The Next Generation User Group - Dave Mc's Blog: Community

DDD Ireland

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 21:38:04 GMT

That core of the UK Developer Community the DDD event is moving across the Irish Sea to the Emerald Isle in the form of DDD Ireland, check out http://www.dddireland.com for details. A host of well known speakers abound and registration is now open. Vital Statistics? 3rd May 2008, Galway Ireland, Great Content, Great Sessions, Great Speakers, Great Guiness.

To attend, you can register here: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?culture=en-US&EventID=1032370583

Hope to see you there!

Cheers

Dave Mc

NXTGENUG OPEN A NEW REGION IN SOUTHAMPTON!

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 22:41:46 GMT

Then there were 5! Two months, two new regions, first Cambridge now Southampton. Yes, the Next Generation User Group (NxtGenUG) is expanding (again) and this time we're heading South. The latest and warmest region of NxtGenUG is Southampton. The region is being organised and run by John McLoughlin and Rick Allen two local guys who have sourced a venue, projector, screen, pizza, swag and speakers all on their ownsome - all that a User Group needs or could ask for!

As ever when a new NxtGenUG region opens we insist on having a 'Launch' extravaganza, and this one is no different! The event will be held on 18th October 2007 at St Andrew's Hall, Southampton. The main speaker for the evening is top UK Community speaker Guy Smith-Ferrier speaking on Astoria and there will be a SQL Nugget from Dave 'Readyboost' McMahon. Pizza and Swag will be present also in abundance. All the details of the meeting are at http://www.nxtgenug.net/ViewEvent.aspx?EventID=85, and you can register for the event as always through the NxtGenUG website. Don't miss out on this event which kicks off at 6.30pm and finishes at 9.00pm, as there is only ONE launch meeting after all.

NxtGenUG are a User Group focused on current and future technologies and provide monthly meetings in Birmingham, Cambridge, Coventry, Oxford and Southampton. We love technology, chatting, pizza, swag, Halo 3 (well Richie Costall does) and having a laugh. If you're in one of our areas, get along to one of our meetings and get involved in the UK Community, its well worth it socially and professionally!

Cheers

Dave

Will he? Won't he? Will he? Yes he will ....

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 22:02:44 GMT

After months of soul searching and chewing his fingers to the bone, Craig Murphy has bitten the bullet. He's released the secret diaries of the MVP 'Global' Summit ... Well sort of. In fact its a podcast, in the loosest sense of the word, recorded during the latter stages of a particularly party filled evening in the Renaissance Hotel bar, downtown Seattle.

Why the soul searching, well to be honest we'd had a few, in fact Craig had had so many he couldn't see straight. He kept seeing celebrity authors everywhere. Alun Rogers was also on form, he and Craig were particularly proud of a 'uber swagging' session that they had just completed. The 'swagmeister' was proud of them to say the least ...

So listen on to http://www.craigmurphy.com/blog/?p=649 and get a different view of 'I love the Color Picker' Craig Murphy, 'I love a bit in the locker' Alun Rogers, 'I love Scott Guthrie' Richie Costall and 'I love swag' Dave McMahon ...

Cheers

Dave

Craig Murphy is Podcasting!

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 14:13:58 GMT

Craig Murphy Scottish Developers organiser, speaker, DDD organiser, all-round 'calmest bloke I know' and fellow Connected Systems MVP is podcasting, with a little help from my wife Sandra, .... eh? Well Sandra is so great at getting stuff in one take, that Craig asked if she could do the start and finish of his podcasts. Here's the link to the first one

http://www.craigmurphy.com/blog/?p=585

Some dodgy bloke being interviewed, check out his others too with Guy Smith-Ferrier and Ravi Nar (Vista Squad).

Cheers

Dave

DDD5 - The Aftermath Part 2

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 00:34:01 GMT

I've uploaded the PowerPoint and the code for my session at DDD5 to here. If you ain't got PowerPoint 2007, shame on you, but you can view the file still, by downloading the viewer .

DDD5 - Another Cracking Day!

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 22:14:23 GMT

I spent a good deal of time last week getting more than a little nervous about my session XSLT 'Extreme' which I was to give at the start of DeveloperDeveloperDeveloper Day Number 5 (DDD5). You always wonder how a session is going to be received, and as XSLT is a somewhat 'left field' subject, my nerves were jangling a bit as 9.25 Saturady June 30th came around.

