Our WONDERFUL Microsoft Developer Evangelist, Andrew Duthie, is coming to speak to us about a cool .NET topic - probably something to do with mobility.  Check back for details.  Don't miss this!!!  There's also an MDSN event in Hampton Roads on that same day.  Register here: http://www.communitymegaphone.com/ShowEvent.aspx?EventID=676 

Tell Everyone!  We need to show Microsoft we need events in this area!!!  Details here: http://www.communitymegaphone.com/ShowEvent.aspx?EventID=676

Please - go join PASS today - www.sqlpass.org !  It used to cost $$$ to join, but they've opened it up so membership is now FREE!  Please join - you can see ALL past conference sessions - and plenty of other value.

Our area is fortunate to be haing a SharePoint Saturday on Jan 10th!  Web site is now live http://www.SharePointSaturday.org - which will include a call for speakers.  We already have several SharePoint MVPs including Todd Bleeker from Mindhsharp!  We also have some Microsoft folks coming to speak!  This is a GREAT opportunity to have a whole day of SharePoint training - and it's all FREE and open to the public!

This will be our SQL Server 2008 Community Launch event.   MVP Andy Leonard will be joining us!  Spread the word!  LOTS OF GREAT SWAG!!!  Merry Christmas!!!

Great follow-on to PDC 2008;  come see what Cloud Computing, Windows 7, Azure, etc is all about.  Hurry up and register for the event in Washington, DC, Jan 16th: http://www.msdndevcon.com/Pages/start.aspx

If you're "into" SQL Server the PASS (Professional Association for SQL Server) Summit is a GREAT conference.  Click here to learn more or to register: http://summit2008.sqlpass.org/  It's scheduled for Nov 18-21 in Seattle and is THE place to learn more about SQL Server 2008! 

Round Two of the Mindsharp/MSPress SharePoint Best Practices is scheduled for 2 - 4 Feb in San Diego.  Details can be found here: http://www.sharepointbestpractices.com

Our October speaker is Kevin Israel who will be talking on customizing SharePoint.  SharePoint Programming 101:
Heard all the buzz about programming applications to use SharePoint Services? If so and you want to learn more then tune into this presentation. We will NOT be teaching you how to create a Web Part. We WILL cover development environment set up and everything you need to know to get started working with the SharePoint Object Model and Services, such as creating and installing custom web services and developing desktop applications with SharePoint in the backend etc.  Kevin Israel is an Enterprise Architect for LandAmerica Financial Group, where, amongst other things, he works with SharePoint architectures and data migrations from disparate sources to a unified Exchange and SharePoint platform. Kevin has been developing software for almost 9 years. He is currently the president of the Innsbrook .Net User Group and is a Microsoft MVP in Team System.

The next Richmond Code Camp is scheduled for Saturday, Oct 4th.  Register  at http://www.clicktoattend.com/?id=131306 and to complete a survey of which sessions you think you'll be interested in attending, please visit http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/65518/rcc2008.  The venue for the RCC has changed and will now be held in the J. Sargent Reynolds Community College Library Technology Center.  See the RCC site for directions and more information http://www.richmondcodecamp.org .  The sessions brochure is in the Events Material document library.

Our September meeting will be hosted by CorasWorks, a SharePoint vendor.  Mike DiCarlo will join us and show some ways to extend SharePoint with workflows.  Same date/time/location: third Thursday, Sept 18th, 6:30 pm, at infotec on Greenwich Rd in Virginia Beach.

Mike's slide deck has been uploaded in the Event Materials and Handouts document library.

We're now members of ISPA - International SharePoint Professionals Assocaition. What does that mean for us - we'll get more SWAG, maybe speakers, resources, etc.  This makes one more organization we're poart of.  The other three are PASS, INETA and Culminis.  Can't have too many partners!

Jason Hall of Quest Software will be presenting on SQL Server Reporting Services at our August meeting.  Date/time/location is the same: third Thursday, August 21st, 6:30 PM, Infotec on Greenwich Rd.

 

SQL Server Reporting Services has long been thought of as a tool specifically for Business Intelligence.  While analysts and developers are typically the ones viewing and building reports, the system typically has to be installed, configured, and managed by DBA's.  This presentation will discuss the basics of implementing and administering SQL Server Reporting Services as well as how Reporting Services can be used by the DBA's to assist with their own reporting tasks.  The full lifecycle of Reporting Services will be discussed, from installation, administration, and report design.

