Prairie Dev Con is Coming Back to Winnipeg!

Prairie Dev Con will be returning to Winnipeg April 7 & 8 2014, and will be held at the Canad Inns Destination Centre Polo Park hotel and conference centre!

This year we're challenging our attendees to expand your horizons, dive deep, and get hands on!

Expand Your Horizons

Technology is changing rapidly, and we'll have a number of sessions that will keep you up to date on the latest software development trends and releases!

Dive Deep

This year we'll have deep technical sessions aimed at those who are already well versed in software development. We'll talk about solving specific problems, implementing certain features or patterns, and how to get the most out of your chosen development platform.

Get Hands On

Bring your laptop to the conference and take part in one of our hands-on sessions which will walk you through using a technology with a knowledgeable facilitator!

Tell Us What You Want to See

We have a short online survey where you can tell us what content you’d like to see! Click here to access our online survey!

Call for Sessions is Open

Our call for sessions is currently open, please visit the Speakers area of our site here.

Connect With Us

If you'd like to receive email updates for our Winnipeg conference, please join our mailing list by clicking here!

You can also connect with us via Facebook, Twitter, the conference blog, or by email!

Thanks, and I hope to see you in April!

D'Arcy Lussier
Prairie Dev Con

Prairie Dev Con MVA Challenge!

Just because Prairie Dev Con is done doesn’t mean the learning ends! We’re running a Microsoft Virtual Academy Challenge through the month of November that you can take advantage of to learn Microsoft technologies as well as earn bonus MVA points!

Here’s how it works:

Between November 12th and November 30th Prairie Dev Con will tweet a MVA course a day (to follow us on Twitter, go to www.twitter.com/prairiedevcon).

Once you complete the course, send a copy of your completion certificate to me at darcy@prairiedevcon.com. You’ll receive 100 MVA points!

Next, challenge a colleague! Tweet “I challenge my followers to complete this course for 100 MVA points @prairiedevcon” (or something like that…be creative, but ensure you include the @prairiedevcon in the tweet).

Once your colleague has completed it and tweeted as per above, we’ll record an extra 50 MVA points for yourself as a referral bonus! Remember, you must include @prairiedevcon in the tweets for us to track this.

So get out there, get learning, and have fun!

Prairie Dev Con Saskatoon–Session Resources

I’ll be posting links to session resources (slides, demos, etc.) as I get them in. Check back here often for updates! If there’s a particular session you’d like to see that isn’t posted let me know and I’ll ping the presenter.

Thanks!

D’Arcy

SignalR – James Chambers

http://jameschambers.com/2013/11/signalr-resources/

“Web Performance & You” and “Websites for Everyone,Not Just Us” – Devon Rathie-Wright

https://t.co/fbzLQ7JCad

Agile Teams and Rich UI with Knockout.js and Coffeescript – Amir Barylko

http://orthocoders.com/presentations.html

More to come!

Attendee Update Email–Oct 30th

Hello Attendees!

With only a few days left before the conference, I wanted to touch base again and highlight a few important items!

Conference Schedule

The conference schedule is posted! You can view it at:

http://www.prairiedevcon.com/schedule

We’ll have copies of the schedule available at the conference for you.

Attendee Survey

Please take a quick second to answer our attendee survey, especially if you have any food preferences/allergies that we need to know about!

You can get to the survey by clicking here!

Venue and Parking

The conference will be at the lower level of the Park Town Hotel, with registration outside the Oak room.

Note that the venue charges for parking on their lot.

Session Specific Information – Android Workshop and Usability Testing

For those attending the “Getting Started with Android Development” hands on lab, please be advised that you must bring your own laptop to develop on. Also, please install Android Studio (its free) before the session. You can get it from:

http://developer.android.com/sdk/installing/studio.html

For those attending the “Instant Gratification Usability Testing” clinic, we’re looking for some volunteers to offer up their own websites for review! Please send an email if you’re interested to darcy@prairiedevcon.com.

Attendee Contest  - Win a $100 Best Buy Gift Card

We're running a contest with our friends at Microsoft for attendees only! Entering the contest is easy, click here to head over to our blog to read all the details!

Thanks!

Thank you for being part of our first Prairie Dev Con in Saskatoon! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me at darcy@prairiedevcon.com.

