The Office 365 Beta is now open to the public!  Office 365 provides a cloud-based subscription service that includes Office 2010 Professional Plus, SharePoint Online, Exchange Online and Lync Online. 

Office 365 also provides developers and ISVs a platform for building cloud-based collaboration and communication solutions for the cloud.  To help developers make the transition to building solutions for the cloud with Office 365, I’m pleased to announce the release of the Office 365 Training Course for Public Beta.  The kit includes 7 sessions, over 10 hours of video, and 16 labs as both an offline training kit as well as an online training course on MSDN.

For more details on the Office 365 Public Beta and the new training kit, please see this blog post.

Training Resources

The Office 365 Developer Training Kit includes the following training units:

• Developing in the Cloud with Office 365
  • Office 365 provides a communication and collaboration service in the cloud that
    you can leverage to build custom solutions for SharePoint Online, Exchange
    Online and Lync Online. In this session, you’ll learn about this new cloud
    service and the breadth of solutions that can be developed using the same
    skills, tools and SDKs you use today when building on-premises solutions.
• Developing for SharePoint Online with Sandbox Solutions
  • Sandboxed Solutions are the development paradigm for SharePoint Online. In this
    session, you’ll learn about sandboxed solutions including how to develop, debug
    and deploy solutions. You’ll also learn the breadth of solutions that can be
    developed in the sandbox and strategies for developing common scenarios that are
    not enabled in the sandbox.
• Building Workflow Solutions for SharePoint Online
  • Building Workflow solutions for SharePoint Online allows you to automate
    collaboration-centric business processes and surface them to your users via
    SharePoint Online. In this session, you’ll learn the differences between
    declarative and code-based workflows, design a workflow using Visio 2010,
    implement that workflow in SharePoint Designer 2010 and customize the workflow
    using Visual Studio 2010 and custom actions.
• Developing SharePoint Online Solutions with the Client Object Model
  • The SharePoint Client Object Model provides libraries for programmatically
    accessing SharePoint Online via Silverlight and JavaScript. In this session,
    we’ll go deep into the Client Object Model and show you how to develop solutions
    using both Silverlight and JavaScript.
• Leveraging Excel and Access Services in SharePoint Online
  • Excel and Access Services provide powerful features for building SharePoint
    Online solutions. In this session, you’ll get an inside look at both Excel and
    Access services and how each can be accessed programmatically when building
    SharePoint Online solutions.
• Developing Communication Solutions for Lync Online
  • In this session, you learn how to integrate Lync features into your WPF and
    Silverlight clients much in the same way that Office and SharePoint do,
    including presence, contact lists and click-to-communicate features. You will
    also learn how to extend Lync communications to include data and features from
    your client applications much in the same way that Outlook 2010 does with the
    "IM" and "Call" features within an email.
• Developing Messaging Solutions for Exchange Online
  • In this session, you'll learn how to integrate Exchange Online mailbox data such
    as mail, calendar and task items as well as Exchange Online services such as the
    free-busy service into your applications using an easy to discover and easy to
    use managed API.

Getting Started

To use this kit as self-paced training and customer demos, you’ll need to do the following:

1. Download and configure the Information Worker VMs (2010-9) to provide you a local development environment.
2. Download and install the Office 365 Developer Training Kit onto the 2010a VM.
3. Request access to either the Office 365 Beta or SharePoint Online Dogfood to provide you access to the service.
4. Visit the Office 365 Training Course on MSDN to watch the videos and get started with the labs and demos.

Microsoft is back in the US for another Springboard Series Tour!

www.springboardseriestour.com

May 2 – Toronto | May 4 – Detroit | May 6 – Chicago | May 9 – Indianapolis | May 11 – Dallas | May 13 – Columbus

The Springboard Series Tour is back! This 6 city tour brings the top product teams from Microsoft to you. We understand the questions and issues that IT pros deal with every day. How do I manage end users bringing consumer devices into the office? Should we look to the cloud for key solutions? Should I virtualize? What are the best tools to manage application compatibility and deployment? The Springboard Series Tour brings the experts and the answers.

