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Annual User Group Leader Summit today
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We'll be holding our annual user group leader summit all day todat at the Westin Hotel in downtown San Diego. It's going to be an awesome day! I'm looking forward to meeting user group leaders from all over the US and abroad. I'll be taking my camera equipment so I can video tape segments from the summit. I'll be taking the video and adding it to the INETA User Group Resource DVD that I am working on.
Tonight I am hosting a “Birds of a Feather” session titled “Building Community - How to start and run a .NET User Group”. There are a total of 42 BOF sessions throughout the week. That's awesome! Here is a list of the sessions. Click the ComboBox labeled Session Type and select Birds of a Feather.
-Eric.
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I made it to TechEd!
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The flight went well, and I've made it to my room at The W Hotel in San Diego. Have I mentioned that I'm not at all fond of flying? I don't like roller coasters, theme park rides, boats, and flying. I'm just happy to be on the ground again. I'm going to burn some CD's to hand out at the BOF session I'm hosting tomorrow. I'm including some material that will be useful for someone who wants to start and run a .NET user group.
The Room at The W Hotel is interesting. The W has this "futuristic" decor going on. There are mirrors in the halls, elevators, and everywhere else. It's kinda freaky. Here are a couple of pics from my room.
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Heading out for TechEd
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My brother will be here shortly to run me out to the airport. I was up last night typing up some documents for the “Birds of a Feather” session I'm hosting tomorrow evening at TechEd.
I'll be leading a session titled “Building Community - How you can start a .NET user group”. If you want to join us, come by Room 16A at 8:00 p.m.
I'll be looking for you,
-Eric.
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Happy Anniversary to Me!
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Today is my wedding anniversary marking 4 years. Having gotten married in 2000, I'll always be able to figure out how long I've been married. I am capable of simple math. :) To celebrate, we are going on a Disco Cruise on the Tennessee River via Riverboat. That rocks!! Our very first date was on a disco cruise almost 7 years ago.
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TechEd Birds of a Feather session
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I've decided to host a “Birds of a Feather” session at TechEd this year. I know that this is last kind of at the last moment, but the idea just came to me! My proposed topic is: Building Community - How you can start a .NET user group
In this session we will discuss how to start a .NET user group, and become a part of INETA. We will look at the steps involved in putting things together, and the pitfalls and rewards in running a successful user group. If you're attending TechEd and this sounds good to you, then go vote for this topic. Good luck figuring out how. After you follow that link, be sure to Click the small link in the grid that says “Select” next to TechEd. After you do that, click the Proposed Topics link at the top of the page. Then you can vote on my topic. Is that confusing enough?
Woohoo!!
See you there!
-Eric.
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Getting ramped up for TechEd
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I'm getting ready for TechEd. I'm flying out on Saturday from Chattanooga, and I am headed to San Diego. The first half of the week looks pretty busy. I have the INETA User Group leader summit all day on Sunday. I will be video taping sessions at the Summit so we can put them on the INETA web site, as well as include them on the upcoming INETA user group resource DVD. I've got lunch and evening plans on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Then my schedule is wide open on Thursday and Friday. I'm going to be pretty worn out when I get back. I'm told that the SWAG will be incredible, and to bring an extra suitcase. I think I'll just stockpile swag in my hotel room, and then just ship some FexEx boxes home before I leave........hmm...........
-Eric.
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International Man of Mystery? I think NOT!
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The last Microsoft Event I attended was DevDays. When I registered for that event, I signed up as a representative of the International .NET Association. Sooooooo.....that's how I left things when I registered for the MSDN briefing that came to town yesterday. I wasn't paying attention to the fine print on the name tag they gave me. I just slapped it on and marched right into the seminar. Then I was talking to a member of my user group, and he pointed out my name badge........................................................................
(photo by Kevin Riggs)
Wooohoo!! GO Me!!
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MSDN briefing in Chattanooga on Tuesday, May 11th
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For the first time in several years, the MSDN team at Microsoft has put Chattanooga on the schedule for 2004. This is largely due to the success of our local .NET user group. We work our tails off to have an awesome user group, and we are very proud of it. Here is the best part of this whole MSDN thing. The seminar is being held in Chattanooga on Tuesday, and in Nashville on Thursday. I know that Chattanooga is a “Tier 3” market, which means that we don't typically make it on to anyone's schedule for SQUAT. But I've been working hard to spread the word about this briefing next week, and it seems to be paying off. As of yesterday, we had 117 people registered for this event with Microsoft. That may not sound like ton, but IT's 2 MORE than are registered for the other event in Nashville. Maybe someone will pay attention to that little factoid!
I'm just trying to put us on the radar. We'll see how it goes this year.
-Eric.