[UPDATE: I added other US cities I am aware of, any not listed here, I'm not aware of them.  Reminder that these are being hosted by user group communities in partnership with Microsoft.  If you don't attend the user groups sponsoring these events, you have them to thank and you should start attending and getting involved!!!!

These events are made possible by the commitment of user groups.  You should absolutely participate in them, show your support, be an active member and get to know your local developer contact at Microsoft :-).]

want the latest IDE toolset and start developing solutions in .net 3.5 using asp.net ajax, silverlight, LINQ, astoria and all the good stuff?

what are you waiting for?  there are various visual studio 2008 installfests around the country.  my team in the west is no different, but maybe you've been having a hard time finding them?  here's a list for all those happening in the west!  please feel free to blog and spread the word.

we're providing a location, install dvd's (these will be evals because the finals aren't pressed yet), and food/drinks.  this will be a good time to get some questions answered, get vs 2008 installed, play around, and hang out with your peers.  each registered and attended individual will receive a special code to receive the fully-licensed visual studio 2008 professional copy sent to them when the full package product is available to ship.

don't miss these events!!!  registration is limited, so get in now and mark your calendars!

the events in the west are:

• 4 DEC: Portland, OR - register here @ Portland Area .NET UG
• 5 DEC: Irvine, CA - register here @ SoCal .NET Groups
• 6 DEC: Boise, ID - register here @ Boise .NET User Group
• 11 DEC: Olympia, WA - register here @ South Sound .NET User Group
• 12 DEC: Spokane Valley, WA - register here @ Spokane .NET User Group
• 12 DEC: Denver, CO - register here @ Denver Visual Studio UG
• 13 DEC: Mountain View, CA - register here @ Bay.NET
• 20 DEC: Phoenix, AZ - registration TBD (pending location confirmation of venue - register to the email group on azgroups.com)

in the central area are:

• 3 DEC: Tulsa, OK
• 3 DEC: Nashville, TN
• 4 DEC: Kansas City, MO
• 5 DEC: Dallas, TX
• 6 DEC: St. Louis, MO
• 7 DEC: Southfield, MI
• 11 DEC: Milwaukee, WI
• 12 DEC: Chicago, IL
• 12 DEC: Des Moines, IA
• 13 DEC: Houston, TX
• 13 DEC: Minneapolis, MN
• 13 DEC: Indianapolis, IN

in the east are:

• 3 DEC: Alpharetta, GA
• 4 DEC: Greensboro, NC
• 4 DEC: Rochester, NY
• 4 DEC: Stamford, CT
• 6 DEC: Iselin, NJ
• 6 DEC: Melville, NY
• 10 DEC: Charlotte, NC
• 10 DEC: Farmington, CT
• 10 DEC: Miramar, FL
• 11 DEC: Florence, SC
• 11 DEC: Pittsburgh, PA
• 11 DEC: Parsippany, NJ
• 12 DEC: Reston, VA
• 12 DEC: Raleigh, NC
• 12 DEC: Waltham, MA
• 13 DEC: Richmond, VA
• 13 DEC: Naples, FL
• 13 DEC: East Windsor, NJ
• 15 DEC: Orlando, FL
• 17 DEC: Allentown, PA
  17 DEC: Sarasota, FL
• 18 DEC: Scranton, PA (home of Dunder Mifflin :-) -- i wonder if dwight will be there)
• 18 DEC: Melbourne, FL
• 20 DEC: New York, NY
• 2 JAN: Columbia, MD
• 10 JAN: Roanoke, VA
• 10 JAN: Birmingham, AL
• 14 JAN: Huntsville, AL
• 15 JAN: Harrisburgh, PA
• 16 JAN: Ft. Walton, FL
• 17 JAN: Tallahassee, FL
• 23 JAN: Jacksonville, FL

please feel free to linkback to this blog post when you spread the word for the links, etc.  pay attention to the details for each location as venue and times may differ.

sure enough as i told the denver visual studio user group last night that the only reason i was still running visual studio 2008 beta 2 was because the silverlight tools had not been updated yet.  check my email later...they are updated :-).

the silverlight tools for alpha have been updated to work with visual studio 2008 release version (now available).  you can download the updated bits here. 

i'm headed up to redmond for the silverlight firestarter event on thursday and maybe to heckle jesse a bit :-).  if you are going to be in town, drop me a line (my number is on my contact page).  i'm not sure what we are doing thursday night, but i'm sure it will involve something with my comrade jason.

i just saw this pop in my inbox as a note (not to me) to one of the local user groups i belong to:

I have been a member of this group now for some time, and while I am not yet
at the level of many in here, I have greatly benefited from the help I have
received. I just wanted to say, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, thanks to
all those who have answered my numerous questions, and made my programming
experiences all the better. Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

this is great, this is exactly the type of feedback that validates all the hard work from the leaders in community in gathering like-minded people together.  if you aren't involved in your local community...do it now.  look at www.codezone.com to see if there is a .net community near you or reach out to your local microsoft office to find out who the community evangelist is in your area.