Join us for a full day’s deep dive into the tools, solutions and options to help you do more with less. We will cover managing the flexible workspace, a first look at Windows Intune and Office 365. We’ll also show you some of the new Windows Slates and give you details around Microsoft’s strategy for Slate devices. We will preview the new tools in the MDOP 2011 suite, a deep dive into managing and deploying Office 2010 and great tips and tricks to help you deploy Windows 7 and move your users from Windows XP with speed and ease.

REGISTER NOW and save your seat for this free day of technical demos, Q&A sessions, and real-world guidance from Microsoft experts. We’ll see you on the road!

Coming to the Center for Non-Profits @ St. Mary’s, for the second year in a row, is the fabulous Northwest Arkansas TechFest!

For those new to TechFest, it is a technical conference with a primary focus to provide training/teaching sessions that are immediately beneficial to the broadest range of IT professionals in their day-to-day jobs. They accomplish this with numerous national and international speakers delivering 75 minute sessions across 10 separate tracks. Even though TechFest is a free event, the organizers ask that you support the community and PLEASE bring TWO CANS or TWO BUCKS. All canned food will be donated to the NWA Food Bank and all proceeds will be donated to the The Jones Center.

NWA TechFest is organized again this year by former MVP, current Microsoft Employee and founder of Tulsa TechFest David Walker. The event is always outstanding with amazing content from the areas best speakers. I’ll be there too, presenting in the Silverlight track on Windows Phone 7 Performance Tips and SketchFlow.

If you think you have the right stuff and want to present at NWA TechFest, submit your talk today!.

For more details, visit the NWA TechFest website.

If you are a developer, you’ve probably heard plenty about the cloud. But if you’re and IT professional, what have you heard about it? How does it intersect with the datacenter? How does it make your job easier – or harder? Is it something that your organization is looking at? Is the cloud something your organization _should_ be looking at but hasn’t really dug into it yet?

Whether we like it or not, the cloud – in all its varied forms – is coming. It’s best for us to be prepared, whether we are developers (see: Windows Azure Boot Camp) or whether we are IT professionals (see: this very post). Because the cloud is coming. We need to get ready for it and how we plan to address it or incorporate it… Or we could be left behind.

To help IT professionals understand what the cloud means to then, starting in March 2011 we launch our new series of TechNet Events, this series focusing on how IT is being transformed into a dynamic, service-based resource for your business. Think not just about things like Virtualization, but consider taking advantage of cloud-like solutions, whether in your own datacenter or hosted elsewhere. After all, choosing the right solution for the right scenario is always critically important.

The Events
Our events will cover three topics. First is cloud computing essentials for IT professionals. Second delves into the public cloud, covering the what, why and how you leverage the public cloud as part of your overall computing and infrastructure strategy. Last we cover the private cloud, again digging into the what, why and how you employ pooled computing resources, automated management, scalability, and on-demand provisioning via on premise resources as opposed to public cloud off premise assets.

The Schedule
Here is our full, 23-city schedule. We launch the series in just a month and run through mid-May 2011. If you live in or near one of these cities, please join us. If you won’t have the opportunity to join us in person, please follow the blogs of our resident cloud computing expert, Kevin Remde, and his peers (Matt Hester, Brian Lewis, and John Weston) to see alternative online options to learn more about cloud computing on premise and off.

