Agile Sharepoint development by 21apps and Andrew Woodward MVP

On Thursday, 28th Jan 2010, I made my way down to the London SUGUK event.  I’ve been supporting the regional events and been unable to get down to London for a number of months.   The number of attendees was amazing – I didn’t count be I guess we have over 150 people and filled the room at Microsoft.

I did know quite a few regulars to the event,  but the great news again is the number of new faces.  SharePoint is really growing fast and wide and the need for information and community is growing with it.

Big Kudos to Matt for organising the event,  Matt has taken on the responsibilities for the South East and London,  to Ben Robb for doing a SharePoint Designer 2010 session  (although as he points out the whole Application Lifecycle Management is still not baked) and for Steve Smith for – umm not sure what Steve did

It was great to see Mike Fitzmaurice there  (this man made SharePoint happen),  and I suspect his presence on the panel was part of the reason the questions and discussion remained in the ITPro and User space.   Myself, Chris O’Brien, Matt Smith and Ben Robb tried hard to put a dev take on any questions where we could.

What I think would go down really well is to take a lead from the Nottingham group and organise focused events,  so we could have a Dev night, Design Night, End User night etc.

I have to apologies (thanks Alex Pearce for tweeting me this when we were in the Pub) – I did not advertise the #SharePint that took place afterwards, It was well attended and with more room than the pub we used to go to but not an ‘official’ #SharePint.

Hope to see you all at an event near you soon.

Yet again the Best Practices Conference was a success.  But what do I mean by success? 

• Was it well attended?  – Yes, considering the economy
• Were the sessions good?  – Yes,  exceptional as always
• Was the accommodation and organisation good?  – Yes, Mark did a great job again

If you read some of the other (definitely quicker off the mark posts) you will get a feel for the event.

Paul Culmsee – Segways Rock

Laura (@WondaLaura) Rogers – Part 1 – Brilliant Video Interviews

Laura Rogers – Part 2 – Who is that lucky guy – (and not as rumour has it founder of #SharePint)

Zlatan Dzinic – Loud and enthusiastic South African << need to talk to about World Cup Tickets

and many others

So why was BPC such a great success?

I think what really makes the event so successful is the way that everyone just gets on with each other,  there is none of the normal ITPro -v- Dev artificial separation, there is a great mix of people and skills – you could say a great diversity in the attendees and speakers,  to quote the BPC site

Top experts put you ahead of the curve

This Conference gathers the leading authorities to define, describe and set methods that will become industry standard – insights you can gain now to avoid pitfalls, cut costs and gain a competitive edge. Speakers include:

• Microsoft MVPs
• Microsoft Product Team Members
• Top industry executives and authors 
• Leading trainers, consultants and topic experts
• Industry colleagues

Valuable as the speakers are, a conference they do not make,  it is the mix of people that really stand out for me at these conferences, the depth of conversation and debate that take place before during and after the sessions, how people are engaged in delivering real world projects and faced with real world challenges. 

I think the reason the Best Practices Conferences are so successful is noted in a book I was told to read by Paul Culmsee,  The Practice of Adaptive Leadership by Ronald Heifetz.  Where Heifetz talks about how

it is specifically about change; builds on the past rather than repudiating it; achieves organizational adaptation through continuous experimentation; heavily relies on diversity (i.e. talents, skills, experience, and perspectives); ensures that new adaptations significantly displace, re-regulate, or rearrange whatever is defective, obsolete, or irrelevant; and usually requires both time, patience, and persistence

Although the book goes on into greater depth this statement sums up for me why the Best Practices Conferences are successful.

• Diversity of talents, skills, experiences and perspectives
• Willingness to displace or rearrange defectives processes
• Time, patience and persistence

All of the qualities needed to be successful in deploying SharePoint and all active participants in the conference.

And on a lighter note,  if there is one best practice I took away from BPC, one that you all can try at home today – Beer!

Yes that’s right Beer is THE best practice and I can safely say that there was a lot of this Best Practice undertaken during the conference.

Looks like I’ve been a little slack in my planning for SharePint at the Best Practices Conference in Washington DC – Andrew Connell has trumped me big time with what looks like the SharePint to end all SharePint’s at SPC in Vegas.

What’s the reason for my delay you may ask?

In part because I have been busy, but the main reason is that I will be in the Reston area a whole week before SharePint will take place and thought what better opportunity than to do a bit of a local tour to see which venue really stood out as a great SharePint venue.

