The SPTechBlog

Using Custom Views for Calendar Data

noreply@blogger.com (David Rubinstein) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:09:00 +0000

In the latest installment of Share Pointers, the SPTechReport "tips and tricks" column, SharePoint 911 consultant Jennifer Mason discussing using calculated columns to store granular date information. Very interesting, and helpful for folks who want to reuse date data in different presentations. (Don't miss another issue of SPTechReport, published by BZ Media. Sign up today!)
-- David

Shuffle off to SPTechCon

noreply@blogger.com (David Rubinstein) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 15:40:00 +0000

Dance to the music.... dance to the music!

Be among the next seven people to register for SPTechCon Boston June 22-24 and receive a free iPod Shuffle! Use the code SHUFFLE24 to be eligible!

And, stay on top of SharePoint with SPTechReport, the biweekly newsletter with tips and tricks, the latest news, and updates on what's happening in the community.

I'll see you in Boston, and in the SPTechReport.

-- David

Someone hit the lights

noreply@blogger.com (David Rubinstein) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:02:00 +0000

It had all the intrigue of a Hollywood movie. Camerman, down to his last bit of disk space, finally gets the money shot he needs. Editor and director fight over cutting hours and hours of film. Music director pulls hair out looking for just the right score to set the tone. (Okay, so in this case, they all were the same guy -- our own Ted Bahr!)

But after all that, we're proud to bring you the first of two short films -- and I DO mean short -- that were shot at January's SPTechCon in the SF Bay Area. The first is taken from the perspective of the exhibitors, the next will turn the camera onto the people who took the classes and workshops.

So take a second when you can, and hear what the attendees had to say about the experience. That's what we'll be aiming to re-create in June when we bring SPTechCon to the Boston area, June 22-24. Check out the program and speakers, and you'll see that the program we've put together is truly first rate.

"We're ready for our closeup, Mr. DeMille!"

Group hug!!

noreply@blogger.com (David Rubinstein) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:49:00 +0000

We feel your pain! The boss is pressuring you to maximize the return on your SharePoint investment, but in the same breath says the training budget has been cut. What's a developer/architect/information worker/IT admin/power user to do? Team up! SPTechCon is now offering a group discount for as few as three people from the same company! Put that together with the Super Early Bird discount (good through April 10), and you can save $550 per person off the full conference price! Now that's a recession-beater if I've ever seen one!

Check the registration page for details!

-- David

Tom Rizzo to Keynote

noreply@blogger.com (David Rubinstein) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:58:00 +0000

Microsoft's SharePoint director, Tom Rizzo, has sent in an e-mail saying "Sign me up!" to present the keynote at SPTechCon in Boston, so I have. Tom gave the opening keynote address at the first SPTechCon in Boston, and he provided a lot of good information about the upcoming SharePoint 14 release. Microsoft has pushed general availability back until 2010, and although Tom hasn't yet revealed to us the topic of his Boston keynote, I'm sure some of the work going into the next release will be discussed. More details to come as I get them.

SharePoint "Superstar!"

noreply@blogger.com (David Rubinstein) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:59:00 +0000

We're pleased to announce that we're adding another half-day workshop, titled "Become Your Company's SharePoint SuperStar!" to the SPTechCon Boston program. It will be presented by endusersharepoint.com founder Mark Miller and his associate Paul Grenier. Here's the description:

Using the techniques shown in this workshop, you will be able work a little black magic on some basic interface problems without help from IT or access to the SharePoint server.

Here are a few things you will be able to do at the conclusion of the workshop:

Control the Quick Launch display… tweak, collapse and hide
Hide major chunks of the interface that are just not needed on some pages
Let users manage the interface with the click of a button
Allow manual resizing of web parts on the page
Expand and contract all groups in a list
Manage your own resources for creating other basic, interface interactions

You don't need to be a programmer. You don't need to be a super geek to get this stuff to work. You just need to have the right tools and know what to do with them. That's what we'll provide.

Also, if you haven't already heard (and you're probably living in a cave without a wireless network if you haven't), the Extreme Early Bird deadline to register for SPTechCon Boston is Thursday, so sign up now to take advantage of the savings.

-- David

The program for Boston is complete!!

noreply@blogger.com (David Rubinstein) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 17:41:00 +0000

After weeks of cajoling, tweaking, rearranging, editing and slotting, the program for the next SPTechCon in Boston (June 22-24) is now complete!
We received more than 100 submissions to fill 63 technical classes and a full day of workshops, and I can state unequivocally that this lineup of speakers and topics is top shelf all the way. We've added a host of Microsoft MVPs to the faculty, and have created an information-rich conference for developers, architects, IT admins and information workers of all ability levels. So, whether you're new to SharePoint or an expert looking for that last piece of your implementation puzzle, there will be something at SPTechCon for you!
The program has been hermetically sealed and placed in a mayonnaise jar on Funk and Wagnall's front porch (sorry, Johnny!), but will be up on the Web site in about a week, when we have final confirmations and everything is locked down.
Registration for the event is now open, so sign up before March 12 to take advantage of the big extreme early-bird discount!
I look forward to seeing you all in Boston!
-- David

How Can SharePoint Help My Business?

noreply@blogger.com (David Rubinstein) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 20:06:00 +0000

The following letters were written in response to SPTech Report, BZ Media's newsletter covering all things SharePoint. To avoid missing out on all the latest information, subscribe today!

From Sandra Masterson, RHIA, Director of HealthSouth in Florida, came this e-mail:

“I would like to learn more about why using SharePoint is advantageous for one’s business. Our organization has begun using SharePoint, but I am not sure what the difference is in using this versus the other applications. Thanks in advance, and hopefully I am not writing to the wrong place.”

Sandra, you’ve definitely come to the right place. The quick answer would be for me to tell you to attend SPTechCon: The SharePoint Technology Conference that will be held in June in Boston. We’ll have three full days of SharePoint workshops and classes, including sessions that look at ROI, the benefits of implementing SharePoint as part of a portal or document management solution, and how to go about setting it up in a way that really brings value to your organization.

Many of the classes will be at the introductory level you need, but we also will present advanced and expert sessions for developers, admins, system architects, project managers and power users.

Of course, there are many excellent SharePoint blogs out there in this virtual universe of ours. Many can be found at www.sharepointblogs.com. Then there are the blogs from Microsoft's MVP community, and from its developer community.

Finally, I’d point out to you that Laura Rogers, one of our speakers at SPTechCon in Boston, also works at HealthSouth. You could look her up.

From Deanna McNeil of Learning Tree International came this e-mail:

“I really enjoyed this last issue of your newsletter. You know what I would love to see? Some sort of table comparing disaster recovery tools like AvePoint and Microsoft’s DPM product. Who can do what? What is the best value out there? What are the war stories? I only seem to hear the happy stories spun by the vendors, not the real-world ‘and then my server blew up’ reality checks.”

Well, Deanna, without a test lab, it’s hard to quantify differences in software tools. What we CAN do, though, is put a call out to our readers to go to my blog on the SPTechCon website and share their SharePoint disaster recovery disasters (or wins) in the comments section under this post.

THAT is what being an upstanding member of the community is all about!

-- David

Courses for Boston Coming Together

noreply@blogger.com (David Rubinstein) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 04:32:00 +0000

I have to tell you, the response to our call for speakers for the June conference in Boston has been overwhelming, and I'd like to thank everyone who's submitted sessions. It'll be a week or so before I can slog through all of it, but upon first glance, the program will be very strong, with introductory, intermediate and advanced classes for developers, architects, IT admins and business users.
I'm happy to say that MVPs Todd Klindt and Shane Young will be reprising their full-day workshop on SharePoint administration, which won rave reviews from the attendees at SPTechCon in Burlingame at the end of January. Also, MVP Bob Mixon will present his full-day workshop on "findability," which also played to a packed room.
Some other favorites from the first SPTechCon who've already committed to returning are Dux Raymond Sy, whose sessions on project management were very well received; MVP Darrin Bishop, who again will present on creating business intelligence portals; and Errin O'Connor, who keynoted at the first conference to a full ballroom. Also, we'll be adding plenty of new sessions and speakers, to keep the conference fresh. So just because you were with us in Burlingame doesn't mean you've already "been there, done that" with SPTechCon.
We should have the full course catalog online in the next few weeks, and I'll let you know when it's available for download. Until then, check back here often for updates on speakers and the sessions.
-- David

SPTechCon slides are up

noreply@blogger.com (David Rubinstein) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 21:32:00 +0000

Most of the slides from the sessions at the recently concluded SPTechCon are available for viewing by attendees. There are still a few "slacker" presenters who haven't quite gotten around to sending in their slides, but by and large, it's a fairly complete set. I'll let everyone know when the full set is up on the site. Also, I'll try to post some metrics as to which are the most downloaded sessions -- because I ask you, what fun is a download if you can't view some metrics along with it?

