Tag: Events

In New York Speaking at Visual Studio Live! Next Week

This afternoon, I’m packing my carry-on and first thing tomorrow morning I’m leaving Chicago for Visual Studio Live! New York. One of the unique things about this Visual Studio Live! trip is my wife Shelly will be joining me and we’ll be enjoying some downtime in NY. If you have any ideas on things we should do, or places we should see in NYC, please send me your suggestions.

Visual Studio Live! is one of the best developer conferences with four locations to choose from, Las Vegas, New York, Redmond @ Microsoft HQ and Orlando. VS Live! features code-filled days, networking nights and independent education for .NET developers, software architects and designers. The expert presenters make each session interactive, so you can discuss your particular development roadblocks and come away with actionable solutions.

Visual Studio Live! New York is taking place at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, May 14th-17th, 2012 and on Wednesday, May 16th, I’m presenting the following three sessions on Cloud Computing and Windows Azure.

Windows Azure VM Role
May 16th, 2012 @ 1:30 PM
The Windows Azure Platform is a great cloud platform for scalable, on-demand computing power. However, there are scenarios that are not supported by Azure’s web and worker role abstractions. In this session, we will explore the traditional Azure web and worker compute roles and walk through the common challenges encountered when using these. We will explore the architecture and internals of Windows Azure, and then explore VM Role and the scenarios that are enabled having access to the OS. We will walk through the lifecycle of installing, configuring and deploying a VM to Windows Azure and we’ll consider the tradeoffs and alternatives to using VM Role. Finally, we will take a look at what’s new in VM Role and how to get started.

Storage Strategies in Windows Azure
May 16th, 2012 @ 3:00 PM
The Windows Azure Platform provides a plethora of options for data storage and trying to make sense of it all can be overwhelming. In this session, we will explore the Windows Azure data services including SQL Azure, Table and Blob Storage, Local Compute Storage and Caching. We will walk through the scenarios that each data service addresses, and we will dive into how to work with each of them. Lastly, we will explore the factors that encourage using one service over another when multiple fit into your solution and how they can complement each other when used together.

SQL Azure Intro and What’s New
May 16th, 2012 @ 4:30 PM
Windows Azure provides many options for storing data. SQL Azure is Windows Azure’s solution for working with relational data. If you are familiar with SQL Server, SQL Azure will be a natural extension of your knowledge and skills.
In this session, you will get introduced to SQL Azure and learn how to get started. We will explore how to migrate an existing on-premise SQL Server database to SQL Azure. We will then walkthrough how to manage and administer your SQL Azure servers and databases. We will take a look at how to connect and build applications using SQL Azure. Next, we will look at more advanced scenarios using new capabilities like reporting with SQL Azure Reporting, scaling and sharding databases with SQL Azure Federations and synchronizing data with SQL Azure Data Sync for hybrid scenarios and global reach. Finally, we will explore some of the things you should consider when using SQL Azure.

If you are attending Visual Studio Live! New York, I’ll see you next week. If not, and you like education, training and conferences, you should check out Redmond in August and Orlando in December.

Get Social and Win a Pass to That Conference

On Wednesday afternoon, my company launched a fun giveaway for the tech conference lover. At 7 PM CST next Tuesday, 5/15, responsiveX will give one lucky winner a $350 That Conference pass. That Conference is “Summer Camp for Geeks” in the Wisconsin Dells, August 13th-15th. At That Conference, campers will spend 3 days with over 1,000 fellow campers in 125 sessions geeking out on everything Mobile, Web and Cloud. That Conference is taking place at one of the largest waterparks in the Midwest. So when your head starts to overheat from the flood of great sessions and speakers, you can jump in a pool and cool off.

The good news is, if you’re the lucky winner of the responsiveX That Conference givewaway, you won’t have to fight the digital crowd on Wednesday morning at 8:13 AM CST to get registered before That Conference sells out.

Winning is easy. To get entered, all you have to do is:

  1. Follow @responsiveX
  2. Tweet about #ThatConference and the @responsiveX giveaway before Tuesday, May 15th at 3:00 PM CST.
  3. Encourage others to follow and tweet.

For the giveaway to be on, @responsiveX needs to reach 500 twitter followers, facebook.com/responsiveX needs to reach 500 Likes, or the responsiveX newsletter needs to reach 500 subscribers.

For more info and details on how to enter, check out the contest page at http://responsivex.com/win-a-that-conference-pass/.

The Midwest’s Cloud Conference – CloudDevelop 2012

Those who know me, know that I am passionate about Cloud Computing. I speak at and attend many Cloud conferences, but typically these conferences are on the East or West coast. This summer, Michael Collier, Jared Farris, Brian Prince and myself are launching the Midwest’s premier Cloud Computing conference, CloudDevelop 2012.

