CA Mark Rosenberg has been a software developer for the last ten years. He has been working as a trainer for Quickstart Intelligence since April of 2007. Mark has been active in the local user group community for the last two years booking the speakers and being on the board for two user groups. He has been active in setting up and running two code camps per year, one in Orange County, CA and one in San Diego, (... more)	2/20/2008
Julie Yack Julie Yack, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA Rocky Mountains - CO, MT, WY, UT Julie Yack is a founding partner of Colorado Technology Consultants (CTC), Colorado Springs, and currently serves as its Chief Operations Officer. CTC offers high-end custom software solutions, primarily on the .NET platform. Julie is a Microsoft CRM 3.0 Certified Professional and earned her Bachelors' degree in Business Management from The University of Phoenix. Julie has a strong commitment to community (... more)	2/20/2008
Jim Wooley Jim Wooley, Atlanta, Georgia, USA Georgia - GA Jim Wooley is a Microsoft MVP in Visual Basic and has been active evangelizing LINQ since it's announcement in 2005. In addition, he attempts to pass on the insights he has gained by being active in the community, including leading the Atlanta MS Pros (formerly VB Study Group) and assisting user groups throughout Georgia. Jim actively discusses LINQ and Visual Basic on his blog at http://www.devauthority.com/blogs/jwooley. -- from the (... more)	2/20/2008
Jeffrey Palermo Jeffrey Palermo, Austin, Texas, USA Southern Texas - Southern TX Jeffrey Palermo is a software management consultant and the CTO of Headspring Systems in Austin, TX, specializing in agile coaching and helping companies double the productivity of their software teams. He is an MCSD.Net , Microsoft MVP, Certified Scrummaster, Austin .Net User Group leader, AgileAustin board member, INETA speaker, Christian, husband, father, motorcyclist, Eagle Scout, U.S. Army Veteran, and Texas A&M (... more)	2/20/2008
Jeff Schoolcraft Jeff Schoolcraft, Washington, District of Columbia, USA Virginia, West Virginia - VA, WV Jeff Schoolcraft is the founder of The Queue, Incorporated; a consulting shop that writes software and helps write software better. He has been in the .NET space from nearly the beginning and is still, mostly, writing web applications in C#. He has run two .NET user groups in the DC Metro area, helped start a third and has organized several code camps. When he's not immersed in code he enjoys (... more)	2/20/2008
Frank La Vigne Frank La Vigne, Washington, District of Columbia, USA Mid-Atlantic - DC, DE, MD Frank La Vigne is a Microsoft Tablet PC MVP and Lead Architect/Designer for Applied Information Sciences (AIS) in Northern Virginia. Frank started in software development when he was twelve, writing BASIC programs for the Commodore 64. He began his professional career writing Visual Basic 3 applications for Wall Street firms in 1993. He then moved on to be the first webmaster for a major book retailer. Frank (... more)	2/20/2008
Kevin Hoff Evan Hoff, Nashville, Tennessee, USA Kentucky, Tennessee - KY, TN Evan Hoff, after migrating to .NET shortly after the 1.0 release in 2002, has spent the past few years working as a consultant in .NET projects both large and small. Industry experience has included ERP/CRM systems, entertainment marketing, mobile, and healthcare. Notable accomplishments include having his work featured in both television and print, making an appearance in Wired Magazine, and placing 3rd in Yahoo's 2006 (... more)	2/20/2008
Doug Spindler Doug Spindler, San Francisco Bay Area (Orinda, California), USA Northern California - Northern CA Douglas R. Spindler grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley. He wrote his fist computer program was when he was 12 years old on a Teletype machine with paper tape and a 300 baud modem connected to the University of California at Berkeley. After writing a program too long for tape he began using punch cards then cassette tapes on an IBM-PC. Doug attended the University of (... more)	2/20/2008
Derek Hatchard Derek Hatchard, Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada Quebec and Atlantic Canada - NB, NL, NS, PE, QC Derek Hatchard is a web entrepreneur, consultant, and trainer/mentor. He is also a Microsoft Regional Director, Microsoft MVP, author, and speaker. He blogs at www.ardentdev.com and www.derekhat.com, and he co-hosts a developer podcast at www.devcasting.com. Derek is based in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada where he runs the Dev East (Moncton) and Dev East (Halifax) user groups. In 2002, Derek (... more)	2/20/2008
