Monthly Archives: May 2008

Our .NET Community

Ineta

I was perusing Chris Williams’ blog over on GeekswithBlogs.Net. I met Chris many years ago through INETA and in person at an INETA User Group Leader event. Chris ran the user group in Charleston, South Carolina and has since moved to Minnesota where he has survived his first winter with all of his fingers and toes intact. He is a really nice, unique and memorable guy (okay the tat’s definitely help him stand out).

While looking at his blog, I saw a post of photos from a funny ad that apparentlyly reminded Chris of D’Arcy Lussier, a a wild and crazy guy (also a GeekswithBlogs blogger) who lives in Winnipeg (where I think you need to be a little wild and crazy to survive), and probably laughs at Chris’ mumblings about the cold weather in Minnesota. D’Arcy also is a user group leader and I see him frequently at the DevTeach events in Montreal and look forward to seeing him at DevTeach next week in Toronto where I plan to goad him into a his own Meatloaf imitation. (I didn’t realize that the dad in the commercial really is Meatloaf!)

What struck me when I saw the photos and Chris’ comments about them was that here are two guys who have a lot in common and are clearly good friends who may never have met if it weren’t for INETA and the .NET blogging community. I know it may seem obvious that of course they would find each other, but it’s not a given. These resources were only just starting up 6 years ago, so they are relatively new.

It really made me stop and think when I saw that blog post and made me happy and very proud of the community that we have all created.

TechEd Schedule is filling up

Tech Ed

And I haven’t even had a chance to look at any presentations yet.

Here’s what’s on my schedule so far.

  • Monday morning – speaker training
  • Monday afternoon – INETA User Group Leader Meeting (yay!)
  • Monday evening – Speaker dinner
  • Tuesday 1-2: Vista Ask the Experts Booth demoing Annotation in Silverlight
  • Wednesday Lunch: Women in IT Panel (yay)
  • Wednesday 2:45: Birds of Feather “Is Entity Framework right for your application?”
  • Wednesday 7pm: Birds of Feather with Steve Smith: “Going Solo”

(and the real reason I’m going)

  • Thursday 10:15 – 11:30 am  Advanced Entity Framework: Take Charge of Object Services
  • Thursday 2:45 – 4:00pm Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Data Access Guidance

And then as soon as I finish my session I have to run to the airport to catch a 6:45 flight. (and miss the attendee party, duh)

So this is starting to look like one of the conferences where I don’t get to go to sessions. Because all of the rest of the time, I’ll need to be in a quiet place practicing my sessions and writing my book!

The Bob & Chris (and now Jim, too) Roadshow returns to Burlington May 22

VTdotNetFeed

Don’t pencil it in; ink it in!

May 22nd at Vermont Technical College in Williston from 9am to 4pm.

You may notice that May 22nd is on a THursday. I will put money on the fact that Chris scheduled this so that he can go to Bove’s. THe last few times he hit town at the beginning of the week, but Bove’s is closed on Sundays and Mondays and I think I heard the sobs all the way down here in Huntington. Thankfully, he discovered The Skinny Pancake down by the water front and is now a fan of that resto, too!

Read more details about the roadshow on Chris’ blog!

Spring Diary!

Vermont

 

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Veggie garden’s ready in case I ever get ready. I did already put some lettuce and peas in on the left.
Only super hardy stuff goes in now. We can’t do our regular planting (tomatoes etc) until after Memorial Day.
Short growing season in Vermont.

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Compost is ready and waiting.

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Lupine are coming up. They are SO hardy.There are hundreds of them in the front field. Looks amazing in early June!

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The front garden has already got blooms in it and everything else is growing like mad. 

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And the winner is…. the first tulip opened today.

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Columbine will be in bloom in another month. They spread on their own so there’s a bunch of this.

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This lilac is making flowers for the first time this year. It’s neighbor is still flowerless. Maybe next year.

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Lots of Lilies. There are also miles of bee balm along this fence as well as berries and lupine and a very hardy delphinium.

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Is this bucolic enough? I love this ancient Maple tree down by our mailbox.

But best of all, my favorite flowers are STILL here

tasha may 2008

Tasha, now 14 1/2 which is insanely old for a Newfie.

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And Daisy, the puppy in the house. She’s 13 1/2.

INETA NORAM’S new website and the INETA Live blog

Ineta

I am thrilled to share this fabulous news … INETA Noram has a new website. The reason for my jubilation is that for a variety of reasons, INETA has been trying to create a new website for about 4 years, so to see it actually happen is wonderful.

This may have just launched because I hadn’t heard anything about it yet or maybe I overlooked it in the last newsletter.

Not only does it have a new look but it has some long awaited features such as an integrated map to find user groups. They have partnered with Component Source so you can buy .NET components right from the site.

I also found the live.ineta.org website that I didn’t know about. It has videos (user group YouTube?), a blog that lists things like upcoming code camps and INETA related events and some other resources.