Conferences

CodeMash 2009

Jason Follas — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:02:02 GMT

Need a reason to come to CodeMash 2009?

Check out this amazing line-up of sessions:
http://codemash.org/SessionList.aspx

Wow! Simply.... Wow!

The schedule is now live, too:

http://codemash.org/includes/CM-2009-Schedule.pdf

Upcoming Events

Jason Follas — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:50:25 GMT

There are a few events taking place in October that I would like to promote:

Day of .NET in Ann Arbor
Saturday, October 18, 2008

The fourth Day of .NET in Ann Arbor event will take place on the campus of Washenaw Community College in Ann Arbor (or is it actually Ypsilanti? I can never tell). The original conference was a collaboration between GANG, AADND, and NWNUG. This year, we have officially added GLUG.net and West Michigan to the list of groups who are assisting in the organization and promotion. So, for those of you following along at home, this event is the product of FIVE regional user groups, and like its predecessors, should be a great day of learning and networking.

The session list has been posted, and there should be something on the schedule for everyone. Registration is free, and all that we ask is that if you do sign up, then please show up. There's nothing worse than wasting sponsorship dollars by ordering too much food or too many T-Shirts (though, this year, we're going to try to get Pizza back on the menu, so food waste should hopefully be minimized).

http://www.dayofdotnet.org/AnnArbor/Fall2008/Sessions.aspx

Wally McClure appearing at Northwest Ohio .NET User Group
Monday, October 20, 2008

"Hello. I'm Wally McClure. You might remember me from my many books published by Wrox Press with my picture on them. Or, the ASP.NET Podcast, where on the website, you'll find pictures of my books with my pictures on them. Or, the very popular T-Shirt with my picture on the back...."

I met Wally this summer at TechEd Developer in Orlando, where one of the first experiences was being crammed into the back seat of a car between him and Keith Elder. He seemed to take a liking to me, and let's just say that my phone now receives more random text messages than ever before. :-)

In all seriousness, Wally was supposed to have appeared at NWNUG in June, just after TechEd, but had to back out due to work commitments (Steve Smith ended up filling in for him). We're thrilled that he was still interested in coming to Toledo, and we were able to arrange an October 20th date (note that this is a Monday, not the regular Tuesday meeting night).

Watch the NWNUG website for further details about the meeting topic.

CodeMash 2.0.0.8 is in the History Books

Jason Follas — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 16:32:28 GMT

CodeMash 2.0.0.8 has come and gone. As a behind-the-scenes participant, it was exhausting! But, like every other conference that I've participated in, most of the hard work is in the planning: once the event starts, it already has enough momentum to carry it through to the end, and all that we had to do was give it a nudge or two along the way.

Most folks have already recognized the main organizers, so I won't belabor that point. I will, however, point out some of the vendors that I personally worked with as part of this event - each one receiving my endorsement.

First, there's the T-shirts. For the second year running, we utilized the services of Wade Manley of Great Lakes Logo to produce the shirts that the attendees received. (The Day of .NET in Ann Arbor also uses GLL for its shirts). Wade does an excellent job of taking artwork and converting it to ink-on-a-shirt.

And, I can't speak about this year's shirt without mentioning the guy behind the design on the back: Scott Zischerk. Scott is a very technical resource with a great eye for design. He's an active part of the Ann Arbor .NET Developers group, and also served as the webmaster/designer for Day of .NET in Ann Arbor conference. Not only did he come up with the design that you see on the back of this year's CodeMash shirt, but also three additional designs that we could have used (perhaps the "Palm Tree" design will be used next year, Scott. ;-)

And finally, another vendor that I am very pleased with (and who we also utilized for the second year because of their excellent service) is Maumee Quickprint, Inc. of Maumee, Ohio (419.893.4321). Producing this year's conference guide was simply a matter of emailing Jennifer with a high-resolution PDF, some instructions about which pages to print in color, and what type of paper to use, and then picking up the boxload a few days later. Everything was nicely stapled and trimmed and ready to hand out at the event. We couldn't have been happier knowing that the job was in capable hands.

I hope that everyone who attended enjoyed themselves, and will encourage others to attend next year. And I hope that the out-of-town speakers felt welcomed enough to participate again in the future!

Codemash Bound

Jason Follas — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 00:15:15 GMT

Why should you have to go to the East Coast or West Coast just to attend a tech conference? Last year, a group of Midwestern developers came together to form Codemash - a conference that is all about improving your skills by interacting with people who regularly work with technologies outside of your comfort zone.

But, the group also had to decide when and where to hold the conference. Winter seemed to be the best time, because it's outside of the regular "conference season". And where? How about a brand-new conference facility with an adjoining indoor waterpark, all decorated with an African theme. It was quirky, sure, but the conference was all about Freeing Your Mind - so it made perfect sense to select a venue that was anything different than the sterile hallways of the big conference centers.

That was last year. Nobody really knew what to expect, but somehow, we managed to get some really big names to speak at the event, and thanks to a lot of blogging (that overtook the #1 spot on Technorati), a few heads got shaved too!