Dennis Bottjer Dennis J. Bottjer, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA Oklahoma, Northern Texas - OK, Northern TX Dennis J. Bottjer is a Software Solutions Architect, for Microsoft Gold Partner SpringPoint Technologies, in Tulsa, OK. He is a Microsoft ASP/ASP.NET MVP. He previously worked for one of the largest US based Financial Services Companies on the FORTUNE 100. He has an undergraduate degree in Management Information Systems from the University of Oklahoma. Dennis served for two years as the President of the (... more)	2/20/2008
David Hoerster David Hoerster, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA Pennsylvania - PA David Hoerster, who has been working with the Microsoft .NET Framework since the early 1.0 betas, is CIBER's Microsoft Practice Director in Pittsburgh, and has worked for CIBER, a pure-play software consulting company, since 2003. Prior to that, David has worked for several software product development companies in the role of software engineer and architect and has over 15 years of industry experience. David is also owner (... more)	2/20/2008
Dan Wygant Dan Wygant, Huntsville, Alabama, USA Gulf Coast - AL, LA, MS Dan Wygant is the founder of HUNTUG.org (HUntsville New Technology Users Group), VSdotNetUG.org (Huntsville VS.Net Users Group), and HowToVS.NET, all in Huntsville, Alabama with over 2,000 members. He is the INETA Assistant Vice President of the Membership Division, founding Board of Directors member of Culminis and a senior software consultant for over 22 years. After writing for Window NT Magazine, Editor Mark Smith (... more)	2/20/2008
D'Arcy Lussier D'Arcy Lussier, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Great Plains Canada - AB, MB, SK, NT, NU D'Arcy Lussier, as part of the emerging Canadian Developer Community 2.0, has been an active member of the developer community for many years. In addition to being part of the leadership for the Winnipeg .NET User Group, he has organized various user group tours which saw Roy Osherove, Jean-Paul Boodhoo, and Jean-Luc David among others, make their way across central Canada for the benefit of Canadian (... more)	2/20/2008
Chris Woodruff Chris Woodruff, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA Michigan, Ohio - MI, OH Chris Woodruff is an Architect in the Development West Practice group at NuSoft Solutions. His work involves integrating new technologies, assisting development teams with architecture designs, and helping with development standards. Chris is the Vice President of the West Michigan .NET User Group and also is an Advisory Council Member at Capella University for the External Information Technology Advisory Council. In (... more)	2/20/2008
Bill Jones, Jr. Bill Jones Jr., Charlotte, North Carolina, USA Carolinas - NC, SC Bill Jones Jr., as a Solutions Architect, specializes in software development using .NET, VB.Net, ASP.NET, C# and SQL Server. He is well versed in all phases of the development life cycle - process, class abstraction, data structures, reporting and user interface. In his spare time, Bill founded and continues to lead the Enterprise Developers Guild, the .Net User Group in Charlotte NC with more than 1500 members. He is (... more)	2/20/2008
Andy Beaulieu Andy Beaulieu, Syracuse, New York, USA Northeast - CT, NJ, NY, MA, RI, ME, NH, VT Andy Beaulieu is a professional software developer with over 10 years of experience building applications for Windows and the Web. He is very involved in the .NET developer community and enjoys presenting at user groups and code camps, and communicating through his blog at www.andybeaulieu.com. He holds a B.A. in Computer and Information Science from Potsdam College of the State University of New York, as (... more)	2/20/2008
Chris Wallace Chris Wallace, Denver, Colorado, USA United States and Canada - INETA Vice President, Membership Chris Wallace, of Wallace Business Solutions, Denver, Colorado, is a software consultant in Microsoft technologies, emphasizing Visual Studio in SOA-OOP/N-tier architectures using .NET. He has extensive IT experience working in the US and Europe. His goal is to deliver complete application development solutions to meet real world business needs. He holds a Masters degree in Computer (... more)	2/20/2008
