GCNUG

My thoughts on Open Spaces

Chris Williams — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:24:48 GMT

At the beginning of the MVP Summit, we had these talks called Open Spaces. The idea behind this was a free exchange of ideas with little or no agenda... just a topic. It's been done other places with varying degrees of success, but unfortunately the sessions I attended would have to be classified as a failure.

Why?

The first problem was the lack of moderation. We had a facilitator, but honestly he lacked a strong enough personality to reign the group in. It eventually got to the point where an MVP stepped up and started running the session. If I didn't know the guy, I would have thought it was arranged.

The second problem, and this isn't Microsoft's fault, is that our topic comes with a room full of egos. The topic was User Group Community and the room was mostly full of User Group Leaders. It's understood that there's a certain amount of ego involved in running a user group. It's not for the timid or the shy. You have to be willing to get up in front of people and considering yourself a leader certainly helps.

The problem is, there's a lot of folks who are convinced that they way they do things is the only possible way it should be done. Now, it may certainly be the only way that could work for "their personal group dynamic, in their town, at that time" but I can assure you as someone who has started and led 3 different user groups in 3 different states, there is NO "one-size-fits-all" solution for running a user group.

So we had a few folks that had very different opinions about what constitutes best practices. That's GREAT!! That's what open spaces are all about. Unfortunately, some of these folks lacked certain social graces, like knowing how to take turns, waiting for others to finish speaking, you know... things our society considers polite... and that is when the trouble started.

(Before you start warming up my inbox, yes I understand that this was a Global Summit, and yes there are cultures other than our own present, but the major repeat offenders in this case were all of the local culture and most definitely should have known better. Most of our foreign guests were actually quite polite and patiently waited for their turn to speak... a turn which sadly often never arrived.)

Without fail, every time the conversation would fork in an interesting direction, one of these egos would just start shouting over everyone else and inevitably steer the "discussion" back to their own agenda and their own experiences.

Examples of things that should never occur or be discussed at an event like this:

legal advice (even if you're in the same state as the person you are "advising," if you aren't a lawyer please refrain from dispensing legal advice. It doesn't matter if you're right. It doesn't matter if your brother is a lawyer. Just don't do it.)
unethical fund-raising (to the guy who sells his user group members contact information. Shame on you.)
discouraging new speakers (seriously? were you born with the gift of public speaking? I sure wasn't.)
elitism / exclusivity (yes there are groups out there that actively discourage novices from joining. If you want to form an experts only group, that's fine but don't complain about lack of INETA or community support.)

This session was held twice, to accommodate folks who wanted to attend a different session during one of the two time slots. I sat through both sessions, and while the second session was definitely more on track than the first, it could have been a lot better.

Don't get the wrong impression. Some good points were made, even by some of the egos, but ultimately I think the message was lost in the medium.

South Carolina Code Camp 2.0 Countdown...

Chris Williams — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 16:42:00 GMT

South Carolina Code Camp 2.0 is in 11 days.

This year, Code Camp is 2 days instead of one and is being held in Greenville SC at the Buck Mickel Center on September 16th and 17th. On Saturday, we have tracks on Web, Windows, Framework & Tools and Business Intelligence. On Sunday, we have more sessions on the Web track, along with Data, Game Development and the MSDN coding4fun site (hobbyist development.)

In addition to local developers, we also have some special guests coming all the way from Kansas!! That's right, Tim Hibbard, Jeff Julian, John Alexander, Dru Sellers and Joseph Calhoon are all coming down to SC Code Camp 2.0!!

We've had a couple last minute cancellations, but were able to fill the holes pretty quickly. We've got a great schedule lined up and a great location to have it in. If you haven't signed up yet, now is definitely the time to do so. We only have a few seats left, so sign up and get yours today.

South Carolina Code Camp 2.0

Greenville Spartanburg Developers Guild

Chris Williams — Wed, 17 May 2006 10:55:00 GMT

Glen Gordon (SouthEast US Developer Community Champion) spoke at the GSPDevelopers meeting last night. I've heard Glen speak before (several times, in fact) and he always does a great job. Last night was no exception.

