The Wit and Ramblings of David Giard - Public Speaking
Demanding rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty

Tonight, I attended the Cloud Camp Detroit, which was built primarily around Open Spaces discussion and a panel discussion in front of an audience. The basics of cloud computing, specific cloud implementations and issues such as security were discussed. The "eyes-front" presentations were limited to half a dozen lightning talks.

I had a chance to interact with a lot of people far more experienced than me in this area. Many of them work outside the .Net world, so talking with them helps me see the software industry in a different perspective.

I filled in for a sick friend to deliver a presentation on Windows Azure. Below are the slides from my presentation. Thanks to Abe Pachikara of Microsoft for supplying the slides.

• Saturday April 17, I will be presenting "Building Your First ASP.Net MVC Application" at the Pittsburgh Code Camp at The University of Pittsburgh. More information is available at http://codecamppgh.com/codecamp.aspx

• Saturday May 1, I will be presenting "Extending your Application with the Managed Extensibility Framework" at the Ann Arbor Day of .Net at Washtenaw Community College. More information is available at http://www.dayofdotnet.org/AnnArbor/Spring2010.

• Friday August 7, I will be presenting "Effective Communication" at DevLink in Nashville, TN. More information is available at http://devlink.net.

Tuesday March 23, I will be presenting "Extending your Application with the Managed Extensibility Framework" at the Cleveland .Net User Group in Cleveland, OH. More information is available at http://clevelanddotnet.blogspot.com.

Saturday April 17, I will be presenting "Building Your First ASP.Net MVC Application" at the Pittsburgh Code Camp at The University of Pittsburgh. More information is available at http://codecamppgh.com/codecamp.aspx

Tomorrow I travel to Ohio for a user group tour. This is a trip I've been hoping to do for some time. The .Net user groups in Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus meet on consecutive evenings, so I am planning to speak at each of these this week. The idea began last summer, when I invited Phil Japikse to come to Michigan from Cincinnati and speak at the Great Lakes Area .Net User Group. I notified the leaders of user groups in Toledo and Lansing that Phil would be in town and they invited him to speak at their groups the same week. Phil asked me to come to Cincinnati in January and he reached out to Dayton User Group president Joe Wirtley about hosting me in Dayton the following night. Joe liked the idea and confirmed the meeting. Later, I contacted James Bender, the newly-elected president of the Central Ohio .Net Developers Group in Columbus about completing the sweep through the Buckeye state. He had already booked Jeff McPherson for January but Jeff was willing to defer his talk to March, allowing me to speak Thursday in Columbus.

Phil and Mike Wood have also arranged for me to speak at an internal user group at the Cincinnati Financial Group Tuesday afternoon.

So I'll be doing 4 user group presentations in 3 cities in 3 days. The topic will be the same for each talk: Extending your application with the Microsoft Managed Extensibility Framework. I've given this talk a number of times in the past, but I recently reworked my presentation and added to my demos. I'm excited to do this tour. It reminds me of a similar tour I did during the fall of 2008, when I spoke at user groups in Toledo, Southfield and Lansing on consecutive nights. By the time I got to Lansing, I knew the material inside and out.

My schedule at public groups this week is

Tuesday 1/26: Cincinnati .Net User Group (http://www.cinnug.org)

Wednesday 1/27: Dayton .Net Developers Group (http://daytondevgroup.net)

Thursday 1/28: Central Ohio .Net Developers Group (http://condg.org)

If you are in or near Cincinnati, Dayton or Columbus this week, I hope you come to hear my talk and to say 'Hello'.

Juanary is offically MEF month. I have scheduled "Extending Your Application with the Managed Extensibility Framework (MEF)" at least 6 times this month. The first time was last week, when I delivered a Grok Talk at Sogeti that was available via Live Meeting.

The following presentations will all be about MEF

• Fri Jan 15 at 3PM, I will be delivering a vendor session at CodeMash in Sandusky, OH.
• Tue Jan 26 at Noon, I will deliver a presentation to Financial Corp User Group in Cincinnati, OH.
• Tue Jan 26 at 6PM, I will present at the Cincinnati .Net User Group in Mason, OH
• Wed Jan 27 at 6PM, I will present at the Dayton .Net User Group in Dayton, OH
• Thu Jan 28 at 6PM, I will present at the Central Ohio .Net User Group in Columbus, OH

In addition, I will deliver two presentations Fri Jan 22 at the State of MI Developer Briefing in Lansing, MI.