From the Marketing Team In the time that I've been involved with the Ann Arbor .NET Developer's group, I've been involved in a number of efforts to grow our group all with varying degrees of success. It seems an endless circle of recruiting, advertising and sponsorship drives. Many of you have shared your thoughts with us at one of our many User Group Summits and will continue to do so at our upcoming summits. But what about those who have not attended a summit? Or maybe something new has happened since the last (... more)	2/20/2008
INETA Live INETA NorAm Community Activities Blog The Community Activities Team is now blogging at http://live.ineta.org/blog. Please add us to your subscription list and join us to keep track of the happenings around INETA. We look forward to sharing what's going on with our team, as well as promoting your community activities! Rob Zelt VP Community Activities, INETA NorAm rob.zelt@ineta.org Triangle .NET User Group INETA - The Face of .NET -- from the November 2007 INETA Newsletter  (... more)	2/20/2008
TechEd Expanding to Two Conference Format To better serve the distinct needs of the developer and IT professional communities in the United States, Microsoft is excited to announce the expansion of its largest annual technical conference. Tech·Ed U.S. is evolving from a one week conference to two separate back-to-back conferences: Tech·Ed U.S. 2008 Developers, June 3-6, and Tech·Ed U.S. 2008 IT Professionals, June 10-13, in Orlando, FL. The two week format is designed to provide the same Tech·Ed (... more)	2/20/2008
Upcoming INETA Speakers Bureau Events User Group Location Speaker Date Victoria .NET Developers Association Victoria, British Columbia Don Kiely 11/13/2007 Pee Dee Area .NET User Group Florence, SC Stephen Walther 11/13/2007 .netBC Burnaby, British Columbia Don Kiely 11/14/2007 Columbia Enterprise Developers Guild Columbia, South Carolina Stephen Walther 11/14/2007 Ann Arbor .NET User Group Ann Arbor, MI Steven Smith 11/14/2007 GC.NUG (... more)	2/20/2008
DevTeach Promotion Canadian User Group Leaders Take Note! Once again, DevTeach is hosting the Canadian User Group Leader summit on November 26th, 2007. This event will be held at the Vancouver Sheraton Wall Center. All Canadian User Group Leaders and Regional Directors are invited and encouraged to attend. This will be the perfect opportunity to share experiences and ideas for our community. Attending the Vancouver User Group Summit will give you a free registration to DevTeach 2007. We would like to (... more)	2/20/2008
MSDN Events Get a sneak peek at new coding technologies with MSDN Events. Free Admission. Glimpse the future of Web development with Visual Studio 2008. Power up your Silverlight solutions with AJAX and easy-to-use ASP.NET server controls. Plus, take a sneak peek at Microsoft codename "Astoria," which makes it simple to create and consume Data Services for the Web. Register today for these live, free sessions. More Content. More Power Get ready for a full day of free, live learning - all (... more)	2/20/2008
President's Note In October, our North America Board of Directors met in Seattle for our Fall In Person Meeting. This in person , our North America Board of Directors met in Seattle for our Fall In Person Meeting. This in person meeting represented the first time the current Board of Directors had the opportunity to assemble for a high impact weekend of strategic planning and status review. While there was much to accomplish and discuss in just a few short days, I feel strongly that we had a highly productive (... more)	2/20/2008
From the Marketing Team While researching new features for the newsletter, I was surprised to find how few user groups actually use RSS feeds - including my own Ann Arbor .NET Developer's Group. Like many of you, RSS is the way I read about - and on some occasions, communicate with - the rest of the world. Because I want to know what INETA is doing, for example, I simply added the INETA Live News Feed. to my favorite RSS feed reader. So, why hasn't our community embraced this technology? I don't think think the (... more)	2/20/2008
Upcoming INETA Speakers Bureau Events User Group Location Speaker Date Dayton .NET Developers Group Fairborn, Ohio Miguel Castro 12/17/2007 Capital Area .Net Users Group Vienna, Virginia Don Kiely 12/18/2007 Cincinnati .NET User Group Cincinnati, Ohio Miguel Castro 12/18/2007 Richmond.NET User Group Glen Allen, Virginia Don Kiely 12/19/2007 Hampton Roads SQL Server Users Group Virginia Beach, Virginia Don Kiely 12/20/2007 Oklahoma City .Net Developer's Group  (... more)	2/20/2008