Thanks,

D'Arcy Lussier
Prairie Dev Con

PrDC Saskatoon Attendee Contest

We’re running a contest for attendees of Prairie Dev Con Saskatoon with a $100 Best Buy Gift Card as the prize! Entering the contest is super easy, here’s how!

Step 1 – Register for The Developer Movement

The Developer Movement is a program put on by Microsoft where developers can earn great prizes for…well…developing!

Registering for The Developer Movement is your first step towards winning a conference pass! Simply visit https://www.developermovement.ca/ and sign up to receive the latest updates!

Step 2 – Watch Two Microsoft Virtual Academy Courses

Once you’ve registered with The Developer Movement, head on over to the Microsoft Virtual Academy - http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com! MVA is an ever-growing collection of online training sessions in various Microsoft technologies – and its entirely free!

So your second step is to register for the Microsoft Virtual Academy (make sure to use the same email address you used to register for The Developer Movement) and watch two of the following courses:

Fundamentals
C# Fundamentals: Development for Absolute Beginners
Programming in C# Jump Start

Windows 8
Windows 8 UX Design Jump Start
Essentials of Developing Windows Store Apps using C# Jump Start
Advanced Windows Store App Development using C# Jump Start
XAML Deep Dive for Windows & Windows Phone Apps Jump Start
Developing Windows Store Apps with HTML5 Jump Start
Advanced Windows Store App Development with HTML5 Jump Start
Building Windows Store Apps for iOS Developers Jump Start

Windows Phone
Windows Phone 8 Development for Absolute Beginners
Building Apps for Windows Phone 8 Jump Start
Build Apps for Both Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 Jump Start

Visual Studio/ALM
Applying ALM with Visual Studio 2012 Jump Start
Administering Visual Studio TFS 2012 Jump Start
Software Testing with Visual Studio 2012 Jump Start

Web
HTML5 & CSS3 Fundamentals: Development for Absolute Beginners
Developing in HTML5 with JavaScript and CSS3 Jump Start
Building Web Apps with ASP.NET Jump Start

Lightswitch
Building Business Apps with Visual Studio Lightswitch

Step 3 – Email Prairie Dev Con That You Completed Steps 1 & 2!

Once you’ve registered for The Developer Movement and you’ve watched your two videos, you’re ready for the last step!

Send an email to info@prairiedevcon.com and tell us your name and what email you used to register for The Developer Movement and Microsoft Virtual Academy, as well as the titles of the two videos that you watched. We’ll validate your details with Microsoft and enter your name into the draw for the gift card!

Its that simple!

This contest will close at 5:00 PM on Tuesday, November 5th. We’ll announce the winner on Friday, November 8th.

Remember, this is only open to registered attendees of the conference!

Don’t Delay!

Register for The Developer Movement and Microsoft Virtual Academy today! Watch your two videos, then email Prairie Dev Con with your details and you’re in the draw!

Any questions, comments, or clarifications, please let me know!

Thanks,

D’Arcy
Prairie Dev Con

Early Bird Extended to October 18th!

I’ve heard from a few people that are still in the process of putting through requests at work to attend Prairie Dev Con this November in Saskatoon.

So to ensure enough time for everyone, we’re extending our early bird pricing of $399.99 to October 18th! That’s two more weeks where you can get a great price on a fantastic two-day technology conference! And remember groups of 3 or more get an additional $50 off each registration!

See you at Prairie Dev Con in November!

D’Arcy

You Could Win Your Conference Registration!

Would you like to win a free pass to Prairie Dev Con Saskatoon? Well we’re running a contest where you can do just that! Here’s how it works.

Step 1 – Register for The Developer Movement

The Developer Movement is a program put on by Microsoft where developers can earn great prizes for…well…developing!

Registering for The Developer Movement is your first step towards winning a conference pass! Simply visit https://www.developermovement.ca/ and sign up to receive the latest updates!

Step 2 – Watch Two Microsoft Virtual Academy Courses

Once you’ve registered with The Developer Movement, head on over to the Microsoft Virtual Academy - http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com! MVA is an ever-growing collection of online training sessions in various Microsoft technologies – and its entirely free!

