As Brian transitions into his new role at Microsoft, he looks back at 15 years of being a developer, consultant, and business leader. He will talk about the skills and wisdom that you need to be happy and successful.

Brian H. Prince is an Architect Evangelist with Microsoft focused on building and educating the architect community in his district. Prior to joining Microsoft in March 2008, he was a Senior Director, Technology Strategy for a major mid-west partner.

Further, he is a co-founder of the non-profit organization CodeMash (www.codemash.org). He speaks at various regional and national technology events including TechEd.

Brian holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science and Physics from Capital University, Columbus, Ohio. He is also an avid gamer.

The regular meeting night for March falls on March 18, which is the same day as the Launch Event in Detroit for Visual Studio 2008, SQL Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008.  Consequently, our scheduled speaker (Joe Wirtley) will be attending the launch event in Detroit on that day.

Since several attempts to line up a replacement speaker on a different night have not been fruitful, Greg and Jason have decided to cancel the March meeting.  We'll see you in April!

Developers have all experienced the fun of writing CRUD applications.  In the end, you're left with a mountain of data access code - most of it repetitive.  Wouldn't it be great if you could spend more time writing actual business logic and less time writing the same old data access code?  In this introduction to Castle ActiveRecord, Michael Eaton will show that you can write less data access code and be more productive by using this free open-source framework.  For completeness, Mike will also compare ActiveRecord to traditional data access development.

Michael Eaton is an independent consultant who lives in southern Michigan.  Since 1994, Mike has been designing and implementing solutions using Microsoft technologies, specializing in .NET and SQL Server development.  He is a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCSD), has taught introductory programming courses at Lansing Community College, and has been published in Visual Studio Magazine.

But wait!  It's a Two For Tuesday!

NWNUG welcomes back Jay Wren from the Ann Arbor .NET Developers (AADND), who will provide an introduction to ADO.NET.  This will establish a baseline of knowledge that will lead into Mike's more advanced topic.

Jay R. Wren has been writing custom software solutions for integrating Windows and Unix for over seven years. His blend of traditional system administration and custom software solutions has allowed numerous enterprises to transcend platform dependence. Some of his software is still in use at a state university in Michigan and at the nations largest payroll processor.

No, you don't need to bring a covered dish to this meeting.  We're just trying to find a name for meetings that consist of two or more short (and unrelated) sessions rather than one longer one.

In this meeting, Jason Follas will highlight some of the new features that developers will find useful in the upcoming SQL Server 2008. 

Also, it seems that all of the cool kids are using "Agile" methodologies these days, but what does that really mean?  Greg Huber will discuss his experience with Agile Development.

Beyond that, feel free to bring your questions and problems involving .NET (and SQL Server): We'll close the meeting with some group discussion and conversation.