Canadian Summit Report Leadership team members from Canadian user groups came together at DevTeach in Vancouver, Canada to share ideas and resources on November 26th. Through Community Leadership Summit events like this, INETA continues to gather resources and best practices from the community, and to share them with others around the world. The INETA Live team will be sharing key content from these events as a resource for the community. Future summits will continue to build on this knowledge base and (... more)	2/20/2008
MSDN Events Get a sneak peek at new coding technologies with MSDN Events. Free Admission. McLean, Virginia is your last chance to get a glimpse of the future of Web development with Visual Studio 2008. On December 18, prepare to power up your Silverlight solutions with AJAX and easy-to-use ASP.NET server controls. Plus, take a sneak peek at Microsoft codename "Astoria," which makes it simple to create and consume Data Services for the Web. Register now before this opportunity passes by. More (... more)	2/20/2008
Verio Offer Several months ago we sent a notice to all of the North American user group leaders about Verio's offer for free web sites. We reminded you again in October and, yes, the offer still stands for all INETA members to get free web sites! As User group leaders, you will be the contact point for your folks who wish to take advantage of this tremendous offer. You will, in turn, contact Verio to get things set up for them. Verio's EHS (Educational Hosting Services) program provides free (... more)	2/20/2008
Announcing a new Codezone release for INETA groups! We would like to announce the new release of the Codezone User Group Experience at Codezone.com! This release includes event promotion opportunities, event management and reporting functionality, and improved search for speakers and sponsors.  With this release, you can also designate more than one person as the leader of the group. INETA continues to be involved with Codezone, and we are proud to be the first to announce this functionality to our user group leaders and hope (... more)	2/20/2008
Announcing Tech·Ed Call for Content The new year hasn't even arrived and we're already talking about Tech•Ed! As many of you may already know, Tech·Ed 2008 will split into Tech•Ed Developers (June 3-6) and Tech·Ed IT Professionals (June 10-13). The new format is designed to provide the same experience while expanding the learning opportunities you've come to expect. All Microsoft influencers, industry experts, partners, and product team members are encouraged to submit their abstracts to https://2008.msteched.com/cft/. Tech·Ed (... more)	2/20/2008
President's Note As we all prepare for the upcoming month, I would like to wish everyone the happiest holidays and hope that you take some time to enjoy time with family and friends. I also would like to take a moment to thank each and every member of our wonderful community for all the hard work that you dedicate to making user groups across North America and the rest of the world successful. 2008 will feature a number of new programs and services for user groups that will be based specifically on the (... more)	2/20/2008
Best Practices for Managing Your User Group Web Site As user group leaders we often struggle with similar issues including the challenging task of creating a web presence for our user group that allows us to effectively communicate with our membership, manage event details and attract new members. Join us for an exciting discussion on managing an effective website for your user group. This webcast will feature a walkthrough of some great solutions that will get you up and running with a user group website that allows you to achieve your goals (... more)	2/20/2008
Promoting and Growing Your User Group Through Strategic Marketing Perception is reality. But in order for there to be a perception about your user group, your target audience and potential partners need to know you exist and understand the value you bring to the developer community as a whole. That's where marketing comes in. During this fun-filled hour, join INETA Vice President and Wintellect's Director of Marketing - Sara Faatz - as she delves into the five principles of marketing theory and how they apply to your user group; uncovers some basic (... more)	2/20/2008