• Grand Rapids, MI – Tuesday, March 15, 2011
• Detroit, MI – Thursday, March 17, 2011
• Cleveland, OH – Tuesday, March 22, 2011
• Bloomington, MN – Wednesday, March 23, 2011
• Milwaukee, WI – Wednesday, March 23, 2011
• Columbus, OH – Thursday, March 24, 2011
• St. Louis, MO – Monday, March 28, 2011
• Madison, WI – Tuesday, March 29, 2011
• Overland Park, KS – Tuesday, March 29, 2011
• Omaha, NE – Wednesday, March 30, 2011
• Nashville, TN – Friday, April 1, 2011
• Baton Rouge, LA – Tuesday, April 5, 2011
• Cincinnati, OH – Wednesday, April 6, 2011
• Dallas, TX   – Thursday, April 7, 2011
• Houston, TX – Tuesday, April 12, 2011
• Louisville, KY – Wednesday, April 13, 2011
• Indianapolis, IN – Thursday, April 14, 2011
• Austin, TX – Thursday, April 14, 2011
• Chicago, IL – Thursday, April 21, 2011
• Des Moines, IA – Friday, April 22, 2011
• Tulsa, OK – Tuesday, April 26, 2011
• Downers Grove, IL – Tuesday, May 10, 2011
• Cedar Rapids, IA – Thursday, May 12, 2011

My buddy John Weston is working on bringing the B-Sides Security Conference here to DFW.  Currently scheduled for Saturday, Nov 6th, the B-Sides Security Conference is targeted at IT professionals interested in “going deep” on security related topics in a relaxed and open atmosphere. 

From John’s post:

Security B-Sides is a framework of events that enables individuals to expand the spectrum of conversation beyond the confines of traditional media. Frameworks such as BSides enable individuals to drive the event, shape the media, and encourage participation. BSides are free, community organized events put on by local individuals with the expressed goal of enabling a platform for information dissemination. BSides is an ‘unconferences’ that follows ‘open spaces’ format. This varies from structured presentations to smaller break-out groups, but both provide a direct connection between speakers and the audience.

Traditionally SecurityBSides events are given alongside other major infosec events such as alongside RSA SourceBoston, & Black Hat.  However, due to its popularity local US cities have decided to put on 1 – 2 day conferences (e.g. Denver, Atlanta, Austin, & Kansas City).

BSidesDFW event details

When:	Saturday November 6th, 2010
Time:	9am – 5pm
Where:	Microsoft Technology Center 7000 State Hwy 161, Irving, TX 75039
Cost:	FREE

Website for information & registration:  http://www.securitybsides.com/BSidesDFW

The B-Sides Organizers are also still looking for people who are interested in giving lightning talks – submit your session today at http://www.securitybsides.org/BSidesDFWTalks

Saturday, October 23, 2010 – http://nwacodecamp.org

In the fine tradition of other great CodeCamp events across the world, the Northwest Arkansas developer community has announced their next CodeCamp, scheduled for October 23rd at the Tyson World Headquarters in Springdale, AR.  The event is free to attend, and there are several great tracks being planned including software development, project management, IT professional and more!

CALL FOR SPEAKERS IS NOW OPEN!

If you are passionate about a topic you feel the Northwest Arkansas technical community would be interested in, please submit it at http://nwacodecamp.org. The cutoff for speaker registration is October 1, 2010 or when all sessions are filled. Speakers interested in presenting must register on the site and fill out the information for your presentation. We will have many certified professionals presenting at this event, but we are especially looking for local talent.

Topic ideas:

1) .NET 4 and related technologies (themed)
2) Current .NET development topics
3) Non .NET technologies (yes, these are accepted!)
4) UI Design and business related topics

Code camps are volunteer driven events that are free for attendees. As such, speakers are expected to provide for their own travel arrangements. If you are affiliated with an organization that would like to sponsor Northwest Arkansas Code Camp 2010, please contact jay@jaysmith.us.

I’ve submitted 2 sessions – hope to see you there!

We’re only 2 weeks away from the 3rd annual Dallas TechFest!  The schedule is set, the bags are being packed and the speakers (including me!) are polishing up their talks.  Dallas TechFest has something to offer everyone, regardless of your particular chosen (or favorite) programming Languages:

This year’s schedule features well-known and local speakers from across 6 different communities including .NET, Java, PHP, Adobe, ColdFusion, Apple and IT Pro.  Registration is normally $50, but if you use the code “dotnet” you can get a $25 discount!  Make sure you sign up today as space is filling up quickly!