• At 1PM, I will deliver my MEF presentation (of course).
  At 2:30PM, I will present on "Speeding your application with Microsoft Velocity".
  

Tomorrow evening - Thursday December 10 - I will speaking at the Flint .Net User Group. My topic is An Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming, a talk I've done twice before.

More information is available here.

This will probably be my final presentation for 2009.

I will be presenting technical talks in Kalamazoo, MI and Grand Rapids, MI. My schedule is below.

Date	Topic	Event	Location
Oct 22	An Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming	Microsoft Developers of Southwest Michigan October meeting	WMU College of Engineering Building, Rm C-123 Kalamazoo, MI	Info
Dec 3 Oct 29	Build Better Software with TFS and VSTS 2010	Sogeti-New Horizons - Microsoft event	New Horizons 28th St. Court SE Suite B Grand Rapids, MI	Info

Also, my colleague Jesse Murray will be speaking about "SharePoint - The Right Way" at the Great Lakes Area .Net User Group Wednesday October 21 in Southfield, MI. This event is sponsored by Sogeti (so food will be provided). You can get more information here.

Edit: My VSTS 2010 / TFS 2010 talk scheduled for October 29 has been postponed to December 3.
    -Dave, 10/24

 

I will be presenting "An Introduction To Object Oriented Programming" at the Findlay Area .Net User Group August 25 (next Tuesday) in Findlay, OH. For more information visit the group's web site at http://fanug.org

This is actually my second time speaking at this group but it's the first time since 2002, so they have probably forgotten.

If you are in Northwest Ohio or central west Ohio, please come.

Cliff Atkinson's Beyond Bullet Points proposes a radically new approach to creating presentations based on Microsoft Power Point.

Atkinson provides a template (available for download); an outline that splits a presentation into lengths of 5, 15 and 45 minutes; and an abundance of advice on improving your presentations.

After reading the book, I discarded the template and the outline but I embraced many of his ideas.

Here is some of the book's best advice:

Allow your presentation to tell a story.
The first presentation I did after reading this book included a story about consultants Juan and Amal, who had nearly identical skills and accomplishments but received very different performance reviews. Most of my presentations are instructions on how to use software, which doesn't lend itself well to a story format. If possible, however, I try to weave a story into the presentation.

Minimize the text in your slides.
Atkinson recommends eliminating all bullet points from every slide. The only text on each slide should be a headline. I haven't gone that far, but I have drastically reduced the amount of text on each slide. When I open an existing deck, I move much of the slide text into the Notes section. This simplifies the presentation, but keeps the text with the slides when I distribute them to users. During presentation, I make the former bullet points part of my verbal presentation, rather than something the audience reads off the screen. This keeps the audience's focus on me, rather than on the screen.

Use simple graphics
A simple graphic communicates an idea visually. I have been replacing the bullet points in my slides with a headline and a single photograph that relates to the slide topic. The slides become more interesting but less distracting.

Rehearse your talk
I already knew this but the book's reinforcement helped remind me how important it is to be familiar with one's material. Nothing achieves this goal like a couple dry runs through your presentation. Ideally this should be in front of other people (to provide feedback) and in a room similar to the one in which you will be presenting; however, filming your presentation and reviewing it yourself is also very helpful.

I have not bought entirely into the Beyond Bullet Points approach. But I have internalized many of the ideas in this book and my presentations have improved as a result.

Link: Beyond Bullet Points Online

NPlus1 is an organization designed to assist architects and lead developers and those aspiring to these roles.

The organization began last year with the launch of the NPlus1.org web site. This site features articles written by and for architects; links to screencasts and other resources; and announcements of upcoming events.

Recently, NPlus1 decided to expand its reach by organizing events of its own.  One of these events - the Architecture Summit - takes place Friday July 31 at the Microsoft office in Southfield, MI.  This event will feature three topics: "Introduction to Object Oriented Programming"; "Software Patterns"; and "How I Learned to Love Dependency Injection". The first topic is optional, as it is aimed at those who are new to Object Oriented Programming and, therefore might struggle with the concepts presented in the other two presentations.

I will be delivering the first two presentations (Intro to OOP and Software Patterns) while James Bender will deliver the Dependency Injection presentation.