After some initial announcements and Code Camp hoopla, Glen got started. He spoke for about 90 minutes on the System.Net namespace in 2.0 and what all you can do with it. Very entertaining and engaging presentation. You can grab the slides and sample code HERE.

Also, Glen introduced some of us to a new font that is definitely easier on the eyes when staring at Visual Studio for hours at a time. You can grab that HERE or just read Glen's post (and the resulting Jihad in the comments section.)

Looks like Glen should be joining us for as well. The question is, will YOU be?

Coding4Fun @ South Carolina Code Camp 2.0

Chris Williams — Wed, 03 May 2006 11:01:00 GMT

Do you live in the SouthEast US and have a fun or interesting project you want to share with others?

Whether you wrote it yourself or just built upon it, we have a track especially for you at the South Carolina Code Camp 2.0 this coming September 16th & 17th.

In addition to an all day Game Dev track (ending with a Game Dev Q&A panel), we also have a “Coding For Fun” track, put together especially for the casual/hobbyist programmer to show off a bit.

For more information, visit the SC CC 2.0 page! If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

South Carolina Code Camp 2.0

Chris Williams — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 10:43:00 GMT

As your friendly neighborhood INETA Membership Manager for North and South Carolina, I'm happy to announce that South Carolina is getting their second Code Camp!! This one will be in September (just like last year) and is in the Greenville/Spartanburg area.

This is a TWO DAY code camp and while the exact location is still TBD, the dates are set: 9/16 & 9/17.

The call for speakers is open and you can find information (along with the speaker submission form) at the Greenville Spartanburg Developers Guild website under the Code Camp tab.

If you have ever thought about doing any speaking at user groups or events, Code Camps are a fabulous way to get started. First time speakers are encouraged to apply. Remember, this is about community. Anyone who has a code-related topic and presentation is welcome. (This isn't just a .NET love fest either. The Developers Guild embraces all types.)

(also worth mentioning, there will be a Game Development track and (hopefully) a game developer panel at the end of the day.)

running a successful code camp

Chris Williams — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 12:27:00 GMT

I've spoken at four Code Camps and chaired one in Charleston. I'm gearing up to do another one in September. Today someone asked me if I had any advice/suggestions for running a code camp. If there's anything I'm full of, it's suggestions. :)

This is what I came up with:

- plan things as far in advance as possible. we did Charleston in 3 months, this one in 6 months.

- promote early and often, in every way you can think of.

- involve the local colleges and universities!!

- contact as many supporters (magazine & book publishers, software companies, etc) as possible.

- acquire as much swag as possible and let your speakers give some out during their sessions

- have some special speaker swag too, those guys deserve it more than anyone.

- get your DE or DCC to cough up money for food or facilities.

- get your local booksamillion or barnes&noble to donate bags for the attendees.

- get as many volunteers as possible and have one person be the volunteer coordinator.

- have another person be the food coordinator.

- in case you haven't figured it out yet, don't try to do it all yourself!

- get Robin Edwards involved, she rocks!

- get a web page up with as much detail as possible as early as possible. update it often!

- don't rely solely on other people to submit sessions, recruit speakers you know do well.

- even the good ones still have to be nagged for pics, bios and slides!!

- I let MSDN events handle registration, which wasn't bad but was probably unnecessarily complex. We used a dedicated gmail account for our community launch and that worked GREAT! Portland used a Yahoo group, which worked well too, as I recall.

- (Depending on the facilities you are using, such as a college or large company...) if you are providing food, consider getting the internal food service to cater your event. Not only will it build goodwill towards future events, but you might get a pretty competitive deal in the process.

- Code Camps don't have sponsors, but don't let that keep you from having supporters and contributors. Swag doesn't just show up without being requested. Most companies in our industry understand Code Camps by now, but you still have to ask them. Don't turn your code camp into a marketing fest.