CloudDevelop 2012 will be held on Friday, August 3rd in Columbus, OH at The Ohio State University’s Ohio Union. CloudDevelop is a vendor and technology neutral conference with sessions on various cloud technologies and cloud application development. We feel that a mixture of vendors, technologies and topics, will provide a dynamic, informative and engaging conference for all attendees.

Today is the last call for speaker submissions and if you are a subject matter expert or are doing something interesting in the Cloud with Windows Azure, Amazon AWS, Heroku, AppHarbor, Google AppEngine, Rackspace Cloud or other cloud platforms and technologies, submit your sessions today! http://clouddevelop.org/SubmitProposal.html

Conferences like CloudDevelop wouldn’t be possible without the support from generous sponsors. If you are a cloud provider, tool vendor or just someone interested in sponsoring CloudDevelop, there are still some slots available  and you can download the sponsorship prospectus to learn more about the opportunities. http://clouddevelop.org/CloudDevelopProspectus2012.pdf

Chicago Windows Azure Kick Start on May 3rd

I’ve been in Redmond all week hanging out with some awesome folks on the Microsoft campus. This evening, I will be heading back to Chicago to host a Windows Azure Kick Start. If you are new to the Cloud and Windows Azure, or would just like some time to get hands-on and create an app in Windows Azure, tomorrow’s Windows Azure Kick Start is for you. There are only 4 seats left and if you’d like to attend, you should register soon.

Register for the Windows Azure Kick Start

Tomorrow, May 3rd, you will get to spend the day with some of the nation’s leading cloud experts in learning how to build a web application that runs in Windows Azure. We will show you how to sign up for free time in the cloud, and how to build a typical web application using the same ASP.NET tools and techniques you already use today. We will explore web roles, cloud storage, SQL Azure, and common scenarios. We will save time for open Q&A, and even cover what should not be moved to cloud. This will be a hands-on event where you will need a laptop configured with the required pieces. We will have help onsite to get the right bits installed as well.

Lunch and prizes will be provided and you could get lucky and win a Kinect!

Microsoft – Chicago Office
200 E Randolph St
Chicago, Illinois 60601
9:00AM – 5:00PM

To make the best use of your time at the Windows Azure Kick Start Event, we recommend you prepare the following requirements before the event:

  • A computer or laptop: Operating Systems Supported: Windows 7 (Ultimate, Professional, and Enterprise Editions); Windows Server 2008; Windows Server 2008 R2; Windows Vista (Ultimate, Business, and Enterprise Editions) with either Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2
  • Install the free Windows Azure SDK and required software using Web Platform Installer.
  • Setup a Free Windows Azure Platform Trial. If you have MSDN you should activate your MSDN Azure Benefits.
  • The sample code and handbook for the labs will be provided at the event.
  • Consider bringing a power strip or extension cord to stay charged all day.

Register for the Windows Azure Kick Start

Night Train to Detroit Day of Azure

I have a latte in hand and am ready for the 5 1/2 hour night train that’s ahead. In just a few minutes, I will be departing Chicago on an Amtrak headed to Detroit for Detroit Day of Azure. Detroit Day of Azure is a one-day conference focused on Windows Azure with some of the best Windows Azure experts and speakers. This conference will take place tomorrow, Saturday, March 24th at the Microsoft Offices in Southfield, MI from 8:00 AM – 5:30 PM. If you have already registered, I will likely see you tomorrow. If you have not registered, unfortunately, the conference is sold out. If you are still interested in attending, you can sign up on the wait list and be notified as cancellations occur.

Tomorrow, I will be presenting “BI in the Cloud with SQL Azure Reporting” at 10:20 AM in the Technical Briefing Center. If you are interested in Business Intelligence and performing BI in the Cloud, attend my session where we will dig into Azure BI scenarios and tools including SQL Azure Reporting. The full description is below and you can get more information about my session and Detroit Day of Azure at http://www.detroitdayofazure.com.

BI in the Cloud with SQL Azure Reporting
Why maintain infrastructure for operational reporting, when you can do it in the cloud with SQL Azure Reporting? SQL Azure Reporting provides a set of capabilities that are familiar for developers using SQL Server Reporting Services on-premise. We will begin this session by considering the benefits and scenarios for BI in the cloud. Next, we will walkthrough what you need to get started using SQL Azure Reporting. We will then develop and deploy some reports to SQL Azure Reporting. Unfortunately, SSRS and SQL Azure Reporting do not have complete feature parity. As a result, we will conclude by reviewing the challenges and limitations of using SQL Azure Reporting over SQL Server Reporting Services.

You will learn the benefits of BI in the Cloud; the capabilities of SQL Azure Reporting; how to create and deploy reports to SQL Azure Reporting; and an understanding of the limitations of SQL Azure Reporting.

See you tomorrow in Detroit!