We're a hit, and coming to Boston!

noreply@blogger.com (David Rubinstein) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 17:56:00 +0000

At 37,000 feet above the Midwest somewhere, I’m returning to New York – mentally exhausted but excited about the feedback we received about SPTechCon, our first conference in the SharePoint community. I meant to update this blog all week, but with meeting our faculty, sitting in on their sessions, working the exhibit hall and yes, spending long evenings over libations with attendees and colleagues, the relative solace of the interior of a 757 finally has given me the time to report back here.
SPTechCon was a success. From the opening keynote by Microsoft senior director of SharePoint Tom Rizzo; to sessions that were packed with developers, IT admins and information workers hungry for knowledge; to vendor booths surrounded by attendees wanting to know how those products can augment and extend their SharePoint implementations, the event was everything we had hoped it would be – an acceptance into the SharePoint community.
At SPTechCon, we also announced that we’re producing another conference, this time in Boston in June (you can check the Web site for more details and to register). And, while most of the comments from this conference gave us encouragement that we’re on the right track, we know we have some work to do to make the Boston conference even stronger. We’ve already begun the process of winnowing out the sessions that didn’t resonate with our audience and adding some that were requested, and we’re reviewing the schedule to make sure people have enough time between sessions to move about comfortably, to grab a meal or a refreshment, or just to linger a little longer with a speaker to get that last question answered.
I would like to thank all the speakers that made our conference so outstanding, and give out a special nod to our advisory board – AJ Mirwani, Bob Mixon, Shane Young, Todd Klindt, Errin O’Connor and Jason Medero – whose contributions were invaluable.
And let me thank all the folks who, in a very tight economy, chose to spend their training dollars with us.
We had a great time in Burlingame, and we hope you can join us again in Boston. I’ll keep you posted on how that conference is shaping up.
-- David

Live, from SPTechCon!

noreply@blogger.com (David Rubinstein) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 19:01:00 +0000

After a frenetic morning of registering attendees and getting them headed toward the workshops they wanted to participate in, SPTechCon is officially under way! The unofficial count shows people coming in from more than 35 states and several countries -- including a delegation from Nigeria that needed many levels of approval (both corporate and governmental) to be with us.

One interesting note about the attendees: many of them appear to be doing more than one task. In this economic downturn, with companies shrinking their staffs, people who had been doing development also now find themselves taking on some IT tasks. And company executives are sending business types, or attending themselves, to learn how to use SharePoint on their own.

Today features four full-day workshops and four half-day workshops, and the attendees said the speakers were engaging and very informative. A session for administrators featuring Todd Klindt and Shane Young drew a sizeable crowd, as did workshops by Errin O'Connor's EPC Group (SharePoint Start to Finish), Mark Ferraz (Building a SharePoint Architecture) and Bjorn Furuknap (Customizing the SharePoint User Experience). Bob Mixon's session on search, "Seek and Ye Shall Find," was lively and well-attended, as was the session by John Ross and Jennifer Mason on building an effective SharePoint team. Attendees will be able to review the slide presentations on the Web site after the conference. I'll report on the afternoon sessions after the lunch break.

-- David

We're on site!

noreply@blogger.com (David Rubinstein) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 22:46:00 +0000

The SPTechCon team has set up headquarters at the Hyatt Regency SFO here in Burlingame. It's a really nice hotel, with a gorgeous atrium filled with a diversity of plant life (and human life too!)

The conference gets under way tomorrow, but registration begins later this afternoon, and the team, under the direction of conference manager Kathy Bruin (in photo) and our camera-shy conference coordinator Stacy Burris, has been busy filling the attendee bags, printing out badges, distributing the lunch vouchers, and doing all the behind-the-scenes things that most people don't get to see.

As conference chairman, responsible for the program, I spent the afternoon at Harry's Hoffbrau in Foster City, not far from the conference hotel. Now I'm a New Yawkuh born and raised, but I've got to give Harry some props -- the pastrami on rye was pretty good! Not piled a mile high as in New York, and not really hot (and what were those brown things in the mustard?), but it was quite tasty, and the bread was very good.

