Patrick Steele

Looking Forward to 2010

Yes, the first month of 2010 is almost gone and I'm just now getting around blogging about the past year and the year ahead.  I guess time management should be on my to-do list for this year? The CodeMash Website One of the coolest projects I've worked on in 2009 was the CodeMash website .  Brian Prince and Jim Holmes asked SRT if they wanted to help design a new website for CodeMash.  Brian will be the first to admit that he's an evangelist first, a developer second and a web developer third.  They gave us pretty much free reign to come up with a new idea as well as the freedom to implement the solution however we wanted. We worked with a Inner Circle Media to help plan the new look and feel of the site.  They deserve kudos for the new look.  On the back-end, I used ASP.NET MVC 1.0 along with SQL Server, Linq2SQL and Castle Windsor for my IoC container.  We also integrated with the existing Sharepoint installation for sponsor maintenance, news and session submissions.  User registration was all done in SQL. This was a great learning project.  Registering for a conference is usually a simple process (from the registrants standpoint).  On the back-end, when you're dealing with varying registration costs (based on the current date), discount codes, PayPal, and other things, it can get pretty complicated.  A large suite of unit tests helped us catch a lot of stuff in the beginning, but a few bugs slippped through.  Luckily, nothing major! I want to also thank fellow SRT developers Marina Fedner and Ben Barefield .  Marina helped me out on the user registration portion and Ben was responsible for the REST feed that we all used for our mobile CodeMash applications . Stepping Down from GANG After being involved with the Great Lakes Area .NET Users Group (GANG) for many, many years (webmaster, VP and this last year as President), I did not run for re-election.  There were some other projects I was taking on and last year's vice president David Giard was willing to take the reigns of the group.  Dave did an amazing job last year as VP and is continuing to do great things with GANG in 2010 .  I'll still be around to help out from time to time, but Dave is the man in charge now! VSM's C# Corner After helming Visual Studio Magazine's C# Corner for a number of years, Bill Wagner decided he wanted to devote his time to other things.  He offered my name as a possible successor!  I talked it over with him and VSM Editor in Chief Michael Desmond.  Everything fell into place and I'm now honored to be following in Bill's footsteps as a VSM author.  My first column has been published ( Interface-Based Programming in C# ) and I've got some positive feedback so far.  My next article is in-process and I have to have the first draft done by February 1st or I'll be on someone's naughty list (and it won't be Santa's!). Microsoft C# MVP I was pleasantly surprised on January 1st to receive an email from Microsoft telling me I've received an MVP award for my C# and community work in 2009.  Thanks to Microsoft and other community members I work closely with! 2010 Plans One of the big conferences for 2010, CodeMash , has already come and gone.  It was a great conference and you CAN NOT beat the price.  The amount of content and learning available is unheard of for the price you pay.  I'm already looking forward to CodeMash 2.0.1.1. In February, I'll be attending the MVP Summit in Redmond.  A great chance to get in touch with new technologies, talk with Microsoft reps and mix it up with other MVP's. Michael Eaton is already planning this year's Ann Arbor Give Camp .  I've offered my assistance again this year and will post more on this even as it gets closer. Speaking: I'd like to do more speaking this year.  While I usually get compliments on my presentations, I'm very hard on myself.  I may be a good speaker, but I want to be a great speaker.  That will come with practice.  I've got some idea's for presentations on topics I'm passionate about (specifically, Inversion of Control and Mocking). I'm really looking forward to 2010! Technorati Tags: SRT , MVP , CodeMash , 2010

Ann Arbor Give Camp 2009

I've almost recuperated from last weekend's Ann Arbor Give Camp.  Almost… For the second year in a row, Ann Arbor Give Camp was a huge success!  It was a massively rewarding experience to help plan last years Give Camp as well as participate in one of the teams (we wrote a WinForms app for Angels' Place to keep track of their membership list).  This year, I decided to help with planning and then assist throughout the weekend in the execution of the event.  Last year, I was "in" the circle of developers and non-profits, staying up late and feverishly writing code.  I was so focused on my charity, I didn't get much of a chance to see what was going on "outside" my group. This year, I was on the perimeter.  I saw all of the groups working with their non-profits to create a solution.  I watched Mike Eaton juggle developers and re-distribute teams so we could provide a balanced team for each charity.  I saw Lori and Todd Bohlen keep the break room stocked with enough caffeine and sugar to launch a small satellite into orbit.  While Verio's Matt LaGrotte wasn't practicing his Flarp technique, he was setting up domains and websites for some of the charities (oh yeah, the web hosting is FREE for 6 months – thanks Verio!).  Microsoft's Jennifer Marsman and Josh Holmes were busy keeping things running smoothly and making sure no one got blocked on any issues (frequent stand-ups helped!).  Josh even brought his pop-up camper as an alternative to sleeping on a classroom floor or an air bed.  Finally, we had Greg Campeau fiddling with the printer and name tags while Mike Eaton's nephew helped during registration. I took lots of pictures !  I shot video.  Josh shot video.  I gathered it all into a short "retrospective" video.  I tried to capture just a small glimpse into the fun, exhausting, exhilarating and dynamic nature of a Give Camp: To say we had "great" co-operation from Washtenaw Community College would be an insult.  It was phenomenal!  Not only did WCC provide outstanding facilities like last year, we even had showers this year – and we didn't even ask for them!  Neil Gudsen of WCC made sure the college wasn't using the showers this weekend, got the proper approvals and signatures and simply dropped me an email the day before the event saying "Please let everyone know that showers will be available".  WOW!  Thanks Neil, thanks WCC!  We've already got huge plans for next year's Give Camp and WCC is already putting even more stuff on the table.  It's too early to go public with it now, but it'll be fantastic! Planning a Give Camp is a huge amount of work, but when you see the reactions of the charities on Sunday night as they show off the apps and websites they're taking home, it's totally worth it.  If you get a chance, please participate in a Give Camp.  It's a great experience and will help you grow as a developer and allows you to give back to your local community.  WIN-WIN! Technorati Tags: GiveCamp , Ann Arbor

One More Week Until Give Camp 2009

To-do lists are being checked off and the final bits of organizing are almost complete for this year's Ann Arbor Give Camp .  For those attending ( you did register, didn't you ?), we've got our schedule posted along with a nice Q&A section that should answer most of your questions on the logistics of the event.  If something isn't answered, let me know and I'll get you an answer. Last year's event was a great success and it was an honor to be one of the organizers.  In addition to being an organizer, I also put myself on one of the dev teams.  While doing development to help a charity was very enjoyable, I'm sticking to planning-only this year.  I want to concentrate my efforts in making sure we've got everything we need to make this weekend a success.  I know Dave Giard will be walking around with his Canon taking pics.  I'll also be floating around with my Pentax K10D and a video camera. Don't miss this opportunity to work alongside some great developers, learn some new skills/hone your existing skills and help out a local charity.  You'll be glad you did! Technorati Tags: .NET , GiveCamp , Ann Arbor

Lansing GiveCamp a great success!

Congratulations to Jay Harris , Jeff McWherter and all those involved in making Lansing GiveCamp a great success!  GiveCamps are a lot of work to organize but they are so fun and rewarding.  The press is picking up on their hard work too: Lansing GiveCamp Develops Free Software For Nonprofits Interview with Jay Harris on AM Lansing And don't forget, Ann Arbor is planning it's second GiveCamp for July 17, 18 and 19 . Technorati Tags: Lansing , GiveCamp