mvc Conf: The Virtual ASP.NET MVC Conference

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Eric Hexter over at Los Techies just announced this awesome virtual event on twitter.  If you are into Mvc you don’t want to miss this.

MvcConf is a virtual confernce focused on one thing. Writing awesome applications on top of the ASP.Net MVC framework.  The event will be free to attend, and your brain will explode from taking in so much hard core technical sessions. Sounds fun eh?

Thursday in July 22nd 8am - 5pm CDT

You can register and find out other ways you can be involved on the mvc Conf site

Code Jam #1 - July 11th, 2010 12:00 PM to ?

The Northwest Arkansas .NET User Group is planning some awesome events for the coming year.  To be able to get these events of the ground we need to get together and work on the websites.  If you have some time pack up your laptop and join us on July 11th, from noon till whenever for an evening of fun and code where we will get started working on sites for the Northwest Arkansas Give Camp and Northwest Arkansas Community Camp events.

If you plan on showing up let me know by registering.

Pavlov’s Monkeys: Understanding the Status Quo

It has always bothered me when I hear “Because that is the way we have always done it” as a reason for not trying something new.  Most of the time the person that says that has no understanding of why things are they way they are.  They also feel like something bad will happen if they do try something new.

Every time I am in this situation I tell the story of Pavlov’s Monkeys to demonstrate how this mindset can be established and hopefully open the minds of those in the room.

I am not sure of the origin of this story but wanted to share it in hopes that it might help you change this behavior where you work.

PAVLOV'S MONKEYS:

Start with a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, hang a banana
on a string and place a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will
go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he
touches the stairs, spray all of the other monkeys with cold water. After a
while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result - all the other
monkeys are sprayed with cold water.

Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other
monkeys will try to prevent it.

Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace
it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the
stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him.
After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the
stairs, he will be assaulted.

Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new
one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer
takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise, replace a third
original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth.

Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked. Most of
the monkeys that are beating him have no idea why they were not permitted
to climb the stairs or why they are participating in the beating of the
newest monkey. After replacing all the original monkeys, none of the
remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no
monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana.

Why not?

Because as far as they know that's the way it's always been done around
here. And that, my friends, is how company policy begins.

 

Note: The image is from a blog post by Kumar AbhishekBeing Monkey! A Sad Reality of Teams and Workspaces, which deals with the same subject.

Nwa Code Camp Announced for October 23, 2010 in Springdale, AR

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*** Update: Registration Link updated ***

I am proud to announce the Northwest Arkansas Code Camp 2010.  This is the first developer focused conference in Northwest Arkansas.  Organized by the Northwest Arkansas .NET User Group this event promises to be one of the best this year.

When: October 23, 2010

Where: Tyson World Headquarters, Springdale, AR [MAP]

This year we are aligning our event with the Tyson Development Conference, a 2 day internal conference for Tyson Foods.  Tyson is sponsoring this event by providing the venue and keeping some speakers from their conference another night so they can present at the this event.

This year we will celebrate the growth of our community with the addition of new tracks for Project Managers, Designers, and more.  If you are a group leader in the area and would like to have a track for speakers at the event please contact me.

Call For Speakers

If you are interested in presenting at this event please email your Name, Bio, and session abstracts to jay@jaysmith.us with the subject of Code Camp 2010.

Registration

Attendee registration is open and available here.

NWA DNUG: Building A Testable Data Layer – Todd Anglin

The Northwest Arkansas .NET User Group July meeting will be hosting Todd Anglin, Telerik Chief Technical Evangelist, talking about “Building A Testable Data Layer”.

NOTE: New Location this month, Technology 101 Rogers, AR [MAP]

Session Description

All developers understand the theoretical value of unit testing, but with data driven line of business applications, figuring out how to create tests can be hard. In this session, learn how to build a data layer that can be tested. We will introduce data layer architecture practices and methodologies that make testing possible, and cover the basics of unit test mocking. You will also be guided through various types of testing, including unit, integration, and functional testing. Leave this session with the basics needed to start creating tests for application data layers, including those powered by LinqToSQL and OpenAccess ORM.

About Todd Anglin

Todd Anglin is an active .NET community member, President of the North Houston .NET User Group, and Telerik's Chief Technical Evangelist. At Telerik, Todd is responsible for building Telerik's global community of developers and helping ensure Telerik's products serve the needs of .NET developers around the world. Before joining Telerik, Todd worked as a developer in a Fortune 200 financial services company supporting applications on a wide range of platforms and technologies, including Unix, Windows Server, Informix, Oracle, and SQL Server. He also an avid entrepreneur with previous experience running a small .NET software studio.

Meeting Date: July 13, 2010
Meeting Location: Technology 101, 5211 Village Parkway, Suite 1, Rogers AR [MAP]
Meeting Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

About the Northwest Arkansas .NET User Group (NWADNUG):

The Northwest Arkansas .NET User Group is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to the promotion, education and adoption of Microsoft .NET Technologies. We strive to provide an environment for professionals to network in Northwest Arkansas to foster the free exchange of ideas and information.

We hold monthly meetings that have presentations that allow you to keep up to date on the latest emerging .NET technologies as well as providing practical skills you can apply immediately.

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