 

Jason Hall is a solutions architect for Quest Software, specializing in the architecture and implementation of disaster recovery and high availability solutions. Jason has also done extensive work in the field specializing in performance monitoring and tuning. In addition to on-site customer facing work, Jason has presented on Disaster Recovery at SQL Server Users Groups in Houston, Seattle and Chicago, as well as at SQL PASS conferences and SQL Server Summits

The Richmond SQL Server User Group is having their Launch event on Saturday, August 16th, from 10 am - 2 pm.  Sign up here: http://www.clicktoattend.com/invitation.aspx?code=130352 .

Michael Lotter from B&R  Business Solutions (http://www.bandrsolutions.com/ ) will be joining us and will present on InfoPath and SharePoint Forms Services.

 

Michael Lotter, MCTS, is a SharePoint Solutions Architect for B&R Business Solutions, and travels throughout the United States implementing SharePoint and InfoPath-based solutions.  He is an active speaker at East Coast Code Camps and user group meetings, and is a co-author on O'Reilly's SharePoint 2007:  The Definitive Guide.  You can also follow Michael's work through his blog, located at http://blog.michaellotter.com.

All our SharePoint members please take note and pass the word!  Our June meeting is being sponsored by INETA and they're paying to have the famous SharePoint MVP, Todd Bleeker, come and speak to us!  He'll be here on Thursday, June 19th, 6:30 pm.  Todd will be speaking on building custom field types.  Please email Susan (susanlennonmct@hotmail.com) if youplan on attending.

Anyone looking for slides from any of Susan's Code Camp presentations can find them in the HRSSUG event materials document library on this site.

The Richmond SharePoint User Group's next meeting is Thursday, May 22nd.  (They're always a week after our meeting - but only meet every other month).   CorasWorks is sponsoring and presenting at the meeting and will be discussing Workflows.  Details can be found on their site: http://www.sharepointgroups.org/richmondspug/default.aspx 

Our May Meeting is Round II of our 2008 Launch!!  Josh Thomas will be presenting on ASP.NET, Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET 3.5 Framework.  In addition, we have a guest speaker, Corro'll Driskell from Mindsharp - a SharePoint training company - joining us.  Corro’ll specialize in solutions based on the 2007 Microsoft System Server products, Microsoft and Cisco VoIP, and Windows Servers.  Corro'll will be speaking on integrating InfoPath forms services.  Tek Systems is sponsoring the meeting by providing pizza for us.  Check them out at http://www.teksystems.com/ .  The meeting will be the usual time and place, Thursday, May 15th, 6:30 pm at Infotec.

To encourage everybody to attend the Richmond Code Camp (http://www.richmondcodecamp.org) our HRSSUG April meeting is cancelled and replaced by the Richmond Code Camp (and to give Susan time to work on the Code Camp!!).  Please pass the word to all your firends, and see you in Richmond!!  Registration is now open!  Hurry on over to the RCC site!

We should have lots more SWAG at this meeting - and will feature demos on Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008, and Visual Studio 2008.  Planned date is Thursday, March 20th at 6:30 pm, Infotec in Virginia Beach.

Our February meeting will feature Tony Testa and using AJAX in SharePoint.  It's scheduled for Thursday, Feb 21st, 6:30 pm at Infotec.  Code can be fond in Event Materials.

Learn how to take your existing SharePoint development to the next level and give your users a more responsive UI by incorporating AJAX into your SharePoint solutions.  Find out how easy it is to integrate AJAX with SharePoint and start developing AJAX enabled web parts with ease and wow your users and peers with little effort.
Tony Testa is a Application Developer for the Philadelphia branch of Perficient, Inc. a leading information technology consulting firm serving clients throughout North America.  With over 6yrs experience with .NET and related technologies, Tony has programmed everything from web sites, windows apps, BI solutions and most recently focused on developing SharePoint solutions for customers.  Check out his blog at www.tonytestasworld.com.

The topic this month will be building SharePoint dashboards using SharePoint Designer and simple lists.  This applies for both Windows SharePoint Services and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server.  The meeting is scheduled for the third Thursday, Jan 17th, 6:30 PM, at Infotec on Greenwich Rd in Virginia Beach.  Please email susan (susanlennonmct@hotmail.com) if you plan to attend.

