Kevin S. Goff: Stages of Data

12/28/2009 - Speaking at Northern Delaware .NET User Group on 1/28/2010

On Thursday night, January 28th, I'll be speaking at the Northern Delaware .NET User Group, in Wilmington, Delaware.  The main topic will be integrating SSRS 2005/2008 with SharePoint 2007 - however, I'm also going to cover general report deployment topics, as well as accessing SSRS reports from .NET.

A few of us are headed for Joe's Crab Shack after the meeting - so if you want to talk about SSRS and enjoy some great crab leg afterwards, come on out!

12/27/2009 - Speaking at NJ SQL Server User Group on 1/19/2010

First speaking event of 2010 - for the New Jersey SQL Server User Group on Tuesday night, January 19th.  Topic will be advanced output features in SSRS 2008 - basically some walkthroughs of charting and tablix examples that you won't find in books.  I'm also going to talk about ways to customize the preview window and preview window toolbar when reports have been deployed (either to MOSS or a native report server). 

(And there might be a example based on 2008R2, though generally I prefer to cover topics and tips that people can use right away).

Anyway who has attended NJ SQL Server User Group talks in Parsippany NJ knows that SetFocus has full video conferencing capability - I'll be taking advantage of it that night, as I'll be presenting from my home in Central PA.  

As most know, Melissa Demsak runs the SQL Server User Group - Melissa is one of the nicest and most decent individuals I've ever met.   Always happy to speak for her group!

9/30/2009 - Get ready for a Nor'easter! (The good kind)

Hi, all,

Well, after a pretty long hiatus, I'm back on the road - this fall will be a special Nor'easter - 3 Saturday MSDN CodeCamp events in 3 cities in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic between now and early December:

October 17th: Boston CodeCamp in Waltham, Massachusetts  
http://thedevcommunity.org

November 7th:   CodeCamp at UConn (University of Connecticut)
http://fairfieldwestchester.net/Code-Camp.aspx

December 5th:   Central PA MSDN CodeCamp in Harrisburg, PA
http://centralpenn.web121.discountasp.net/home/

Topics aren't completely set, but I'll likely be covering some combination of these four across the different events:

Integrating SQL Server Reporting Services 2008 with SharePoint Server 2007
Integrating MDX with the Microsoft BI stack
SQL Server Integration Services 2008 - what every DB developer should know
What is SQL Server Analysis Services and why should you care?

CodeCamps are great events, I definitely recommend them.  They're informative, they're fun, and they're free!  :)

Peace out...KG

3/28/2008 – The Baker’s Spring Road Trip!!!

Well, spring is here – warmer weather, baseball, and a big set of road trips coming up!

First, I'll be in Boston the weekend after next (April 5^th and April 6^th) for Boston Code Camp in Waltham Massachusetts. Here's the preliminary session schedule. While subject to change, I'm doing 5 sessions over the two-day period, on WCF, LINQ, T-SQL, SSRS 2008, and applied MDX with Microsoft BI tools.

The Boston event is usually huge – about 400-500 people. Boston Code Camp holds a lot of sentimental value for me – I attended my first Code Camp in Boston in March 2005. I got to hang out with Rod Paddock that weekend and had a great time. While I'm not fond of long car rides, the drive through New England is really nice.

Then I'll be at the Mother Ship April 13^th through 17^th for the Microsoft MVP Summit. While I've been an MVP since 2005, this will be my FIRST MVP Summit. I missed the one in fall 2005 because of heavy client workload, and then I missed the one in March of 2007 because I was sick, really sick. For years I've owned my MVP friend Bonnie Berent a free dinner, and now I'll finally get to pay up!!!

Next, I'll be in Richmond on April 26^th for Richmond Code Camp. The schedule isn't yet set, but I believe I'll be doing three sessions that day, probably on T-SQL, LINQ, and MDX. I'll post the link when the schedule is set.

I spoke in Richmond twice in 2006, and found the attendees were really, really sharp. Kevin Israel, Andy Leonard, Susan Lennon, and the other organizers are some of the nicest people I've ever met. Sometimes people are surprised that I'd drive 4-5 hours each way for a Code Camp that's several states away. If you have the chance to meet these people, you'd understand why. Code Camps aren't "just" about technology, they're about people.

After that, I'll be in Philadelphia for Philly Code Camp. I "think" the date will be May 17^th. Bill Wolff and Company always put on a tremendous show with great support from companies like ComponentOne, Infragistics, RDA, and RedGate. I get to see many of my local buds in Philly, and always have a great time. I'll post more details as they become available.