- Don't let recruiters actively recruit at the event. If they want to leave some cards on the free stuff table, that's fine... but don't let it turn into a recruiting event. That annoys folks pretty quick.

it went very well, thank you.

Chris Williams — Sun, 13 Nov 2005 11:10:00 GMT

A number of you have emailed me privately and asked how the community launch event went, given all the hiccups experienced along the way.

It went very well. Murray did a great job and we had near-record (for a UG meeting) attendance. 43 people showed up out of the 54 that registered. Murray also says the training he got was pretty excellent.

We opted to show videos in place of a lot of the live demos for a couple reasons you might want to consider. The videos are fairly quick and the performance really shines in the video demos. The live demos are run on VPC images and, well, you can imagine the performance is not so great on anything less than an uber-machine. We didn't have an uber machine... so the video were a better choice.

Also, there is a TON of material to present and there is no way in hell you can do it all in the span of a normal UG meeting. If anything, this material should be presented Code Camp style with multiple presenters doing multiple tracks. We kinda screwed this one up. We had one guy (who did a GREAT job) and 4 hours to work with. Naturally some stuff had to be omitted, for example we didn't talk about Biztalk at all. We could have easily turned this into an all-day event. (Those of you not doing your event until January take note... find a food sponsor and make it an all day saturday event. Get one or two other people trained and split up the work, that way people can see the parts that interest them.)

In the process, we also managed to get 4 new paid members (3 regular and 1 corporate) which was a VERY welcome surprise. Another terrific piece of news is that I found an artist for my INETA website committee.

We gave away a fair amount of swag, including 5 copies of Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition and SQL Server 2005, a couple of books and a free class from PST (the local CTEC and UG sponsor)

For those of you planning to do a launch event in the next month or two, chances are yours will be a little less stressful than ours was. Such is the price for being early. :) Microsoft and INETA got us everything they promised, and as long as you communicate your needs to them, the same should happen for you. If something is missing or screwed up, let someone (who matters) know. They have a vested interest in making your event a success, but they can't help you if you don't tell them.

Also, I mentioned it at the launch event, so I might as make it official... yes we're planning on doing another code camp. We're targeting April 2006 at the moment and I'll be posting more info here as the details get set. One thing worth mentioning is that I'd like to have a game development track this year. They had one at the Portland Code Camp I spoke at, and it went over pretty well.

marketing lives to fight another day

Chris Williams — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 14:12:00 GMT

Crossposted from my O'Reilly blog...

I'm just pleased as punch to announce that in spite of (or just maybe because of) my anti-Marketing rant a couple days ago, the Microsoft Marketing folks have come through for the ol' UG.

Today, with roughly 7 hours to go until the Community Launch Event, a big fat box showed up from Microsoft. In this box were the missing NFR products and the exam vouchers, along with another banner, tshirt and balloons.

I immediately delivered the balloons to our breathless intern, who was less thrilled than I was, but still a very good sport.

That's the good part. The bad part isn't so much bad as just squarely in the "can't win 'em all" category. There was something else in the box. The attendee resource DVD. (I know, I know... I can hear you all asking yourselves, "but Chris, isn't that what you've been burning copies of non-stop for the last 3 days?")

Well, I thought I was burning the attendee resource dvd, but apparently I wasn't. Regardless, we now have 50+ DVDs to give away, and we'll make the best of it. We also have ONE copy of the attendee resource DVD which we will burn "by request" for anyone who asks. Just not today, or tomorrow, or the next day. Maybe by the December meeting.

That wasn't necessarily anyone's fault. At least, I'm not taking or assigning blame for it. Mostly because I'm exhausted. Yep. Beat.

So anyway, tonight is going to rock, and it's going to rock EVEN MORE than before because Microsoft came through for us and overnighted the stuff that was missing and got it here just in time.

So let me publicly thank all the marketing pukes (err... I mean, wonderful, professional people) and again reassure the great state of Montana that I have nothing against them.

DHL, on the other hand, apparently has a different definition of OVERNIGHT than the rest of us, but that's a story for another day. 39 hours is NOT overnight by my watch.