"Faint Heart, Never Won Fair Lady" etc, etc, so I dived in and gave it all I had. I thought the subject matter was good, strong and a little different. Certainly my experience is that XSLT is a subject few people really delve into and discover it's hidden secrets! I was pleased with the reaction of the audience and has a couple of good questions and managed to announce my 'Swag' Distibute-O-Meter, a device inspired by Ray Starkey a longtime NxtGenUG member who came off worse in a tussle with some 'Swag' at the NxtGenUG Fest07 event in May!

Initial responses from some of the guys I met afterwards were really positive and complimentary, phew! Just have to wait for the feedback now!

I spent a good deal of the day filming and recording for NxtGenUG podcasts/videos but managed to see some of Ian Coopers and Oliver Sturm's "Bluffer's Guide to C#" which was very good. Two confident speakers who don't get phased when things don't go to plan!! Get to see these guys if you can, they know their stuff, unless they were bluffing ... Also I saw the whole of Gary Short's Agile in Enterprise and ISV talk, which I only went to see as I'd seen most of the other sessions on at that time. I was really impressed with Gary, nice delivery style and a well covered subject. He seemed to run out of steam about 40mins in which was a shame, but it was well worth attending, as I now realise that I've been doing Agile Development for the past 5 years and not even known it :-).

I also popped in to see Chris Seary briefly doing his "Top 10 Security Tips for ASp.NET", Chris was elloquent as ever and also Guy Smith-Ferrier doing his "Tips and Tricks for VS 2005". Guy is a great presenter, get to see him if you can.

The main thing about these events for me if the great atmosphere. Everybody seems positive, keen and open-minded. They don't seem to mind too much if demos don't work, they accept that the presenters are often learning their trade here. For some guys it was their first 'big' speaking gig, for others it was their umteenth. Some guys/gals speaking do it as part of their job, others like myself are 'bit-part' players in the presentation world, getting out there when our other responsibilities allow. There was also the 'Grok Talks' organised by Zi Makki. Short 5-10 min sessions to enable people who have NEVER spoken in front of an audience to have a go and see how they do and if they actually like the experience.

Watch out for a NxtGenUG podcast on DDD5 which will be coming out soon, and watch out for DDD6 which will happen near the turn of the year.

Cheers

Dave Mc

Technorati Tags : DDD5

PODCAST #33 FROM NXTGENUG

Wed, 09 May 2007 21:07:09 GMT

It's MIX07 and the Boys are in Las Vegas at the Venetian. Rich is absolutely buzzing from the keynote all about Silverlight. Dave is absolutely buzzing with One Arm Bandits, Hold 'em Poker, Blackjack and Roulette. He's on a mission to secure the financial future of NxtGenUG. On the way, they talk about Silverlight and Silverlight Services (well Rich does), speak to Alex Homer and listen to Elvis and Roy Osherove singing, but thankfully not Dave ...

Download it from here

Enjoy!!

mix07

FEST07 - NXTGENUG

Sat, 07 Apr 2007 00:06:09 GMT

FEST07 is fast approaching!

Join NxtGenUG on the 23rd May 2007 for a unique one day event featuring TOP european speakers (we mean top!) as we look at what Microsoft technology is here, what is just around the corner and what the future may hold ...
This one day event will be held at Microsoft Reading and is FREE to all NxtGenUG members. Non-members are welcome and there is a special early-bird price to take advantage of.

http://www.nxtgenug.net/fest07/

DDD5 Open for Speaker Submissions

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 12:32:23 GMT

DeveloperDeveloperDeveloper (DDD) 5 has opened it's door to speaker submissions, so if you're an established speaker, get in there. If you've never spoken before, get in there, if you've spoken a bit, get in there. DDD is all about community all about you and the opportunity to learn stuff from your peers. IT's a free event, so when the registrations open, book quickly as places usually fill up in about 10 days.

DDD4 was fantastic, this I'm sure will be just as good!

We've promoted this too on the NxtGenUG site, and I notice Barry Dorrans has gotten in early too! Good on him!