It is not too late to register for this event and you can do so at https://www.clicktoattend.com/invitation.aspx?code=139245

Next week will be a busy one for me. I wrap up my current billable project on Monday and I need to prepare for Friday and Saturday when I will present three different talks in two cities on two days.

In addition, I am scheduled to speak at the October meeting of the Microsoft Developers of Southwest Michigan.  Sadly, a death in my family forced me to postpone last week's MEF talk at the West Michigan .Net User Group. Thank you to Jeff McWherter for filling in on short notice.

Date	Event	Location	Topic	Description
Fri. July 31	NPlus1 Architecture Summit	Microsoft office, Southfiled, MI	An Introduction to Object Oriented Programming	Are you new to OOP? Do you want a refresher on the benefits of Interfaces and the differences between implements and extends? The morning session is a two hour introductory course of Object Oriented Programming. If you are new to OOP the lessons in this session will prepare you for the more advanced topics in the afternoon.	link
Fri. July 31	NPlus1 Architecture Summit	Microsoft office, Southfiled, MI	Software Patterns	Patterns are an important tool to use as architects and developers. They provide a common vocabulary for us to design with, as well as a common approach to a common problem. Come learn about useful patterns, and how to use them in your everyday code.	link
Sat Aug 1	Lansing Day of .Net	Breslin Center, Michigan State University	Using Microsoft Distributed Cache to speed your application	Retrieving data from a disc or a database can be a time-consuming operation. Data that is accessed frequently can be stored in an in-memory cache, which can speed up its retrieval considerably. Microsoft Distributed Cache (aka “Velocity”) provides a framework for storing and managing cached data. In this session, we will discuss how to use this framework in your application and demonstrate some code that implements this framework.	link
Thu Oct 22	Microsoft Developers of Southwest Michigan	TBD, Kalamazoo, MI	Using Microsoft Distributed Cache to speed your application	(see above)	link

 

CodeStock 2009 is in the books. I didn't attend last year, but this year, the Knoxville developer conference expanded to two days and more than doubled the number of attendees.

This conferences ranks high on the important value-per-dollar scale. As a speaker, the $25 conference fee was waived; I shared a ride to Tennessee with five other attendees; and I used the last of my Marriott points for the hotel. All told, I had 2 days of great content for under a hundred bucks in meals and gas. By far, my biggest cost was the two vacation days I had to spend in order to attend.

I saw some very good sessions and met a lot of bright people. In one spontaneous open space, I solicited feedback on the layout of my blog. As a result, I've removed some unneeded links, moved the RSS feed to the top of the main page and enabled Google analytics.

I even had a chance to talk with CodeStock organizer Mike Neel near the end of the conference.

I presented a session on Microsoft Managed Extensibility Framework. It was well-received and many in the audience were actively engaged, asking questions that indicated they grasped all the concepts I was trying to communicate. 

You can download the slides for my MEF presentation from the link below.

The content and samples of this presentation are covered in the articles below.

• Why MEF?
• Simple Contracts in the Microsoft Managed Extensibility Framework
• Interface Contracts in MEF
• Metadata in MEF
  

I'm really looking forward to attending the CodeStock conference in Knoxville, TN this weekend.

The speaker lineup looks amazing (not just because I'm in it) and the two-day format should give me time to talk with a lot of attendees outside of the sessions.

I will bring my video camera to CodeStock in hopes of recording more interviews for my online TV show "Technology and Friends". In this show I interview technologists about their passions.  Past shows have focused on topics such as frameworks, careers, events and community-building. A typical show lasts 10-20 minutes, so it tends to be very focused. You can see the first 29 episodes by clicking here: http://www.davidgiard.com/CategoryView,category,Interviews.aspx

If you would like to be on this show, please e-mail at me at  and suggest a topic you would like to cover.

And if you see me at CodeStock, please stop me and say "Hello".