So your second step is to register for the Microsoft Virtual Academy (make sure to use the same email address you used to register for The Developer Movement) and watch two of the following courses:

Fundamentals
C# Fundamentals: Development for Absolute Beginners
Programming in C# Jump Start

Windows 8
Windows 8 UX Design Jump Start
Essentials of Developing Windows Store Apps using C# Jump Start
Advanced Windows Store App Development using C# Jump Start
XAML Deep Dive for Windows & Windows Phone Apps Jump Start
Developing Windows Store Apps with HTML5 Jump Start
Advanced Windows Store App Development with HTML5 Jump Start
Building Windows Store Apps for iOS Developers Jump Start

Windows Phone
Windows Phone 8 Development for Absolute Beginners
Building Apps for Windows Phone 8 Jump Start
Build Apps for Both Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 Jump Start

Visual Studio/ALM
Applying ALM with Visual Studio 2012 Jump Start
Administering Visual Studio TFS 2012 Jump Start
Software Testing with Visual Studio 2012 Jump Start

Web
HTML5 & CSS3 Fundamentals: Development for Absolute Beginners
Developing in HTML5 with JavaScript and CSS3 Jump Start
Building Web Apps with ASP.NET Jump Start

Lightswitch
Building Business Apps with Visual Studio Lightswitch

Step 3 – Email Prairie Dev Con That You Completed Steps 1 & 2!

Once you’ve registered for The Developer Movement and you’ve watched your two videos, you’re ready for the last step!

Send an email to info@prairiedevcon.com and tell us your name and what email you used to register for The Developer Movement and Microsoft Virtual Academy, as well as the titles of the two videos that you watched. We’ll validate your details with Microsoft and enter your name into the draw for the free conference pass!

Its that simple!

This contest will close at 11:59 PM on Friday, October 18th 2013. We’ll announce the winner on Monday, October 21st 2013.

You may be wondering “What if I purchase my conference pass and I win the free pass?”. Not to worry – in this scenario we’d refund your conference registration.

Don’t Delay!

Register for The Developer Movement and Microsoft Virtual Academy today! Watch your two videos, then email Prairie Dev Con with your details and you’re in the draw!

Any questions, comments, or clarifications, please let me know!

Thanks,

D’Arcy
Prairie Dev Con

PrDC 2013 Saskatoon Call for Sessions is Open!

The next Prairie Developer Conference will be November 4 – 5, 2013 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan! We’re looking for sessions that speak to the cloud, mobile, and web development, patterns & practices, and general software development topics.

Prairie Dev Con is a technology agnostic conference, and we look for sessions that cover a wide range of platforms, tools, and technologies. .NET, PHP, Java, Android, iOS, etc. – all are fair game.

The online form to send in your sessions is at the link here:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PrDC13SaskatoonSessionSubmission

Selected speakers will receive 2 nights hotel accommodations (if coming in from out of town), a free pass to the conference, and an invite to the speaker’s dinner. Out of town speakers will be slotted for a minimum of 2 talks, local speakers will be slotted a minimum of 1.

Deadline for submissions is August 2, 2013! Accepted sessions will be posted on August 5, 2013.

If you have any questions, please get in touch with me at

darcy [at] prairiedevcon [dot] com

Thanks!

D’Arcy

Prairie Dev Con is Coming to Saskatoon!

 

We're thrilled to add Saskatoon to our list of event cities that includes Regina, Winnipeg, and Calgary!

The dates and venue are being finalized, but I can share that the conference will be in early November. I'll be announcing more information in the coming weeks.

 

Sponsors

We're currently looking for sponsors for our Saskatoon event! Sponsorship is more than just logos on our website and signage - booth space, complimentary conference passes, and vendor sessions are all part of the Prairie Dev Con sponsorship experience! If you think your organization would be interested in sponsoring Prairie Dev Con, please share our sponsorship package which can be found here:

Sponsorship Package

Attendee Survey

If you haven't filled out our attendee survey yet for PrDC Saskatoon, please visit our website and tell us what you`d like to see at the Saskatoon event!

www.prairiedevcon.com

Thanks,

D'Arcy Lussier
Prairie Dev Con

Prairie Dev Con…Saskatoon?

Prairie Dev Con has been providing fantastic opportunities to learn, network, and have fun for software developers living in the Canadian prairies over the last four years.

We're looking at running the next Prairie Dev Con in Saskatoon, but we need your help!

What sessions would you like to see?

What session styles do you like?

What would make Prairie Dev Con Saskatoon a must-attend event?

We have a short survey that I'd invite you to fill out. It doesn't take long and the information will go a long way to help in planning for a Saskatoon event! Also, if we do go ahead and run a Prairie Dev Con in Saskatoon, we'll draw a name from the survey submissions for a free pass to the conference!