Microsoft's site discussing the upcoming launch for SQL Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and Windows 2008 (aka Longhorn).  There will be around 60 launch cities within the US.  The first launch, featuring Steve Balmer will be Feb 27th in Los Angeles.

 

INETA is sponsoring our December meeting and is sending us a SQL MVP, Mr. Don Kiely!! 

 

Abstract:

An increasingly hostile, connected world requires bold new initiatives to protect your data stores. SQL Server 2005 is the first major release of SQL Server since Microsoft began its Trustworthy Computing. As a server product and the foundation for business critical applications, SQL Server has a robust security infrastructure that will affect how you develop applications for it and maintain it. This session will look at how SQL Server 2005 does security and why you need to have a better understanding of these features than ever before. Developers can no longer afford to be ignorant of security, and this latest version of SQL Server changes how you handle threats in fundamental ways.

About Don Kiely

Don Kiely, MVP, MCSD, MSDE, is a senior technology consultant specializing in developing secure desktop and Web applications that integrate databases, Microsoft Office, and related technologies, using tools including SQL Server, Visual Basic, ASP.NET and XML. Don has authored and co-authored several programming books, some of which you’re likely to see in the bargain bin at your local mega-bookstore. He writes regularly for many industry journals, including InformationWeek, IEEE Computer, Visual Studio .NET (VBPJ), and many other magazines. Don trains developers and speaks regularly at industry conferences, including TechEd, VSLive!, DevConnections, and others. He earned a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from the University of Colorado, but fortunately learned the error of his ways. In his spare time he roams the Alaska wilderness by foot, dog sled, skis, and kayak, with his love Carol and his dogs Mardy (Irish Shedder) and Izzi (Karelian bear dog). Contact him at donkiely@computer.org.

 

Please tell your friends!  This will also be a holiday meeting, so feel free to bring goodies if so inclined.  Also, please RSVP to Susan (susanlennonmct@hotmail.com) if you plan on attending - so we can get a good estimate for pizza.

Our friends up I-64 are hosting a special event: Visual Studio 2008 Install Fest.  You can sign up here:

 

Please join us as one of our members - Nancy Reid - regales us with cool stuff she found out about SQL Server 2008 at this year's PASS Summit.  Nancy will speak to our group several times over the next few months - so much to discuss!

Free (for now!) SharePoint hosting for those with a LIVE account.  Details can be found here:

 

Check here for information on the SharePoint Conference, scheduled for March  3-6, 2008 in Seattle, Washington.

 

Here's a link to the Office and SharePoint Developer's Conference, scheduled for February 10 - 13, 2008 in San Jose, California:

 

We're lucky to have a Microsoft architect coming to talk to our group on how Microsoft users SharePoint internally at Microsoft.  To accomodate Mark's schedule, our meeting will be on Wednesday, Oct 17th rather than Thursday, Oct 18th.  Same time (6:30-8:00pm) and place (Infotec, Greenwich Rd, Virginia Beach).

 

Our presenter is Mark Eichenberger.  Mark is a Business Productivity Architect with Microsoft in the Mid-Atlantic district.  Mark specializes in building Office Business Applications (OBA) using SharePoint, .NET and the Office client applications.  He possesses over twenty years of application development and project management experience in a variety of business sectors including legal, energy, financial services, retail and manufacturing.

 

Be sure to put Saturday, Oct 6th on your calendar for the fourth Richmond Code Camp!!  This is a fantastic event and includes lots of great sessions for developers and data folks alike.  Please pass the word to all you know who may be interested. 

Since our SEPTEMBER meeting coincides with the annual SQL Server PASS Summmit, we'll cancel this month's meeting.  Hope to see everyone at PASS in Denver!!

The 2007 SQL Server PASS Summit is scheduled for SEPT 18-21 and will be located in Denver, Colorado.  With the new version of SQL Server 2008 on the horizon, this is a must-attend event!  Details can be found here: https://www.sqlpass.org/summit/Pages/default.aspx

Agenda

8:00–9:00 AM                          Arrival and Welcome

9:00–10:15 AM                        Building Rich Interactive Applications with Microsoft Silverlight

10:15–10:30 AM                      Break

10:30–11:45 AM                      Delivering Rich Web ERxperiences Using Microsfot Expression Studio

11:45 AM–12:00 PM               Wrap-up

 

Building Rich Interactive Applications with Microsoft Silverlight

 

Silverlight is Microsoft's solution for delivering rich, cross-platform interactive experiences for the Web and beyond. Silverlight will enable the creation of rich, visually stunning and interactive content and applications that run on multiple browsers and operating systems.