Best Practices for Running a User Group Running a user group is not an easy task. However luckily by being part of INETA you are connected to network of peers that have experienced all aspects of user group leadership from start-up to success. This webcast was a panel based discussion featuring experts such as Chris Williams, D'Arcy Lussier, Donald Belcham, Robin Edwards, and Doug Ware. Come and join the conversation on important user group topics such as: - Building a Leadership Team - Picking a Location - Running a Successful Event (... more)	2/20/2008
So You Want to Start a User Group Are you looking to start a user group but not really sure where to begin? Maybe you are part of a user group now but want to get more involved in its leadership. If so then be sure to check out this INETA Live! webcast focused directly on the things you need to know to get a user group up and running. This webcast featured a panel based discussion featuring some of our organization's most experienced user group leaders - Jason Beres, Julie Lerman and Dave Noderer. Intended Audience: User (... more)	2/20/2008
SharePoint 1, 2, 3! - Level 100 SharePoint 1, 2, 3! is a new concept in community-based training being offered to the development community by the development community. SharePoint 1, 2, 3! offers six sessions designed to train developers to install, use, and develop custom software for Microsoft's Windows SharePoint Services. SharePoint 1, 2, 3! is designed to be a start to finish training session that has a 100 level course, a 200 level course, and a 300 level course to get into all aspects of SharePoint. With two types of (... more)	2/20/2008
Alentus SAVE 15% on all .NET shared hosting plans (starting at $24.95) and pay NO SETUP FEES. Alentus supports more ASP components than any other hosting provider and offers unmatched technical support. Enter "INETA" in the comments box of our order form. (... more)	2/20/2008
Windows Developer Network Windevnet.com is the single point of access for Windows developers who need timely and technical Windows coverage. WDN provides critical information for software professionals developing and deploying complex distributed applications. The website focuses exclusively on building sophisticated Windows applications in all types of software environments, for the desktop and beyond. Windows developers go to www.windevnet.com to search for in-depth articles, stimulating opinions, book (... more)	2/20/2008
Visual Studio Magazine Visual Studio Magazine is what serious enterprise programmers use to put this ever-changing technology to work. Whether you are developing in ASP.NET, SQL Server, XML, or C# and Visual Basic .NET, we cover them all. Special INETA offer for US members: 12 monthly issues + 2 bonus issue only $9.99 (normally $19.95). (... more)	2/20/2008
MSDN Magazine Only $25.95 for an annual subscription to MSDN Magazine! MSDN Magazine is a comprehensive guide to Microsoft technology, providing real-world solutions, applications for new technology, and first looks at the latest products, including Visual Studio .NET and the .NET Framework. (... more)	2/20/2008
eWEEK GET 51 ISSUES OF eWEEK FOR FREE! Did you know that qualified IT professionals can get eWEEK for FREE? eWEEK - The Enterprise Newsweekly - is packed with IT news, vendor analysis, reviews and tech evaluations. Act now to secure your FREE subscription! (... more)	2/20/2008
Dr. Dobbs Journal Facing real-world .NET developer questions like: C# vs. Java? ASP .NET Server Components? Visual Studio .NET? Yes? then Dr. Dobb's Journal is your developer information source to make your job easier. Now only $15.00 for .NET UG (US members) (Normally $34.95) (... more)	2/20/2008
asp.netPRO asp.netPRO is the information resource for ASP.NET developers. Build, debug, deploy, and run the next generation of Web applications quickly and easily. INETA special for US subscribers: 12 issues for $19.99 (originally $34.99). See subscription form for international special rates.  (... more)	2/20/2008
US Internet Shared .NET hosting packages from $30, NO SETUP FEES! Work with a leader. US Internet was one of the first hosting providers to provide .NET shared hosting. Tier 1 hosting environment, knowledgeable 24x7x365 technical support. Email sales@usinternet.com with INETA in the subject line. For more information check out: http://www.usinternet.com/hosting.htm (... more)	2/20/2008