it isn't just for softies as well...interested in learning new technologies or broadening your network of talent?  find a ruby user group, find a php user group...bottom line: get involved.  even the silent ones involved benefit.  this note above came from a list that has grown over the past 9 years from about 20 to hanging steadily at about 1800.  it is one of the groups i'm most proud to be a member.

happy holidays!

this week at devconnections a few of my comrades were there and started to spread the word about our planning on something we are doing in the western united states.  we're calling it 'the code trip' and the plan is simple, get us (the developer evangelists who interact with our community groups) out hitting the streets and talking code.  we're in planning stages right now for sure, and brewing up some things for our stops.  we want our communities to participate in that planning.  have a good idea?  let us know.  want to ride on the RV for a leg?  let us know.  you can subscribe to our RSS feed at http://thecodetrip.com.  you can also submit ideas there as well.  we're on twitter and facebook so you can follow along.

our plan is to hit the cities west of the rocky mountains (that's the regional area i cover) in the US.  we'll stop at major cities and hopefully you'll tell us where else to stop.  we'll have an interactive online experience for you to see what we are up to, view podcasts and other media as well as download applications and samples. 

we'll be giving away a ton of swag at the events, etc.  in fact, let's start small -- blog about the code trip, send me a link (or leave the link in the comments here) and i'll send you some code trip stickers.  okay it isn't an xbox 360 (yet) but it is what i have in hand right now.  be sure to include where to send them to and i'll hook your user group up with some stickers for laptops or whatever.

we really are shaping a lot of this now so please if you have suggestions for what you would like to see, we'd love to hear about them.  be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed and Twitter so that you also can stay up-to-date on how the plans are progressing as well as when the trip hits the road about what we are doing!

even in this preliminary discussion and planning i've already gotten some flame mail (anonymous of course).  it can be summed up into roughly two categories:

-you suck
-the site sucks
-you are copying adobe (referring to the adobe onair tour)

let me address these three categories.

you suck:
thanks. i appreciate the feedback and continue to strive not to suck. your reminder helps.

the site sucks:
got a few comments (mixed really) about the site sucking as well as people liking the idea.  the current one there is temporary.  if you don't like it, that's fine, it won't be there long.  i like it.  bottom line: it isn't the final one.

you are copying <fill-in-any-vendor-that-reaches-out-to-their-customers-but-namely-adobe>:
really? that's shocking. i guess then that adobe stole it from def leppard. i didn't realize there was a patent on tours. but seriously speaking, i'll be blatantly honest. the onair tour was/is a great idea. getting software organizations out in the streets and talking to their developers always benefits the developer. i'm actually glad to see adobe finally having more of a community feel. microsoft has had field developer relationship groups for the past 10 years (maybe longer than that but that is how far back i can remember). we've had a constant tour (microsoft across america - updated: picture and info here from the start of MSFT across america) that visits cities every quarter and travel in a branded bus which demonstrates various technologies.  there was a comment about our marketing sucking so we had to steal someone's (adobe) idea.  maybe our marketing does suck because nobody knew about the existing microsoft across america bus that has been around for a while.  hmmm...maybe adobe copied?  joking of course.  i really don't care.  like i said, when any company gets out and talks to their customers, as well as giving their customers a platform for talking about their experiences, that is awesome.  that is one of our goals and i'm sure is/was one of adobe's.  my hat goes off to ryan stewart, mike chambers, mike downey and the other product/program managers and evangelists that were on the tour.  i think they are doing good things for adobe.  i hope adobe continues to invest in field evangelism like microsoft has had -- if they do, we (developers) all win. 

so there you have it, my raw opinion.  if you choose to continue to berate me, that's your right, but be fair and use facts, don't assume you know me personally.  i've got tough skin though so if you continue to feel the need to anonymous act go for it, i won't respond anonymously, but if you want to have a conversation like adults, please identify yourself in your post and we'll continue the conversation.

i'm excited to be empowered to do this in my group.  my team is excited.  we want to have some fun and talk about the things you are doing as well as talk about some of the exciting things microsoft is working on like silverlight, LINQ, Windows Live services, Windows Mobile developments...and some other surprises we have up our sleeves!

oh yeah, and to address a few questions i got in email (between the "you're a f*ing idiot" sentences there actually were questions): yes any event we have will be free; yes we will have stuff to give away; good food -- i wasn't at any stop that adobe had (apparently phoenix wasn't important enough even though they drove through) so i don't know what kind of food they had, but we'll do our best.  this is being funded by my team and not some behemoth budget (unless anyone from other microsoft teams wants to kick in :-) -- you know my alias), so we'll do our best. 

please keep the feedback coming.  positive and negative are welcome.  anonymous rants filled with explicatives i think waste everyone's time and are simply put: lame.  if you're going to be that negative and personal attacks, then at least have some basis.

remember to visit http://thecodetrip.com and subscribe for updates!

my comrade in the midwest, dave bost, started a new podcast: the thirsty developer.  dave's a super cool guy and although i think this is an excuse to drink beer on the job, i'm subscribed to check it out.

check it out: thirstydeveloper.com