 

In this session, you will learn:

·                what Silverlight v1.0 and v1.1 is and what its key components are

·                how to create a Silverlight application with Visual Studio .NET 2008

·                how to enrich user experiences with XAML and JavaScript

·                how to incorporate web service data and media into Silverlight applications

·                how to deploy a Silverlight application to the web

 

Delivering Rich Web Experiences Using Microsoft Expression Studio

 

Microsoft Expression Studio consists of four professional design tools: Design for graphics, Web for site creation, Blend for animation, and Media for digital asset management. Whether you are designing rich standards-based web sites, creating ultimate experiences on the desktop, or managing digital assets and content, Expression Studio gives you the flexibility and freedom to bring your vision to reality. With Media Encoder, you can encode, enhance and publish rich media experiences to Microsoft Silverlight.

 

In this session, you will learn:

·                how to use Microsoft Expression Studio to improve the end-user experience

·                how to build dynamic, interactive pages with sophisticated CSS styles

·                how to create and edit vector-based drawings and export them to JPEG, PNG, GIF, bitmap and XAML code

·                how to manage and search your digital assets

·                how to encode and publish videos to Silverlight applications

 

Microsoft Corporation – Richmond, VA
9020 Stony Point Parkway, 1st Fl., Richmond, Virginia
 October 24, 2007

8:00 AM–12:00 PM
 Register

Event ID: 1032348855
 
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032348855&culture=en-US

One of our members, Tony Blount, will give a presentation on the capabilities/benefits of using SharePoint, InfoPath Forms, and workflows to create and automate business processes and logic within an organization.

 

Tony is a retired Marine who works for Information Technologies for Small Businesses, which is an IT consulting business that provides value-added services using Microsoft technologies.

 

The meeting will be at Infotec on Greenwich Rd, Thursday, August 16th at 6:30 pm

Bringing Query to the Business Layer: First Look at LINQ
Presenter: JR Thomas, Web Developer
Company: Cox Auto Trader Publishing a division of Cox Enterprises
Location: Infotec, Greenwich Rd 
When: July 12th 2007 @ 6:30 PM EST
 
This one hour talk will dive into the new features in C# 3.0 that enhance the power of LINQ. LINQ enables 4th generation language concepts/capabilities present in XQuery, SQL, and many functional languages. A Linq to SQL performance comparison with stored procs will also be shown.

Our June meeting will be a recap from TechEd 2007 - and raffles of books and certification vouchers.  Our group has many new books - courteousy of TechEd - must be present to win!

Our May meeting is cancelled due to some scheduling conflicts.  Sorry - hope to see you at the June meeting!

April Meeting is on Setting Up a Wireless Network, Thursday, April 19th at 6:30 pm.  Location is InfoTec in Va Beach.

 

We're meeting with our fellow user group - IT Professional Association.  Due to an overwhelming request, they will be giving a repeat performance of setting up a wireless network.   This is a MUST SEE presentation.  Tell your friends that have - or are considering - a wireless network.

Thursday, March 15th, 6:30 pm, Infotec

This month we'll explore the .NET Workflow within the new version of SharePoint (WSS v3 and MOSS).   There are some cool new features that make this a robust application framework.  Since this is our Launch (for Office, Vista and Exchange 2007) event, we have some extra raffle prizes.  We'll have software, books, conference bags and t-shirts to raffle off.  Pizza provided by Tek Systems.

This month we're joining with the ITPro user group to hear a presentation by NetApp on using SAN storage solutions for your SQL deployments.  This ought to be a great opportunity to learn how you can scale your storage requirements.  Please pass the word to any you think would be interested.  Usual time - 6:30 pm at Infotec on Greenwich Rd, Thursday, the 15th of Feb.

 

Our January meeting will be Thursday, Jan 18th at Infotec/ESI on Greenwich Rd, 6:30 pm.  The presentation will be on using the Business Data Catalog (BDC) to access SQL Server and a third party tool to assist in building the BDC XML schema.