SPEAKING

I am scheduled to speak at the following upcoming events

CodeStock 2009

The CodeStock conference will be held in Knoxville, TN on June 27.  I will be presentingon Microsoft Managed Extensibility Framework (MEF).  You can find information on this event and register at http://codestock.org/

West Michigan .Net User Group

I will speak again on MEF at the July 14 meeting of the West Michigan .Net User Group in Grand Rapids.  You can find more information at http://www.wmdotnet.org/

LISTENING

I'll quietly spend all of Wednesday May 20 at the Microsoft office in Southfield so that I can attend a series of events throughout the day.  The details are below:

ArcReady
Time: 9:00-11:45AM
Topics:
Trends and patterns on the client tier
Applying Microsoft technology on the client tier
Register: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?culture=en-US&EventID=1032408649
 
MSDN Unleashed
Time: 1:00-3:00PM
Topics:
Internet Explorer 8 for Developers
Developing on Microsoft Windows 7
Register: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?culture=en-US&EventID=1032409548
 
Technet Unleashed
Time: 3:10-5:00PM
Topics:
Windows Server 2008 R2 – Optimize Your Time
Windows 7 – Maximize Your Potential
Register: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?culture=en-US&EventID=1032410548

Southeast Michigan .Net User Group
Time: 3:10-5:00PM
Topic: RIA
More information:
http://migang.org/

 

Today I gave a presentation (again) on the Microsoft Managed Extensibility framework.  Below are the slides and demos used for this presentation.

ProjetListDemo A simple demo showing the syntax for MEF imports and exports 

DemoAccounting shows how to dynamically add modules to an application at runtime, without recompiling.

I expected that the Kalamazoo X conference would be a success but I was surprised by how successful it was.

Everything started with Michael Eaton.  He turned the concept - a conference consisting primarily of talks on soft skills - into reality.  Assisted by a staff of volunteers, Michael secured the venue, promoted the event, signed up the sponsors and recruited the speakers.  The speaker list was impressive - most traveled from Ohio and most have a solid reputation in the development community. 

I was grateful that Mike asked me to speak at this conference and I was excited to do it.

A couple weeks ago, Mike suggested that we switch from a multi-track to a single-track event.  This meant that all sessions would be held in the same room and that no two speakers would talk at the same time.  In order to accommodate this format, all sessions had to be cut from one hour to 25 minutes.  This was difficult for those who had already prepared an hour-long talk.  However, nearly all were able to make the adjustment.  (At least one speaker decided to back out after the format change was announced).  For me, this was less of an issue because I had never given my talk before and had barely begun preparing it. 

The format worked really well.  Speakers were forced to cut the fat from their slides and each talk was concise and to the point.  This also gave me the opportunity to watch every session, since I never had to choose between two excellent speakers.

One thing that added to the event was Mike's skills as a Master of Ceremonies.  He introduced each speaker by telling a personal story about him or her.  It was clear he was familiar with all the speakers and had put some preparation into these introductions.

My talk - Effective Communication with your Customer or Manager - was very well received.  Several people approached me afterward and told me how much they enjoyed it.  I'm working on a series of articles on this topic and hope to have them out in the next few weeks.

The most telling thing about the success of the conference was that there were attendance was higher at the end of the day than at the beginning.  Whatever small attrition occurred during the day was more than offset by others showing up.

I'm looking forward to next year.

See more photos here

Episode 18

Halfway through the first West Michigan .Net University, Chris Woodruff and Bill Miller sat down with me to discuss why they organized it and how it was going so far.

For more information on this event, you can visit dodn.org/WestMichiganDotNetU or read my earlier posts here and here

17 mins, 50 secs

The 2009 Central Ohio Day of .Net is now history. 

I'm happy with the feedback I received on my Velocity talk.  The room was overflowing and several people approached me afterward to tell me they liked it.

By far, the best part of this conference was the opportunity to share ideas and interact one-on-one with bright people in the developer community.

One of the best jobs I ever had was working with the great people at GA Sullivan in Cincinnati.  That company no longer exists but many former employees were in Wilmington for this conference.  It was great catching up with these folks after all these years.

The slides for my talk are below:

You can view photos of the event at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29942169@N08/sets/72157617123586782/show/

I enjoy attending technical conferences and I try to make it to as many as I can.  I like talking to and learning from bright people in the developer community and picking up the latest technologies.  Developer conferences are a great way to get this information and there is no shortage of such conferences.

The Kalamazoo X conference is different.  Although the target audience is software developers, the content will focus on soft skills.  Topics such as Leadership and Social Network dominate the agenda.  The conference features four tracks: Soft Skills; Architecture, Design and Process; User Experience; and Career Development.  However each session will be short enough that an attendee will be able to see 100% of the content.

I'll be there to share ideas on effective communication with your customer or manager, a topic I've given a lot of thought to in recent years.

