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 mind but I do have a point in that at some juncture we need to take all we have learned and actually do something with it or at least let it sink in.
For a small group like mine then can meet several times a month, we need to find that time to take all this new stuff practically pouring down from Microsoft and the industry in. For others including the other group in our area, they find their "release" in things like Codefests and Code-a-paloozas where people get to really put the rubber to the road in a fun setting (versus the "fun" at work.) We might have taken our hiatus from each other but it did not mean we took off completely when there are these kind of events going on all the time in all parts of the country.
Hmmm ... another roadtrip thought ... the code-fest tour 2009 ... all the code fests in the coolest parts of the country ... Hmmmm!
Well, if you find yourself going to visit a codefest outside of your normal haunts, perhaps more than a few, we would love to hear from you. We are an "international" organization after all and getting perspectives from diverse places is what we are definitely about.
In the meantime I will start looking through those code-fest plans and see which ones are in states I still need fridge magents for ... or maybe just look like fun. Maybe you will catch me at your next one or perhaps we will catch you at one of ours!
Let's share the wealth, folks! ;-)
-- from the INETA NorAm September 2008 Newsletter