As an added bonus, everyone will receive a lunch, free Wi-Fi and a bag full of goodies from all of our sponsors!  I hope to see you there!

It’s been a while since I made one of these posts, so I figured I’d put one out there.  I really need to do this every week like I used to. Except for the typical upcoming user group meetings that you can learn about from http://www.southcentralcommunity.com, here are a list of the community-oriented conferences

NWA TechFest 2010

Thursday, July 08, 2010 8:00 AM, Rogers, AR
First annual NWA TechFest! I’m presenting 2 sessions at the event: Developing Windows Phone 7 Applications with Silverlight and an Introduction to SketchFlow.  There are a lot of great speakers there, including several of my co-workers and a whole gaggle of MVPs so make sure you attend.  Besides – it’s free!
[ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]

Dallas TechFest

Friday, July 30, 2010 8:00 AM, Richardson, TX
Dallas TechFest is back and will be occuring at the University of Texas at Dallas this year! Look forward to another day of phenomenal education by some of the best speakers from around. As in years past we will be having sessions on a wide variety of technologies including Microsoft .NET, Java, ColdFusion, Flex and PHP. Your conference ticket will include access to all general sessions, Lunch & Snacks throughout the day and an attendee bag with information and software from our sponsors. What Sessions are available you ask? http://www.DallasTechFest.com has all the details!
[ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]

SQL (.Net) Saturday #28 Baton Rouge LA

Friday, August 13, 2010 12:00 AM, Baton Rouge, LA
Free SQL Server and .Net training! Chance to win great prizes! What more could a SQL Server Professional ask for? If this sounds good to you then don’t miss your opportunity to attend SQL Saturday! #28, the largest FREE training event dedicated exclusively to SQL Server, .Net, Development and Business Intelligence to hit Baton Rouge.
[ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]

OpenCa.mp

Friday, August 27, 2010 6:00 PM, Addison, TX
OpenCamp is the SouthWest’s first multi-platform web conference. With top speakers covering topics ranging from social media to technical development, content creation, revenue generation and more, webmasters and web developers, bloggers, podcasters and technologists on any platform are welcome.
[ Event Details | Map & Directions | Add To Calendar ]

The time has come to add another fine event to the TechFest family – Northwest Arkansas TechFest 2010

Scheduled for Thursday, July 8th at the Center for Nonprofits in Rogers, Arkansas, NWA TechFest is a community-organized, community-staffed technical conference with a primary focus on providing training/teaching sessions that are immediately beneficial to the broadest range of developers and IT professionals in their day-to-day jobs. They accomplish this with numerous national and international speakers delivering 75 minute sessions on topics that range from Architecture, Development, IT Pro, Project Management and more!

As a proud member of the TechFest family, NWA TechFest asks only that each attendee bring 2 cans of food to be donated to the NWA Food Bank or 2 bucks to be donated to the Jones Center.

REGISTER NOW

Zain Naboulsi, John Weston and I, along with 25 of our closest friends, will be presenting sessions across the 8 different tracks. I myself will be delivering 2 sessions at NWA TechFest – one on building Silverlight Applications for Windows Phone 7, and one on the SketchFlow features in Expression Blend 4.

Follow these links to stay connected to what’s going on with NWA TechFest 2010!

https://microsoft.crgevents.com/Register2010

Here are all the launch dates

• Denver – April 20, 2010
• Miami – April 20, 2010
• Milwaukee – April 20, 2010
• Orlando – April 22, 2010
• Boston – April 29, 2010
• Chicago – April 29, 2010
• New York City – May 13, 2010
• Dallas – May 18, 2010
• Washington, D.C. – May 18, 2010
• L.A. (Costa Mesa) – May 18, 2010
• Atlanta – May 20, 2010
• Houston – May 20, 2010
• San Francisco – May 20, 2010
• Detroit – May 25, 2010
• Philadelphia – May 27, 2010
• Minneapolis – May 27, 2010
• Seattle – May 27, 2010

Head over to the registration site and get signed up today before time runs out!  The first event is only few short weeks away!!!