Here is what I do know:

SharePint will on Tuesday 25th August – starting around 7pm till late

Here is what I want from you:

Help me to find the ideal location for the SharePint – Best Practices DC 2009 Edition.
Mapping potential venues, please add your recommendations.

Perhaps we can make this a tradition,

The pre-SharePint tour – In Search of the Venue

If you want to keep up with what’s happening and want to join the search follow me @andrewwoody,  @sharepint or search for #sharepint on twitter.  To help us get a feel for the numbers and to warn the bar please add a +1 comment to this post,  include your twitter name if you want.

What better way to spend a Thursday evening,  first a couple of great sessions by Steve Smith and Mark Macrae (his first time speaking at SUGUK).

Sessions:

Session 1 – Understanding the relationship between IIS/Web Applications , SQL, SSP’s and Site collections – Steve Smith

In this session I will explain the logical relationship in the SharePoint Architecture and show you some usefull tips when creatng and managing them.

Session 2 -

Business Information and MOSS 2007 – Creating Interactive Dashboards using PerformancePoint Server – Mark Macrae

Start time – 6.30

Finish – 9pm then to the pub down the road

Break in the middle with Pizza and drinks

Location:

ID-Live offices, Strelley Hall, Nottingham. NG8 6PE

For directions and and to sign up go to the SUGUK site.

And to round the evening off in great style, the first Nottingham SharePint.

The Broad Oak

Main St., Strelley, Nottingham, NG8 6PD

People are starting to arrive from around the globe to the Best Practices SharePoint Conference

in San Diego.  As expected a number were to be found in the hotel bar.   If you want to catch up will all of the buzz search for the twitter tag  #SPBPC.   For those travelling in the location is great,  Sun is just rising and from the hotel room i’m overlooking the 18th hole of the Torrey Pines course, with views out over the sea.  This really is going to be a great event,  Ben Curry has done a brilliant job of getting top speakers.  This is not an Introduction to SharePoint, this is for people who know it, have deployed and what to get the most from the platform.

On a less technical note it’s count down to the SharePoint by Day, SharePint by Night San Diego Best Practices Edition.  Haven’t signed up yet,  put your name down here so the La Jolla Brew House knows how much beer to get in

Count down to the SharePoint by Day, SharePint by Night San Diego Best Practices Edition I thought it only right to give you a look at the current beer list.   There has been talk on twitter about which beers are the best,  I’m looking forward to having the debate with the ale in my hand.

Haven’t signed up yet,  put your name down here so the La Jolla Brew House knows how much beer to get in

Coming to the SharePoint by Day, SharePint by Night Best Practices Edition?  Want to show you enjoy a SharePint?

Grab a copy of one of these great new logos that were designed by Sam Dolan of Pink Petrol

With black text 472 x 151

With white text 472 x 151

I promised to give Sam a bit of love for kindly doing the these great logos, if your looking for someone to do some customisation’s for your SharePoint branding I recommend you have a look at some of the great designs that Sam has in his portfolio.

Attending the Best Practices™ SharePoint Conference in San Diego in February?  Have some questions you thought about after the sessions, or were too late to ask?  Want to just hang out with fellow SharePoint geeks?  or just looking for some friendly company to share a few pints in the evening?

Keeping the tradition going there will be a SharePoint by Day, SharePint by Night event on Tuesday 3rd February at La Jolla Brew House around 7pm till you’ve had enough.

Location: approx. 6miles from the Hilton (directions) – there will likely be a few taxis heading down so worth matching up with people.

Plan on coming?  If you’re undecided check out the galley of other events at La Jolla Brew House!

Please RSVP by leaving a comment on this post.

Like the new SharePint Logo?   Take your pick from these designed by Sam Dolan.

Andrew Connell is co-ordinating the SharePoint by Day, SharePint by Night event at PDC in LA.

Going to PDC 2008 in Los Angeles, CA in just over a week (or live in the greater LA area)? Interested in hanging out in a casual social setting with other folks interested in SharePoint? We’ll be doing another SharePoint by Day, SharePint by Night in LA the Sunday (October 26) @ 7p before PDC 2008 officially kicks off. So check into your hotel, drop your bags off and come on over to the Millennium Biltmore Hotel bar around 7p (till whenever) and join us (a few SharePoint MVPs will be there as well as a few folks from the SharePoint teams @ Microsoft).

I’m flying into LA on Sunday so will head straight to the Bar after checking in,  If you plan on comming please leave a comment on Andrews Connells blog post.