Everything I Know About Self-Promotion I Learned from The Princess Bride

This is a follow-up to my article titled “Everything I Know About SharePoint Consulting I Learned from The Ghostbusters”. Once again, it speaks to general principles, but ones that certainly apply to the SharePoint consultant as well. Check it out!

SharePoint Saturday Dayton Retrospective

I had the pleasure of representing Improving Enterprises (Silver Sponsor) this weekend at SPS Dayton. I was thinking back on the great sessions I attended, and I realized that this time instead of taking copious notes on my tablet, I opted to take quick small notes on my phone using Evernote.

Here’s a list of some of the ideas, web links, and references that I jotted down this weekend, which I’ll be sure to research more over the coming weeks:

Hanging with the DAYSPUG gang, talking about InfoPath

Had a great time talking with the folks who attended tonite’s Dayton SharePoint User Group meeting – we had a lively discussion about all things InfoPath, and hopefully I made a believer out of those who might have previously been skeptical about using InfoPath. Hope to see everyone again when we all attend the SharePoint Saturday Dayton event on June 30th! Slide deck for tonite’s talk can be found here.

The CowBell Rings in Azure

This has been a big week for Azure. Scott Guthrie’s keynote about the new Azure features being launched was pretty exciting. There have also been Kick Start events nationwide for Azure, including one here in Columbus, OH this past Saturday, which I attended. My main interest involves Azure & SharePoint integration.

SharePoint Saturday Atlanta–Medley, Marketing, and… Murder???

This weekend I completed one of my two speaking commitments for this month by presenting at SharePoint Saturday Atlanta on the topic of SharePoint & Azure integration (slides below). Overall, I thought the event was great because it had a good combination of all the right ingredients – a medley of sessions to attend, a great marketing campaign, and… a mystery murder!

SharePoint Speaking in June

Next month is starting to fill up with SharePoint activity – here’s some info on two events I’ll be speaking at in June:

SharePoint & Windows Azure Integration - Practical Ways to Make Your Project More Agile
(SharePoint Saturday Atlanta – June 2nd)

Abstract: More organizations today are embracing Agile principles when completing their software projects. SharePoint projects can also benefit from an Agile methodology, and when combined with Windows Azure, they can provide value in areas like rapid prototyping, good architectural design, and speed to market. In this session, we'll see the different ways that Windows Azure and SharePoint can be integrated, and we'll demo some specific scenarios to show how effectively a SharePoint/Azure project can be implemented. (300-Level)

 

InfoPath 2010: Your Path to the Smart Side - Leveraging the Powerful Forces of InfoPath
(Dayton SharePoint User Group – June 12th)

Abstract: InfoPath allows powers users and developers to create rich UI smart forms, and includes features that allow form designers to enforce business rules and integrate line-of-business data into their forms. Combined with SharePoint Form Services, users can create powerful no-code composite applications. This presentation examines best practices for creating and enhancing InfoPath forms. We’ll explore the basics of how InfoPath interacts with SharePoint lists and workflow, touch on some advanced features, and discuss the pros and cons of InfoPath compared to other data entry technologies. Demos will be included. (100-Level)

Hope to see you there!

SharePoint vs Skyrim

I, like millions of others, have an addiction… and its name is Skyrim.  Also known as The Elder Scrolls V, it’s a video game – the only video game you’ll ever need. : )

The problem is, as much as I’d like to play it for hundreds of hours like so many others, regardless of its effects on our fragile economy, I can’t – because SharePoint won’t let me. I have speaking engagements coming up, and SharePoint says that I should prepare for them. Instead of exploring the world of Tamriel trying to figure out how to stop the evil dragons, I have to explore the world of Azure and figure out the many ways that SharePoint integrates with it. Instead of deciding between my mace or my sword as I go into battle, I have to decide between farm or sandboxed solutions as I go into my next project.

Sigh… perhaps one day, my Skyrim addiction and my SharePoint addiction will find a way to control my life in a more balanced way. I’ll call it ShareRim….