March 2008: Jason Beres
Topic:  Building Next Generation Web Applications Using Silverlight
Sponsored by:  Infragistics

Abstract: Silverlight is arguably the biggest shift in Microsoft strategy on the web since IE was introduced over 10 years ago. With the reach of cross platform and the richness of the .NET framework, the future of building Rich Internet Applications (RIA’s) has never been more exciting. In this talk, you will learn about Silverlight, the platforms, tools and technologies you can use to build Silverlight applications, and how it differs from the full Windows Presentation Foundation platform in .NET 3.0 and how Silverlight can be used in conjunction with other technologies, such as ASP.NET Ajax and Windows Communication Foundation. 

Bio: Jason Beres is the Director of Product Management for Infragistics, the world’s leading publisher of presentation layer tools. Jason is one of the founders of Florida .NET User Groups, he is the founder of the Central New Jersey .NET User Group, he is a Visual Basic .NET MVP, and he is on the INETA Speakers Bureau. Jason is the author of several books on .NET development, including the recently published Silverlight 1.0 from Wrox Press. Jason is a national and international conference speaker; he is a frequent columnist for several .NET publications, and keeps very active in the .NET community. 

  Jason's latest book is based on Silverlight 1.0
Silverlight 1.0 can be purchased on amazon today!

Infragistics has been the market leader in the presentation layer components industry for over 18 years. With a comprehensive portfolio of multi-platform Enterprise Software products and services, Infragistics has achieved global reach in nearly every Fortune 2000 company. Infragistics empowers developers to build and style great application user interfaces for Windows Forms, ASP.NET, WPF and JSF, and additionally offers user interface test tools, support, training and consulting services.

With a history of success and a corporate culture focused on delighting customers, Infragistics continues to grow and prosper. Infragistics is constantly innovating and aggressively recruiting world-wide to fuel new ideas in offices in the US, UK, Japan, Bulgaria, France, Canada and India. For additional information on Infragistics, products and career opportunities, please visit http://www.infragistics.com/ or call us in the US at 1 (609) 448-2000.

UPDATE: April 2008:  Brian Donahue
Topic:  Behavior Driven Development: The Evolution of TDD
Sponsored by:  Design Strategy

Abstract: Test Driven Development has been gaining prominence, and many developers recognize the value it provides. Still, TDD adoption can be a slow and painful process, and often results in early abandonment as challenges mount. Many believe the current body of TDD knowledge puts too much emphasis on testing implementation details, and not enough on testing behavior. Behavior Driven Development (BDD) takes a more focused approach to TDD that can help clarify the testing process, and create a meaningful, readable suite of tests that not only helps you and other developers understand your application, but can be used to show your client that the application is meeting their needs. When developers, customers, and managers can clearly see the value of writing tests, everyone wins. 

Bio: Brian Donahue is a software developer with 10 years experience with a variety of web application platforms, focusing recently on ASP.NET. His consulting company, Vitreo Solutions ( www.vitreosolutions.com), builds custom business software for its clients. A strong believer in Agile and Extreme Programming (XP) principles and practices, Brian tries to promote their use in his work, as well as in the software development community. He recently organized a Philadelphia "ALT.NET" user group which he describes as "an open conversation about the 'pursuit of happiness' on the Microsoft platform." Principles such as agility, testability, and maintainability are common themes, as well as discussion of open source software and other alternatives that can help make your .NET software development easier, and more fun. Brian blogs at http://persistall.com

Strategic Staffing Services.
Design Strategy Corporation is a technology services company specializing in developing scalable solutions for the financial services, pharmaceutical, retail and other industries. Leveraging our highly skilled workforce, technology expertise, and industry knowledge, we develop, deploy and manager solutions for companies of all sizes. Founded in 1980, Design Strategy Corporation maintains offices in New York City, New Jersey, and Maryland and staffs projects throughout the continental United States. For more information visit www.designstrategy.com

May 2008:  David Yack - INETA SPEAKER
Topic:  Lap around Silverlight 2 

Abstract:  David Yack will be presenting a lap around Silverlight 2. Silverlight 2 allows developers to use .NET managed code to build Rich Internet Applications. In this talk we will look at the new controls, networking capabilities and other new features in Silverlight2. Additionally, we will discuss how to easily integrate Silverlight with existing ASP.NET applications.

Bio:  David Yack is the CTO of Colorado Technology Consultants, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner based in Colorado. As a senior hands’ on technology and business consultant with over 18 years of industry experience, David enjoys developing applications for the Microsoft platforms, specializing in large system architecture , design and integration. David embraced .NET during the final beta days of version 1.0 and has been helping clients migrate and build new applications on the technology, as well as helping to mentor and train their staffs. \

David is a Microsoft Regional Director and is also a Microsoft MVP for ASP.NET. David is a frequent speaker at user group and industry events and is co-author of two NET 2.0 related books. David founded and is on the leadership team for the South Colorado .NET User Group and lives in Colorado Springs with his wife and two kids.

You can always track David down via his blog at http://blog.davidyack.com where he writes about his .NET adventures or visit his website http://www.davidyack.com

SPONSOR:

INETA provides structured, peer-based organizational, educational, and promotional support to the growing worldwide community of Microsoft® .NET user groups. Our mission is to offer assistance and resources to community groups that promote and educate their membership in Microsoft's .NET technologies.