I'll be at the registration desk today to greet some of the early arrivals, and I hope to get a chance to speak to many of you over the next several days. We'll be making a major announcement tomorrow about another SharePoint event to he beld later this year, so watch out for that.

I'll be seeing you.

--David

Share a Pint!

noreply@blogger.com (David Rubinstein) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:42:00 +0000

SPTechCon faculty member Joshua Haebets has set up a "SharePoint By Day, SharePint By Night" event, at which those of us seeking knowledge, interaction and libations can come together for the enrichment of our professional lives!

IMPORTANT NOTE: This event will be held Tuesday, Jan. 27. This is a change from the original schedule. Again, The event is Tuesday!!

Joshua has all the details on his blog; he asks that anyone who wants to talk software while hoisting a couple o' frosty ones simply post a comment there. It should be a really fun evening!
-- David

Today, Tomorrow and the Future

noreply@blogger.com (David Rubinstein) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 19:04:00 +0000

That's the title of the keynote address Tom Rizzo will be giving at SPTechCon. In his talk, Tom will highlight Microsoft's recent acquisition of FAST, for enterprise search, and other investments the company is making into the SharePoint Web platform to illustrate how SharePoint is posed to offer even greater economies of scale for companies that deploy it. He will point out innovative uses for SharePoint through actual customer examples. Finally, he will offer a "sneak peek" of where SharePoint is going in powering Microsoft's Azure, its next-generation cloud platform.
Tom's keynote is set for Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 8:30 a.m. You're not going to want to miss this one! I'm looking forward to seeing you all there next week.
-- David

Technical Program Is Locked Down!

noreply@blogger.com (David Rubinstein) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 20:56:00 +0000

As with all conferences of this type, there are some last-minute changes in the program that cannot be avoided. Speakers find they have other (read: paying) obligations that take them out of the lineup, or they decide the name associated with their class doesn't most precisely reflect the offering and so request changes.
But now, with the conference set to begin next week, we've finalized the program. That's it. No more changes. No more adjustments. (Of course, the second I write this, someone will notice some horrible mistake in the catalog and we'll have to make a change!)
Anyway, the final catalog off class descriptions, and speakers, and the final grid for when the sessions will take place, is now available for download on the conference Web site. It'll give you a chance to begin to plan out which sessions you might want to attend.
-- David

The Beagle Is Barking!!

noreply@blogger.com (David Rubinstein) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:02:00 +0000

SPTechCon faculty member and Microsoft MVP Bob Mixon (who recently won the distinction for the fourth consecutive year!) yesterday completed the latest issue of the SharePoint Beagle newsletter! It's full of excellent information for the community; I found the three-part examination of the data form Web part especially interesting. You can hear directly from Bob at SPTechCon, where he will be delivering a full-day workshop on SharePoint "findability" and two other sessions during the conference.
Tomorrow (Jan. 14) is the last day to take advantage of the discounted price to attend the conference, which runs from Jan. 27-29. Response has been so good that we've had to go back to the hotel to increase the number of rooms we've blocked out for attendees, and we're just about at capacity for the technical sessions as well. So if you haven't yet registered, I urge you to do so today!
--David

Our panel of experts

noreply@blogger.com (David Rubinstein) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:31:00 +0000

We're pleased to announce today that we have seated an advisory board to recognize those who have gone above and beyond to help make this month's conference program so strong, and who have agreed to work with us on future events.

The board members are (alphabetically):

Todd Klindt
Jason Medero
AJ Mirwani
Bob Mixon
Errin O'Connor
Shane Young

We thank them for their efforts, and look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with each of them!

Deadlines nearing

noreply@blogger.com (David Rubinstein) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:27:00 +0000

If you've already registered for SPTechCon Jan. 27-29, today is the last day to get the discounted room rate at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport. If you haven't registered for the conference yet, the last day to receive that discounted rate is Jan. 14. Check out the full program on the conference Web site to learn about the classes offered for developers, business workers, IT architects and administrators, and project managers alike. I'm looking forward to seeing you all there!