ORCSWeb INETA members can get a 20% discount on all ASP.Net shared hosting services at ORCSWeb.com. To take advantage of this offer just sign up online and use a promotional code of "INETA". (... more)	2/20/2008
Brinkster Sign up for a Brinkster account using the codes below and we will waive the setup fee and the first month fee. Premium X4: b3410231, Premium X6: b3852980, Premium X8: b1260756, Premium X10: b4265653 (... more)	2/20/2008
VS Live! Join your fellow .NET developers at VSLive! San Francisco, January 29 - February 2, for over 500 hours of hard hitting content. This years VSLive! line-up includes Smart Client Live!, ASP Live! and SQL Live!. Plus, this year’s event features two co-located Conferences — Software Architecture Summit and Middleware Summit. The Early Bird deadline is December 21st. Register Now and Save $200! (... more)	2/20/2008
.NET Summit Days Get the skills you need to migrate to VB.NET so you can build Web-services-enabled Windows applications! Attend a seminar near you presented by Microsoft and DevelopMentor with a special $10 discount for INETA members. Register today for only $79! Click here for a list of cities. (the discount will appear in your cart)  (... more)	2/20/2008
Wiley Publishing Wiley Publishing, Inc. offers INETA members 20% off all Wiley Technology books! Select from our top series and brand imprints, including Wrox Press, Bibles, Visual, and For Dummies. Visit www.wiley.com/compbooks/ or call 877-762-2974 and use the promotion code: INETA. For bulk purchases of 5 or more, please contact Jeff Parker - jparker@wiley.com for prices up to 40% off."  (... more)	2/20/2008
SAMS .NET Questions? Sams With 35% OFF select .NET titles! Sams Publishing was among the first to predict the impact .NET would have on the developer community. From introductory tutorials to comprehensive reference books, Sams has the answers.  (... more)	2/20/2008
Osborne Osborne User Group Partnership Program: 30% discount on User Group bulk purchases of 10 or more Osborne books. To learn more, sign up for our User Group Partnership Program on www.osborne.com or contact User Group Sales Manager, Karen Schopp (Karen_Schopp@mcgraw-hill.com). (... more)	2/20/2008
O'Reilly INETA members are entitled to a 30% discount on all books purchased from O'Reilly. Use code DSUG when ordering online: http:// www.oreilly.com/buy. Free ground shipping is available for online orders of at least $29.95 that go to a single address. This offer applies to US delivery addresses in the 50 states and Puerto Rico. For details, go to: http://www.oreilly.com/news/freeshipping_0703.html (... more)	2/20/2008
Murach Never heard of Murach books? Since 1974, professional programmers have been relying on Murach books for quick, effective training and reference. Their .NET development subjects include C# and VB.NET. At their web site, www.murach.com, INETA members can order any of their books for 30% OFF. Just enter “ugnet04” as the promotion code when you place your order.  (... more)	2/20/2008
Manning Publications Manning Publications is pleased to offer members of the user group community free access to our authors' expertise at our Author Online forums and a special discount on our .NET books.  (... more)	2/20/2008
DevConnections There is a $100 discount for INETA members – all they need to do is enter INETA in the discount code field when they register (... more)	2/20/2008
Apress User Groups can receive a special 25% discount off the regular price of all Apress titles. To obtain the User Group discount, please contact our distributor, Springer-Verlag, at 1-800-SPRINGER or sales@apress.com. When placing the order, be sure to mention the name of the user group and specify promotion code: APRESSUG. Discount valid only in the U.S. User Groups outside the U.S., please call or write for more information. (... more)	2/20/2008
Addison Wesley At Addison-Wesley, we value our relationships with user groups. To ensure that you have the best access to our books, we offer the members of INETA a 20% discount coupon. Use the coupon code USERGROUP02 when purchasing books at www.awprofessional.com to get up 28% off all titles on our site. (... more)	2/20/2008
Does INETA membership cost anything? No. INETA membership is free with many benefits. (... more)	2/20/2008