INETA welcomes all facets of the .NET user community, from developers and architects to project managers and IT professionals. Members can be user groups or special interest groups that: Focus on a single aspect of .NET, such as C# Target the entire .NET platform Concentrate on other development technologies but are also interested in .NET INETA is the next evolution in user group communities – a non-profit, independent organization, chartered with supporting all user groups interested in the Microsoft .NET platform. INETA is run by a board of user group leaders, elected by their peers, and supported by Microsoft Corporation and other sponsors.

June 2008:  Kevin Goff
Topic:  LINQ

Bio:  Kevin S. Goff, a Microsoft MVP award recipient for 2007, is the founder and principal consultant of Common Ground Solutions, a consulting group that provides custom Web and desktop software solutions in .NET, VFP, SQL Server, and Crystal Reports. Kevin is the author of Pro VS 2005 Reporting using SQL Server and Crystal Reports, published by Apress. Kevin has been building software applications since 1988. He has received several awards from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for systems automation. He has also received special citations from Fortune 500 Companies for solutions that yielded six-figure returns on investment. He has worked in such industries as insurance, accounting, public health, real estate, publishing, advertising, manufacturing, finance, consumer packaged goods, and trade promotion. In addition, Kevin provides many forms of custom training.

July 2008:  Rachel Appel
Topic:  Coming soon!

Bio:  For nearly two decades, Rachel Appel (MCT MCAD MCSD) has been working as an instructor, software developer, architect and DBA for a wide variety of organizations. She is the Vice President and a regular speaker of the dotNetValley user’s group, as well as other local user groups of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Rachel’s expertise lies within developing solutions that align business and technology using the Microsoft .NET family of products. Rachel is currently an independent consultant for her company, Appel Consulting.  You can visit Rachel's website at www.appelconsulting.com or her blog at www.rachelappel.com.

August 2008:  Miguel Castro
Topic:  Coming soon!

Bio:Miguel Castro is a Visual Developer C# MVP, CoDe Magazine Writer, Speaker at VSLive! and many usergroups and any other place geeks tend to congregate.

Miguel is known for is work with custom web controls which is a natual outpouring of his penchant for elegant object oriented development. Visit Miguel's website at DotNetDude.com and read his blog at http://www.geekswithblogs.com/mcastro

September 2008:  Michael Lotter
Topic:  InfoPath 2007 and Visual Studio 2008

Abstract:  The session walks through building a new InfoPath 2007 form, Web Service, .NET Class, Workflow and LDAP query with Visual Studio 2008. The form will call web service on opening and retrieve the current user Active Directory information and State list from SQL 2005 database to populate an InfoPath form drop down list. A simple workflow will be created and deployed with Visual Studio 2008 for sending an email.

Bio:Michael Lotter, MCTS, is a SharePoint Solutions Architect for B&R Business Solutions, and travels throughout the United States implementing SharePoint and InfoPath-based solutions. He is an active speaker at East Coast Code Camps and user group meetings, and is a co-author on O’Reilly’s SharePoint 2007: The Definitive Guide. You can also follow Michael’s work through his blog, located at http://www.sharepointblogs.com/mdlotter.  

October 2008:  Tentative INETA Speaker
Topic:  TBD

 Abstract: DotNetNuke is an open-source Web Application Framework ideal for creating and deploying projects such as commercial websites, corporate intranets and extranets, online publishing portals, and custom vertical applications. With a community of over 500,000 registered users and thousands of DotNetNuke portals world-wide, DotNetNuke is the largest .NET-based Open Source project in the world today.

This session will include a brief history and overview of DotNetNuke, what it is, how to install, configure and use it, and some samples to show what you can achieve using DotNetNuke as your portal solution. DotNetNuke is also a powerful development framework for portal development. Whether you are a VB.NET or C# developer, you can build DotNetNuke modules that range from simply utilities to business solutions leveraging the DotNetNuke framework and maximizing your productivity.

DotNetNuke has a vibrant and very active community that includes forums, blogs and a growing marketplace for 3rd party modules and skin templates. At the conclusion of the presentation, some of the future plans for DotNetNuke will be revealed including the upcoming 5.0 release (code named Cambrian). 

Bio:  Steve Fabian has been developing software for over 25 years in dozens of programming languages. From small utility applications to large scale core enterprise applications used by hundreds of thousands of users, Steve has designed and implemented business solutions and managed development teams to solve real world business problems.

After working at Citicorp Mortgage and designing one of the first online Mortgage Application solutions in the late 80's, Steve moved to ADP in 1990 and while leading a team to produce many mission-critical applications, developed the flagship PC-based Payroll application, ADP PC/Payroll for Windows. Steve is currently designing and implementing an enterprise workflow solution utilizing Microsoft's latest .NET 3.5 technologies such as Windows Workflow Foundation, Communications Foundation, Linq and AJAX/Silverlight.

Steve contributes to the world .NET community as a member of the DotNetNuke Core Development Team and Project Trustee, which is the largest .NET-based Open Source project in the world with over 500,000 registered users and thousands of portal solutions deployed world-wide. As a member of the DotNetNuke project since 2003, and project leader and architect for the core Repository module, Steve has also contributed as the Technical Editor for the 'DotNetNuke for Dummies' book (Wiley), and contributing author for 'Professional DotNetNuke ASP.NET Portals' (Wrox), as well as presenting information about DotNetNuke to local User's Groups.

Steve was named a Microsoft MVP for 2007 in the ASP/ASP.NET category.