The conference is scheduled this Saturday April 25 at the Kalamazoo Valley Community College Center for New Media in downtown Kalamazoo, MI.  You can register and get more information at http://kalamazoox.org/

I hope to see you there.

Tomorrow (Saturday April 18), I will be speaking at the Central Ohio Day of .Net in Wilmington, OH.

My topic is Using Microsoft Distributed Cache to speed your application.  This is similar to a talk I gave last summer at three user groups in Ohio and Michigan.  However, the topic is more relevant now as the release of Microsoft Velocity nears.  I have updated and expanded my presentation and written all new demos for this talk. 

A consistent caching strategy becomes critical as enterprise applications grow in size.  With Velocity, Microsoft finally has a product in the enterprise caching space.

You can get more information and register by clicking the badge below.  I hope to see you there. 

The dust has settled and the first West Michigan .Net University is now history.  You can view photos of it here.

I was fortunate that my talk (Intro to SQL Server Data Models and T-SQL) was in the morning because I had tickets to the Final Four in the evening on the other side of the state.

Shane and I put together a talk aimed at people with very little database experience.  We agreed that I would cover the basic introductory material first; then he would explain some more intermediate topics.  I rehearsed a story about the history of databases that included people keeping records on stone tablets and storing these tablets in a file cabinet; I wrote a lot of sample queries demonstrating the syntax of a T-SQL statements; and I wrote a series of articles on T-SQL

I turned out that I didn't use any of this material.

We had a small group in our session so we let them set the agenda.   Everyone already had at least a year of database experience so I scrapped the introductory stuff.  I spent far more time than I expected showing off the features of the SQL Management Studio.  We answered questions about the strategies for normalization, backing up data, and primary keys.

In fact, I showed almost none of the slides we prepared.

The good news is that the audience seemed happy with the session.  The got their questions answered without wasting time on things they already knew.  In the end, I think they were glad we were so flexible and so was I.

The feedback I heard on the other sessions was also positive.  Congratulations to Chris Woodruff for organizing a successful event.

Overall it was a very good day.  Oh... and the Final Four?  Well, my Spartans won of course.  It was a great day!

My talk this morning at ArcReady is Windows Live Services and on Live Mesh.

Click the icons below to download the slides and demos.

Here is a preview of the slides:

I have secheduled a lot of public speaking for the next 30 days.  The sessions are listed below.  All these events are either free or charge a nominal fee.  Most will even provide some food. I believe that none of them are sold out yet, so I provided a link to each so you can register.

Architecting for the cloud: Mesh and Live Services

March 31
Microsoft ArcReady
Southfield, MI

Live Mesh is a data synchronization client that has a rich API to build applications on. Live services are a collection of APIs that can be used to create rich applications for your customers. Live Services are based on Internet standard protocols and data formats.

---

An Introduction to SQL Server

(with Shane Jordan)
April 4
West Michigan .Net University
Grand Rapids, MI

Want to learn about the SQL Server 2008? Want to build normalized data models and learn Transact SQL? Join us in this Introduction to SQL Server session to get a good introduction to building your own data models and queries.

---

Using Microsoft Distributed Cache to speed your application

April 18
Central Ohio Day of .Net
Wilmington, OH

Retrieving data from a disc or a database can be a time-consuming operation.  Data that is accessed frequently can be stored in an in-memory cache, which can speed up its retrieval considerably.  Microsoft Distributed Cache (aka “Velocity”) provides a framework for storing and managing cached data. 

In this session, we will discuss how to use this framework in your application and demonstrate some code that implements this framework.

---

Proactive communication with your manager or customer

April 25
Kalamazoo X Conference
Kalamazoo, MI

After 15 years in the IT industry, I've discovered that the single biggest contributor to success is effective communication. In this situation, I'll describe lessons I've learned about how to improve communication with a customer or manager and how to use effective communication to increase the probability of high customer satisfaction.

---

This is the most ambitious month of speaking I've ever scheduled.  Microsoft Distributed Cache is the only topic above on which I have previously presented and this presentation will be longer and feature a newer API than the one I gave at three user groups last September.

If you attend any of these events, please feel free to find me and say 'Hello'.

Last year, I noticed there were more local community-driven events than I had time to attend.  I love seeing that kind of enthusiasm for technology among the community. 

These events are great for me because - although I've been in software development for many years - I love to learn and frequently jump at the chance to learn from and share ideas with other experienced developers and architects.