Click here to take the survey!

Thanks, and hopefully we'll see you in Saskatoon later this year!

D'Arcy Lussier
Prairie Dev Con

Announcing Community Night Featuring Mark Stafford (Microsoft) on OData!

The evening of Tuesday, May 7th is community night! Prairie Dev Con is hosting a free user-group-like event for the Winnipeg developer community!

Mark Stafford, Product Manager at Microsoft, will be presenting on OData – what it is, why its important, and how it can impact your day-to-day development. Pizza will be provided, and again – this is a free event! You don’t have to be an attendee of the conference to come out.

For more information including times and how to register, click the link below!

http://prdccommunitynight.eventbrite.ca/

D’Arcy

Workshop Attendee Update

Attending a post-conference workshop? Here’s what you need to know!

Dates, Times, and Location

Both workshops (AOP and MVC) will be held on Wednesday, May 8th at the Viscount Gort from 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM.

ASP.NET MVC with James Chambers will be in VIscount A, and AOP with Donald Belcham will be in Viscount B. You can see a floor layout of the venue on our website's schedule page (there's a link just above the schedule).

http://www.prairiedevcon.com/schedule

A continental breakfast will be provided and we'll be walking over to Olive Garden for lunch!

What to Bring and System Requirements

Each attendee is required to bring their own laptop to the workshops. We'll have power and wi-fi available. Each workshop has its own pre-requisites:

AOP with Donald Belcham
Visual Studio 2010 or 2012 (2012 and C# is preferred)

Note that Express versions of Visual Studio will not work with the version of PostSharp that Don will be using in his workshop, so please download the full free trial as opposed to the Express versions. Below is the link to the trial version of Visual Studio 2012:

http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/eng/downloads

ASP.NET MVC with James Chambers
- VS.NET 2012
- Web Tools 2012.2

Note that Express versions of Visual Studio will work for this workshop. Below are links to where you can get the tooling.

http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/eng/downloads

http://www.asp.net/mvc

If you have any other questions, please let me know!

Thanks,

D'Arcy Lussier

Attendee Update: Schedule is Posted, Registration Info, Attendee Survey, Community Night

We're less than a week away from Prairie Dev Con! Here`s some need-to-know info!

Schedule is Now Posted!

The conference schedule is now posted on the website! Just click the 'Schedule' menu item to access it or click the link below:
http://www.prairiedevcon.com/schedule
You don't have to pre-register to attend any session. We use a "vote with your feet" style at Prairie Dev Con, meaning you attend whatever session you want whenever you want.
We will have paper copies of the schedule available on Monday when you register.

Registration

Registration will be on the main floor of the Viscount just outside the Royal rooms, and will start at 7:30 AM on Monday. We'll be directly across from the front desk. You don't need to bring a copy of your registration receipt, just some form of ID.

Food
Breakfast, lunch, and coffee breaks will be provided over the conference. Breakfasts are *hot* - eggs, bacon, sausage, etc., so don't eat beforehand!
For those that identified dietary preferences, we'll ensure you have options at all meals.

Attendee Survey

For those that were registered for the conference through an invoice or as part of a group online, if you haven't yet then please take a second to fill out this *very* short attendee survey. We need to capture any allergies or dietary restrictions/preferences you may have as we're providing breakfast, lunch, and snacks at the conference. You can take the survey at the link below:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/pdc13AttendeeSurvey

Free Microsoft Workshops

Microsoft will be putting on two *FREE* workshops Saturday, May 4th! These are open to anyone, whether they're attending the conference or not. Each are half-day sessions, with one in the morning focusing on web development and the afternoon on .NET development.
For more information, including how to register, please visit our blog at the link below:

http://prairiedevcon.blogspot.ca/2013/03/two-free-microsoft-workshops-saturday.html

Free Community Night

On the night of Tuesday May 8th, we'll be hosting a free community night! Think of this as a user group style event with Mark Stafford, Microsoft OData Product Manager, delivering a presentation on OData APIs! To get more information and register for this event, please visit the link below:

http://prdccommunitynight.eventbrite.ca/

If you have any other questions, please let me know!

Thanks,

D'Arcy Lussier

Prairie Dev Con 2013 - Early Bird Pricing Extended to April 12th!