And finally, I'll be doing my LINQ/VS2008 Language enhancements talk at Northern NJ .NET User's Group. The company I train for (SetFocus, LLC) hosts the User Group meetings – they have an outstanding facility and a smart user group.

So that's my schedule for the next few months – tentatively I may be doing another .NET User Group and SQL Server User Group meeting between now and summer. I'll post those details if that winds up happening. Last year I did a total of 18 events – I don't think I'll have that many this year, but I'm sure there'll be another road trip or two in the second half of the year.

You only have one life – live it to the fullest…

KG

3/14/2008 – A great blog post on public speaking

My editor at CoDe Magazine and good friend Rod Paddock has written a fantastic blog post about public speaking.

If you do any kind of public speaking, you should read this. And read it again… J

Rod is an excellent speaker. I've seen him present at several different events. Have you ever seen an athlete who almost effortlessly does something spectacular? That's Rod -his presentations are smooth.

KG

1/20/2008 – Speaking at the Lehigh Valley .NET User Group

This coming Monday (January 21, 2008), I'm speaking at the Lehigh Valley .NET User Group, just outside of Allentown, PA. Scheduled topic will be Crash Course on LINQ and Visual Studio 2008 Language enhancements.

The session has many code samples. The session is based on my CoDe Magazine article on LINQ from earlier in the year, though I've added quite a bit of content since.

Even though I'm living in Harrisburg now (my original hometown…yes, you CAN go home again!), I still want to keep in close contact with community events in Philly, Allentown, Jersey, etc. And, of course, I have selfish reasons for wanting to drive out to Allentown – there's a great restaurant/pub right next to DeSales University where the LV .NET group meets. Of course, I can't recall the name, it's something like "Copper Grill". Anyway, if you live in that area, c'mon out and let's talk about LINQ! Directions to the location are on the LV .NET site.

12/30/2007 – MSDN CodeCamp in Philadelphia on January 12, 2008

Hi, all – hope everyone is having a great holiday season.

Last big announcement for 2007 – Philly .NET Users Group is planning a MEGA CodeCamp, on Saturday January 12. You can register here.

They're planning about 400 people, with some great sessions. I'm going a session on LINQ and VS2008 Language enhancements. Hope to see you there!

Happy New Year – DRIVE SAFELY!!!
KG

11/25/06: Last CodeCamp for '06

I'll be at Central PA CodeCamp this coming Saturday (Dec 2), at Harrisburg Area Community College.   I'm doing three sessions on .NET generics, T-SQL 2005, and building distributed reporting solutions.   My friend John Baird will be doing a session on test-driven development, and there are some good sessions on SharePoint and SQL Integration Services.

The user community in Harrisburg is a great  (and sharp) group of people - I spoke at their User Group and CodeCamp last fall, and am looking forward to this one.

I'd like to thank all the people who have attended my sessions this year in NYC, Philly, NJ, Boston, Richmond and Montreal.  I've received great feedback that improved my sessions.  I've also had the chance to talk regularly with guys like Don Demsak, Miguel Castro, Peter Laudati, Frank LaVigne, and many others. 

KG

5/7/06: Leaving Boston, on to Montreal!

Hi, folks....

Boston CodeCamp was great - just got  home a little while ago...flying to Montreal tomorrow for DevTeach.

I want to thank everyone who came to my sessions.  I received some great questions and suggestions - give me a day or two to research some things, and I''ll post them on my blog.

Also in another day or so I'll update the PPTs and code from the changes I made to my presentations. 

Double-props to one of the attendees in the C# session, Rob Hale from GE Healthcare.  Rob thought of another use for a generic collection...a list of instantiated objects that all implement an interface.  He actually built a C# 2.0 demo project during the session and shared the code with everyone at the end.  When I post the updated code for my demo project, I'll make sure to note Rob's contribution.  Thanks, Rob!  You've got two votes from me if you ever decide to present.

But right now, I'm gonna wind down with some Miles Davis and get a few hours sleep.

Again, thanks to everyone in Boston...

Peace out...KG

4/26/06: The Baker's Spring 2006 Tour

"Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends...."

That's right - Road Trip!     A three-city tour coming up:

A week from Friday (5/5), driving with Miguel Castro and some of his buddies up to Boston for Code Camp 5.  Looks like we're taking the Baker-Mobile  (my Explorer).  Hope Miguel can handle 5 hours of classic jazz.

I'm doing four sessions and Miguel is also doing four.  Hopefully not at the same time, we love to heckle each other.

Then from there, flying to Montreak for DevTeach!!!    Parlez-vous francais?

Flying back Friday the 12th, staying overnight in Philly, then doing a session for the Philly SQL Server CodeCamp on May 13.    Then back home on Saturday night to CRASH!

Peace out...KG