I have noticed that most of these events targeted experienced developers.  Topics tended to be moderate to advanced and speakers assumed a certain level of expertise from their audience in order to grasp their talk. 

This can be frustrating for less-experienced developers.  It's difficult to understand the details of NHibernate when you are still trying to figure out how to write simple queries against SQL Server.

Chris Woodruff first described to me the idea of a .Net University - a community event targeted at those new to .Net programming.  All the content would be introductory, allowing people to learn fundamentals.

I liked the idea immediately.  When I was a trainer, I always spent time on the first day reviewing the basic prerequisites of the class material.  I knew that no one would understand anything about web development if they didn't know how to construct an HTML document. 

So Chris is now organizing the West Michigan .Net University that will be held April 4 in Grand Rapids. 

The morning sessions will all be introductory and the afternoon will feature more intermediate topics.  Each session will be about 3 hours - longer than at a typical code camp.

I'll be there delivering a morning session titled SQL 101, in which I'll explain the basics of working with a relational database - SQL Server in particular.  I"ll describe how to work with data and how to use code and tools to interact with SQL Server.  I've been preparing for this talk by writing a 'Back To Basics' series on this blog.

Other sessions include .Net Bootcamp; Intro To ASP.Net and AJAX; and Real World Architecture.  You can view the complete session list at http://dodn.org/WestMichiganDotNetU/Sessions.aspx

A lot of great speakers have signed up for this event so I'm counting on some great sessions. 

Saturday April 4 at the Robert C. Pew Grand Rapids Campus of Grand Valley State Universityin Grand Rapids, Shane Jordan and I will be delivering a session on the basics of SQL Server.  This will cover many of the same topics as the Back To Basics: SQL 101 series I have writton on this blog.

The session is part of the West Michigan .Net University event.  You can get more informaiton and register at http://www.dayofdotnet.org/WestMichiganDotNetU/

This Tuesday, November 25, I will speak at the ArcReady event at the Microsoft office in Southfield, MI.  My topic is Organizational Dynamics.

Microsoft Architect Evangelist Brian Prince will also be there, delivering a presentation on Mastering the Soft Skills. 

I'd love for you to attend.  The event runs from 9:00 - 11:45 AM.  It's free but you must register in advance.

You can read details of the event and regsister for it here. 

The slides for my MEF presentation are now available on Slideshare.  I have embedded it below.

I delivered this presentation at the ann arbor Day of .Net in October and at a Sogeti grok talk in November.

I just signed up for Slideshare and I like the concept but it doesn't seem to support any of the animations or transitions in my slides.  I may need to go to a video sharing service for more dynamic slideshows.

Saturday I had the pleasure of speaking at the ann arbor Day of .Net. 

The event drew presenters and attendees from Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, demonstrating what an impressive software development community we have here in the Midwest.

My friend Nino drove up Friday night to stay at my place and we met other out-of-towners for dinner Friday night.

I delivered a presentation on Microsoft's Managed Extensibility Framework ("MEF").  The presentation was well-received.  The audience had many questions about the technology afterwards and I noticed a few people from the audience posting on Twitter about MEF in the days following the event.

A new job and a tight project deadline kept me from working on my presentation until a couple days prior to the event.  The good news is that I had presented on MEF three times in the past.  The bad news was that the API had changed radically since I developed my original presentation.  So I not only had to expand the presentation to fit the time allotted, I had to completely rewrite my demo to match the current API.  I was up most of Friday night and missed all the morning sessions of the conference to finish on time for my 1PM presentation.   Luckily I finished successfully and the demos went off without a hitch.  

I discovered a blog entry by Brad Abrams that helped immensely.  Brad wrote a set of samples using MEF that I loved for their simplicity.  Don't tell Brad, but I borrowed liberally from his samples to populate one of my demos.

After my presentation, I was able to settle in and enjoy the conference.  I attended two sessions, both in the same room which suited my tired body.  Jennifer Marsman showed a bunch of new features in .Net 3.5.  Next Brian Prince discussed the role of an architect on a project.  I've heard Jennifer and Brian speak many times in the past, so I knew they would be good and I was not disappointed.

I did have time to poke my head into a few presentations long enough to snap a photo or two.  If you heard a clicking coming from the doorway, that was me.