Criteria for INETA Membership INETA wants to ensure a consistent quality and focus for member groups. This enhances the value of being an INETA member and ultimately allows INETA to provide quality services. Therefore, acceptance as an INETA member is based upon the following criteria. Have a significant .NET focus The primary focus of the user group should be one or more of the Microsoft .NET technologies. The majority of your meeting presentations should relate to .NET. The purpose of the group listed on the (... more)	2/20/2008
User Group Specials INETA facilitates interactions between the thriving .NET third party community and the .NET user group community.  The User Group Specials program is just one of our initiatives, it allows members of INETA member user groups to receive discounts on books, software, training, and other .NET-related products and services. This means that in addition to all of the other benefits, belonging to an INETA member user group can save you money too! Do you have a .NET-related product or service (... more)	2/20/2008
How Long Does the Approval Process Take? The User Group Relations committee, made up of volunteers like yourself, makes every effort to process each application on a timely basis, usually within several weeks. You will be contacted by the User Group Relations committee member serving your geographic area who will keep you informed throughout the approval process.    (... more)	2/20/2008
Sponsorship INETA relies on the support of its sponsors, and is presently organizing plans for working with companies and organizations interested in partnering with INETA for financial, logistical, content, or other types of support. If you are interested in partnering with INETA, contact partners@ineta.org.  (... more)	2/20/2008
How Can I Get Involved? INETA relies heavily on the ideas, personal time, and energy of its membership, leaders, and officers. If you are a user group leader – or even an enthusiastic supporter of the .NET user community looking for a way to help, grow with your peers, and find out about volunteer opportunities. Throughout 2005, INETA will also be holding organizational and planning meetings, virtually and in various locations, contact info@ineta.org  (... more)	2/20/2008
What are the Benefits of joining INETA? INETA is a great resource to supplement your local efforts with a user group.  Both new and existing groups can take advantage of resources including: On-line forums Content repository Speakers bureau Listing on the INETA web site Display the INETA logo on your user group web site Receive periodic mailings from INETA with useful information and resources for your user group  (... more)	2/20/2008
Contacting INETA by Mail INETA's mailing address is INETA P. O. Box 6713 Bellevue, WA 98008-0713    (... more)	2/20/2008
INETA Community One of the most valuable aspects of INETA is the active community support and interaction you receive as a member group. You have the opportunity to work with some of the brightest minds in the .NET world including other .NET user group leaders who have extensive experience starting, running, and growing user groups. What Does Community Mean to INETA? In today's fast-paced world, it seems that the true meaning of "community" is sometimes overlooked in favor of growth objectives, (... more)	2/20/2008
About INETA INETA provides structured, peer-based organizational, educational, and promotional support to the growing worldwide community of Microsoft® .NET user groups. INETA's mission is to offer assistance and resources to community groups that promote and educate their membership in Microsoft's .NET technologies. INETA welcomes user groups or special interest groups from all facets of the .NET user community including developers, architects, project managers, and IT professionals.  (... more)	2/20/2008
What is the procedure for requesting a speaker? User group leaders request speakers through the INETA website.  Only requests that are submitted through www.ineta.org will be considered for INETA sponsored speakers. First, your user group must be in good standing with INETA. Second, we expect you to promote INETA Speaker Bureau events to your members and others who may be interested by advertising the INETA event on your web site, e-mail distribution if you are set up to do so, and any other promotions that you usually do to (... more)	2/20/2008
How many times a year can we request a speaker? The INETA Speakers Bureau is committed to providing speakers to all of our member user groups in a fair and balanced manner. Because of resource limitations, the Bureau asks each user group to limit the number of requests to two speakers per year. More than two speakers may be provided to a single user group if specifically approved by the Speakers Bureau Committee. We also ask that each group limit requests to one per quarter and no consecutive quarters.  (... more)	2/20/2008
