SharePoint Best Practices Conference – September 15-18, 2008

Ever wondered whether the way you’ve designed, implemented and continue to support your SharePoint installation is the best way possible? Or could there be easier, better, more efficient ways to get things done?

Almost every SharePoint practitioner I’ve met has wondered the same thing at one time or another.  Well here is your chance to find out.  Join some of the brightest SharePoint experts in the business to discuss just what are SharePoint’s Best Practices.

The first, and to the best of my knowledge only, conference dedicated to discussing SharePoint Best Practices will be held in Washington, DC from September 15-17.  As the conference Web site says,  “The 2008 Best Practices Conference replaces confusion with Clarity, Direction and Confidence by establishing key principles to guide effective SharePoint decision-making in any situation.”   Hope to see you there.

BP Conference

Speaking at the Cleveland SharePoint User’s Group

I will be speaking at the Cleveland SharePoint User Group on Wednesday, May 28th.  The meeting will start at 4:00pm.  My topic will be "SharePoint Content and Infrastructure Deployment”.  Here’s a brief description of the talk:

  • SharePoint Content and Infrastructure Deployment
    Deploying a custom SharePoint Web site can be confusing due to the array of tools available.  This is complicated even more because some tools are only appropriate in certain circumstances.  In this session we will review the variety of tools available and demonstrate how to use some of the most important ones.

The group will meet at the Microsoft Office in Cleveland and this will be the kick-off meeting.  Address information for the office is below.

 Cleveland SharePoint User Group Kick Off

Wednesday, May 28th from 4pm – 6:30pm

Cleveland Microsoft Office at 6050 Oak Tree Blvd.

Independence, 44131

Speaking at the Central Ohio SharePoint User Group in May

I will be speaking at the Central Ohio SharePoint User Group on Thursday, May 15th.  The meeting will be from 5:30-7:30pm.  My topic will be "SharePoint Content and Infrastructure Deployment”.  Here’s a brief description of the talk:

  • SharePoint Content and Infrastructure Deployment
    Deploying a custom SharePoint Web site can be confusing due to the array of tools available.  This is complicated even more because some tools are only appropriate in certain circumstances.  In this session we will review the variety of tools available and demonstrate how to use some of the most important ones.

The Central Ohio SharePoint User Group (COSPUG) is a Microsoft sponsored community group that comes together to explore SharePoint and the applications that work with SharePoint.  The user group is targeted towards end users, administrators, implementers, developers, and anyone who likes to learn about emerging technology. 

They meet the third Thursday of every month at the Microsoft Office in Columbus, Ohio.  Everyone who attends the user group meeting, no matter what their level of SharePoint experience is, will likely leave having learned something new.

Update 05/16/2008 ===================================================================

Here are the slides I used for my presentation.  You can also get them from the COSPUG site.  I will also probably be presenting the same talk at the new Cleveland SharePoint User’s Group on May 28th at the Microsoft Offices.  Watch this BLOG for more details.

SharePoint Connections Spring 2008

Ben Curry and I will be presenting a Post Con session on April 24, 2008 at the SharePoint Connections Conference.  The session will be entitled.  HPS301: Web Content Management (Bring Your Own Laptop).  You can read the abstract describing the session below.

In this hands-on workshop, you’ll learn how to leverage Office SharePoint Server 2007 to build “Content Driven” Web sites that are updated by the content owners while still maintaining a strong corporate branding. We’ll follow a recurring pattern of a short slide presentation followed by a longer “hands on” demo/lab. Attendees will be provided with handouts that contain click-by-click instructions that describe how to accomplish the lab. If you prefer not to have a computer in front of you, you’ll get just as much out of watching us demonstrate. All code snippets and materials needed to complete each lab will also be provided to the students. Attendees will complete the hands-on labs on their own laptops (or at home after class). The agenda for the day will include the following lessons.

  • Introduction to “Content Driven” Web Sites 
  • Maintaining Corporate Branding with a Customized Master Page
  • Controlling Content Input with a Custom Field Control
  • Managing Content Placement with a Custom Layout Page
  • Customizing SharePoint Navigation 
  • Optimizing Performance with Output Caching Profiles and the Object Cache
  • Automating Content Deployment

I Hope to see you there!

Speaking at the Dallas/Fort Worth SharePoint User’s Group in February

I will be speaking at the Dallas Fort Worth SharePoint User’s Group on Tuesday, February 19th.  The meeting will be from 6:30-8:00pm.  My topic will be "Upgrading WSS and Office Server 2007 to Service Pack 1”.  Here’s a brief description of the talk:

In mid-December of 2007, Microsoft released the first service pack for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (WSS) and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS). These service packs are filled with hot fixes and important upgrades to WSS and MOSS.  These service packs add support for the upcoming release of Windows Server 2008, Web Parts that use ASP.NET AJAX, new STSADM operations, and much more.  But installing them requires more planning than just running SETUP.exe.  In this talk we’ll examine the points below and follow them up with a live demonstration:

    1. What common problems are fixed by the SP1
    2. What should I consider BEFORE installing SP1
    3. How do I slipstream the installations for use in Server 2008
    4. What are some of the common problems encountered when trying to install SP1
    5. What other service packs will I need to install

The User Group meets at the local Microsoft Offices in Irving, TX.  You can find the office at 7000 State Highway 16, Irving, TX 75039.  The meeting will be in the LC1 Building (Right Tower) on the 1st Floor in Room 1200 (Left of the main security desk).  The DFW SharePoint Community is the only dedicated North Texas SharePoint
forum to promote:

  • Sharing of SharePoint "Best Practices" and Successes.
  • Exchange for Issues and Work Arounds.
  • Exposure to Certified 3rd party add on products.
  • Connection Point for market and Microsoft SharePoint resources

Meetings are free and open to the public, but registration is required.  You can register for the February meeting here.