After the event, many of us met at a local watering hole for some food, drink and fellowship.  My new employer Sogeti was kind enough to spring for the food and drinks.  I was well worn down but it was great to reconnect with people who share many of my passions.

I actually volunteered to be something called a "Venue Coordinator" for this event.  But, as this was the fourth time the event was held, the folks at Washtenaw Community College knew everything that needed to be done and delivered to perfection.  I ended up doing no work for this role, so I may volunteer as venue coordinator next year as well.

I took some photos at the event, which you can see here.

I also put together a slideshow with a Warren Zevon soundtrack that you can see and hear below: 

Saturday October 18 is the next ann arbor Day of .Net.

I'll be delivering a presentation on Microsoft Managed Extensibility Framework.  It should be quite different from the talk I gave last week on this subject because the API recently changed (which means I have some work ahead of me).

This makes the fifth Day of .Net I've attended and the second one at which I've presented.

The other speakers make up an impressive list so I'm excited to be part of this event. 

This event is free but typically fills up so you will need to register in advance if you plan to attend.

Click the image below to get more information and to register.

As promised, here are the slides for the presentations I delivered last week in Toledo, Southfield and East Lansing

Microsoft Distributed Cache (aka "Velocity")

Microsoft Managed Extensibility Framework

 

I will be speaking at three different user groups this week.  If you are in the area, please come out and listen and say 'Hi' afterward.

• Tuesday September 16, I will be speaking at the Northwest Ohio .Net User Group in Toledo, OH.
• Wednesday September 17, I will be speaking at the Great Lakes Area .Net User Group in Southfield, MI.
• Thursday September 18, I will be speaking at the Greater Lansing User Group for Microsoft .Net (GLUGNET) in East Lansing, MI.

I will be delivering two presentations each night:

Extending your Application with the Managed Extensibility Framework

Microsoft Managed Extensibility (MEF) framework allows developers to add “hooks” into their application to make it extensible at runtime.  These hooks allow you or a third party to extend your application dynamically in the future.  In this session, we will review the MEF tool set and build an extensible application and then extend that application using MEF.

Using Microsoft Distributed Cache to speed your application

Retrieving data from a disc or a database can be a time-consuming operation.  Data that is accessed frequently can be stored in an in-memory cache, which can speed up its retrieval considerably.  Microsoft Distributed Cache (aka “Velocity”) provides a framework for storing and managing cached data.  In this session, we will discuss how to use this framework in your application and demonstrate some code that implements this framework.

I will be delivering two presentations next Tuesday September 16 at the next Northwest Ohio .Net User Group beginning at 6PM.  The topics are:

Extending your Application with the Managed Extensibility Framework

Microsoft Managed Extensibility (MEF) framework allows developers to add “hooks” into their application to make it extensible at runtime.  These hooks allow you or a third party to extend your application dynamically in the future.  In this session, we will review the MEF tool set and build an extensible application and then extend that application using MEF.

Using Microsoft Distributed Cache to speed your application

Retrieving data from a disc or a database can be a time-consuming operation.  Data that is accessed frequently can be stored in an in-memory cache, which can speed up its retrieval considerably.  Microsoft Distributed Cache (aka “Velocity”) provides a framework for storing and managing cached data.  In this session, we will discuss how to use this framework in your application and demonstrate some code that implements this framework.

HCR Manorcare building at 333 North Summit St. in Toledo.  Click here to view a map.

I'm looking forward to my first visit to this user group in at least five years.

You can read more at http://www.nwnug.com/PermaLink,guid,1877615d-a53b-4b05-b6f6-5d650208af6f.aspx

I delivered the web security presentation yesterday for my customer.  This is the same presentation I delivered as part of the DevCares event last week.  It went much better due to the fact that I secured a much better laptop for the presentation.  

The presentation materials are available here.

The DevCares event went pretty well.  Over 40 people attended.  I didn't have a decent laptop to use and I ended up borrowing one from a friend but it was not nearly powerful enough to run all the demos on the Virtual PC.  This detracted from the presentation.

I will be delivering this same presentation for my customer next Friday and I have already requested better hardware.     

I got some help from Mike Wood, who delivered this presentation the week before in Cincinnati.

You can view the materials at www.davidgiard.com/DevCares.

 

I'll be speaking at the Microsoft DevCares even tomorrow afternoon in Southfiled, MI.

The topics are:

• Securing your web site from hackers
• Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for Office.

There is still time to register at http://www.devcares.com