Geoff Snowman, our friend from Microsoft, will be coming to talk to us about BizTalk 2006 and Business Activity Monitoring (BAM) on Monday, Dec. 11th from 6:30-8:00 pm!  Please put this on your calendar and bring a friend or two!!!  Maybe we should have Emeril Lagasse cater!  ;>  ;>

AND - we have BIG raffle prizes this month!!!  And did we mention pizza - 'tis the season.....

Our November meeting has been cancelled.  We're going to try to have our December meeting earlier - to avoid being too close to the Holidays.  Stay Tuned!!

In an effort to encourage folks to attend the Richmond Code Camp, we're cancelling our October meeting (and because Susan will be working that month on the Code Camp!).

We'll explored the new Business Data Catalog that comes with the new SharePoint (still in beta).

 

The meeting is Thursday, Sept 21st at 6:30 pm.  We're meeting (for the last time) at ESI in Va Beach, at 4417 Expressway Dr - off of Edwin Drive, near Mt Trashmore.

The Richmond Code Camp is a must attend event!  It will be on Saturday, Oct. 7th.  Details, and link to registration, can be found here:

 

http://www.richmondcodecamp.org/default.aspx 

Object Oriented Concepts
Bring your Analysts and Managers!
 
In plain English we will review and discuss the most basic object oriented concepts.  Objects are not only the building blocks of an application but a practical way to divide and work with complex business processes.  Renew your OOA and OOD resume credentials!
 
Presented by Greg Postlewait, e-business team lead for AMERIGROUP Corporation.

All - we're in that summer vacation mode - and do not have a speaker scheduled for July - so enjoy the sun - and we hope to get a speaker for August.

We'll be having a short meeting in June - over no later than 7:30.  We'll be exploring importing Sharepoint list data into a SQL Server database.  We could just as easily take SQL data and import it into the Sharepoint list.  This will be using .NET 1.1. code and native Sharepoint web services.

We'll meet Thursday, May 18th at 6:30 pm at ESI in Va Beach.  We'll have a presentation on SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services and also discuss the startup of a local Sharepoint user group.  If you know folks using Sharepoint, please ask them to attend.  You can take a survey about the new group on the temporary site here:

Get it here:

 

 

 

We'll be meeting at ESI, Va Beach, on Thursday, March 16th, at 6:30 pm.  Susan will be presenting on using Sharepoint Data View Web Parts to access external data sources.

They're back!!  MSDN Event will at at McActhur Mall, Tuesday, March 14th.  Microsoft has offered to host a pub club afterwards.

 

Register here:

The SEVA Code Camp has been replaced by the Richmond Code Camp.  Click here for more information:

 Please pass the word.

Note: a change of location!!  We will be meeting at Electronic System in Newport News on Febraury 16, at 6:30 pm.

If you attended our January Launch event, then please feel free to fill out this survey form Microsoft on how you felt about the event:

 

If you'd like a copy of any of the FOUR (4) Launch Hands on Labs (HOL) DVDs that Microsoft has provided, please bring blank DVDs to the meeting - for however many DVDs you want.  Also, please email Susan (susanlennonmct@hotmail.com) if you'd like any of the DVDs, and I'll try to burn them prior to the meeting and bring them that evening.   If you want DVDs made, please let me know which ones you want.  Here's the content:

DVD 1) SQL Server 2005 and Visual Studio 2005 Core HOL

DVD 2) SQL Server 2005 High Availability HOL

DVD 3) Visual Studio 2005 Team System HOL

DVD 4) BizTalk Server 2006 Pre-Release HOL

We have TONS of raffle prizes and SQL and .NET 2005 presentations.  Raffle prizes include Launch copies of Visual Studio 2005 Standard, SQL Server 2005 Standard and Biz Talk Server 2006!!

 

Susan will be speaking on the totally new SQL Server Integration Services (replaces Data Transformation Services - DTS) and Reporting Services in SQL Server 2005.

Our February meeting, scheduled for 6:30 pm on Feb 16th, features author Andy Leonard.  Andy is one of the principal authors on the upcoming Wrox book on SQL Server Integration Services.  This should be an information packed event - not to be missed!

Click here for the Pittsburgh PA Code Camp:

 

Click here for latest SQL Server 2005 Add-Ons: