Our January 19th meeting Chris Eargle will be presenting The Legend of Lamda.

Lambda expressions are a powerful feature of C#, one that can be wielded for good or evil. Attend this session for an adventure through the evolution of the C# language, from the depths of the delegate keyword to the expressiveness of the lambda expression. I will show you how anyone can easily learn to wield and empower code with lambda expressions. It's dangerous to go alone! Take this: =>.

Chris Eargle is a Telerik Developer Evangelist, Microsoft Most Valuable Professional – C#, and two-time INETA Community Champion from Columbia, SC, USA. He has over a decade of experience designing and developing enterprise applications, and he runs the local .NET User Group: the Columbia Enterprise Developers Guild. He is a frequent guest of conferences and community events promoting best practices and new technologies. His blog, kodefuguru.com, has been featured on ASP.NET, MSDN, and Reddit.

Please RSVP.

Bring any computer books and other previous prizes you may have gotten such as software etc. if you want to trade them with someone for something else. Maybe you have already read the book or don't need the software and someone else does and wants to trade.

Bring in your book reviews.

Agenda:
* 6:00 PM Networking and Refreshments
* 6:30 PM Announcements and Introductions
* 6:45 PM Presentation - Legends of Lamda
* 8:15 PM Prize drawings
* 8:30 PM Wrap-up

Prizes include:
Software by Telerik
A few books will also be available.

Technical Sponsor - Logical Advantage
Logical Advantage is a well respected Software Consulting Company. We partner with a wide range of clients solving a wide rangeof business issues through integrated software solutions. We accomplish this through our SoftwareConsulting Services, Full Software Development Life Cycle Services, and ourWorkforce Management Solutions.

Our meeting location is hosted by dataBridge.
dataBridge is a SharePoint consulting, development and training firm that provides collaboration solutions for businesses. We help users in companies large and small grow their businesses by being able to share information and work together, anywhere and anytime.

Our web site is hosted by ImageSmith Communications.
ImageSmith Communications is a marketing and communications company specializing in start-to-finish print and digital marketing pieces and campaigns.

This month we will be discussing Virtual Machines. We hope to answer: What are they? Why should we as Developers use them? How does one work with a VM?

We wish to express our thanks to our current sponsors:

for graciously providing the space for our meeting.

for providing this months food.

Intro to Entity Framework and LINQ to Entities by Joe Walling
Most business applications involve a database. ORM tools provide a means for reducing the impedance mismatch between programming objects and the database structure. Microsoft, with the Entity Framework, has further improved development productivity. This presentation will introduce you to how easy it is to start developing with the Entity Framework 4.0 and LINQ to Entities. Some of the topics we will cover:
 1. What is the Entity Framework and why should you care?
 2. Creating an Entity Data Model from a database
 3. Creating an Entity Data Model by developing the model and generating the database from the model
 4. Exploring the code and different parts of the EDM including the mappings
 5. Using the Entity Data Model from a separate project
 6. Using LINQ to Entities
 7. Creating a simple parent-child Windows Form with minimal code and effort

We wish to express our thanks to our current sponsors:

for graciously providing the space for our meeting.

for providing this months food.

This month, weather permitting, we join together with the WNC SharePoint User Group and welcome Joshua Carlisle.
Joshua will present Data Access with SharePoint 2010 – A Developer’s Primer
SharePoint 2007 only provided a couple core methods for accessing SharePoint list data including the SharePoint Object Model and SharePoint ASMX Web Services. SharePoint 2010 now provides many additional methods for accessing SharePoint data that opens the doors to all new possibilities with different types of applications. In this session we’ll be exploring the new data access methods including Linq to SharePoint, REST Services, and the Client Object Model for Javascript, Silverlight, and Managed Code.

Please RSVP.

Agenda:
* 6:00 PM Networking and Refreshments
* 6:30 PM Announcements and Introductions
* 6:45 PM Presentation - Data Access with SharePoint 2010
* 8:15 PM Prize drawings
* 8:30 PM Wrap-up

Our meeting location is hosted by ImageSmith Communications.
ImageSmith Communications is a marketing and communications company specializing in start-to-finish print and digital marketing pieces and campaigns.

This month we welcome Rick Toner as he presents "PowerShell 101". Please RSVP.

Bring any computer books and other previous prizes you may have gotten such as software etc. if you want to trade them with someone for something else. Maybe you have already read the book or don't need the software and someone else does and wants to trade.

Bring in your book reviews.

Agenda:
* 6:00 PM Networking and Refreshments
* 6:30 PM Announcements and Introductions
* 6:45 PM Presentation - PowerShell 101
* 8:15 PM Prize drawings
* 8:30 PM Wrap-up

Prizes include:
Software by Telerik
Software by GrapeCity
A few books will also be available.

Technical Sponsor - TBA
Our technical sponsor for this meeting has not been finalized.

Our meeting location is hosted by ImageSmith Communications.
ImageSmith Communications is a marketing and communications company specializing in start-to-finish print and digital marketing pieces and campaigns.

IMPORTANT: The meeting date has changed!
We are now meeting on the third Thursday of the month.
Set the date October 21 at 6 PM.

This month we welcome Chris G. Williams. He will be presenting 'A Tour of Windows Phone 7 and XNA 4.0'. In this talk, he'll cover what's new in XNA 4.0, especially as it pertains to Windows Phone 7. He'll cover phone features, using the emulator and how to take advantage of the various sensors (like the Accelerometer) and features (MultiTouch, Gestures, etc) in your games. Rumor has it, he may even have a phone with him. Please RSVP.

Bring any computer books and other previous prizes you may have gotten such as software etc. if you want to trade them with someone for something else. Maybe you have already read the book or don't need the software and someone else does and wants to trade.

Bring in your book reviews.

Agenda
* 6:00 PM Networking and Refreshments
* 6:30 PM Announcements and Introductions
* 6:45 PM Presentation - A Tour of Windows Phone 7 and XNA 4.0
* 8:15 PM Prize drawings
* 8:30 PM Wrap-up

Some door prizes available this month:
A Few Books

Technical Sponsor - PowerChurch Software
Since 1984, PowerChurch Software has been developing software for churches and non-profits. We realize that no two organizations are alike and pride ourselves in products that are as flexible and customizable as possible. Over 30,000 churches and non-profit organizations have come to rely on PowerChurch Software for their ministry management software needs.

Our meeting location is hosted by ImageSmith Communications.
ImageSmith Communications is a marketing and communications company specializing in start-to-finish print and digital marketing pieces and campaigns.

Behaviors and Triggers in Silverlight 4 using System.Windows.Interaction.dll from Blend 4

Since Silverlight 3 we have had the opportunity to work with Behaviors and Triggers. Most of our exposure has been limited to Blend since the bits come from the Blend application. In this presentation, we will analyze both Behaviors and Triggers and then look at what it takes to build a behavior and trigger from scratch. We will also discuss how we can use Behaviors and Triggers to support Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM) as well. Finally, we will look at where we can use Behaviors and Triggers in our applications in a practical approach. Instead of just showing simple animations, we will look at how we can use these powerful features to get component and logic re-use as much as possible.

Matt Duffield is a .NET architect designing and developing enterprise applications. He specializes in .NET and SQL Server with an emphasis on WPF, Silverlight, and mobile development. He also architects and designs dashboard, business intelligence, data warehouse, and data mining solutions. He has a MSCD.NET certification and also is a Microsoft MVP.

Agenda
* 6:00 PM Networking and Refreshments
* 6:30 PM Announcements and Introductions
* 6:45 PM Presentation - Behaviors and Triggers by Matt Duffield
* 8:15 PM Prize drawings
* 8:30 PM Wrap-up

Some door prizes available this month:
A Few Books
A Telerik Ultimate Collection License

Technical Sponsor - Crimson Leaf, LLC
Crimson Leaf LLC, formerly known as Manufacturing Productions, is located in the heart of Western North Carolina. Our Mission is to provide innovative custom solutions to make our clients business processes as effortless as possible. We have provided a wide range of solutions for a varied set of clients. To start with we take the time to learn all we can about your business and what you need from us. We then thoroughly and carefully plan out the best avenue to solve your issues. We promise the highest quality of work and service you can find. In addition to that promise we have a bug free guarantee for as long as you use the same software version we test against. See David Baity for more information on Crimson Leaf or go to http://www.crimsonleafllc.com.

Our meeting location is hosted by ImageSmith Communication.

Tools of the trade
This month our own Brian Beaudet will be sharing some tools he uses on a regular basis. Just to name a few CodeIt.Right, CodeRush, and Silverlight Spy. He doesn’t feel like he’ll be able to take up the normal time for this meeting so we might be able to get away early and grab a beer down the road. Though if anyone else has some cool tools or projects they would like to share please let us know and we’ll give you some time at the projector.

Agenda
* 6:00 PM Networking and Refreshments
* 6:30 PM Announcements and Introductions
* 6:45 PM Presentation - Tools of the trade by Brian Beaudet
* 7:30 PM Presentation - Open mic
* 8:15 PM Prize drawings
* 8:30 PM Wrap-up

Technical Sponsor - UGSS
Our technical sponsor for this meeting is UGSS who are providing sandwiches and wraps from Blue Sky Café.