Tomorrow evening kicks off the pre-conference event for the second annual Codemash Conference held at the Kalahari Resort in Sandusky, Ohio. Much of last year's format had been preserved (why mess with a winning formula?), but we've thrown in a few surprises too! Take in some of the 40+ breakout sessions that are scheduled for Thursday and Friday. Look for a great collection of vendor-led half-sessions that are more than just marketing slides pitching their products. Hold casual conversations with our keynoters - Neal Ford, Scott Hanselman, and Brian Goetz - when you bump into them in the hallway. Listen to other attendees play music at the Jam Session (or, bring your own instrument and join in). Participate in an Open Spaces session. Or, just slip into that bathing suit and float down the lazy river after the day's activities come to an end.

It's up to you. It's Codemash. Free Your Mind!

CodeMash: January 9-11

Jason Follas — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 15:27:37 GMT

The second annual CodeMash Conference will be held on January 9-11 at the Kalahari Resort (indoor waterpark!) in Sandusky Ohio.

Session List: http://codemash.org/SessionList.aspx

Keynotes: Scott Hanselman, Brian Goetz, and one more in the works!

Register today! An incredible rate on the hotel room/waterpark access for $88/night is only guaranteed for a few more weeks.

https://www.codemash.org/register.aspx

Two Distinct TechEd Conferences in 2008

Jason Follas — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 14:18:51 GMT

Taking a cue from the European version of TechEd, Microsoft will be breaking the 2008 version of it's annual flagship conference into two parts: One for developers on June 3-6, and one for IT Professionals on June 10-13.

http://www.microsoft.com/events/teched2007/default.mspx

Day of .NET in Ann Arbor: Sold Out!

Jason Follas — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 16:27:29 GMT

The registration cap for Day of .NET in Ann Arbor - Fall 2007 has been reached! This means that unless people who had previously registered cancel, we're unable to accept any new registrations for the October 20th event.

If you are reading this, and know that you're not coming, then please take the time to cancel your registration so that others can take your spot. There is a cancellation link in the registration confirmation email, or you can just send an email to the address listed on the registration page.

Organizing a fall event has been a real eye opener, for me at least. I heard from so many companies that their annual marketing budget was consumed, so they had to pass on our event, or could only afford a smaller contribution this time around. This was likely compounded by the fact that this is the second Day of .NET in Ann Arbor this year, so many companies had already given us a nice chunk of money earlier in the year, and simply could not justify another comparable donation.

Even so, we still have a great list of sponsors, and each and every one of them deserves to be thanked if you see them exhibiting at DoDN or other trade shows! It's their sponsorship that pays for the venue, the lunch, the drinks, the swag, and other behind-the-scenes expenses. It's their sponsorship that allows us to put on a great event for the .NET community, while at the same time not charging anything to the attendees. These are great companies with excellent products, and deserve a few minutes of your time to review their offerings.

But, the simple truth is that our budget this time around is not as large as before. At the same time, we're servicing a growing audience, and are anticipating more people to be in attendance than ever before. The only way that we could possibly control our costs was to set a registration cap, and that's the reason behind the lock out.

I'll see you Saturday!

Day of .NET in Ann Arbor: Register Now!

Jason Follas — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 17:52:19 GMT

Registration is now open for the October 20, 2007 Day of .NET in Ann Arbor! It's free to attend, but we still need an accurate headcount for food, shirts, etc...

http://www.dayofdotnet.org/AnnArbor/Fall2007/Registration.aspx

UPDATE: The finalized session list has been posted, and I'm sitting here simply amazed at the list of sessions that were selected! There truly is something for everyone in this lineup:

http://www.dayofdotnet.org/AnnArbor/Fall2007/Sessions.aspx

CodeMash 2.0.0.8

Jason Follas — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:16:52 GMT

Last year's CodeMash turned out to be a phenomenal event, and I'm proud to have played a part of the crew that was able to bring it together. If you haven't heard yet, we're currently planning CodeMash 2.0.0.8 which will take place January 9-11, 2008 at the same venue (the Kalahari Waterpark Resort in Sandusky, OH - an indoor waterpark with an awesome conference facility that also serves particularly well as a great family destination in the middle of winter).

If you have never heard of CodeMash before, then take moment to review the information on the website (which has been updated for 2008) and also search the blogosphere for commentary about last year's event. You might just say to yourself, "How did I not know about this before?"

Sponsors: The Sponsorship Prospectus will go live on Monday, August 27. If we don't contact you, then please feel free to contact us (as many of last year's sponsors did)! You can find details on the website.

Speakers: The official Call for Speakers will be announced soon, but I notice that there's a "Submit a Topic" link at the top of the page.... hmmmm, I wonder what that's used for?? ;-)

Attendees: Unfortunately, registration is not yet open. Don't let that stop you from starting to participate, though! There's a Google Group (http://groups.google.com/group/codemash) as well as a Twitter (http://twitter.com/codemash) that you can use to interact with other attendees.

I look forward to seeing everybody in January.

Day of .NET in Ann Arbor: Fall 2007

Jason Follas — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 15:11:20 GMT

The Day of .NET in Ann Arbor has been a successful spring conference for two years now. So successful, in fact, that we have been asked about why we don't hold it twice a year. /shrug

So, by popular demand, there will be a Day of .NET in Ann Arbor on October 20, 2007 as Washtenaw Community College. The Call for Speakers is currently underway (as well as the sponsorship drive for those of you with a corporate checkbook).

Details can always be found at: http://www.dayofdotnet.org