How many Marketing pukes does it take...

Chris Williams — Mon, 07 Nov 2005 22:35:00 GMT

Crossposted from my O'Reilly blog

The official launch of Visual Studio 2005, SQL Server 2005 and Biztalk 2006 was today. We know this because King Steve, the Ballmerian, gave a rather dry 90 minute presentation on the subject.

That's not what this post is about, although it is on a related topic. You see, my local user group... excuse me, I mean my local .NET user group, volunteered to host a community launch event.

Microsoft & INETA (that's the International .NET Association) sent out a letter to all the UGs (that's a hip abbreviation for User Group) asking if we wanted to be a part of this momentous occasion. In return for participating, we would get a boatload of free swag to give away, and lots of support (wink wink) from Microsoft to make it a big success.

We were all asked to submit our community launch dates months ago, and most of us dutifully complied. I say most of us, because I really rather doubt that we ALL complied, but I did, so hey...

We were then assured (assured, I say) that we would receive oodles of training, and materials to make this a big success. We were to nominate a launch event presenter to take this training and in return, we would receive 6 copies of Visual Studio 2005, SQL Server 2005 and Biztalk 2006 (1 for the presenter and 5 to give away). We would also receive 6 exam vouchers (again 1 for the presenter and 5 to give away.)

Now, let me just pause and ask if you really think I would be writing all of this if things were going smoothly?

Needless to say (and yet I say it anyway), things are not going as advertised. Our Communiy Launch Event is in 3 days, and we just received our "kit" today. The kit consisted of a really cool looking box, some balloons, a tshirt that is two sizes too small for ANYONE in my UG and a pretty flashy banner.

There were also 4 DVDs which we are expected to burn copies of (at UG expense) for each attendee. (I feel compelled to mention at this point that we have 46 people signed up to attend.)

Last of all, and most importantly, there was a letter stating that all the other stuff that was supposed to be in the box was not, in fact, in the box. That's right, no swag. No NFR (Not For Resale) products, no exam vouchers, NADA, ZIP, Zero, Zilch...

It was approximately 4:45 this afternoon when I uttered a string of expletives so long and profane that the nearby Naval Station decided to take the rest of the day off.

So... with less than 3 days remaining, I have to make 46 copies of these attendee DVDs and come up with a fairly compelling reason not to drive to Redmond and scream at someone until blood vessels start bursting.

I also have to come up with some nifty vouchers for the free swag we promised our attendees that some of them would go home with... and nifty excuses like "I'm sorry, Mr. This is my first AND LAST UG meeting, we'll be sure to mail your swag to you. No we didn't lie, Microsoft screwed us over."

You see the problem here is that MS (that's a hip abbreviation for Microsoft) already has a black eye the size of Montana in most circles. Most people don't have a clue who INETA is, and this isn't their fault anyway. BUT... it's the UG leaders who really end up looking like jerks.

So thanks guys... and gals... If I ever needed a reason to dislike or distrust the almighty marketing machine, I've got one now.

Oh and no offense meant to the great state of Montana. I'm sure it's a lovely place to live. Please excuse me while I change the DVD in my burner, only 42 more to go.

my new hat

Chris Williams — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 20:13:00 GMT

I'm pleased to announce that as of today, I am the chairman of the INETA Marketing Website Committee. Some of you who read this are probably already aware that the INETA website has been undergoing an extensive redesign and migration to DotNetNuke. It will be my job, and that of my team of volunteers, to manage the content for the new and improved INETA website.

Currently, this committee consists of myself, Jason Olson, Lou Vega, Robin Edwards & one other person, yet to be found. That's right... we have an opening.

There's a catch though, this person needs to be an artist. If you've ever played HA! you know I'm not an artist. We need someone with some strong Photoshop skills, preferably with some experience creating sharp, professional graphics for websites. It's a high profile job and if you're good, it's a great way to get some credibility on your resume.

Contact me via this blog, if you have the skills, the time and the desire to donate both.