Our meeting location is hosted by ImageSmith Communication.

Credit Crunch Code – Paying Back the Technical Debt
Technical debt is the cost of putting off good development practices. This debt, must be paid back to avoid the “interest payments” becoming crippling. This presentation will further define technical debt, before examining some anti-patterns and how to avoid them. We’ll then look at how to put a financial cost on technical debt, and end by examining some measures.

Presented By Gary Short
Gary Short works for Developer Express as the Technical Evangelist on the frameworks team. He has a deep interest in technical architecture, especially in the areas of technical debt and refactoring. Gary is a C# MVP and gives presentations at user groups and conferences throughout the UK. As well as C#, Gary also has an interest in dynamic languages such as Smalltalk, Ruby and Python as well as iPhone development using Objective-C.

Crap Code
There you sit, it's a Wednesday morning and before you is the code another developer has left you. At first you can't believe your eyes, perhaps you misread it... No ... He really did write it like that ... Crap Code. In this session we'll explore Crap Code that we've come across in the past few years of Consulting, the problems it causes and the solutions to the idiocy of other developers. You'll laugh, you'll cry - but most of all, you'll come out of the session realizing you're a pretty damn good developer.

Presented By Phil Winstanley
Phil Winstanley provides solutions to situations which have complex technical requirements. His expertise is internationally acclaimed and he is prominent in the network of specialists in this field, being a member of the Microsoft MVP programme since 2002 and a member of the ASP Insiders since its inception. Phil is a top-grade communicator, as instanced by his being awarded Microsoft’s “Most Valuable Professional” (MVP) – ASP/ASP.NET status for 2002 to 2009. He is one of only a few ASP.NET MVPs in the world, and won this award for his dedication to the Microsoft web development community. He is a sought-after speaker at user-group conferences and major product launch presentations, and co-author of a book on best practice in database methodology.

Agenda
  * 6:00 PM Networking and Refreshments
  * 6:30 PM Announcements and Introductions
  * 6:45 PM Presentation - Credit Crunch Code – Paying Back the Technical Debt by Gary Short
  * 7:30 PM Presentation - Crap Code by Phil Winstanley
  * 8:15 PM Prize drawings
  * 8:30 PM Wrap-up

Technical Sponsor - UGSS and Developer Express
Our technical sponsor for this meeting is UGSS who are providing food and refreshments and Developer Express who have provided the speakers and some swag for our meeting. Rachel Hawley from Developer Express will also be at the meeting.

Our meeting location is hosted by ImageSmith Communication.

Beyond Wages

Joe Walling will be presenting "Beyond Wages", an introductory level presentation that will show you ways to make money and build your reputation while holding down a day job. It will include setting your goals, things that you should take into consideration when planning projects, various techniques for making money, and how to market yourself or your product if you are interested in moonlighting as a consultant. In the second half of the presentation, we will change the focus and discuss how to determine what software to write and how to sell your software programs.

Bring any computer books and other previous prizes you may have gotten such as software etc. if you want to trade them with someone for something else. Maybe you have already read the book or don't need the software and someone else does and wants to trade.

Please click RSVP to send us an email that you will attend this meeting to help us estimate refreshments. Click here to add this meeting to your calendar.

Presented By Joe Walling

Joe Walling has been developing software for more than 20 years. He currently works as a Product Development Architect for Computer Software Innovations where he has worked for the past 5 years. Prior to that, he ran his own company for over 10 years where he wrote software, developed dynamic web sites, and provided consulting services. In his spare time, you will find him reading up on the latest software development topics, writing software, and running the Greenville Spartanburg Developers' Guild. He has been President of the GSP Developers' Guild for over 7 years

Agenda

    * 6:00 PM Networking and Refreshments
    * 6:30 PM Announcements and Introductions
    * 6:45 PM Presentation - Beyond Wages by Joe Walling
    * 8:15 PM Prize drawings
    * 8:30 PM Wrap-up

Technical Sponsor - TEKSystems

Our technical sponsor for this meeting is TEKSystems who is one of the nation's largest single source providers of information technology and communications staffing and services, providing more than 20,000 professionals to client locations every day. Our promise to you is world-class technology expertise delivered with customer service that's second to none.

See Bowman Still from TEKSystems regarding employment and hiring issues that TEKSystems can help with. Visit TEKSytems web site here.

Our meeting location is hosted by ImageSmith Communications.