March has come and gone, and with many being away the last week with Spring Break we wanted to extend the Early Bird pricing by a few weeks to ensure everyone has a chance to register at the reduced pricing!

 

Register before April 13th to take advantage of our Early Bird pricing of $399.99! As always, groups of 3 or more get an additional $50 off each registration!

 

To find out more about the conference, including sessions, speakers, workshops, and how to register, visit our website at:

www.prairiedevcon.com

Two Free Microsoft Workshops Saturday May 4th!

Microsoft, our Platinum Sponsor, is providing two *free* workshops on the Saturday before the conference!

Windows 8 for Web Developers Workshop

This one goes out to all the Web developers! In this workshop, you'll learn everything you need to know to build awesome Windows 8 apps using the HTML5 and JavaScript skills you’ve already got. You’ll learn the basics, then dive deeper and explore UI controls, integration with Windows 8 specific features, and extending storage and data, authentication, push notification and more to the Cloud.

Click here for more info and to register!

.NET Developer Workshop

This one goes out to all the .NETs developers! In this workshop, you'll learn about XAML (beyond basic layout), targeting multiple screens with MVVM (keeping your code DRY), Windows Azure Cloud Services (web scale!) and Windows Azure Mobile Services (so easy to build connected apps) and best of all, each session is geared for you, the .NET folks.

Click here for more info and to register!

Register early as we need a minimum number of attendees to guarantee the workshops!

Thanks,

D’Arcy

Sessions for Prairie Dev Con 2013 in Winnipeg Are Posted!

I’m thrilled to announce that the session list for our May 2013 conference are now posted online!

Sessions
This year we focussed on four areas: Web, Mobile, General Development, and Cloud. We’ve got sessions touching all four of those areas, with diversity in language, technology, and specialization.

Presenters
Our presenters are once again real-world experts in their field! We have local talent in addition to out-of-towners from Canada and the US!

Workshops
We’re also offering two post-conference workshops:

Aspect Oriented Programming (AOP) with Donald Belcham
and
ASP.NET MVC with James Chambers

Pricing
Early Bird registration is open now! We have two rates for the conference:

	Conference	Conference + Post Con Workshop
Until March 31	$399.99	$599.98
April 1 – May 5	$499.99	$699.98

As always, groups of 3 or more get an additional $50 off each registration!

Head on over to our website (www.prairiedevcon.com) to get all the details on our sessions, speakers, workshops, and how to register!

If you have any questions, please contact me at darcy@prairiedevcon.com!

Thanks,

D’Arcy

Announcing the Winnipeg Code Camp 2013!

Prairie Dev Con is proud to be a major sponsor of the Winnipeg Code Camp this year!

This will be the 6th annual Winnipeg Code Camp, and we’ll once again return to Red River College’s downtown campus on Princess for the event!

Here’s the details:

When: Saturday, April 27th 2013
Where: Red River College – Princess Street Campus
How Much: FREE!
Food: Of Course!

What we don’t have yet are speakers and sessions! If you’re interested in speaking at the code camp, please submit a talk! We want the code camp to serve as an opportunity for new and inexperienced speakers to gain valuable presentation experience while sharing technology topics they’re passionate about. Of course, those of us who have spoken and are experience presenters are able to submit as well!

Just visit the link below to submit your talks! Deadline for talk submissions is March 31st.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/wpgcodecamp2013

If you have any questions on the code camp, please let me know!

Thanks,

D’Arcy

Prairie Dev Con 2013 Winnipeg–Call For Speakers!

The next Prairie Developer Conference will be happening May 6 – 7 2013 in Winnipeg, Manitoba! This year we’re focussing our sessions on three areas that have emerged as key pillars of our tech world and a fourth that never goes out of style and is a constant discussion point:

Cloud
Mobile
Web
Development Best Practices

Our call for speakers is now open and I’d like to invite you to submit your talks! The online form to send in your sessions is at the link here:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/pdc13wpg

Selected speakers will receive 2 nights hotel accommodations (if coming in from out of town), a free pass to the conference and any workshops, and an invite to the speaker’s dinner. Out of town speakers will be slotted for a minimum of 2 talks, local speakers will be slotted a minimum of 1.

Deadline for submissions is January 31, 2013! Accepted sessions will be posted on February 1, 2013.

If you have any questions, please get in touch with me at

darcy [at] prairiedevcon.com

Thanks!

D’Arcy