Content management at SPTechCon

noreply@blogger.com (David Rubinstein) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:13:00 +0000

Content management is a huge concern at organizations of all types. How do you keep track of records, invoices, billing statements, e-mails, internal documents and more, and know where it's stored and how to retrieve it?
We've added a session to SPTechCon in January to address this important issue. Titled "SharePoint: The Ultimate Information Library", faculty presenter Bud Porter-Roth will discuss how to use SharePoint to create libraries and organize information based on a user's needs. Porter-Roth has been in the electronic document management industry for more than 20 years, and we're delighted to add his session to the conference.

One-on-one with Bjorn Furuknap

noreply@blogger.com (David Rubinstein) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 01:15:00 +0000

There's an excellent interview with Bjorn Furuknap (one of our faculty for the SharePoint Technology Conference) in the recent issue of the online SharePoint Magazine. Bjorn talks about understanding the SharePoint architecture and using that knowledge to create custom user experiences. That's also what he'll be talking about at SPTechCon next month. Follow us on twitter!

Dazzling SharePoint With Silverlight

noreply@blogger.com (David Rubinstein) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 16:24:00 +0000

With software moving to the cloud as services, rich Internet clients are sure to follow. Microsoft released version 2 of its rich Internet application platform, Silverlight, in October with hope that wide uptake would soon follow. So we've added a course to the SharePoint Technology Conference program entitled "Dazzling SharePoint with Silverlight," to be presented by "MOSSLover" Beckky Isserman. Becky will show attendees how to create Silverlight Controls in Expression Blend 2.0 (Microsoft's user interface design tool for Web applications) to enhance the SharePoint experience.

Also, you should note that Friday, Dec. 19, is the last day to register for SPTechCon and still be eligible for the early-bird rate, which is a savings of $300 off the regular conference rate.

Microsoft classes set

noreply@blogger.com (David Rubinstein) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:27:00 +0000

We've finalized the lineup of sessions to be led by Microsoft's SharePoint team at our January conference. It is as follows:

106: SharePoint Planning and Governance, will be led by AJ Mirwani, and is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 9:30 AM

107: Working With SharePoint APIs, will be led by Dave Pae, same date and time.

206: Office and SharePoint: Better Together, will be led by Tom Rizzo, Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 11 AM

207: Working with SharePoint Designer: Dave Pae again, Wednesday, Jan. 28 at 11 AM

306: Social Networking and User Profiles for Business: Jie Li, Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 1:30 PM

307: Scaling With SharePoint, AJ Mirwani again, Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 1:30 PM

SharePoint for Project Management

noreply@blogger.com (David Rubinstein) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 21:36:00 +0000

That's the name of the new book from Dux Raymond Sy, published by O'Reilly, and it's excellent. In his preface, Dux assumes the readers has project management experience, is new to SharePoint, and is NOT interested in the nitty-gritty technical details of the software. It has nine chapters, but each is broken up into subsections, and there are plenty of diagrams and screenshots to help readers along. Interspersed throughout the text are "Dux Quax," which are little asides about the subject they follow. For instance, in the section on "Customizing Permissions," Dux writes, "With great power comes great responsibility. Being able to customize various levels of access permissions in SharePoint is quite powerful. However, it can be challenging to keep it current and to maintain it if you have many stakeholders. Be warned: never, ever get overly excited about tweaking permissions for every single person and for every single scenario."
There are many step-by-step explanations of how to implement something in SharePoint, with those diagrams to walk business people through tasks.
Dux will be speaking at SPTechCon next month. If you're a project manager, make sure you block out some time to attend his sessions.
-- David

SPTechReport debuts!

noreply@blogger.com (David Rubinstein) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:38:00 +0000

This week, we launched SP Tech Report, an every-other-week newsletter all about SharePoint. There's news from third party partners, links to interesting SharePoint sites and blogs, and a "Share Pointers" column that offers tips and tricks for getting things done. In this week's debut issue, we covered backup and recovery tools from Idera and Kroll Ontrack, and Vitrium's new digital rights management software for SharePoint. Our first "Share Pointers" column was penned by SharePoint 911's Randy Drisgill, who showed the newsletter readers how to do some quick branding using the Alternate CSS capabilities in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. All in all, an interesting and highly informative read. Sign up for it today.
Last thing... there's a super early bird discount for SPTechCon that ends Friday, Nov. 21. If you register for the conference before then, you'll save $500 off the full price. Now THAT'S a bargain if I ever heard one!
-- Dave