Hello everyone!

It's been quite a while since my last post, and while I do not have a ton of information worth "blogging about" at this time, we are heavy into some exiting things. I wanted to get on here and let everyone know that:

a.) I'm still alive

b.) I am now working with a new company as a Microsoft Practice Director here in the Twin Cities.

I'm working on a couple more SharePoint articles that I will post as I have time over the next month or so. Also, a lot of new activity in the Silverlight / WPF arena that I'm pretty excited about too.

Check back soon for more!

Jerry

Like I was saying before, it's been a really exciting month! Looks like I will be heading down next weekend to the Iowa Code Camp. I had so much fun at the Twin Cities Code Camp that I jumped at the opportunity to speak at another one.

If you are interested in attending, the details are:

Saturday, May 3^rd
8:00am - 5:30pm
No cost

Location:

University Conference Center
181 S Clinton St
Iowa City, IA 52240

To Register, please visit their site: www.iowacodecamp.com

I've been working for a bit on creating some starting point articles for people interested in SharePoint Web Content Management (WCM). I have just recently finished the first couple, and thought I would go ahead and post the links to them for anyone who may be interested. If you have feedback, please let me know. I'd like these to  be a good reference point for people.

If you are interested, please take a look:

Absolute Beginner's Guide to SharePoint Web Content Management

Thanks,

Jerry

Hi Everyone,

It certainly has been a busy month! Showcasing a lot of stuff in SharePoint, speaking at the Twin Cities .NET User Group, attending the launch event, presenting at the Twin Cities Code Camp, and now, helping start the Minnesota Silverlight / WPF User Group!

I get the distinct honor of being the first presenter of this User Group! Knowing how fast Silverlight and WPF are catching on industry wide, I am confident this will quickly become a large and active group.

The first session is described below. If you are interested in attending, I suggest you register now. These events often fill up fast!

5/20/2008.  12 pm - 2 pm 

Topic:  Building Rich Internet Applications Using SilverLight 2.0.

Abstract:

Take a walk through one of Microsoft's most exciting product offerings yet. Silverlight provides the foundation for not only Rich Internet Applications (RIAs), but also for distributed compatibility never before seen from a Microsoft platform. We'll walk through the capabilities of the software as well as the Expression Suite of tools used to develop graphically rich applications. We will discuss the capabilities of Silverlight 1..0 as well as delve into what is coming with version 2.0.

For More Information, Click Here

Jerry

Well, here it is a new week. Last Saturday (April 5th, 2008), Jason Bock had his fourth Twin Cities Code Camp session. It was the first one I attended (and presented) at, and I must say, I was highly impressed! The caliber of people at this event were, most definitely, top notch! It is also a much more relaxed environment where speakers are willing to deviate from the canned presenations and "experiment". Scary if you are a presenter, but AWESOME when you are an attendee!

For anyone interested, I've added the event to my links list in the side navigation. Be sure to check out his site for details on the next event (scheduled this fall, I believe). It is definitely something worth attending!

-- Jerry

For anyone who missed the presentation on Thursday (at the Twin Cities .NET User's Group), I will be giving a similar, albeit modified, version of the presentation at the Twin Cities Code Camp. Looks like registration is full, but there is a waiting list if you wanted to try and get in.

My Presentation: Making Web Content Management Work for You.

Date:
April 5th, 2008

Location:
New Horizon's Facility
4510 W. 77th Street #210
Edina, MN 55435

Hello Everyone!

I wanted to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who came to the .NET User Group presentation tonight. I always have a lot of fun speaking about SharePoint, and the possibilities it has. I was especially impressed with the questions posed by everyone. It certainly helps me focus more on what everyone is wanting to learn, while making for a much less stiff presentation!

As promised, I've compiled the slide deck here if anyone is interested:

.NET User Group Presentation

Also, as a final note, I'm always interested to hear everyone elses stories with SharePoint. So, please feel free to let me know what your working on, and any questions / comments you may have.

Again, for all of those who came, thanks!

- Jerry

There seems to be a rash of products out from Microsoft as of the last couple years that, well, how should we say, have names that are a bit confusing? The last time I remember this much confusion was around Visual Studio Team Foundation Server (TFS) and Visual Studio Team Editions. One would have thought that perhaps a better marketing strategy would have been to better clarify these.

It seems, we are here again. This time, there is SharePoint. With the release of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, it seems that everything is now called SharePoint. And, well, it sort of it. But, what does it all mean and what are the differences?

For the most part, there is now an industry understanding on the lingo, and I'll attempt to outline here (and before all of you die hards get upset with me, please understand this is meant to be a generalization to simplify terminology).

Windows SharePoint Services (WSS)
WSS 3.0 is now out, and is the foundation for the latest SharePoint offerings.

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS)
A huge collections of "add-ons" for WSS 3.0. These include Enterprise Content Management (ECM), Single Signon (SSO), Etc.

Enterprise Content Management (ECM)
Features for Content Management, such as the ability to version your website content, security based publishing, etc.

Web Content Management (WCM)
Upgrade path for Microsoft Content Management Server (MCMS) 2002. All functionality of MCMS is now rolled into MOSS 2007.

Happy Friday everyone!

I just wanted to let everyone know that I will be speaking at the Twin Cities .NET User Group meeting on Thursday, April 3rd, 2008. The event is scheduled to go from 5pm to 7pm, but I would recommend getting there a bit early. It's a wonderful place to network, and I'm always open to fielding specific questions before or after the event!

Presentation Abstract:

Since Content Management Server 2002 has been Microsoft's only solution to Content Management for over six years, it has become less and less of a contender in the Content Management world. Now enters MOSS 2007, the new upgrade path for CMS 2002. We will review the ins and outs of the new features of MOSS 2007's CMS module. What's great, what just works, and the things that could work better. Find out if SharePoint is the right choice for you and your organization.

We will dispel the myth that sites running on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 have to look like SharePoint Sites. You will see how to create robust, visually attractive sites in minutes and we will look at the code that makes it all possible.

To attend, please register:

http://www.ilmservice.com/twincitiesnet/Signup.aspx?eventid=80

I will be attending the Microsoft "Hereos Happen {here}" 2008 launch event. I'll be spending some time at the "Ask The Experts" booth answering SharePoint Web Content Management questions.

If you are planning on attending, please stop by and say hello!

To Register:

http://www.microsoft.com/heroeshappenhere/events/Minneapolis/default.mspx

After the show, be sure to check back here, I'll be posting anything worth while I learn while there.