WI. Net Users Group - Event Review
This month's presenter for the Wisconsin .NET Users Group was Matthew Deiters who presented on the topic of "Design Patterns in .NET". The meeting was held at the Microsoft office in Waukesha, Wisconsin as usual, except the crowd was big enough this time to put people in the hallway outside the room. I don't want to steal any of Matt's thunder, because he did a good job, but as a group we've been building close to a situation like this for the past few meetings. I guess the large crowds and their continued growth is a sign that .NET development is really taking off in the Milwaukee area?
Going into the presentation I really didn't know all that much about what design patterns really are. I had heard them talked about plenty often, but hadn't had the basics explained to me. After Matthew Deiters was done, I left with a solid framework of what they were, how I was already using a few of the patterns, and how I could implement more. He also has me wanting to read a book he made reference to as the "Gang of Four". Matt gave a real good presention and I thought he handled audience questions real well. I felt a little off the deep end at first, but thanks to an audience question I gained a good footing of what design patterns really are and also what they are not. I definitely wouldn't mind having Matt present again. He demonstrated an incredible passion for the topic, which can usually make or break a speaker at an event such as this.
Overall the event was a success. A couple of things added up to another worthwhile trip to Milwaukee. The free pizza and pop courtesy of Serlio Software is always a plus. Brian Tinkler tried to give me the keys to his brand new 2005 Mustang when I got there, but I graciously refused his offering. Hopefully we won't be moving our meeting place to UW-Milwaukee as that would easily add another 20 minutes to my already hour long drive. On the other hand the UW-Milwaukee move would also be a plus in a few months when I'm going to school 10 minutes down the road and don't have a car to commute out to the suburbs. I wouldn't oppose the move if it came down to being the only way we can ensure everyone a seat in the room the presenter is in.
If you're in the Milwaukee area there are a couple exciting things coming up in the next month. The Milwaukee Nerd Dinner is on June 6th, I won't be there because of the Brewer game, but you should go if you're interested in technology. Also, Chris Mayo, the Midwest .NET Developer Evangelist, announced that Microsoft would be offering a free bus down to the Visual Studio 2005 DevCon in Rosemont, Illinois. I won't be on the bus, as it's easier for me to head south then to go north first. Watch the Wisconsin .Net Users Group site for more details or shoot me an email (contact info on the right). I'm going to give the Wisconsin Windows User Group grand opening meeting a shot on May 24th, anyone want to come with? It's up at UW-Miluwakee and they're giving away Microsoft Office 2003 and Microsoft OneNote to everyone who registers and attends.
Casey Chestnut is presenting next month at the next Wisconsin .Net Users Group meeting on June 14th at 7:00 P.M. Hope to see you there.
On another note, why is it a users group, we're developers?
Tags: Milwaukee, Microsoft, .Net, Windows, .Net
Going into the presentation I really didn't know all that much about what design patterns really are. I had heard them talked about plenty often, but hadn't had the basics explained to me. After Matthew Deiters was done, I left with a solid framework of what they were, how I was already using a few of the patterns, and how I could implement more. He also has me wanting to read a book he made reference to as the "Gang of Four". Matt gave a real good presention and I thought he handled audience questions real well. I felt a little off the deep end at first, but thanks to an audience question I gained a good footing of what design patterns really are and also what they are not. I definitely wouldn't mind having Matt present again. He demonstrated an incredible passion for the topic, which can usually make or break a speaker at an event such as this.
Overall the event was a success. A couple of things added up to another worthwhile trip to Milwaukee. The free pizza and pop courtesy of Serlio Software is always a plus. Brian Tinkler tried to give me the keys to his brand new 2005 Mustang when I got there, but I graciously refused his offering. Hopefully we won't be moving our meeting place to UW-Milwaukee as that would easily add another 20 minutes to my already hour long drive. On the other hand the UW-Milwaukee move would also be a plus in a few months when I'm going to school 10 minutes down the road and don't have a car to commute out to the suburbs. I wouldn't oppose the move if it came down to being the only way we can ensure everyone a seat in the room the presenter is in.
If you're in the Milwaukee area there are a couple exciting things coming up in the next month. The Milwaukee Nerd Dinner is on June 6th, I won't be there because of the Brewer game, but you should go if you're interested in technology. Also, Chris Mayo, the Midwest .NET Developer Evangelist, announced that Microsoft would be offering a free bus down to the Visual Studio 2005 DevCon in Rosemont, Illinois. I won't be on the bus, as it's easier for me to head south then to go north first. Watch the Wisconsin .Net Users Group site for more details or shoot me an email (contact info on the right). I'm going to give the Wisconsin Windows User Group grand opening meeting a shot on May 24th, anyone want to come with? It's up at UW-Miluwakee and they're giving away Microsoft Office 2003 and Microsoft OneNote to everyone who registers and attends.
Casey Chestnut is presenting next month at the next Wisconsin .Net Users Group meeting on June 14th at 7:00 P.M. Hope to see you there.
On another note, why is it a users group, we're developers?
Tags: Milwaukee, Microsoft, .Net, Windows, .Net
1 Comments:
At May 13, 2005 11:38 PM , John Davies said...
One of my most useful pattern books is the Pattern Almanac 2000. It breaks up patterns by industry.
Lots of times I'd look at patterns and not know where I'd ever use them. After finding the Almanac, I realized that I was right, I'd never have need for that pattern. It was a pattern for other programmers.
I looked on Amazon and it is for sale used for $2.
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