INETA Live! So You Want to Hold a Code Camp So You Want to Hold a Code Camp? Code Camps have enjoyed unprecedented success over the past two years as an informal way to bring developers together to share code. Have you held a Code Camp in your area and want to improve the next one? Would you like to learn how to organize the first Code Camp in your area? Join Thom Robbins, Microsoft Northeast Region Developer Evangelist, and Chris Pels, Boston .NET User Group Leader founders of the Code Camp concept to discuss best practices for (... more)	2/20/2008
From the Marketing Team I just got an invite to the Central Ohio Day of .NET - my first Code Camp of the year! In my region, the Heartland District, spring is the time for several of these local events which, to me, are incredibly valuable. Not only are you renewing friendships, but you're also exposed to people who may not typically attend your user group meetings. Not all of these new people are developers. Often times, employers attend these events looking for talent to fill out their ranks or experts to guide them (... more)	2/20/2008
Upcoming Speakers Bureau Events User Group Location Speaker Date Space Coast Dot Net User Group Melbourne, Florida John Papa 2/20/2008 Visual Studio Team System Minnesota Bloomington, Minnesota Kathleen Dollard 2/20/2008 Florida .NET - West Palm Beach West Palm Beach, Florida Brian Noyes 2/26/2008 Maine Developer Network Augusta, Maine Russ Nemhauser 2/29/2008 Capital City .NET Users Group of Florida Tallahassee, Florida Caleb Jenkins  (... more)	2/20/2008
Birds-of-a-Feather - Call for Topics - Tech Ed 2008 Developers Are you thinking about going to Tech Ed in Orlando this June? Do you have topics you'd like to discuss with other attendees? Submit your ideas as topics for Birds-of-a-Feather (BOF) discussions and volunteer to be a moderator! According to some of last year's attendees, BOFs were one of the 3 best things about Tech Ed 2007. While it may seem far in the future, it's time to start thinking about topics for the Birds of a Feather sessions at Tech Ed Developers in June.  With the (... more)	2/20/2008
Community Leadership Summit: Tech Ed Edition If you are a leadership Team Member of an INETA user group, or would like to learn more about becoming one, you are invited to attend the INETA Community Leadership Summit on Monday June 2nd, 2008 at Tech Ed. The event will take place in the late afternoon and early evening. The gathering will provide an opportunity to network with other user group leaders from across North America and around the world. Exact details of the event will be made available in the coming weeks, but we (... more)	2/20/2008
From the President February each year marks the anniversary of INETA as an organization. Six years ago, our community was formed based on the actions and vision of several user group leaders and today we stand strong representing over 250 groups with almost 150,000 members throughout North America. We continuously look at ways to grow and strengthen the relationship we have with our members. On February 29th, the INETA North America board of directors will be meeting for an In Person Board Meeting in Las (... more)	2/20/2008
Vancouver Community Leadership Summit Canadian User Group Leadership Summit At the Vancouver DevTeach Conference, INETA is participating in the 2007 Canadian User Group Leader summit on November 26th,. This event will be held at the Vancouver Sheraton Wall Centre and all Canadian User Group Leaders are invited to attend. This will be an opportunity to share experiences and ideas, as well as discuss the role of INETA in supporting Canadian user groups. Attending the User Group Summit will give you a free registration to (... more)	2/19/2008
Privacy Policy INETA.org Privacy Policy This document was last updated July 24, 2003. At INETA, we value your privacy. With certain exceptions, you can use our web site without giving us any information about yourself. But sometimes we do need information to provide some of our services, and this privacy policy explains how we collect and use data. Please read the complete INETA.org privacy policy. By using the INETA.org site, you consent to the terms of our privacy policy. PLEASE BE AWARE (... more)	2/14/2008